The perfect storm: listen up NHL execs, spending a fortune is one way to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, but, as the Hurricanes proved last June, there are other routes to success - Carolina Hurricanes hockey team

Hockey Digest, Dec, 2002 by John Kreiser

"If you take a look at those players, they all performed their best at the critical time," Maurice says of his re-upped troops. "They deserved what they got. But above all else, players want to play on our team because they have a chance to win."

Veteran spare parts may not fare so well. The Hurricanes let forward Martin Gelinas go and used the $1.1 million he earned last season to help pay for resigning O'Neill and Kapanen.

SHOP THE BARGAIN BASEMENT SMARTLY

Goaltender Arturs Irbe was a playoff hero--and a reclamation project. The Hurricanes got him as a free agent when no one wanted him. He made only about 30% of what Detroit paid Dominik Hasek, but was every bit as good as "the Dominator" over the course of the playoffs. Backup goaltender Kevin Weekes was a throwaway in a late-season deal with Tampa Bay--and all he did was relieve Irbe and win the first-round series with New Jersey.

USE ALL OF THE DRAFT, NOT JUST THE FIRST ROUND

Any team that's going to compete on a high level with a low budget has to get a rich harvest out of the draft. That means landing players in the lower rounds who are ready to contribute when they come to the big club.

The Hurricanes get more mileage out of the draft after the first round than just about anyone. Calder Trophy finalist Eric Cole and defenseman Marek Malik were third-round picks, while Kapanen, center Josef Vasicek, defenseman Niclas Wallin, and part-time left wing Tommy Westlund were all fourth-rounders. Another defenseman, Jaroslav Svoboda, was an eighth-round pick. Except for Kapanen, the most accomplished of the group, all are making between $450,000 and $900,000 and were key playoff contributors.

Like most organizations, the Hurricanes say they want to build from within. Unlike many other teams, they're willing to live with their kids and eschew big-money free agents.

"Unless you're talking about a high-end [free agent], you're going to take ice time away from one of your young guys who may not be very far off and just may not have the experience," Maurice says. "The only way for him to get that is to play. We can't take ice time away from those guys."

LOWER PAYROLLS MAKE HAVING SMART MANAGEMENT MANDATORY

Rutherford and Maurice have been a team dating to 1996, before the move from Hartford. Each has taken his share of lumps in the media. But Karmanos never wavered in his support of either man, and was rewarded with last spring's trip to the Finals--a run that finally put the Hurricanes on the sports map in an area where NASCAR and NCAA basketball reign supreme. He wasted little time signing both to new contracts, assuring that there will be continuity in the front office and behind the bench.

Good management also means sticking to your guns. When David Tanabe's contract was up this summer, Rutherford offered a $550,000 contract that the defenseman's agent, Brian Lawton, called "preposterous." But Rutherford wouldn't back down, and Tanabe eventually signed for what Rutherford offered--deciding that after having a poor season and missing most of the playoffs with a broken wrist, he was better off playing at the team's price than sitting home and waiting for the team to meet his.