North Raleigh Today

The Carolina Hurricanes have secured a place in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking their seventh consecutive appearance. Despite the challenges faced during the regular season, the achievement comes as no surprise, as the team had set high expectations following a successful track record under Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour.

Brind'Amour acknowledged the need to move beyond simply making it to the playoffs. "There’s still that carrot out there for me to help this organization get to where we need to and help these guys that are in there that all want to do it, too," he said.

The Hurricanes have experienced various transformations over the years. They began the season strong, defying doubts that arose from the loss of key players Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Teuvo Teravainen, and Jake Guentzel. A stellar start of 16-5-1 seemed to dispel those concerns, supported by Martin Necas's scoring prowess, though later adjustments were needed after Necas and Jack Drury were traded.

The midseason period tested the team due to injuries and a struggling power play, affecting their performance. However, a March resurgence secured their playoff position. Captain Jordan Staal reflected, "There’s been a lot more, or maybe a few, extra up and downs throughout the year that added a little more adversity in some situations."

Despite changes to the roster, core leadership remains intact with players like Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinook, and Jaccob Slavin. Aho remarked, "A lot has happened, obviously. We lost a lot of players from last year and even mid-season we’ve had big changes. People probably counted us out, right? Here we are."

Martinook emphasized the belief in the team: “Results. When you’re winning games, you believe you’re a good team. Once you’ve kind of set the standard that you’re a playoff team, you don’t ever want to go back to not being a playoff team."

In terms of coaching achievements, Brind'Amour stands out as the fastest coach in NHL history to reach 300 regular season wins, with the team's current record being 324-154-48 under his guidance.

As the Hurricanes prepare for the playoffs starting April 19, they face new challenges with equal footing among competitors. Staal reflected on the team's approach: "Like Roddy always says, you just have to get in. It doesn’t matter where or how you got in, because there are going to be 16 teams that didn’t get in and they’ll wish they were in."

Aho and Staal remain optimistic about the team's potential. Aho stated, "Like I’ve said in past years, we have that hunger in us. Obviously, there are no guarantees." Meanwhile, Staal highlighted their strengths: "You’d see the same team win every year if it was easy, but it’s not. To put it all together, a lot has to click, but we have the players, the system and the coach to do it."

The Hurricanes' journey continues, driven by past experiences and the desire to achieve the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.