Carolina Hurricanes

An injury-plagued team that went from Cup finalist to league's worst tries to bounce back

By Brian Cazeneuve

Team Page | Predicted Finish: 21

General manager Jim Rutherford laid down the law in training camp: "Players who have been here are going to have to work to show they fit on this team." To that end, coach Paul Maurice put the club through hourlong drills that left many players doubled over with fatigue. Jeff O'Neill, Carolina's leading scorer last season, said it was the toughest training camp he's had in eight years with the team.

Jeff O'Neill Craig Jones/Getty Images/NHLI SI RANKING (1 best - 30 worst) OFFENSE 27 DEFENSE 10 GOALTENDING 26 POWER PLAY 22 PENALTY KILLING 22 G.M. AND COACH 21

But more than most clubs the Hurricanes will benefit from a survival-of-the-fittest approach. Last season they lost 293 man-games to injury, 180 more than the previous year, and ended the season with an 11-game winless streak. The team that couldn't stay healthy went from Stanley Cup finalists in 2001-02 to having the league's worst record in '02-03. If nothing else, the Hurricanes may have led the NHL in bad luck. On Jan. 30 left wing Erik Cole broke his left leg when his skate got caught in the ice at Tampa Bay. Less than two weeks later enforcer Jesse Boulerice got knocked out with one punch by the Stars' Aaron Downey and missed the rest of the season with a concussion. A month after that, rookie wing Damian Surma injured his right shoulder when he tumbled into the boards while celebrating his first NHL goal.

Trying to reverse the team's fortunes will be Maurice, who at 36 is the longest tenured coach in the NHL despite a 260-279-91-14 record in eight years. While Carolina upgraded its defense with the addition of solid Danny Markov and tough-guy Bob Boughner in off-season trades, the Hurricanes did little to improve an offense that was last in the NHL with 171 goals.

Kevin Weekes and Arturs Irbe split time in net last season, but Weekes is now the undisputed No. 1 goalie. Given Carolina's ineptitude last season, his numbers were respectable (14-24-9 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.55 goals-against average). Speaking of respectable, this may be the final year for classy 40-year-old captain Ron Francis, who enters the season with 1,758 career points, fifth alltime. Too bad he'll spend it on a team likely to struggle.

Insider

For the Hurricanes to have any prayer of making the postseason, they need to play a tight defensive system.... G.M. Jim Rutherford did a nice job of remaking the defense into a bigger, meaner and more skilled unit by obtaining solid blueliners Bob Boughner, Danny Markov and Glen Wesley.... The pressure is on coach Paul Maurice. Making the playoffs is important to his job security, but Maurice also needs to give ice time to young F's Eric Staal, Josef Vasicek and Jaroslav Svoboda.

Issue date: October 13, 2003