How Many Stanley Cups Have The Carolina Hurricanes Won?

How Many Stanley Cups Have The Carolina Hurricanes Won?

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The NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes are based in Raleigh, North Carolina and are members of the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division. The franchise’s history can be traced back to 1972 when the team entered the World Hockey Association (WHA) as the New England Whalers. The Whalers captured the league championship in their first season by winning the Avco Cup in 1972/73. The team also reached the Cup Final in 1977/78 but were beaten by the Winnipeg Jets.

The franchise was renamed the Hartford Whalers in 1979 when it merged into the NHL with several other WHA teams. The club then moved to Raleigh in 1997 and was renamed the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes won their first and only Stanley Cup in 2005/06 when they downed the Edmonton Oilers in the full seven games. The Hurricanes won game seven at home by a score of 3-1 with the likes of Eric Staal, Cory Stillman, Rod Brind’Amour, and goaltender Cam Ward leading the way.

Stanley Cup Finals 2006: Carolina Hurricanes vs Edmonton Oilers

The Hurricanes entered the playoffs as the Southeast Division Champions with a record of 52-22-8 for 112 points and were seeded second in the Eastern Conference. They beat the seventh-seeded Montreal Canadiens in six games in the first round and then took care of the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the second series. Carolina then edged the fourth-seeded Buffalo Sabres in seven games to take the Eastern Conference Final.

The Hurricanes met the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, with Edmonton finishing the season as the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference with a record of 41-28-13 for 95 points. The Oilers won their conference by beating the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in six games in the first round, the fifth-seeded San Jose Sharks in six games in the second round and the sixth-seeded Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Western Conference Final.

In the Final, the Hurricanes and Oilers were meeting in the playoffs for the very first time and the two teams didn’t square off against each other during the 2005/06 regular season. It was the second Final appearance for Carolina and the seventh for Edmonton. It was also the first time a Stanley Cup Final featured two former WHA franchises and the first time the Final was contested by teams which had both failed to make the the playoffs in the previous season. Both teams would also miss the playoffs the following campaign. In addition, the Oilers were the first-ever eighth-seeded playoff team to reach a Stanley Cup Final.

In the first game, Carolina erased a three-goal deficit to come out on top 5-4 at home after Ray Whitney scored a pair of third-period goals and Rod Brind’Amour snapped a 4-4 tie with just 32 seconds remaining in regulation time. The Oilers’ Chris Pronger scored the very first penalty-shot goal in the history of the Stanley Cup Final during the game and Edmonton netminder Dwayne Roloson suffered a series-ending injury.

Jussi Markkanen took over in net for the Oilers in the second game but his team was hammered 5-0
with five different Hurricanes’ players scoring a goal. The Oilers bounced back with a 2-1 win at home in game three as Ryan Smyth scored the game-winner with 2:15 remaining in the game. The Hurricanes rebounded with a 2-1 come-from-behind win in game four with Mark Recchi burying the game-winner. Carolina led 3-1 in the series after four games and had killed 24 of 25 Oilers’ power plays.

Edmonton took game five 4-3 in overtime with Fernando Pisani tallying the winner with the first-ever shorthanded overtime goal in Stanley Cup Final history while Hurricanes’ forward Doug Weight suffered a series-ending injury. The Oilers shut the Hurricanes out 4-0 in Edmonton in game six thanks to three power play goals and this meant Carolina had failed to win the series despite having two chances to do so.

It was third-time lucky though as they took game seven 3-1. Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle put them ahead 2-0 before Edmonton cut the lead in half early in the third period. The Oilers pulled their goalie with just over a minute to go in regulation time and Justin Williams sewed up the series and Stanley Cup with an empty-netter.

Carolina became the third former WHA franchise to lift the Stanley Cup after Edmonton and the Quebec Nordiques, who won the trophy as the Colorado Avalanche. It was also the first time a major pro team from North Carolina had won a league championship.

Who led the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2005/06 Stanley Cup?

Eric Staal led the team and the league in playoff scoring in their Cup-winning season with 9 goals and 19 assists for 28 points in 25 games. Cory Stillman was second in both categories with 9 goals and 17 assists for 26 points in 25 games while Rod Brind’Amour finished seventh in the league with 18 points from 6 goals and 12 assists. The top 10 was rounded out by two more Hurricanes’ players as Justin Williams notched 7 goals and 11 helpers for 18 points in 25 outings and Matt Cullen racked up 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points, also in 25 contests.

As far as goaltending was concerned. Cam Talbot finished sixth in the league on the playoffs with a 2.14 goals-against average and placed second in save percentage at 92.0. He also posted two shutouts and compiled a win-loss record of 15-8 in 23 games. Cam Ward became the first rookie netminder to win a Final series since Patrick Roy achieved the feat in 1986 with the Montreal Canadiens and was the first rookie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable playoff performer since fellow goalie Ron Hextall did it in 1987.

In addition, the victory gave Cory Stillman two straight Stanley Cup rings as he won the trophy the previous season as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stillman became the first player to win the Cup back-to-back with different clubs since Claude Lemieux achieved the task with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. It was the second Stanley Cup win for Mark Recchi as he had won his first title 15 years earlier with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990/91. Recchi would then retire as a Stanley Cup Champion with the Boston Bruins in 2011 after winning his third Cup.

Check out every goal in the 2005/06 Stanley Cup Final series win by Carolina here on YouTube.

How Many Times Have the Carolina Hurricanes Appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals?

The Hurricanes have appeared in just two Stanley Cup Finals as of the 2021/22 season. They were beaten by the Detroit Red Wings in five games in 2001/02 and then edged the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in 2005/06.

See how many Stanley Cups each team has won below:

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