The Carolina Hurricanes, going all the way back to the birth of their franchise in 1972 as the Hartford Whalers, have never had a better regular season than the one they finished at PNC Arena in Raleigh last night.

While a Metropolitan Division championship by itself may not be enough to move the state of North Carolina’s sports needle, it’s worth noting that the only other time the Hurricanes exceeded 100 regular-season points was in 2006, which also happens to be year the Canes won the National Hockey League’s ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup.

During the recently concluded 82-game regular season, the 2022 Hurricanes exceeded even the 2006 team’s franchise records for wins and points.

Carolina has an award-winning head coach in Rod Brind’Amour, who was the Hurricanes’ team captain when they won it all in 2006. They also have two 30-goal scorers in 24-year-old Finnish sensation Sebastian Aho and 22-year-old Russian superstar Andrei Svechnikov, two elite defensemen in Americans Tony DeAngelo and Jaccob Slavin, and an All-Star goaltender in 32-year-old Danish veteran Frederik Andersen.

As in other sports, hockey’s championship is won most often by a No. 1 seed. That tag in the NHL goes to the four division champions, and this year that means the Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames.

For those most familiar with college basketball analogies, consider this: Since 1979, when NCAA Tournament officials started seeding the field, all five of North Carolina’s national champions and four of Duke’s five national champions entered March Madness as No. 1 seeds.

At the highest level, of course, all championships are famously hard to win. After all, the Carolina Hurricanes will need a total of 16 victories, against four quality opponents, to earn the right to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup for just the second time in franchise history.

That said, the Canes’ record-setting body of work over the last six and a half months suggests they have a chance to do something special over the next month and a half.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Jay LaPrete

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