Rested Canes Ready to Shoot for No. 1 Again

WRALSportsFan

Rested Canes Ready to Shoot for No. 1 Again

By Dane Huffman

Sep 11, 2007

comments

RALEIGH – The Carolina Hurricanes were back together on Tuesday, but this time, it had a different undertone.

The golf outing with the media at Brier Creek Country Club had the usual relaxed feel. Eric Staal took some ribbing when his team finished third in the contest and he was awarded … a small toy statue of Eric Staal.

And the players, in their golf shirts and caps, exuded a relaxed look from a long summer coming to a close.

But beneath that was a different urge, one that acknowledged the failures of last season and a determination that they won’t be repeated.

“The beautiful thing is we have evolved to where there is only one thing we are trying to do,” Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s not, ‘Make the playoffs and see how you do.’ That’s gone by the wayside. That’s why last year was a colossal failure.

“We’re definitely shooting for No. 1 and that’s it. I like that. That’s how everyone thinks around here.”

That’s a huge leap for Carolina, an organization that has evolved in its 10 seasons in the state. Where the Canes are now, deeply rooted in Raleigh and champions of the league in 2006, would have seemed unfathomable a decade ago.

The first two seasons, the Canes played in front of empty crowds at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Even when they arrived in Raleigh, they were still refugees from Hartford who hardly looked like Cup contenders. Making the playoffs, being competitive, was the goal of a franchise that lacked major market funding – and fan interest.

“We were trying to grow hockey in a nontraditional market,” general manager Jim Rutherford said Tuesday. “And quite frankly, at that point, based on the budget we had, we were trying to make the playoffs, win as many rounds as we could. Realistically, I don’t think anyone thought those were years we were going to win the Stanley Cup.”

But a shift began as the Canes started signing players like Ron Francis and Brind’Amour and young talent like Eric Staal started to flow into the organization.

“We brought winners to the organization and built around those guys to give us the opportunity to be one of the contending teams,” Rutherford said.

“And we’ve got to the point now where we’re considered one of the good teams. We had an off year last year. Everybody can spin it any way they want and give the reasons why.

“But the fact that we’re healthy now, and focused, and all business now, and added [Matt] Cullen and [Jeff] Hamilton, we have a chance to be one of the real good teams again.”

The Stanley Cup run was followed by last season’s 40-34-8 disaster, when the Canes slipped below that long gray line in the standings that separates the top eight teams in the East from those out of the playoffs.

Carolina does not expect that to happen again. The long summer was a blessing in some ways because it reminded the players of the dedication it took to win, and it allowed players to rest and heal.

Cory Stillman, for example, said his right shoulder is now fine.

“It’s probably in better shape than my left shoulder is,” said Stillman, who played in 43 games last season. “The doctors are great, they can go in and fix it. I have 100 percent strength and mobility.”

The Canes have physicals on Thursday and their first practice on Friday. The Caniac Carnival is Sunday when they play the Washington Capitals at 3 p.m.

The season is only days away, and even at a casual golf event, the tone was evident of the shift between last year and this.

“It’s night and day from this time last year and this time this year,” Rutherford said. “I understand exactly the reason why. We were still celebrating winning the Stanley Cup and certainly not preparing for training camp and our season. And because of that, and because of some injuries, we could never catch up and get the energy and the momentum to have long winning streaks.

“But this year, our players are in here early, they’re rested, they’re healthy, they’re all business-like, and they have a goal in mind to be the best team this year. And as long as we have all the things that are necessary, good goal-tending and being healthy, we have a chance to be one of the top teams.”