Don't blow it: if the Hurricanes don't win the `Southleast' division, they very well could miss the playoffs. Have they got what it takes to play in the postseason?

Sporting News, The, March 11, 2002 by Bob Sutton

As the leading scorer on an NHL team that showed up on the playoff scene a year ago, Hurricanes winger Jeff O'Neill figured everything was falling into place. His career was blossoming, and hockey finally was showing signs of catching on in North Carolina.

But after the first-round series against the Devils ended, O'Neill and his teammates faced a long summer. Likely a superstar in a hockey-crazed city, O'Neill instead slipped back into anonymity around Raleigh, N.C.

"Not a lot of people bother you down here," O'Neill says.

That might change if the Hurricanes maintain their grip on the top spot in the Southeast Division. After relative playoff success last year--the Hurricanes pushed the defending Stanley Cup champion Devils the distance before bowing out in seven games--expectations have risen, swirling at a whirlwind clip: from the preseason, when general manager Jim Rutherford proclaimed the team was equipped to improve; to the Olympic break, when anything short of a divisional title would be, to borrow hurricane-related terminology, a Category 5 collapse.

Now comes the important part: holding on.

"In my heart, I believe our best hockey is still ahead of us," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice says. "We're playing with grit."

If they win the "Southleast" division, the Hurricanes will be guaranteed at least the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, regardless of their point total, and the home-ice advantage that comes with it.

Looking at the overall standings, some question whether they deserve it. If the playoffs had started March 3, the Hurricanes would have had home-ice advantage in a series against the Islanders, who had two more points and were 10 games over .500. Further, the Hurricanes also would be the only division winner to have allowed more goals than it had scored. And because they have an inordinate number of ties, the Hurricanes conceivably would have sneaked into the playoffs with a record dangerously close to .500.

None of that matters to the players. They don't set the rules; they just play by them.

"We are still practicing playoff hockey," second-year center Josef Vasicek says.

For those reasons, the Hurricanes rarely are mentioned in the same breath as the conference's elite teams.

"It's frustrating because we can play with some teams that have all the guns," veteran center Rod Brind'Amour says. "Sometimes it's a little thing here and a little thing there."

Respect is no small thing, especially when it comes to fostering interest in a relatively new market. It's still college basketball and NASCAR country. The Hurricanes' playoff seed, be it No. 3 or No. 8, doesn't quite hold the intrigue for the people of the Carolinas as does an NCAA bracket or who has the pole position.

The good news is that fan interest is picking up: The Hurricanes reached a goal of 12,000 season-ticket commitments last summer. The bad news is there are nights when a few thousand less fans than that are in the seats.

"Since we've moved into our building, the fans have come out every year," O'Neill says. "Since the playoffs last year, it has been just tremendous.... The thing is, you've got to put a winner on the ice before they change into hockey fans."

With the Capitals threatening their annual surge--they were within hailing distance last week--the Hurricanes will have winning on their minds as they head toward April.

Because the Hurricanes have become rather stationary of late--a 3-4-3-0 streak gathered before and after the Olympic break--it seems everyone is waiting for Capital punishment. Compounded by an eight-game road stretch that sandwiched the Olympic break, the Hurricanes have been swirling in place.

"We want to teach our young players to expect more," Maurice says. "This is the proper learning curve for all these people."

The Hurricanes have a quality roster to get the job done, even though it's not filled with all-stars. Veteran center Ron Francis is the standout and leading scorer, passing a milestone about as often as former Hurricanes defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh had a pass intercepted.

The lineup blends other dependable veterans, such as Brind'Amour and defenseman Glen Wesley, with the youthful flavor of O'Neill, left winger Bates Battaglia and defenseman David Tanabe. Minus an abundance of flash--speedy winger Sami Kapanen might be the exception to that--there's pride in the substance.

Carolina has gained further respect this season with goaltenders Arturs Irbe and Tom Barrasso, both Olympians, sharing the workload. The fact that this time Irbe has help could complicate matters for Maurice. Irbe has begun to get more starts, which, because Maurice wants to go with one goalie down the stretch, indicates Irbe could be the man.

It's just another challenge Maurice has had to deal with.

"We've learned, and we've had some success with it, being resilient," Maurice says. "We're pretty good at frustrating other teams."

Frustrating is one way to describe Ozolinsh's play before he was dealt in late January to Florida in exchange for defenseman Bret Hedican and center Kevyn Adams. It was a popular move because fan resentment had been growing toward Ozolinsh, whose defensive lapses overshadowed his good deeds.