Hurricanes Win Stanley Cup

The Carolina Hurricanes win their first ever Stanley Cup with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in game 7 of the series.  After allowing the Oilers some hope watching them even up the series after leading 3 games to 1, the Hurricanes played with resolve on Monday night and left no doubt that they were going to emerge victorious. 

Rookie goalie Cam Ward stopped just about evey shot the Oilers had to offer giving up just one goal early in the 3rd period facing 23 shots.  He also was the reciepient of the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff MVP.  The real story for game 7 for Carolina outside of the rookies play was  the fantastic defensive play by Carolina in shutting down the Oilers attack and in turring offensive themselves gettign the first two goals of the game.  Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle lit the lamp in the first and second period respectively.

The Hurricanes were born in the old World Hockey Association as the Boston-based New England Whalers, and entered the NHL in 1979 playing out of Hartford. When their demands for a new arena were turned aside, the team headed south in 1997.

The first two years in Carolina were a dismal experience, the team forced to play 80 miles away in Greensboro while a new arena was built in Raleigh. So few fans turned up in the beginning that the upper deck was curtained off.

Now, the Hurricanes are champions, capitalizing on their second trip to the finals. Four years ago, they were beaten in five games by Detroit.

The Oilers have nothing to be ashamed of, becoming the first eighth-seeded team to make the finals under the current format. But they failed to bring Canada its first champion since Montreal in 1993, or Edmonton its first Cup since 1990, when the remnants of the Gretzky-Messier-Coffey-Fuhr dynasty won the last of its five titles in seven years.

Pisani came through again, scoring his playoff-leading 14th goal by crashing the net to knock in a rebound at 1:03 of the third. Markkanen had another strong game with 24 saves, several of them dazzling.

It wasn't enough.

"It's just a matter of a few bounces and that's the difference today," Markkanen said. "They were just a little bit better."

The series looked as if it would be a rout when Carolina rallied from a three-goal deficit to win Game 1 and blew out the Oilers 5-0 in Game 2. The Oilers also had to cope with the loss of playoff star Dwayne Roloson, who had played every minute of the postseason in goal until he went out with a knee injury in the opener.

But, led by Markkanen and Pisani, the Oilers rebounded from a 3-1 deficit. They pulled out an overtime win in Carolina -- with the Cup somewhere in the bowels of the RBC Center, waiting to be handed out if the Hurricanes won.

Edmonton returned home and blew out Carolina 4-0 in Game 6.

That's where the comeback ended. Brind'Amour made sure of that, urging on his teammates to finish what they started.

In a year that was supposed to redefine Hockey after a lockout season, Carolina lifts the cup and are the Stanley Cup champions.  Game 7 was a true battle with the Hurricanes getting back to what got them there and battled to get their hands on the ultimate prize in their sport.