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"I'd be more than happy to spend some time trying to understand why someone in a losing market should go out and spend more money."
--Peter Karmanos, defending his decision to not sign Keith Primeau, CBS Sportsline, January 3, 2000
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"As for Mr. Roberts, who said that Primeau had 'hung the entire team out to dry,' we guess there was no dirty laundry left out in Calgary when he bolted the Flames to make more money in Carolina."
--Larry Brooks, the New York Post, January 9, 2000. For the record, Calgary was less than thrilled about re-signing Roberts after a serious neck injury...but see July, 2000.
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"It's official. Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos needs his head examined. Moving to Raleigh is the NHL's biggest mistake."
--Bruce Garrioch, the Ottawa Sun, January 16, 2000
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"They are petitioning the league to expand the Stanley Cup tournament to 64 teams."
--Francis Rizzo III, FOXSports.com, on how the Hurricanes plan to make the playoffs as college basketball fever grips the Carolinas, March 20, 2000
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April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / June-September 1999 / October-December, 1999 / May, 2000-present

January, 2000

Larry Brooks, writing in the New York Post, throws gasoline on the Keith Primeau fire. "In Carolina, the contemptible owner Peter Karmanos, who has already betrayed the good citizens of Hartford, makes a fool of his GM, Jim Rutherford, just as he makes fools of the customers in Raleigh who pay good money to watch a team he will not allow compete for the Stanley Cup.... It's come to a head with Karmanos' rejection this week of a deal agreed upon by Rutherford in Carolina and Smith in Phoenix that would have sent the unsigned Group II Keith Primeau to the Coyotes.... Karmanos, he of the 1998 Group II $36 million offer sheet to Sergei Fedorov (including bonuses adding up to $28M in Year One) has been talking tough about contracts these last two months. On Thursday, he called the $8.3M coming to Tkachuk next year, 'crazy,' using that to publicly justify killing the deal."

But Keith Gave, writing for CBSSportsLine, decries such "rampant reckless reporting" and offers up "the truth, which has been difficult to unearth amid all the mud-slinging...Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford did not have a deal to trade Primeau to Phoenix for Keith Tkachuk -- or any other Coyotes player -- that 'Canes owner Pete Karmanos vetoed at the 11th hour." (But see January 6.) "When Reynolds talks about deals, he's talking about deals he thinks up, not deals that we've made," Karmanos tells SportsLine. "He's going out and negotiating contracts, getting somebody to pay (Primeau) something. But he's not the GM. And those weren't deals that GMs had agreed on. To say otherwise is pure, unadulterated bulls---....I'd be more than happy to spend some time trying to understand why someone in a losing market should go out and spend more money."

Karmanos admits that he has advised teams interested in Primeau to negotiate a contract beforehand. Karmanos claims Primeau would "put a gun to their heads" and demand more money before reporting. Karmanos also insists on retaining the right to approve any new contract Primeau signs as a condition of any trade. "I have a responsibility to my fellow owners," Karmanos says. "And I'm not going to trade my problem away. I am not caving in, and I won't bow to the tyranny of the scoreboard. Just because we've lost a few games, I won't be tempted to trade him for a couple of players. We're trying to straighten out our fiscal affairs here."

After a January 4 game against Ottawa (a 2-1 loss for the Canes, their ninth loss in 12 games ) attracts a season-low crowd of 7,848, Karmanos announces that ticket prices will be cut for next season. Ticket costs may be reduced in all price ranges, he tells the News and Observer, particularly mid-level seats now priced at $33, $44, $59 and $65 each. The Canes' average attendance through 18 home games is 12,436; the NHL's average attendance in 513 games played through December 29 was 16,144. "The cost of playing players and the ticket prices go hand-in-hand," says Karmanos. "These prices need to be reduced, and the only way to do that is to get our fiscal house in order." Karmanos' first economy move is not giving Keith Primeau the four-year, $17 million contract he seeks. "We refuse to pay a prima donna, a petulant, pouting player who had 30 goals last year the same money as Toronto is playing Mats Sundin or Pittsburgh is paying Jaromir Jagr, who are consistent 100-point-a-year players or at least one-point-a-game players."

For the record, your Webmaster points out that Toronto pays Mats Sundin (31 goals, 82 points in 1998-99) $7 million per year; Pittsburgh pays Jaromir Jagr (44 goals, 127 points in 1998-99) $10,359,852.

Karmanos also admits that he made a mistake by giving Detroit Red Wings center Sergei Fedorov a six-year, $38 million offer sheet two seasons ago. The offer sheet, matched by Detroit, ended up paying Fedorov $26 million in the first year and escalated player salaries league-wide.

Karmanos claims that reports that he is going to reduce the team's payroll further as a prelude to selling the team are "absolutely untrue."

January 6: Canes left winger Gary Roberts, who previously went on record to say that center Keith Primeau has "hung this entire team out to dry," says he was disappointed by the crowd of 7,848 for Tuesday's loss to Ottawa. "It's disheartening to see us getting less than 8,000," Roberts tells the News and Observer. "Look at Nashville and Atlanta. They're in new hockey markets like we are. It's going to take those teams a few years to get a winning record, but they fill their buildings." Expansion teams Nashville and Atlanta each had to sell 12,000 season tickets to be admitted to the NHL. Carolina torches the slumping Bruins 7-3. Boston has won just three times in 18 games; Carolina has won four times in 13 games.

Al Morganti reports to ESPN that "Phoenix management and ownership has confirmed to Tkachuk that he was indeed offered to the 'Canes as part of a deal to get Keith Primeau....The issue got very messy when Carolina owner Peter Karmanos went public when the deal was nixed because of Tkachuk's 'stupid' contract, which basically doubles his pay for next season to over $8 million. Tkachuk spoke with general manager Bobby Smith, and on Tuesday morning, before the game against the Red Wings, club owner Richard Burke arrived in Detroit to address the team about the story....Sources familiar with the situation have also confirmed that the Coyotes are very likely to ask the NHL to consider sanctions against the Hurricanes for making the 'trade' public."

January 7: The Canes battle back from a 4-0 deficit to tie Ahaheim in Raleigh, before an announced crowd of 12,002. The four-goal rally was the first for the franchise since the Whalers tied Montreal 5-5 on March 19, 1980.

Canes owner Peter Karmanos claims the team is likely to lose money in its first season in Raleigh, whether or not they make the playoffs. "If we don't make the playoffs, we'll probably lose from $5 million to $15 million, depending on our attendance during the season," he tells the News and Observer. "If we do make the playoffs and go one round, then we'll cut that loss a little bit. If we go a couple of rounds in the playoffs or three rounds, then we'll probably break even -- even if we have light attendance numbers." Competing in a third playoff round means playing for the Eastern Conference championship. The franchise has won one playoff round since entering the NHL in 1979.

Attendance sidelight: The East Coast Hockey League's Greensboro Generals, which took up residence at the Greensboro Coliseum after it was vacated by the Hurricanes, have averaged 3,275 through 19 home games. Ticket prices range from $6 to $15.

January 9: Larry Brooks, in the New York Post: "Peter Karmanos, the NHL's Phineas T. Bluster himself, three days ago said that Gary Roberts, who publicly ripped Primeau last week, 'has more character in his little finger than Keith Primeau has totally.' So then who's the idiot who named Primeau Carolina captain? And as for Mr. Roberts, who said that Primeau had 'hung the entire team out to dry,' we guess there was no dirty laundry left out in Calgary when he bolted the Flames to make more money in Carolina."

Cecil Harris, in the News and Observer, makes a public plea. "Note to owner Peter Karmanos: Stop insulting Primeau. It's really unbecoming. If you don't like him, trade him. Get help for your team now, and let's move on."

After losing seven of nine, Carolina's record stretches to 4-2-1 in their last seven games as the New York Rangers visit the Canes and are shut out by goalie Arturs Irbe. The Rangers, who last year drew "reduced-capacity" sellouts of 11,059 in Greensboro, draw 12,174 in Raleigh.

Maybe the Canes' attendance woes are due to a conspiracy, too: A 4-3 loss to Philadelphia (attendance: 11,609) is blamed on referee Richard Trottier's officiating crew, who the Canes believe made three bad calls. A chance to break a 3-3 tie with 2:50 left was denied when Trottier waves off Canes rookie Tommy Westlund's apparent goal in the crease. Westlund appeared to jab a loose puck past Flyers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. "Trottier said I was interfering with Vanbiesbrouck's work," Westlund says. "But the puck was loose." A charging call against Westlund with 2:23 gave the man advantage to Philly. "Westlund has the right to go after the puck in the crease," coach Paul Maurice fumes. "Trottier just makes the calls up as he goes." Flyers rookie Simon Gagne's power-play goal on a scramble in front of the Canes' net with 1:19 left is the deciding goal. "Eric Lindros knocked my stick out of my hand just before the puck got to Gagne," goalie Arturs Irbe says. After the game, Canes left winger Gary Roberts skates beside Trottier as he leaves the ice; their brief exchange of words earns Roberts a 10-minute misconduct. It is not reported whether he was criticizing Trottier's work, Keith Primeau's character or the attendance.

January 14: Defenseman Paul Coffey scores his 389th goal against Southeast Division rival Florida. But the Panthers, down 2-1 after two periods, make the Canes pay with three goals in less than five minutes on their way to a 5-1 rout. Florida leads Carolina by 14 points in the division; the Panthers have two games in hand. Announced attendance: 15,037.

Attendance sidelight: that same night, the Atlanta Thrashers host their largest crowd ever by selling standing-room-only tickets at Philips Arena, resulting in attendance of 18,571 for a game against Philadelphia.

January 16: Sherry Ross, writing in the New York Daily News, weighs in on the controversy in Carolina. In a column entitled "Hot Air From Hurricanes," Ross takes aim at owner Peter Karmanos, who, she notes, "not content with merely running his own team into the ground...is managing to disrupt other franchises around the league. By shooting down a proposed Keith Tkachuk-for-Keith Primeau deal -- after it had been agreed to in principle by the Phoenix and Carolina GMs -- Karmanos helped send the Coyotes into a tailspin. And by publicly running down Rangers center Petr Nedved after GM Neil Smith made some inquiries about Primeau's availability, Karmanos put another dent into Nedved's dinged confidence....As for Karmanos, all he did was purchase and then move a Hartford Whalers team away from an area that was starved for a competitive team -- the Whale failed to make the playoffs for its last five seasons in the Nutmeg State --- and move them into a minor league building in North Carolina for two years. ...The rechristened Whalers failed to build a fan base in Greensboro, even after finally making the playoffs last year, since few of those fans would commute to the new rink in Raleigh. And when the Hurricanes failed to come to terms with Primeau, their top player and top drawing card, few fans in Raleigh cared to make the even shorter trip."

Bruce Garrioch, writing in the Ottawa Sun that same day, is just as pointed. "It's official," he writes. "Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos needs his head examined. Moving to Raleigh is the NHL's biggest mistake. As the schedule passes the halfway point, NHL officials will tell you that the Hurricanes have doubled attendance at the newly built Raleigh Sports and Entertainment Centre. Technically, that's true, but the reality is nobody in Carolina gives a damn about hockey and Karmanos is about to find that out in the next 3-5 years when his hockey team falls off the map.... 'I just don't think there was a whole lot of thought put into that move,' said an NHL executive. 'You go there and it's like walking into a graveyard. The mood is so stale and normally there's nobody in the building.' The Hurricanes moved to Carolina because Karmanos couldn't get a decent rent deal at his old home in Hartford. For two years, they played in the empty Greensboro Coliseum and maintained Raleigh would be different.... Karmanos never should have moved to Raleigh in the first place. Now, he's paying the price by losing money. Actually, it looks good on him."

January 18: a 3-2 loss to the Rangers in New York -- the Canes' fourth straight loss -- drops the Hurricanes four games below .500 (17-21-8) and to 11th place in the Southeast Division, 18 points behind Florida and four points behind a resurgent Washington.

January 20: The News and Observer reports that a mixup between the Hurricanes and North Carolina State has cost the team $475,000 -- and that the team is looking for reimbursement. NCSU, in addition to taking a cut of the revenue from luxury suite leases, planned to charge $40 a ticket for the leaseholders to sit in their suites at basketball games. But the Canes, who actually handled the leases, had told leaseholders that tickets to basketball and hockey games -- along with other events -- would be free. So Canes owner Peter Karmanos, in an effort to avoid further bad press, paid $475,000 himself to cover the cost of the basketball tickets. "All I did was compromise at that point in time for the benefit of all the parties involved," Karmanos tells the News and Observer. "I don't ever want the public to pay the price for a misunderstanding. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and say, 'You guys got me.' " The Centennial Authority's contract with the university says: "For each permanent seat in a Private Suite or Party Suite, and for each Basketball Event, N.C. State University agrees that it will sell one (1) Premium Ticket, at Face Value, to the lessee/licensee entitled to use said suite during said Basketball Event." But the Hurricanes didn't know about that agreement, and didn't discover the problem until just before the season began, "when NCSU delivered only half of the tickets and demanded full payment before it would provide the rest....So the National Hockey League team, which is struggling to fill seats at hockey games and turn a profit, is left holding the bag. For now, at least....Clyde Holt III, the Centennial Authority's lawyer, said the issue is between the Hurricanes and NCSU. He added that the Hurricanes should have investigated NCSU's agreement with the authority before marketing the suites."

January 20: Carolina's fifth straight loss is also their second loss to the Rangers in three days. The Rangers manage just 15 shots in the game to Carolina's 39 but come away with a 4-1 victory. Attendance: 11,057 -- ironically, almost the same as the "reduced-capacity" sellouts in Greensboro.

January 21: Rumors swirl that center Keith Primeau is about to be moved -- either to the Philadelphia Flyers for Rod Brind'Amour, or as part of a blockbuster three-way trade that would send the disgruntled center to the New York Rangers for Petr Nedved; the Rangers would then swap Primeau to Phoenix for Keith Tkachuk. ESPN's Al Morganti reports that sources with two of the teams say the three-way deal could happen by the end of the weekend. But by Sunday morning both deals appear to be dead. "We're told," writes Larry Brooks in the New York Post, "that when Carolina tentatively agreed to its portion of the deal, neither [owner Peter] Karmanos nor GM Jim Rutherford knew of the third part of the equation. When the Hurricanes learned that the Rangers would be sending Primeau west for Tkachuk, Karmanos stepped in...again. We're told now that Karmanos, who said he blocked that trade because of the 'stupid' $8.3M salary Tkachuk will earn next season, wants approval of Primeau's contract with either the Rangers or Coyotes as a condition of the trade. We're told that the owner, whose struggling franchise is an embarrassment to the NHL, wants to limit the amount Primeau, who has been seeking between $4.25-4.5M, will earn." "I think everybody recognizes that [Karmanos] has made this personal, and for whatever reason he's taking it out on me personally," Primeau says.

January 23: The Hurricanes end a five-month standoff with former captain Keith Primeau by trading him to the Philadelphia Flyers for Rod Brind'Amour. "I am excited that there's finally a resolution and am looking forward to playing in city like Philadelphia," Primeau says. He reports that he signed a five-year, $22.75 million contract with the Flyers. Carolina's first contract offer was five years for $20 million. He turned down various other offers for fewer years and less money over the past few months. Brind'Amour has two years remaining on his contract, which will pay him $3.5 million next season and then $4.2 million. Carolina also gets 21-year-old goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier and a second-round pick at the NHL entry draft in June. "It's best left unsaid," Primeau says when asked if he has anything to say to Canes owner Peter Karmanos.

"The murky parts of the deal," notes ESPN's Al Morganti, "involve Carolina owner Peter Karmanos, who had previously nixed a deal with Phoenix, and also got involved in squashing the deal with the Rangers, in part because he did not want Primeau to make any more than the $3.5 million Carolina had offered. One source close to the situation insists that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made a call to Carolina on Saturday just to make sure there was no chance of a case against the team or the league for restriction of trade in regard to allowing Primeau to work for another team. It would have been a long-shot case, but the NHL did not need the circus atmosphere which has surrounded the Hurricanes since Karmanos denied an initial trade with Phoenix, in which he stated that Tkachuk had a 'stupid contract,' and the Hurricanes would not take on that contract."

January 24: a 3-2 overtime win over Montréal draws the Canes to within three points of eighth-seeded Boston in the race for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The game is the debut of newly-acquired center Rod Brind'Amour, who is called for three minor penalties. The Raleigh arena "was barely one-third full in spite of an announced crowd of 8,552," notes the News and Observer.

A 20-inch snowfall in Raleigh leads North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt to declare a state of emergency. The Habs, who had planned to leave Raleigh following the game Monday night, are instead marooned in a Chapel Hill hotel for two days until finally managing to get a bus to Greensboro Thursday morning in hopes of catching a charter flight to Boston, where they are scheduled to play the Bruins that night.

The Phoenix Coyotes, who arrived in North Carolina early Monday evening, find that their game with the Canes on Tuesday must be postponed and, further, they are unable to leave for a game in Atlanta on Wednesday. The snow strands the Coyotes in their hotel -- only three miles from the arena -- for more than two days. "The hotel ran out of beer pretty early so that was that," former Canes and current Phoenix goaltender Sean Burke says. "We were bored, but it was good for us. We needed some rest. Maybe it came at a good time." The Canes-Coyotes game is rescheduled for Thursday afternoon. The 1 p.m. start time on a weekday is unusual, but with schools and most businesses still closed in the aftermath of the storm, the Canes draw an announced attendance of 9,675. Every ticket holder is encouraged to bring a friend for free, and fans receive complimentary tickets to upcoming games against Montréal and Washington. Parking at the arena is free and fans who don't wish to see the upcoming games are ushered into the arena without tickets. A 4-2 defeat leaves the Canes four games below .500.

Meanwhile, the hapless Habs, waiting for a chartered plane in Greensboro, cool their heels until it becomes clear that the plane will not arrive in time to get them to Boston for their 7 p.m. game with the Bruins. The game is postponed. The Canadiens don't depart Greensboro until shortly after 6 p.m., flying home aboard a Madison Square Garden jet, provided with assistance from NHL headquarters in New York. The Habs were unable to practice or work out Tuesday or Wednesday, and even then their injuries mounted. Two Canadiens, Patrick Poulin and Jim Cummins, are hurt when they fall during their walk back to the club's hotel after dinner. Cummins sustains an ankle injury and Poulin pulls a groin. Poulin, incidentally, was the Whalers' first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 1991 entry draft, and played in 91 games for Hartford.

January 28: Former Whaler Jeff O'Neill scores16 seconds into overtime to give the Canes a 4-3 victory over New Jersey. O'Neill's goal is the fastest overtime goal in franchise history, surpassing Brian Propp's goal 20 seconds into overtime for the Whalers against Ottawa on November 10, 1993. Announced attendance: 12,136.

January 30: The Canadiens get a measure of revenge for their days of captivity in North Carolina by beating the Canes 3-0 in Montréal. Team owner Peter Karmanos undergoes double coronary bypass surgery at a Las Vegas-area hospital; Karmanos, 56, became ill Saturday night while vacationing in Nevada. Karmanos will be out from four to six weeks while recuperating.

January 31: The Hurricanes promote general manager Jim Rutherford to the post of chief executive officer. Gale Force Holding's local legal counsel, Raleigh lawyer Jim Cain, is appointed president and chief operating officer. He will report to Rutherford and will run the business operations. The club also promotes owner Peter Karmanos' son Jason to vice president-assistant general manager. In his new role, Rutherford is the Canes' top executive in Raleigh, freeing Karmanos to devote more time to running Compuware, his software company in Detroit. Karmanos had assumed more of a day-to-day management role since ousting former chief operating officer Dean Jordan and two other club executives in November.

February, 2000

February 1: Southeast Division-leading Florida visits Raleigh. The Canes hold Panthers' sniper Pavel Bure pointless for only his 11th time in 43 games this season on their way to a 4-2 win. Announced attendance: 8,482.

It's official: it will now be cheaper to see the Hurricanes than to see the Hartford Wolf Pack, the American Hockey League team that set up shop in the Civic Center after the departure of the Whalers. For the second time since arriving in North Carolina (see April, 1998) , the Hurricanes announce that they will lower ticket prices. Canes tickets, which range from $17 to $99, will cost from $12 to $95 in 2000-01, an average drop of $3. Forty-five percent of the arena seats will be available to season-ticket buyers at a per-game cost of $30 or less.

(Wolf Pack single-game tickets start at $16 -- although they do top out at $18.50 rather than $95. A season ticket in the upper bowl in Hartford goes for $560. The cheapest Canes season-ticket package will now be priced at $504.)

The Canes also announce that the new price structure will go into effect for the first two rounds of the 2000 playoffs -- assuming Carolina makes it into the postseason.

A friendly reminder from your Webmaster: ticket prices for the Canes' first year in North Carolina ranged from $20 for a nosebleed seat in the rafters of the Greensboro Coliseum to what the press referred to as an "eye-popping" $100 for seats surrounding the ice. There was no discount for season tickets.

February 3: The Canes head into the All Star break with a game against Southeast Division rival Washington. The Caps extend their unbeaten streak (9-0-2) at home by downing the Canes 2-1, running their record since January 1 to 12-3-2, best in the NHL; the Canes have lost eight of their last 12. Recently-acquired center Rod Brind'Amour, in six games with Carolina, has one assist.

At the All Star break, the Canes hold the third spot in the Southeast Division with 50 points in 54 games (overall, 21-25-0-8). First-place Florida has 67 points in 52 games; second-place Washington has 59 in 51 games. The division winner is automatically seeded in the playoffs; last year Carolina, by virtue of their first-place finish, had the third seed. In the Eastern Conference, Carolina is tied for 10th place with Buffalo; Buffalo has one game in hand. Carolina's 50 points put them five points behind eighth-place Pittsburgh for the final playoff spot.

Carolina's 50 points would tie them with second-year franchise Nashville for 11th place in the Western Conference.

The Canes return from the All-Star break with two road wins -- over the Islanders February 8 and Tampa Bay on February 12. (Yes, that is your humble Webmaster snickering.) Goalie Eric Fichaud, whom the Hurricanes touted as their goalie of the future after he was acquired to replace the departed Trevor Kidd, is placed on waivers and claimed by Montréal February 11. The Canadiens will be the 24-year-old Fichaud's sixth NHL team. Mark Fitzpatrick is promoted from the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones.

The win in Tampa Bay gains the Canes two points in the standings but costs them forwards Gary Roberts and Rod Brind'Amour, who both leave the game in the first period with injuries. The 11th-seeded Canes, trailing eighth-place Pittsburgh by four points in the Eastern Conference, also get some help from other teams: the Penguins lose to the Islanders, ninth-seeded Buffalo loses in overtime at Philadelphia and 10th-seeded Boston loses at home to Florida.

The Canes close out February with a four-game home stand, hosting Montréal, Tampa Bay, Washington and Florida. Hoping to finish the string with a record of at least 3-1, the Canes's playoff hopes dim after a 4-2 loss to the Panthers and a tally of 1-2-1. The loss to Florida drops Carolina to 11th place in the East, one point behind Montréal, two behind ninth-place Buffalo and three behind the eighth-place New York Rangers. Attendance for the games: Montréal (L 0-3): 16,416. Tampa Bay (W 4-2): 14,896. Washington (T 1-1): 10,144. Florida: 10,494. It should be pointed out that free tickets to the Habs and Caps games were given out to fans who attended the January 25 game that was played after postponement due to a snow storm.

March, 2000

The Hurricanes begin the month of March with three road games -- in Phoenix (L 5-7), Los Angeles (W 5-2) and San Jose (W 5-2). The Phoenix game is notable in that Carolina overcomes a 6-1 deficit, almost tying the game by scoring four times in the third period after former Whaler Sean Burke leaves the game with a groin pull and is replaced in goal by Bob Essensa. It is a tough night for goalies; Canes netminder Arturs Irbe is yanked 13 minutes into the game after giving up three goals.

The Canes return home on March 8 to face Chicago, a 4-1 win. Attendance: 10,332. They drop a game to Boston on March 10 (attendance: 13,716) and beat Atlanta on March 12 (attendance: 11,513).

March 14: at the NHL trading deadline, the Canes send former Whaler center Kent Manderville to the Philadephia Flyers for tough right wing Sandy McCarthy. Manderville played 44 games for the Whalers in their final campaign in Hartford, tallying six goals, five assists and 18 penalty minutes. He has a goal and four assists in 56 games with the Hurricanes in 1999-2000. He averaged eight minutes on the fourth line and as a penalty killer. McCarthy's 111 penalty minutes with the Flyers are 25 more than any Canes player.

March 15: A 2-2 tie with the Edmonton Oilers moves the Hurricanes, with 70 points, into a tie with Pittsburgh, Montréal and the New York Rangers for the final two playoff spots in the tight Eastern Conference. Attendance: 9,789.

March 17: Murphy's Law? Right wing Joe Murphy, signed by Washington February 10 after the Boston Bruins waived him for insubordination, scores his fourth and fifth goals with the Capitals as Washington beats the Hurricanes 4-2. The Hurricanes, with a win, would have moved into the top eight in the Eastern Conference. The Caps, the NHL's hottest team, move six points ahead of second-place Florida in the Southeast Division.

(Full disclosure: Joe Murphy is one of your Webmaster's favorite players, even if he never played for the Whalers. Murphy was suspended and waived by the Bruins after a heated exchange with coach Pat Burns, an action termed "insubordination toward the coach" by Boston. The incident was just one more shock in a bizarre season for the Bruins, who have endured on- and off-ice troubles all year, culminating in Marty McSorley's stick-swinging attack on Canuck Donald Brashear February 21 and icon Ray Bourque's March request to be traded. Whalers fans watching the circus surrounding longtime rival Boston can only smile and think: "Karma's a bitch, huh?")

Speaking of karma...The Canes travel to Montréal for a crucial game. A win would lift them past the Canadiens to seventh place in the East. But after some controversial calls, the Habs come out on top, 3-2, vaulting past the Penguins and Rangers for the seventh seed. Conspiracy theorists will point to Sean Hill's apparent game-tying goal with 18:32 left in regulation, which was disallowed by referees Paul Stewart and Kerry Fraser. Habs' goalie Jeff Hackett's glove was inside the net when he caught the puck. But after the referees consulted with the goal judge for nearly three minutes, Hill's goal was nullified. The Hurricanes were incensed. However, it should be recorded that Montréal also had a goal disallowed. The Canadiens appeared to take a 2-1 lead in the second period when Sheldon Souray jammed a rebound past Arturs Irbe. Replays confirmed Souray had scored, but Stewart waved off the goal, saying he had already whistled the play over.

With wins by the Rangers and Sabres, Carolina drops to 11th place. Next up: back-to-back games with New Jersey and red-hot St. Louis...

March 21: The Hurricanes catch the Devils at the right time: slumping and with defenseman Scott Niedermayer starting a 10-game suspension for hitting Florida's Peter Worrell on the helmet with his stick. New Jersey manages just 22 shots and falls to the Canes 5-0. The win ends the Canes' three-game winless streak (0-2-1) and gives them 72 points, 10th in the Eastern Conference. The loss matched the Devils' worst of the season; New Jersey coach Robbie Ftorek is fired the next day.

March 22: Carolina hosts St. Louis. The teams skate to a 1-1 tie through two periods. But with 3:33 remaining in the third, Gary Roberts is called for interference. St. Louis defenseman Al MacInnis scores a power-play goal -- deflected off the stick of Carolina defenseman Marek Malik -- with 2:13 remaining, and the Blues beat the Canes, 2-1. Attendance: 13,014. Roberts, typically, has plenty to say. "We're in a playoff-type hockey game, clutching and grabbing at both ends, and we seem to get screwed," he tells the News and Observer. "You say too much and you get suspended. They can say what they want about the two-referee system: It's a joke. You got two guys out there competing with each other. In my opinion, there's no consistency to the game whatsoever."

Hurricanes management, too, is vocal on the subject of what they feel are unfair calls. "We're at the point of the season where we know we can expect two (screwings) a game," coach Paul Maurice tells CBS SportsLine. Maurice claims that the small crowds and lack of exposure make referees less vigilant when they come to Raleigh. "We're an easy mark," he says. "They know there won't be 21,000 people in the building and it's not going on national TV. What does it matter if he sleeps through it? And we've had more than a few of those. We just don't see that on the road." The team claims a berth in the playoffs would go a long way toward raising the profile of the game and help boost season ticket sales for next season. Of course, that's what they said last year...

March 26: A 4-1 win over the Islanders in front of 11,406. Carolina outshoots the Islanders 49-10; New York, which draws 14 penalties, had a season low for shots. "We played almost a whole half of a hockey game short-handed," New York coach Butch Goring says. Goring, however, unlike some coaches, blames his team, not the referees, for the Islander's penalty problems. "You can't high-stick people," he said. "Most of those calls were very warranted." The Islanders also get some help from Canes center Rod Brind'Amour who, in trying to to clear a centering pass, shoots the puck into his own net.

March 27: The Canes are shelled, 5-1, by Buffalo. The loss drops the Hurricanes three points behind the Sabres and
into 10th place.

Former Whaler and current Nashville Predators center Darren Turcotte retires, ending a 12-year NHL career. Turcotte, 32, had 195 goals and 216 assists in 635 games with the New York Rangers, Hartford, Winnipeg, San Jose, St. Louis and Nashville. He had a career-high 32 goals for New York in 1989-90, and represented the Rangers in the 1991 NHL All-Star Game.

March 29: Facing playoff elimination with just six games to go, the Canes thank the scheduling gods for a mid-week matchup with the Nashville Predators and a home-and-home season-ending weekend with the Atlanta Thrashers. Also on the slate: the inconsistent Penguins and the chaotic Flyers. The final campaign starts promisingly, with a 3-1 win over Nashville and a 3-1 upset in Buffalo. With the win over the Sabres, the Hurricanes jump ahead of Buffalo in the standings and catch the idle Canadiens in the race for the conference's final playoff berth.

April, 2000

The Canes' desperation bid to make the playoffs gets a boost April 2 with a 1-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers. But a 2-3 loss to Pittsburgh on April 3 makes a dent in their drive. A win would have moved the Canes into seventh place in the East; instead, they fall to ninth place, one point behind Buffalo -- which beats Toronto 3-2 -- and four points behind Pittsburgh. The loss means the Canes no longer control their own playoff chances; a combination of wins by Pittsburgh and Buffalo, who each hold a game in hand over Carolina, could eliminate the Canes before their season-ending series with Atlanta. Behind them in the standings, the Canadiens are still threatening to move up. "The best points total Carolina can achieve is 84," notes Cecil Harris in the News and Observer, "with wins Saturday and Sunday against Atlanta. Hence, if Pittsburgh gets a win or a tie against the Maple Leafs at Toronto tonight, and Buffalo defeats the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Friday, the Canes would be out of the playoff race."

Stan Fischler on Fox Sports: "The Hurricanes stayed in the hunt, yet they always seem on the cusp of failure. And with uncertain Arturs Irbe defended by Paul Coffey, who would dare forecast a playoff berth?...Carolina closes the campaign with two games against doormat Atlanta. It should assure four points but, somehow, the Canes will collapse."

The nightmare scenario begins to unfold for the Hurricanes. A 3-0 blanking of the Rangers on April 5 vaults Montréal over the Canes and into a tie with Buffalo for the eighth playoff spot. And on April 6, with the Canes idle, the Habs post a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay while Buffalo wallops the Devils 5-0 in New Jersey. The wins leave the Sabres and Canadiens tied for the final playoff berth with 83 points; Carolina has 80 with just two games left to play. A win by either Buffalo, which has two games to play, or Montréal, with one game left, will eliminate Carolina from post-season play. Buffalo faces Pittsburgh on April 7, and speculation is that the Penguins, having clinched a playoff spot earlier in the week, will rest injured superstar Jaromir Jagr. A win by Buffalo will leave the Canes' final two games against Atlanta meaningless.

Help from the scheduling gods arrives in the form of a 2-1 Pittsburgh overtime win over Buffalo on April 7, which leaves the Sabres one point shy of eliminating the Canes. Jaromir Jagr scores a breakaway goal 13 seconds into overtime and the Penguins clinch seventh place in the East, but the eighth and final spot is still open to Buffalo, Carolina and Montréal.

On April 8, the Canes travel to Atlanta to face the expansion Thrashers, who come to the contest with a record of 1-16-2 in their last 19 home games (yet still draw a crowd of 18,612). The Canes manage a 4-3 win which, combined with Montréal's 3-1 loss to Ottawa that night, keeps them in the hunt for the last playoff berth. The Canadiens are eliminated from the race, but Carolina must not only win their final game against Atlanta on April 9, they must hope that Buffalo manages neither a tie nor a win in Washington. A single point from a regulation tie will clinch the eighth seed for the Sabres.

And that is, of course, how it happens. With 15:14 left in the second period, before a non-sellout crowd of 14,284 and with the Canes leading the Thrashers 2-0, word leaks out that Buffalo and Washington have tied at the end of regulation play, and the point awarded to Buffalo officially eliminates Carolina from the playoffs. The Hurricanes won five of their final six during their final campaign against the Sabres and Canadiens; the loss is the Thrashers' 61st of their inaugural season -- tying for the fourth worst single-season mark in NHL history. Atlanta was 3-32-1 over its final 36 games.

The Canes finish the 1999-2000 season at 37-35-10-0, having never won more than three consecutive games. Ron Francis, who gets his 50th assist on Paul Coffey's first-period goal, will miss the playoffs for the first time since he played for Hartford in 1984-85. Center Rod Brind'Amour, who arrived in Carolina in the trade for Keith Primeau, had four goals, 10 assists and was a minus-12 in 33 games for the Canes. The Canes had one announced sellout in their inaugural season in Raleigh, and averaged an announced attendance of 12,400 -- second-worst in the NHL.

April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / June-September 1999 / October-December, 1999 / May, 2000-present

How's It Goin', Pete? // Whalers Warehouse // The Story So Far // John's Home Page

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