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'Canes Adjust To Life As Stanley Cup Champs

Dec 20, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. — The night the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, life for everyone on the team changed forever. But once they shaved their beards and went home, was life still different?

"It's a bit overwhelming," said captain Rod Brind'amour. "Everyone is so nice about it, so happy that we won for us and for them. It's just been a great experience and I'd love to do it again."

"I'm sitting out on the beach and people walk up to you and congratulate you and that never used to happen before, so it's a lot different now," said defenseman Glen Wesley.

But in some ways, life as a Stanley Cup champion is not different at all.

"To get recognized here, you've got to be about 6-foot-9 and throw a basketball," said wingman Ray Whitney. "They don't notice guys 5-foot-9 shooting pucks too much."

"No, I still have the same wait when I put my name on the (wait list at a restaurant) and that's the way it should be," said team president Jim Rutherford.

For some of the players, an off-season in a fatherly role has kept them down-to-earth.

"I'm Dad to them and that's great," said Brind'Amour. "So nothing changes at home. I still have to get on them to make their beds."

The 'Canes are scheduled to take the ice Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center for their first season matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.

• Reporter: Debra Morgan
• Photographer: Edward Wilson
• Web Editor: Dana Franks