# 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.
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.
* September 11: The club announced that they have signed Eric Staal to a seven-year contract extension worth US$57.75 million.

## 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.
* 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.
The Hurricanes finished the regular season having tied the Montreal Canadiens for the most power-play opportunities, with 374.

### 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 :

### 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

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”. 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. However, they got swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.
2009 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## 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
    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.

### Trades

| Date | Details | 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.