Former Hurricanes still looking for work

Kevyn Adams and Bret Hedican don't necessarily want to be retired. Right now, they don't have any choice.

The NHL season is three weeks old and both former Hurricanes are still looking for contracts.

Adams was cut on the last day of training camp by the Chicago Blackhawks, who promised him a contract but never cleared the salary-cap room to sign him.

Hedican was approached by the Tampa Bay Lightning but is holding out for a spot closer to his new offseason home in California. He's only 12 games away from 1,000 for his career.

They're far from alone. The changing of the seasons was hard on a number of players who once played here. Marty Gelinas, Sandis Ozolinsh, Geoff Sanderson, Shane Willis -- they're still out there as well, hoping and waiting for another chance. (Marek Malik, who just signed with the Lightning, narrowly avoided making the list.)

Willis, who played in Europe last season, could end up back there. And at 34, Adams could yet end up with an NHL team -- he played well enough in camp, coming off a bad knee injury, to earn a spot with the Blackhawks. But so far, no one else has called.

"It's a tough situation," Adams said. "Basically, part of me is like, 'If you're done, you're done. Let's move on to the next phase in life.' But I'm in shape. I know I can play."

For Hedican and Gelinas, both 38, and Ozolinsh and Sanderson, both 36, it's almost certainly the end of the line. Combined, they played in 4,240 NHL games, 1,304 of those for the Hartford Whalers or Hurricanes.

Sanderson made the move with the team from Hartford to North Carolina, Gelinas played on the 2002 Eastern Conference championship team and Hedican played on that team and the 2006 Stanley Cup champions.

That's a whole lot of history being consigned to history this fall.