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

A LITTLE GOOD FORTUNE DOESN'T HURT, EITHER

For all the euphoria over the franchise's best postseason ever, don't forget that the Canes lived on a miraculous run of overtime victories. Weekes' otherworldly save against John Madden in OT gave them a chance to win Game 5 in the opening round, and a foolish bench penalty by Montreal coach Michel Therrien in Game 4 triggered an almost-surreal third-period comeback and overtime victory in the second round. Three of the Hurricanes' four wins in the Eastern finals against Toronto came in overtime (two after Carolina blew a lead in the closing seconds of regulation time), and so did their lone victory in the Finals.

The trip to the Finals has been rewarding for the franchise. The Hurricanes signed a new TV deal and are closing in on a long-sought naming-rights deal for the Entertainment and Sports Arena that should yield millions over the next few years. Ticket sales also got a booster shot. Still, no one is going to mistake the Canes' revenue flow for that of the Red Wings or Rangers. The Hurricanes Proved it's possible to build a Stanley Cup Finalist on a restricted budget. Now they have to prove something else--that they can do it again.