Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh , North Carolina . They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . They won their first Stanley Cup during the 2005 – 06 season , beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to three . Prior to 1997 , the team was known as the Hartford Whalers . They play their home games at the RBC Center . Franchise History . In New England . The New England Whalers were born in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to begin play in Boston , Massachusetts . For the first two - and - a - half years of their existence , the club played their home games at the Boston Arena , Boston Garden , and The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield , Massachusetts . However , sagging attendance forced the team to Connecticut . On January 11 , 1975 , the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum . With the exception of a period in the late 1970s when the Whalers played at the Springfield Civic Center while their Hartford home was being renovated ( due to a portion of the roof collapsing after a blizzard ) , the franchise was largely located in Hartford . . As one of the most stable WHA teams , the Whalers , along with the Edmonton Oilers , Quebec Nordiques , and Winnipeg Jets , were admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979 . Because the NHL already had a team in the New England area , the Boston Bruins , the former WHA team was renamed the Hartford Whalers . Unfortunately , the team was never as successful in the NHL as they had been in the WHA , recording only three winning seasons . They peaked with their only playoff series victory in 1986 over the Quebec Nordiques and extended the Montreal Canadiens to overtime of the seventh game in the second round , followed by a regular season division title in 1986 – 87 . 1992 was the last time the Hartford Whalers made the playoffs . In Carolina . In March 1997 , Whalers owner Peter Karmanos announced that the team would leave Connecticut after 1996 – 97 because of the team ' s inability to negotiate a satisfactory construction and lease package for a new arena in Hartford . In July , Karmanos announced that the Whalers would move to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina and the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh , become the Carolina Hurricanes , and change their team colors to red and black . Due to the relatively short time frame for the move , Karmanos himself thought of and decided upon the new name for the club , rather than holding a contest as is sometimes done . Unfortunately , the ESA wouldn ' t be complete for two more years , and the only other hockey building in the Triangle was Dorton Arena , a 5 , 100 - seat , 45 - year - old building which was totally unsuitable for NHL hockey . The Hurricanes were thus forced to play home games in Greensboro , ninety minutes away from Raleigh , for their first two seasons after the move . This displaced the American Hockey League ' s Carolina Monarchs . The Greensboro Coliseum seated over 21 , 000 people for hockey , temporarily putting the ' Canes in the highest - capacity arena in the NHL . This choice was disastrous for the franchise ' s attendance and reputation . Most Triangle - area fans were unwilling to make the drive across I - 40 to Greensboro . As for their part , fans from the Piedmont Triad wouldn ' t support a lame - duck team , and were still upset over ticket price hikes when the Monarchs moved from the East Coast Hockey League to the AHL in 1995 . Furthermore , only 29 out of 82 games were televised , and radio play - by - play coverage was often pre - empted by ACC basketball , leaving these games totally unavailable to those who didn ' t have a ticket . With attendance routinely below the league average , Sports Illustrated ran a story titled " Natural Disaster " , and ESPN anchors mocked the " Green Acres " of empty seats ; in a 2006 interview , Karmanos admitted that " as it turns out , Greensboro was probably a mistake . " For 1998 – 99 the Hurricanes curtained off most of the upper deck , lowering capacity to about 12 , 000 , but attendance continued to lag well behind league averages . On the ice , however , the ' Canes were now out of the doldrums ; led by the return of longtime Whalers captain Ron Francis , Keith Primeau ' s 30 goals , and Gary Roberts ' 178 penalty minutes , they won the new Southeast Division by eight points and made the playoffs for the first time since 1992 . Tragedy struck hours after their first - round loss to the Bruins when defenceman Steve Chiasson was thrown from his pickup truck and killed in a single - vehicle drunk - driving accident . Despite their move to the brand - new ESA , the Hurricanes played lackluster hockey in 1999 – 2000 , failing to make the playoffs . In 2000 – 01 , though , they claimed the eighth seed , which nosed out Boston , and landed a first - round date with the defending champs , the New Jersey Devils . Although the Hurricanes were bounced by the Devils in six games , the series is seen as the real " arrival " of hockey in the Triangle . Down 3 – 0 in the series , the ' Canes extended it to a sixth game , thereby becoming only the tenth team in NHL history to do so . Game six in Raleigh featured their best playoff crowd that year , as well as its noisiest . The ' Canes made national waves for the first time in the 2002 playoffs . They survived a late charge from the Washington Capitals to win the division , but expectations were low entering the Round One against the defending Eastern Conference champion Devils . However , Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes were solid in goal , and two games were won by the Hurricanes in overtime as they put away the Devs in six games . The second - round matchup was against the Montreal Canadiens , who were riding a wave of emotion after their captain Saku Koivu ' s return from cancer treatment . In the third period of Game 4 in Montreal , down 2 – 1 in games and 3 – 0 in score , Carolina would tie the game and then win on Niclas Wallin ' s overtime goal . The game became known to Hurricanes fans as the " Miracle at Molson " ; Carolina easily won the next two games , by a 13 – 3 margin , over the dejected Habs to win the series . In the Conference Final , Carolina met the heavily - favored Toronto Maple Leafs . In game six in Toronto , the Leafs ' Mats Sundin tied the game with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime , where Carolina ' s Martin Gelinas would score to send the franchise to their first Stanley Cup Final , against the Detroit Red Wings , thought to be the prohibitive favorite all year . Though the Canes stunned the Wings in Game 1 , when Francis scored in the first minute of OT , Detroit stormed back to win the next four games . Game 3 in Raleigh featured a triple - overtime thriller ( won by Detroit ' s Igor Larionov , the eldest player to score a last - round goal ) , which sportscasters called one of the best Final games in history . Despite the 4 – 1 series loss , it had been by far the most successful season in franchise history . The momentum didn ' t last , however , and the next two seasons saw the ' Canes drop into the cellar of the NHL rankings ; many of the new fans attracted to the team ( and to hockey itself ) during the 2002 playoff run lost interest and attendance declined . One of the few positive results of these losing years was the team ' s drafting of rising star Eric Staal in 2003 . In December 2003 , the team fired Paul Maurice , who had been their coach since their next - to - last season in Hartford , replacing him with former New York Islanders bench boss Peter Laviolette . Weekes remained tough , but offense was doubtful ; center Josef Vasicek led the team with a mere 19 goals , 26 assists for 45 points . 2005 – 06 Stanley Cup Champions . The outcome of the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout led to the shrinking of the payroll to $ 26 million . The ' Canes , however , turned out to be one of the NHL ' s biggest surprises , turning in the best season in the franchise ' s 34 - year history . They finished with a 52 – 22 – 8 record and 112 points , shattering the previous franchise record set by the 1986 – 87 Whalers . It was the first time ever that the franchise had passed the 50 - win and 100 - point plateaus . The 112 - point figure was one point behind the Ottawa Senators for the best record in the East , and secured their third Southeast Division title , finishing 20 points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning . Attendance increased from 2003 – 04 , averaging just under 15 , 600 per game , and the team made a profit for the first time since the move from Hartford . In the playoffs , after losing the first two games of the conference quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens , Laviolette lifted goalkeeper Martin Gerber in favor of rookie Cam Ward . The Hurricanes went on to win both games in Montreal , tying up the playoff series and turning the momentum around , winning the series on a Game Six overtime goal by Cory Stillman . Carolina faced the New Jersey Devils in the conference semifinals , which proved surprisingly one - sided , as the Hurricanes beat the Devils in five games . Stillman struck again , once again scoring the series - winning goal . In the Eastern Conference Final , the Hurricanes faced the Buffalo Sabres , who had finished just one spot behind the Canes in the overall standings . The Sabres were devastated by injuries , at one point playing without their top four defensemen . The contentious series saw both coaches — Lindy Ruff and Laviolette — taking public verbal shots at each other ' s team , but in the deciding Game Seven , the Hurricanes rallied with three goals in the third to win by a score of 4 – 2 . Rod Brind ' Amour scored the game winner as the Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in team history . The Cup Finals were against the Edmonton Oilers , the first time in NHL history that two former WHA franchises had played against one another in the Final . The Canes rallied from a 3 – 0 deficit in Game 1 to win 5 – 4 after Rod Brind ' Amour scored with 30 seconds left . In Game 2 , the ' Canes shelled the Oilers 5 – 0 to take a two - game lead . The Oilers won Game 3 in Edmonton , 2 – 1 , as Ryan Smyth scored the game - winning goal with 2 : 47 left to play . Carolina rebounded in Game 4 with a 2 – 1 victory , and came home with a chance to win the Cup on home ice . However , game five saw the Oilers come back with a stunning 4 – 3 overtime win on a shorthanded breakaway by Fernando Pisani . Suddenly the momentum started to turn the Oilers ' way . In Game 6 in Edmonton , Carolina was soundly defeated 4 – 0 . In Game 7 , before the second - largest home crowd in franchise history ( 18 , 978 ) , the Hurricanes won 3 - 1 , sealing the Hurricanes ' first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history . Ward was honored with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoffs ' most valuable player , becoming just the fourth rookie to be honored with the award . Rod Brind ' Amour and Bret Hedican had both waited over 15 years to raise Lord Stanley ' s Mug , while Glen Wesley — the last remaining Hartford Whaler on the Hurricanes ' roster — had waited 18 seasons . The Hurricanes ' Stanley Cup championship marked the first professional major league sports title for a team from the Carolinas . As well , they are the only NHL team in history to lose nine or more games in a year ' s playoffs , yet still win the Stanley Cup . After the Cup . The Hurricanes were not able to follow up their success . In 2006 - 07 , the Hurricanes finished third in the Southeast and eleventh overall in the Eastern Conference . This finish made them the first champions since the 1938 – 39 Chicago Blackhawks to have failed to qualify for the playoffs both the seasons before and after their championship season . In 2007 - 08 , Carolina again missed the playoffs as Washington stormed back to take the division title on the last day of the season , leaving the Hurricanes second in the division and ninth overall in the conference . The last player remaining from the Hartford days , defenseman Glen Wesley , announced his retirement after the 2007 - 08 season . As of Wesley ' s retirement , the only remaining legacies of the Hurricanes ' Hartford days are broadcasters Chuck Kaiton , John Forslund and Tripp Tracy , equipment managers Wally Tatomir , Skip Cunningham and Bob Gorman , and the old goal horn from the Hartford Civic Center . Season - by - season record . " This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Hurricanes . For the full season - by - season history , see Carolina Hurricanes seasons " " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , OTL = Overtime Losses , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Notable players . Team captains . " Note : This list of team captains does not include captains from the Hartford Whalers ( NHL ) and New England Whalers ( WHA ) . " Honored members . " Retired numbers " : After the move , the club restored Hartford ' s 2 for Rick Ley ( D , 1972 – 81 ) and 19 for John McKenzie ( RW , 1977 – 79 ) to circulation . It does , however , honor the Hartford retirement of Gordie Howe ' s ( RW , 1977 – 80 ) 9 , though not with a banner . " Hall of Famers " : Ron Francis , who captained the team in both Hartford and Carolina and spent fifteen years with the franchise overall , was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007 . The only other Hall member to have played in a Hurricanes jersey is Paul Coffey , who spent one and a half seasons in Carolina near the end of his career ( as well as , two seasons prior , twenty games in Hartford ) . In the franchise ' s history , WHA and NHL Whalers Gordie Howe and Dave Keon are both members . In addition , longtime franchise radio play - by - play announcer Chuck Kaiton received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2004 , an honor granted by the Hall of Fame . Broadcasters . John Forslund TV Play - by - Play ; Radio Analyst Tripp Tracy TV Analyst Chuck Kaiton Radio Play - by - Play First - round draft picks . " Note : This list does not include selections of the Hartford Whalers . " Franchise scoring leaders . These are the top - ten point - scorers in franchise ( Hartford & Carolina ) history . Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season . " Note : Pos = Position ; GP = Games Played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; P / G = Points per game ; * = current Hurricanes player " NHL awards and trophies . < br clear = " all " >