2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes season was the franchise's 37th season, 30th season in the National Hockey League and 11th as the Hurricanes.

2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes
Division	2nd Southeast
Conference	6th Eastern
2008–09 record	45–30–7
Home record	26–14–1
Road record	19–16–6
Goals for	239
Goals against	226
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Paul Maurice
Captain	Rod Brind'Amour
Alternate captains	Eric Staal Ray Whitney
Arena	RBC Center
Average attendance	Average: 15,573 (83.4%) Total: 679,488
Team leaders
Goals	Eric Staal (40)
Assists	Ray Whitney (53)
Points	Ray Whitney (77)
Penalty minutes	Tuomo Ruutu (79)
Plus/minus	Eric Staal (15)
Wins	Cam Ward (39)
Goals against average	Cam Ward (2.44)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

This was the last season the Hurricanes made the playoffs until 2019.

Off-season

• June 5: After 20 seasons in the NHL and 13 as one of the most popular faces of the Hurricanes' franchise, Glen Wesley announced his retirement.^{[citation needed]}
• September 11: The club announced that they have signed Eric Staal to a seven-year contract extension worth US$57.75 million.^[1]

Regular season

• November 7: Peter Laviolette made NHL history by becoming the winningest American-born NHL coach with his 240th victory, as Carolina defeated the Ottawa Senators, 2–1.^[2]
• December 2: Peter Laviolette was fired as the head coach and Paul Maurice was rehired in his place. Ron Francis became the team's associate head coach.^[3]

The Hurricanes finished the regular season having tied the Montreal Canadiens for the most power-play opportunities, with 374.^[4]

Divisional standings

Southeast Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – Washington Capitals	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
2	Carolina Hurricanes	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
4	Atlanta Thrashers	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	24	40	18	210	279	66

2 points for a win, 1 for an OT or shootout loss, 0 for a loss in regulation

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	NE	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
3	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
5	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
6	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
7	New York Rangers	AT	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
8.5
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

2008–09 Game Log
Preseason: 3–3–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 1–2–0) Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts September 24 Washington 4 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 11,431 0-1-0 0 September 25 Hurricanes 2 – 5 Washington Manzato 13,266 0-2-0 0 September 27 Hurricanes 2 – 4 Philadelphia Ward 17,700 0-3-0 0 September 28 Philadelphia 0 – 1 Hurricanes Leighton 11,431 1-3-0 2 October 2 Hurricanes 4 – 2 Nashville Ward 12,903 2-3-0 4 October 5 Nashville 0 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 11,313 3-3-0 4
October: 5–2–2 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 4–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 10 Florida 4 – 6 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 1-0-0 2 2 October 11 Hurricanes 4 – 3 Lightning OT Leighton 18,552 2-0-0 4 3 October 13 Detroit 3 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 2-1-0 4 4 October 17 Hurricanes 3 – 4 Los Angeles OT Ward 14,194 2-1-1 5 5 October 19 Hurricanes 3 – 1 Anaheim Leighton 16,847 3-1-1 7 6 October 23 Hurricanes 1 – 4 Pittsburgh Ward 17,132 3-2-1 7 7 October 25 Hurricanes 4 – 3 NY Islanders Ward 11,219 4-2-1 9 8 October 28 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Montreal SO Ward 21,273 4-2-2 10 9 October 30 Hurricanes 1 – 0 St. Louis Ward 17,860 5-2-2 12
November: 7–9–0 (Home: 5–6–0; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 10 November 1 Edmonton 3 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 15,016 5-3-2 12 11 November 2 Toronto 4 – 6 Hurricanes Leighton 15,635 6-3-2 14 12 November 4 Hurricanes 5 – 4 Toronto OT Ward 19,266 7-3-2 16 13 November 6 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Capitals Ward 15,391 7-4-2 16 14 November 7 Ottawa 1 – 2 Hurricanes Leighton 15,206 8-4-2 18 15 November 9 Atlanta 5 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 12,398 8-5-2 18 16 November 12 Washington 5 – 1 Hurricanes Leighton 14,261 8-6-2 18 17 November 14 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Atlanta Ward 16,128 8-7-2 18 18 November 16 Tampa Bay 2 – 3 Hurricanes SO Ward 13,781 9-7-2 20 19 November 18 Montreal 1 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 12,164 10-7-2 22 20 November 21 Coyotes 2 – 5 Hurricanes Ward 14,848 11-7-2 24 21 November 23 Nashville 5 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 13,042 11-8-2 24 22 November 24 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Panthers Leighton 11,117 11-9-2 24 23 November 26 Philadelphia 3 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 15,057 11-10-2 24 24 November 28 Hurricanes 3 – 2 Philadelphia OT Ward 19,587 12-10-2 26 25 November 30 Anaheim 4 – 1 Hurricanes Leighton 14,191 12-11-2 26
December: 6–4–3 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 26 December 4 Penguins 5 – 2 Hurricanes Leighton 14,559 12-12-2 26 27 December 6 Philadelphia 2 – 1 Hurricanes OT Leighton 14,061 12-12-3 27 28 December 7 Washington 1 – 3 Hurricanes Leighton 15,308 13-12-3 29 29 December 11 Hurricanes 5 – 6 Philadelphia SO Leighton 19,057 13-12-4 30 30 December 13 Hurricanes 2 – 3 NY Rangers SO Ward 18,200 13-12-5 31 31 December 16 Montreal 2 – 3 Hurricanes Ward 16,434 14-12-5 33 32 December 18 Florida 1 – 2 Hurricanes OT Ward 14,533 15-12-5 35 33 December 20 Hurricanes 2 – 4 Boston Ward 17,565 15-13-5 35 34 December 21 Hurricanes 3 – 2 Montreal OT Ward 21,273 16-13-5 37 35 December 23 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Minnesota Leighton 18,568 16-14-5 37 36 December 26 Hurricanes 5 – 4 Atlanta Ward 16,012 17-14-5 39 37 December 27 Boston 4 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 16,705 17-15-5 39 38 December 31 Atlanta 1 – 3 Hurricanes Ward 18,137 18-15-5 41
January: 7–6–0 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 3–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 39 January 2 St. Louis 1 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 17,092 19-15-5 43 40 January 3 Hurricanes 3 – 2 Tampa Bay Ward 15,873 20-15-5 45 41 January 6 New Jersey 2 – 3 Hurricanes Ward 15,399 21-15-5 47 42 January 8 Hurricanes 2 – 4 Florida Ward 10,323 21-16-5 47 43 January 10 Hurricanes 1 – 5 Boston Ward 17,565 21-17-5 47 44 January 13 Hurricanes 1 – 5 Ottawa Ward 18,512 21-18-5 47 45 January 15 Toronto 6 – 4 Hurricanes Ward 18,037 21-19-5 47 46 January 17 Hurricanes 1 – 3 Buffalo Ward 18,690 21-20-5 47 47 January 19 Hurricanes 2 – 0 Toronto Ward 19,018 22-20-5 49 48 January 20 Hurricanes 2 – 1 Pittsburgh Ward 16,972 23-20-5 51 49 January 27 Hurricanes 2 – 3 NY Rangers Ward 18,200 23-21-5 51 50 January 29 Tampa Bay 2 – 3 Hurricanes Ward 16,405 24-21-5 53 51 January 31 Atlanta 0 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 16,215 25-21-5 55
February: 7–6–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 4–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 52 February 3 Hurricanes 3 – 4 Vancouver Ward 18,630 25-22-5 55 53 February 5 Hurricanes 4 – 3 San Jose SO Leighton 17,496 26-22-5 57 54 February 7 Hurricanes 7 – 2 Phoenix Ward 15,229 27-22-5 59 55 February 12 Florida 5 – 0 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 27-23-5 59 56 February 14 Columbus 5 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 27-24-5 59 57 February 15 Hurricanes 3 – 0 Buffalo Ward 18,690 28-24-5 61 58 February 17 Boston 5 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 28-25-5 61 59 February 19 Hurricanes 6 – 2 NY Islanders Ward 11,802 29-25-5 63 60 February 20 Tampa Bay 1 – 4 Hurricanes Ward 17,711 30-25-5 65 61 February 22 Colorado 2 – 5 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 31-25-5 67 62 February 24 Hurricanes 2 – 4 Ottawa Ward 16,541 31-26-5 67 63 February 26 Buffalo 1 – 2 Hurricanes SO Ward 18,219 32-26-5 69 64 February 28 Hurricanes 3 – 5 Atlanta Ward 17,796 32-27-5 69
March: 10–1–2 (Home: 6–0–0; Road: 4–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 65 March 3 Hurricanes 5 – 2 Washington Ward 17,903 33-27-5 71 66 March 6 Calgary 1 – 6 Hurricanes Ward 18,108 34-27-5 73 67 March 7 Hurricanes 9 – 3 Tampa Bay Ward 15,692 35-27-5 75 68 March 9 NY Rangers 0 – 3 Hurricanes Ward 17,826 36-27-5 77 69 March 11 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Chicago SO Ward 21,513 36-27-6 78 70 March 12 Hurricanes 2 – 3 Dallas Ward 16,788 36-28-6 78 71 March 14 Hurricanes 4 – 5 Washington SO Ward 18,277 36-28-7 79 72 March 18 New Jersey 2 – 4 Hurricanes Ward 18,544 37-28-7 81 73 March 20 NY Islanders 4 – 5 Hurricanes Ward 18,137 38-28-7 83 74 March 21 Washington 1 – 4 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 39-28-7 85 75 March 23 Hurricanes 3 – 2 Florida Ward 14,304 40-28-7 87 76 March 25 Ottawa 1 – 2 Hurricanes Ward 17,146 41-28-7 89 77 March 28 Hurricanes 2 – 1 New Jersey Ward 17,018 42-28-7 91
April: 3–2–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 0–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 78 April 2 NY Rangers 2 – 4 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 43-28-7 93 79 April 4 Pittsburgh 2 – 3 Hurricanes OT Ward 18,680 44-28-7 95 80 April 7 NY Islanders 0 – 9 Hurricanes Ward 18,680 45-28-7 97 81 April 9 Buffalo 5 – 1 Hurricanes Ward 18,513 45-29-7 97 82 April 11 Hurricanes 2 – 3 New Jersey Ward 17,625 45-30-7 97

Record vs. opponents

Team	Points	Record
New Jersey*	106	3–1–0
NY Islanders	61	4–0–0
NY Rangers	95	2–1–1
Philadelphia	99	1–1–2
Pittsburgh	99	2–2–0
Boston*	116	0–4–0
Buffalo	91	2–2–0
Montreal	93	3–0–1
Ottawa	83	2–2–0
Toronto	81	3–1–0
Atlanta	76	3–3–0
Florida	93	3–3–0
Tampa Bay	66	6–0–0
Washington*	108	3–2–1
Chicago	104	0–0–1
Columbus	92	0–1–0
Detroit*	112	1–0–0
Nashville	88	1–0–0
St. Louis	92	2–0–0
Calgary	98	1–0–0
Colorado	69	1–0–0
Edmonton	85	0–1–0
Minnesota	89	0–1–0
Vancouver*	100	0–1–0
Anaheim	91	1–1–0
Dallas	83	1–0–0
Los Angeles	79	0–0–1
Phoenix	79	2–0–0
San Jose*	117	1–0–0

Notes: * denotes division winner; teams in bold are in the Southeast Division; teams in italics qualified for the playoffs; points refer to the points achieved by the team whom the Hurricanes played against

  = Member of the Atlantic Division
  = Member of the Northeast Division
  = Member of the Southeast Division
  = Member of the Central Division
  = Member of the Northeast Division
  = Member of the Pacific Division

Playoffs

Main article: 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Carolina Hurricanes ended the 2008–09 regular season as the Eastern Conference's sixth seed. In the first round, they defeated the New Jersey Devils following a game 7 victory following two goals with 1:20 minutes in the game from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal in what is known as the “Shock at the Rock”.^[5] In the second round, they defeated the Boston Bruins in 7 games, denying Boston's 3–1 series comeback attempt following an overtime goal from Scott Walker. In doing so, they reached the eastern conference final for the first time since 2006. ^[6] However, they got swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

2009 Stanley Cup playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (3) New Jersey Devils # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 15 Carolina 1-4 New Jersey Ward 17,625 0-1 2 April 17 Carolina 2-1 New Jersey OT Ward 17,625 1-1 3 April 19 New Jersey 3-2 Carolina OT Ward 17,791 1-2 4 April 21 New Jersey 3-4 Carolina Ward 17,465 2-2 5 April 23 Carolina 0-1 New Jersey Ward 17,625 2-3 6 April 26 New Jersey 0-4 Carolina Ward 18,680 3-3 7 April 28 Carolina 4-3 New Jersey Ward 17,625 4-3 Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (1) Boston Bruins # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 1 Carolina 1-4 Boston Ward 17,565 0-1 2 May 3 Carolina 3-0 Boston Ward 17,565 1-1 3 May 6 Boston 2-3 Carolina OT Ward 18,680 2-1 4 May 8 Boston 1-4 Carolina Ward 18,878 3-1 5 May 10 Carolina 0-4 Boston Ward 17,565 3-2 6 May 12 Boston 4-2 Carolina Ward 18,860 3-3 7 May 14 Carolina 3-2 Boston OT Ward 17,565 4-3 Eastern Conference Finals: vs. (4) Pittsburgh Penguins # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 18 Carolina 2-3 Pittsburgh Ward 17,132 0-1 [7] 2 May 21 Carolina 4-7 Pittsburgh Ward 17,132 0-2 3 May 23 Pittsburgh 6-2 Carolina Ward 18,789 0-3 4 May 26 Pittsburgh 4-1 Carolina Ward 18,789 0-4   WIN   LOSS

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Ray Whitney 82 24 53 77 +2 32 Eric Staal 82 40 35 75 +15 50 Tuomo Ruutu 79 26 28 54 0 79 Rod Brind'Amour 80 16 35 51 -23 36 Sergei Samsonov 81 16 32 48 -8 28 Matt Cullen 69 22 21 43 +11 20 Joe Corvo 81 14 24 38 -1 18 Anton Babchuk 72 16 19 35 +13 16 Joni Pitkanen 71 7 26 33 +11 58 Chad LaRose 81 19 12 31 +6 35 Dennis Seidenberg 70 5 25 30 -9 37 Scott Walker 41 5 10 15 -4 39 Erik Cole† 17 2 13 15 +3 10 Patrick Eaves 74 6 8 14 +7 31 Tim Gleason 70 0 12 12 +3 68 Ryan Bayda 70 5 7 12 +2 26 Jussi Jokinen† 25 1 10 11 -2 12 Niclas Wallin 64 2 8 10 -1 42 Justin Williams‡ 32 3 7 10 -9 9 Frantisek Kaberle 30 1 7 8 -4 8 Brandon Sutter 50 1 5 6 -1 16 Josef Melichar‡ 15 0 4 4 -1 8 Dan LaCouture 11 2 0 2 -1 10 Michael Ryan 18 0 2 2 -3 2 Dwight Helminen 23 1 1 2 -2 0 Bryan Rodney 8 0 2 2 -3 2 Wade Brookbank‡ 27 1 0 1 0 40 Tim Conboy 28 0 1 1 -1 37 Patrick Dwyer 13 1 0 1 -2 0 Jakub Petruzalek 2 0 1 1 +1 0 Brett Carson 5 0 0 0 -3 4 Casey Borer 3 0 0 0 0 5 Zach Boychuk 2 0 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Eric Staal 18 10 5 15 -3 4 Ray Whitney 18 3 8 11 -9 4 Chad LaRose 18 4 7 11 0 16 Jussi Jokinen 18 7 4 11 -3 2 Sergei Samsonov 17 5 3 8 +2 6 Joni Pitkanen 18 0 8 8 0 16 Scott Walker 18 1 6 7 -3 19 Joe Corvo 18 2 5 7 -7 4 Matt Cullen 18 3 3 6 0 14 Dennis Seidenberg 16 1 5 6 -5 16 Erik Cole 18 0 5 5 -5 22 Tim Gleason 18 1 4 5 -2 32 Rod Brind'Amour 18 1 3 4 -5 8 Ryan Bayda 15 2 2 4 +2 18 Tuomo Ruutu 16 1 3 4 -3 8 Patrick Eaves 18 1 2 3 -1 13 Frantisek Kaberle 7 0 1 1 +2 2 Anton Babchuk 13 0 1 1 -5 10 Patrick Dwyer 2 0 1 1 +1 0 Niclas Wallin 18 0 0 0 +1 4 Dwight Helminen 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tim Conboy 3 0 0 0 0 9

Goaltenders

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO Cam Ward 68 3928 39 23 5 160 2.44 1901 1741 .916 6 Michael Leighton 19 1028 6 7 2 50 2.92 507 457 .901 0

Playoffs
Player GP Min W L GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO Cam Ward 18 1101 8 10 49 2.67 576 527 .915 2

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Hurricanes. Stats reflect season totals.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Brandon Sutter	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	October 10, 2008
Zach Boychuk	1st NHL Game	October 17, 2008
Brandon Sutter	1st NHL Goal	October 23, 2008
Dwight Helminen	1st NHL Game	October 28, 2008
Anton Babchuk	100th NHL Game	October 30, 2008
Dwight Helminen	1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point	November 2, 2008
Patrick Dwyer	1st NHL Game	November 2, 2008
Brett Carson	1st NHL Game	December 8, 2008
Bryan Rodney	1st NHL Game	December 11, 2008
Bryan Rodney	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	February 3, 2009
Jakub Petruzalek	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	February 5, 2009

News

On June 14, the Hurricanes agreed to an extension of their lease at the RBC Center by five years through to 2023-24.^[8]

Trades

Date	Details
February 7, 2009	To Tampa Bay Lightning Wade Brookbank Josef Melichar 4th-round pick in 2009 (pick ultimately forfeited)	To Carolina Hurricanes Jussi Jokinen

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms Josef Melichar Linköpings HC (SEL) 1 year/$1 million

Player New team

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers

Draft picks

The 2008 NHL entry draft was in Ottawa, Ontario. The Hurricanes had the 14th overall pick

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	14	Zach Boychuk	(C)	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
2	45	Zac Dalpe	(C/RW)	Canada	Penticton Vees (BCHL)
4	105	Michal Jordan	(D)	Czech Republic	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
6	165	Mike Murphy	(G)	Canada	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
7	195	Samuel Morneau	(LW)	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)

Farm teams

American Hockey League

The Albany River Rats are the Hurricanes American Hockey League affiliate for the 2008–09 AHL season.

ECHL

The Florida Everblades are the Hurricanes ECHL affiliate.