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Disappointed Hurricanes Praise Powerful Red Wings - June 28, 2002 - Vol. 55, Issue 38 - Mark Brender
The Carolina Hurricanes entered the playoffs knowing they could only survive by playing the ultimate team game. They would live or die by a defense-first, pounce-on-the-breaks strategy that required discipline, strong goaltending and above all else, patience.
They did it well enough to make it through New Jersey, Montreal and Toronto, which was a lot farther than anybody in the hockey world would have dared predict two months ago.
But when they faced Detroit, Carolina ran into a team of superstars that ended up beating the Canes at their own game. Detroit didn’t so much as out score Carolina as out-stop them. In fact, the Wings won a playoff series without scoring more than three goals in any game for the first time since 1949.
It was suggested to Carolina coach Paul Maurice that’s even more reason to be proud of his troops, given his team never allowed Detroit’s high-octane offense to get fully untracked. After Game 5 Maurice wasn’t biting and he saw no reason to congratulate his players for what they accomplished. Not yet. Maybe not all summer.
“We got here believing we would win, not that we could win or we might,” Maurice said. “I certainly didn’t do anything to try to make them feel better. I think they should feel as bad as they absolutely can.”
Could the Canes realistically have done anything more? Some of them, perhaps. You can bet it’ll be the longest short summer in the life of left winger Sami Kapanen, Carolina’s second-leading scorer in the regular season who managed just one goal in 23 playoff games. Goalie Arturs Irbe, on the other hand, played probably the best stretch of hockey of his life.
Irbe finished the playoffs with a 1.67 goals against average and .938 save percentage and duelled Dominik Hasek stop for stop, all the while looking poised and in control.
“Arturs did what he did all season for us,” said Maurice, although Irbe’s .902 regular season save percentage indicates otherwise.
“He quietly stopped a lot of pucks that he probably shouldn’t have.”
Carolina captain Ron Francis was dismayed with the result, but gave Detroit their due.
“We played them hard,” he said. “If we had a couple of breaks early in the series, it may have been a different outcome. But they are a great team. They have got a ton of skill and a lot of playoff experience and you just don’t rattle them.”