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head coach: Paul Maurice

roster: C - Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Kent Manderville, Bates Battaglia, Steve Martins. RW - Ray Sheppard, Sami Kapanen, Nelson Emerson, Kevin Dineen, Paul Ranheim, Steven Rice. LW - Martin Gelinas, Gary Roberts, Robert Kron, Stu Grimson, Stephen Leach. D - Steve Chiasson, Glen Wesley, Adam Burt, Curtis Leschyshyn, Nolan Pratt, Steve Halko, Mike Rucinski, Kevin Haller, Sean Hill. G - Mike Fountain, Pat Jablonski, Trevor Kidd.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Northeast Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Pittsburgh 82  40  24  18    98  228  188 
x-Boston     82  39  30  13    91  221  194  
x-Buffalo    82  36  29  17    89  211  187  
x-Montreal   82  37  32  13    87  235  208  
x-Ottawa     82  34  33  15    83  193  200  
Carolina     82  33  41   8    74  200  219   

y - Clinched division
x - Clinched playoff spot

team news:

by Brad Kane, Hurricanes Correspondent

What if they played an entire season and no fans showed up?

That about sums up the maiden voyage of the Carolina Hurricanes. Yes, it's been said before, even harped on to the point of exhaustion by some in the media, but the lack of warm bodies in the seats of the Greensboro Coliseum will be the enduring image of the NHL's first season in the Carolinas. Due to high prices, no discounts for season ticket holders, and a lack of a centralized marketing plan, there was more green than red to be seen on any given night in Greensboro. If the Hartford Whalers were the league's most unappreciated team, the Carolina Hurricanes did nothing to change the franchise's lowly image.

Sami Kapanen by Meredith Martini

You have to feel sorry in a way for Jeff Heerema, the speedster the Hurricanes took with the 11th overall pick of the entry draft last weekend. After putting on a Carolina jersey for the first time, Heerema said he was proud to wear it. To be sure, Heerema most likely overstated this a bit, as any prospect willing to please his new-found team would. "Pleasantly satisfied", would fit a bit better. Sorry, Jeff, but there's not much to be proud of here.

Anyway, why the fuss over attendance numbers, you ask? Well, one estimate figures that Carolina will lose 30 million dollars this year. That may be a bit high, but whatever the real number may be, it will most definitely be in the red -- it's a color that looks good in the seats, but not on an accountant's ledger. Salvation is on the way, they say, in the form of the new arena currently under construction in Raleigh, the eventual permanent home of the franchise. However, recent questions have risen over the project and now there is some doubt that it may be done in time for the 1999-2000 season; the two-year stay in Greensboro may have to be extended by another six months or so.

But, hey, that's just speculation. Not like there's any lack of depressing news that actually happened. Namely, the failure to reach the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year, currently the league high. Despite a fine post-Olympic run through March, and just when goaltender Trevor Kidd looked like the second coming of Georges Vezina, recording shutout after shutout, the 'Canes rolled over and played dead when they most needed it, in the final two weeks of the season. The result: the Ottawa Senators grabbed the final playoff spot, and the Hurricanes grabbed the golf clubs...again.

So to make things as concise as possible, here's the LCS quick-and-easy list, chronologically arranged, of what went wrong in Carolina this year:

Oct. 1 to 20 -- Any relocated team needs a good start to establish a fan base and give themselves confidence while building a new home. How does 1-7-2 strike you for a new beginning? A crowd of nearly 19,000 turns out to watch the home opener, a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and then attendance dives to around 6,000 per game for the next two months. The bright spot: Kevin Dineen scores the first-ever goal for the Hurricanes, in an opening night loss at Tampa Bay. Dineen scored the final goal for the Hartford Whalers versus, yes, Tampa Bay. At least Hartford won that one.

Nov. 2 -- Goalie Sean Burke is charged with assault on a female after a fight with his wife at the couple's home. Burke later enters counseling and says that all is fine on the domestic front. The hockey front is another matter altogether, as Burke's play spirals downward and he is traded, along with Geoff Sanderson, two supposed pillars of the franchise, to Vancouver in January. Later, Burke is dealt to Philadelphia, but does nothing to change the course of what turns out to be a horrible year for him.

Dec. 26 -- Pick a game, any game, that defines the season in a nutshell. Well, here's my nominee -- a 5-2 home loss to the Florida Panthers. It's the second home loss in seven games to Florida, who are beginning their plunge to the depths of the NHL. Quote of the day from head coach Paul Maurice, when asked if things could get any worse for his team: "I'd hate to say no."

January -- A month of turmoil for the team, one that sees Burke and Sanderson get traded. The two were the pair most responsible for anything good that happened in Hartford in the last four years of the Whalers' existence. Neither adjusted well to Carolina, and apparently couldn't adjust to life in Vancouver, either. Both were traded a second time -- Burke to Philadelphia, as mentioned before, and Sanderson to Buffalo.

Feb. 27 -- Carolina's offer sheet to Detroit Red Wings center Sergei Fedorov is ruled valid, and then Detroit matches it anyway. The move, designed to bring a premier player to the franchise to build around, falls short. Bad news, but the move lets the fans and media know that Carolina is serious about making a bid to be a contender.

April 11 -- Carolina loses at Toronto, 5-2. It is one of the worst efforts of the season. They are eliminated from the playoffs three nights later when Ottawa beats Florida to gain the final Eastern Conference postseason spot.

TEAM MVP: The choice for team MVP is an easy one. Like Dominik Hasek was an easy choice for league MVP, another goalie, Trevor Kidd, was an easy selection for Hurricanes MVP. After a slow start due to his splitting time with Burke, Kidd won the starting job full-time in late December and went on a tear. His standout performance: a scoreless string of 219:20 in early April that gave hope to the 'Canes playoff chances. In the end, he proved Carolina GM Jim Rutherford right when Rutherford dealt away hot prospect netminder J.S. Giguere to get Kidd from exile in Calgary. Rutherford took some heat for that deal, but the numbers don't lie -- Trevor Kidd was the indisputable MVP for the Carolina Hurricanes this year.

Runner-up: center Keith Primeau, who, while at times inconsistent, showed that he can lead a franchise effectively, if not always successfully. Now coming into his prime, he's a player to watch next year.

Gary Roberts by Meredith Martini

SURPRISE: True, there were some notable pleasant surprises in Carolina this year, like Gary Roberts being able to play more than 40 games and Sami Kapanen assuming Sanderson's mantle of Best NHL Player You've Never Heard Of. However, credit must be given where credit is due, and Paul Ranheim deserves the credit here. Openly referred to as a spare part by the franchise when the season began, Ranheim was a frequent scratch throughout October. Then thanks to injuries (thank you, Stephen Leach) and ineffective play (thank you, Steven Rice), Ranheim got into the lineup on a permanent basis. Easily one of the teams' top-two penalty killers, along with Kent Manderville, Ranheim saw some action on Carolina's second line and gave a solid, consistent effort every night. Not bad for a spare part. But how does he get rewarded for his fine efforts? He's left unprotected in the expansion draft, making Nashville GM David Poile's selection of minor league wing Jeff Daniels a curious one. Either the Hurricanes had a deal worked out with the Predators that forbade them from taking Ranheim, or Poile never saw a single Carolina game this year.

Runner-up: Robert Kron, another guy who apparently was left for dead and rebounded with a solid season. Kron's versatility was key to his success as he played all three forward positions throughout the year.

DISAPPOINTMENT: If he was still with the team, Sanderson would win this dubious honor by a landslide. His disappearance from radar altogether ranked as one of the league's more curious events of the season. But, going off-ice, who better to name than owner Peter Karmanos. Karmanos gets this one for one simple reason: ticket prices. And here's a special note for Mr. Ponytail himself:

No, it's not baseball, Pete. No "build it and they will come" deal. In the south, hockey is still more of a curiosity than an event, and not many folks will pay 50 bucks to witness a "curiosity". This is ECHL country, where $10 gets you a choice seat. In Greensboro, $10 gets you a parking spot where you can listen to the game on the radio. Yes, you're a whipping boy for all that's wrong in Carolina, and to be honest you deserve it. However, to be fair, the time will soon come when bashing you is no longer fashionable, but old and stale. Some may say it already is, but, heck, call me a traditionalist! So, kudos to you for lowering prices for next year, and kudos for having the guts to admit you were wrong for having prices so high in the first place. But, keep one thing in mind as you rest your head on the pillow tonight -- our editor can still kick your ass!

OFF-SEASON CHANGES: Well, a net loss of 30 million sort of negates any chance of going out and signing any big-name free agents. So, the core of the team should stay unchanged: Kidd, Primeau, Roberts, Kapanen, Martin Gelinas, Glen Wesley and Steve Chiasson should all be back to lead the club next year. Rutherford has already been busy this off-season signing players like Ranheim, Sean Hill, and Curtis Leschyshyn to long-term deals. But here's a list of what the Hurricanes' may need:

-- Something, anything, from Jeff O'Neill -- When he was drafted in 1994, he was hailed as the future star of the franchise, compared favorably to Doug Gilmour. Well, four years later, the franchise star is Keith Primeau, and O'Neill is struggling to maintain his spot as the second line center. But while O'Neill tries to stay consistent (it's a cliche, be he really has shown flashes of brilliance), many other teams have lined up in an effort to try to pry him away from the Hurricanes. This off-season alone has seen some teams show interest. That right there should tell you that he's still got something; he just needs to find it and harness it. Memo to Rutherford: Don't trade this guy. Hold on to him, and let him pay off this season. If he doesn't do it this time around, you have my permission to see what you can get for him this time next year.

-- At least one natural center -- Primeau, O'Neill, and Kent Manderville are it. That's three centers. You should really have four. It doesn't have to be a scorer; just someone who can bang some people around, win some faceoffs, and bring some hockey insight and experience to the dressing room, like perhaps Joel Otto or Guy Carbonneau. When the chips were down last year, the 'Canes crumbled. Another veteran or two who knows what it takes to win would be the solution to that not happening again.

-- A backup goalie -- Mike Fountain is the only legit candidate for the position of the guy who re-fills Trevor Kidd's water bottle, so he could probably use a little competition. With the NHL expanding exponentially these days, goaltenders are flying everywhere. Perhaps Rutherford should raise a net in the air and see what he can catch. Couldn't hurt.

-- Overall peace and harmony -- This won't be hard. After a year of turmoil, one that inevitably follows a franchise move, things should go much more smoothly in Carolina. Of course, the team will still have to put up with that two-hour bus ride to HOME games, but that should be nothing compared to last year.

Ah, last year, a fleeting memory already. Consider the slate wiped clean. The golf clubs will do for now, but get ready. It'll soon be time for another go-round with the NHL's strangest team. Here's to hoping we can all make it through.

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