The Ice Sheet: Return of 'Cane Season

It must be tough to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan. Consider this for a moment: twice in the last seven years the franchise formerly known as the Hartford Whalers has fought its way to the Stanley Cup Finals -- winning it all in the first year after the lockout in 2006 -- only to miss the playoffs the following two seasons.

In any other market, such a performance would be devastating. But in a non-traditional market like Raleigh, North Carolina, it very well could have been fatal. A Stanley Cup is supposed to cement a team's place in the heart of a community that it calls home, but runs like the team had in 2002 and 2006 were supposed to be performances to build on to fill the build, not memories to fall back on with failure just around the corner.

That a team with such a recent championship on its resume finished 21st overall in attendance this season has to be considered something of an embarrassment.

But here the Hurricanes are again, like the NHL's version of Hailey's comet, just four games from a third trip the Finals in the last six NHL seasons, with only the defending Eastern Conference champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the way. Granted, that's one heck of an obstacle, but it still begs the question: how the heck did it happen?

I have to admit I've got something of a soft spot for the franchise. Back before the Cup run in 2006, I was a guest on the late and lamented AOL Sports Bloggers Live with Jamie Mottram, and I picked the 'Canes to win it all, mostly to their depth down the middle and my continued respect for then-head coach Peter Laviolette, a man who I thought got a raw deal when he was shown the door on Long Island instead of former GM Mike Milbury.

But this is not the same team that won the Cup in 2006. Sure, there are a number of familiar faces: Eric Staal, Rod Brind'Amour, Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen, Erik Cole, Frank Kaberle and Chad LaRose. But Laviolette is long gone, banished in the midst of the season in favor of Paul Maurice, the coach who led the team on that first Cup run in 2002 and one who apparently learned more than a few new tricks over the course of his tenure in Toronto.

He's not the only new face on the roster: the forward corps has been supplemented by players like Sergei Samsonov, Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu. As for the blue line, it's been more or less totally changed out, and markedly improved over the anonymous bunch of puck movers who helped the team to a title in 2006. In fact, with the additions of Joni Pitkanen, Joe Corvo, Anton Babchuk and Tim Gleason, it's probably safe to say that Carolina's blue line corps is better today than when it won the Cup back in June 2006.

Another holdover from the team from 2006 is goalie Cam Ward. With the way he followed up his Conn Smythe-winning performance in 2006 with a rather lackluster regular season in 2006-07, it would be easy to dismiss him. Then again, looking back, it seems clear now that the Spring of 2006 was no fluke. In fact, when you look at Ward's career overall, it's easy to see that his regular season stats have improved every season he's been in the league, culminating with the best regular season in his career in 2008-09. And now that he's back in the playoff mix, Ward has shown the same form that helped him win the playoff MVP in 2006, sporting the best save percentage of any of the four goalies remaining in the tournament.

Mix it all together, and you've got a team that managed to get hot at just the right time, winning 18 of their last 26 and knocking off the first and third seeds in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Which reminds me, there is one man who we haven't mentioned, and rightly deserves some plaudits: General Manager Jim Rutherford.

Say what you will about hockey not belonging in the American South, Rutherford has been the point man in trying to make it work since the team arrived in Greensboro in time for the 1997-98 season. GM of the franchise since 1994, it was Rutherford -- also a part owner -- who shepherded the team through its relocation to North Carolina, and managed to get it to the Finals in only its fifth season in its new home.

Perhaps Rutherford and Laviolette took advantage of a once-in-lifetime opportunity when the 'Canes won it all in 2006, when the refs were blowing the whistle for every last infraction, but the duo does deserve some kudos for understanding what had changed and for building the sort of lineup that could take advantage of the situation while it lasted. But credit needs to go to Rutherford again, first for being honest about his disappointment in Laviolette at the end of last season, and then pulling the plug early in the campaign and bringing in Maurice when it was clear the course had yet to be corrected.

So yes, it can be tough rooting for the Carolina Hurricanes. But when they do get into the playoffs, you have to admit they make the most of the ride.

Every Monday morning The Ice Sheet will take a close look at everything that's happened in the NHL since Friday night at 5:00 PM -- or if need be, anything else the author wants to bleat about. To read them all, click here.