Carolina Hurricanes ready to ‘climb that ladder again’ with all eyes on a Stanley Cup
Jordan Staal was 18 years old in 2006 when his oldest brother, Eric, brought the Stanley Cup home to Thunder Bay, Ontario, having won it with the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I may have had a beverage out of it,” Jordan said, smiling. “A Coke, maybe.”
Three years later, Jordan Staal brought the Cup to Thunder Bay, having won it with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I definitely drank a beverage out of it,” he said, smiling again. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, this will happen again’ but it hasn’t happened again.”
As Staal enters his 17th NHL season, his fourth as captain of the Hurricanes, he’d like one more victorious sip from the Cup. For most of his teammates, it would be their first.
The Canes, who open a new season Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PNC Arena, have that stated goal: win the Stanley Cup. Not reach the playoffs again. Win the Cup.
“Not easy. Not easy at all,” Staal told The News & Observer during training camp. “You have to have a good team, have to be in the mix. Then there’s a learning curve to winning in the playoffs. It’s learning the way to grind through a series, through the ups and downs. It’s finding a way and being lucky a little bit. All those things.”
The Hurricanes have been a good team in the four seasons with Rod Brind’Amour as their head coach. They’ve been in the playoff mix each year. Hard lessons have been learned.
The Canes have won divisional titles the past two seasons. A year ago, they set a franchise record for points (116) in winning the Metropolitan Division. They led the NHL in fewest goals allowed per game, had the league’s best penalty killing.
“And this year’s team might be the best team we’ve had, with the depth we’ve added,” Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said last week.
Added to the mix were defenseman Brent Burns, a former Norris Trophy winner, and veteran forwards Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny. None has won a Stanley Cup in their long careers. All want to, believing they have joined a team good enough to do it.
‘A hungry group’
But what separates a good team from the one able to take that last step and become a championship team?
Does it take superstars such as the Pens’ Sidney Crosby or Washington’s Alex Ovechkin? Or Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, the 2022 Cup winners?
Canes forward Teuvo Teravainen and goalie Antti Raanta were members of the Chicago Blackhawks championship team in 2015. Teravainen was 20 and a rookie on a team with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
“I think we have superstars on our team now and nobody really talks about them that way,” Teravainen said. “I have seen them play many years now and I know how good our guys are — as good as anyone in the league.
“Everyone has to play at the highest limit they can play in the playoffs. Sometimes, it may take a few times. You lose, you learn from it, you get better. That might be happening here. I got lucky my first year. For sure now I realize how hard it is.”
Another factor can be the aging veteran, a player sensing time is running short to finally lift the Cup.
Brind’Amour did it as the Canes captain in 2006, winning at last at 35. On that team were Glen Wesley and Bret Hedican and others aching to win the Cup for the first time.
Brind’Amour credits a big part of that Canes run to having a hot goalie in Cam Ward, then a rookie who was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP.
“Being a young guy he probably didn’t know how big a moment it was,” Brind’Amour said, grinning.
“Older guys probably have a better appreciation, because every year that goes by is a year you didn’t get it done. We’ve got a hungry group, I think, having not achieved that goal yet.”
The motivations differ for different players. Defenseman Brett Pesce would like to win a Cup but said he is still steamed over the way the 2022 playoffs ended, with the Canes’ Game 7 loss at home to the New York Rangers in the second round.
“That left a bad taste in our mouths,” Pesce said. “For me, I never want that feeling again. It definitely adds extra fire.”
And so a new season begins, one that will include the Canes’ first outdoor game. It will be a grind, with different twists and turns, as always. The 2023 Stanley Cup awaits the NHL’s sole survivor.
Raanta, a backup goalie with the Blackhawks in 2015, did not dress in the playoffs that year. He earned a Stanley Cup ring but did not get his name on the Cup.
Maybe this year? Raanta doesn’t disagree.
“Everyone is a year older and maybe we have more depth,” Raanta said. “Maybe we can climb that ladder again.”
Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets game and TV info
Who: Carolina Hurricanes (0-0) vs. Columbia Blue Jackets (0-0)
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
When: Wednesday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Stream: Bally Sports+
