The trophy was covered by a “hurricane”

Carolina Hurricanes win Stanley Cup for the first time

For the fifth time in the last six playing seasons, all seven matches were needed to determine the winner of the National Hockey League's main trophy, the Stanley Cup. On Tuesday night, Moscow time, “Carolina” beat “Edmonton” on their ice in the city of Raleigh - 3:1 and won an honorary trophy for the first time in a very confusing club history.

The direct predecessor of “Carolina” is considered to be the New England Whalers team created in Boston, the first champion of the World Hockey Association, born in 1972 and long since sunk into oblivion. In January 1975, the Whalers moved to Hartford, appeared in the NHL in 1979 and existed under this name until the end of the 1996/97 season. The uniqueness of the Whalers was that this team was the first in the world to feature a family trio - the legendary Gordie Howe father and his sons. Then the team changed its location and name, going to North Carolina State.

The first years of the Hurricanes' life, while construction of the new ice arena in Raleigh was underway, was a real nightmare. The hockey players played 80 miles from their place of registration, in the city of Greensboro, and when two seasons later they finally began to host opponents in the state capital, the attendance at the matches was so small that the doors to the stands of the upper tier of the stands of the new palace did not even have to be opened. Gradually, the residents of the town, more like a huge cottage community, began to get used to hockey, and Carolina increased its power. Under the leadership of Paul Morris, the team reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2002, where they lost to Detroit in five games.

The second attempt to win the main league trophy was successful. The series did not develop easily for the Hurricanes - leading 2:0 and 3:1 in matches, Carolina allowed Edmonton to level the score. Already in the second minute of the seventh game, the hosts' defender Aaron Ward broke the Hurricanes' goal drought, which lasted more than an hour and a half of net time, sending the puck into the goal of the Oilers' goalkeeper, Finn Jussi Markkanen. In the second 20 minutes, another Czech defender, Frantisek Kaberle, using an extra player, doubled the Hurricanes' advantage, and this goal turned out to be the winning goal in the match, in the series and in the entire championship. Edmonton's main character and most productive hockey player in the playoffs, Fernando Pisani, scored one goal at the beginning of the last third of the game, and at the end of the game, the guests replaced the goalkeeper with a sixth field player and got an own goal. Justin Williams put the finishing touches on the championship 61 seconds before the siren.

Carolina goaltender Cam Ward received the Con Smith Trophy, an award for the most valuable player in a playoff series. This is a unique achievement for a league newcomer. The last time Ward’s colleague in the role, Ron Hextall from Philadelphia, achieved this was 19 years ago. “This brave newcomer inspired us all with his brilliant performance. He didn't make a single serious mistake in the playoffs and his contribution to our victory was enormous,” 36-year-old veteran and Carolina captain Rod Brindammore praised his goalie. Moreover, Ward became the main figure in the last line of defense of the Hurricanes already during the playoff series, after the team’s head coach Peter Laviolette so shrewdly chose him over the Swiss Martin Gerber.

As a consolation for Canadian fans who were eager for Edmonton's victory, we note the fact that Carolina played 14 hockey players from the Country of the Maple Leaf during the season, with three of them leading the list of club scorers - Eric Staal, Corey Stillman and Justin Williams. Ward, Brindamore, such famous figures as Craig Adams, Mark Reckey are also Canadians. Two Russians also played for the Hurricanes - defenders Oleg Tverdovsky and Anton Babchuk. True, he should not receive the last ring of the Stanley Cup winner - he played less than 50% of the team's matches, but Tverdovsky will now be considered a two-time owner (the first time with New Jersey in 2003) of the most prestigious hockey. Although Oleg’s contribution to the success of the “hurricanes” at the decisive stage is minimal. In the final series, he appeared on the ice in only one match and spent two and a half minutes in the game.

Vladimir ILYIN