nccanes
04-22-2003, 10:57 PM
Saw this on fanhome - haven't seen this posted here yet.
Cool article:
'Canes To Bolts: `Anyone Can Beat Anyone'
By BOB BELLONE bbellone@tampatrib.com
Published: Apr 10, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - Kevin Weekes was on the road to nowhere with the Lightning last season before the former backup to Nikolai Khabibulin was sent packing to Carolina.
Timing is everything for an NHL goalie.
Three months after Weekes was dealt to the Hurricanes for wingers Chris Dingman and Shane Willis, he found himself in another new environment: the Stanley Cup finals.
Weekes and his new teammates, despite playing for a franchise that never had won a best-of-seven series since it entered the league as the Hartford Whalers in 1979, insist they weren't surprised to topple New Jersey, Montreal and Toronto in succession to capture the Eastern Conference title.
They also think their Tampa Bay counterparts should imagine themselves skating off with the Stanley Cup this time around.
``You have to see things happen before they actually happen in the physical form. I'm a big believer of that,'' Weekes said. ``I think at least that helps increase the chances. If nobody had visions, this world would be a pretty stark place.''
In stark reality, expectations of the Lightning have been minimal since their lone playoff appearance in 1996. Last season, hockey fans along Tobacco Road initially didn't anticipate much from the Hurricanes.
``That's the exciting thing about our team last year,'' Carolina center Kevyn Adams said. ``I don't think many people did think we would do what we did, but we always believed that we would.
``Even through the playoffs, we were always the underdog and everyone thought we'd lose, except us.''
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said his players deserved most of the credit for adhering to a system that produced 27 points in the last 20 regular- season games.
``Every team has a certain personality and ours had a style of game that we never, ever had to change. We didn't have to open our game up,'' Maurice said. ``The game plan that we really started with was the one that we drove the entire two months. We'd make minor adjustments, but the players all understood it. They believed in it.''
Legions of fans started buying in - and cooking out in parking lots surrounding the RBC Center - as Carolina opened its first playoff series against the two-time defending conference champion Devils with a pair of 2-1 victories.
``From then on, it was something else,'' Maurice said. ``This building got sold out. Even the referees, the old guys, would come over and say, `This is louder than Chicago Stadium.' It was wild.''
Carolina lost the next two games in New Jersey, but Weekes replaced slumping Arturs Irbe and stopped 72 of 74 shots to win his first two playoff starts and clinch the series.
The goaltending tandem then helped the Hurricanes eliminate the Canadiens and Maple Leafs in six games before the Detroit Red Wings ended their run in the finals.
Maurice is certain Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella and his players aren't about to rest on their laurels after earning their first division championship and a long-awaited return to the postseason.
``John is the right man to coach that team and the right man to coach that team in the playoffs, and I wouldn't expect anybody in that room thinks it's just nice getting there,'' Maurice said. ``It's a battle to get there, but once you're there, you're not that far off the top teams.''
Adams echoed those sentiments.
``Realistically, every team that goes in the playoffs is a top-end team,'' he said. ``You go out there and you get good goaltending and you get breaks at the right time, and you can be there.
``Anyone can beat anyone. There's a fine line in this league between winning and losing. I don't see why they won't have just as much a chance as anyone else.''
Weekes thinks the Lightning also could use an assist from the home crowds.
``I hope the fans are very supportive of them because they can feed off the excitement,'' he said. ``When your team is in the playoffs, it's not only the players and coaching staff and the management. Everybody feeds off that excitement.
``All the fans, the whole community, everybody comes together. It's a very unique feeling.''
Ack. Maybe this goes better in Other NHL.....
Cool article:
'Canes To Bolts: `Anyone Can Beat Anyone'
By BOB BELLONE bbellone@tampatrib.com
Published: Apr 10, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - Kevin Weekes was on the road to nowhere with the Lightning last season before the former backup to Nikolai Khabibulin was sent packing to Carolina.
Timing is everything for an NHL goalie.
Three months after Weekes was dealt to the Hurricanes for wingers Chris Dingman and Shane Willis, he found himself in another new environment: the Stanley Cup finals.
Weekes and his new teammates, despite playing for a franchise that never had won a best-of-seven series since it entered the league as the Hartford Whalers in 1979, insist they weren't surprised to topple New Jersey, Montreal and Toronto in succession to capture the Eastern Conference title.
They also think their Tampa Bay counterparts should imagine themselves skating off with the Stanley Cup this time around.
``You have to see things happen before they actually happen in the physical form. I'm a big believer of that,'' Weekes said. ``I think at least that helps increase the chances. If nobody had visions, this world would be a pretty stark place.''
In stark reality, expectations of the Lightning have been minimal since their lone playoff appearance in 1996. Last season, hockey fans along Tobacco Road initially didn't anticipate much from the Hurricanes.
``That's the exciting thing about our team last year,'' Carolina center Kevyn Adams said. ``I don't think many people did think we would do what we did, but we always believed that we would.
``Even through the playoffs, we were always the underdog and everyone thought we'd lose, except us.''
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said his players deserved most of the credit for adhering to a system that produced 27 points in the last 20 regular- season games.
``Every team has a certain personality and ours had a style of game that we never, ever had to change. We didn't have to open our game up,'' Maurice said. ``The game plan that we really started with was the one that we drove the entire two months. We'd make minor adjustments, but the players all understood it. They believed in it.''
Legions of fans started buying in - and cooking out in parking lots surrounding the RBC Center - as Carolina opened its first playoff series against the two-time defending conference champion Devils with a pair of 2-1 victories.
``From then on, it was something else,'' Maurice said. ``This building got sold out. Even the referees, the old guys, would come over and say, `This is louder than Chicago Stadium.' It was wild.''
Carolina lost the next two games in New Jersey, but Weekes replaced slumping Arturs Irbe and stopped 72 of 74 shots to win his first two playoff starts and clinch the series.
The goaltending tandem then helped the Hurricanes eliminate the Canadiens and Maple Leafs in six games before the Detroit Red Wings ended their run in the finals.
Maurice is certain Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella and his players aren't about to rest on their laurels after earning their first division championship and a long-awaited return to the postseason.
``John is the right man to coach that team and the right man to coach that team in the playoffs, and I wouldn't expect anybody in that room thinks it's just nice getting there,'' Maurice said. ``It's a battle to get there, but once you're there, you're not that far off the top teams.''
Adams echoed those sentiments.
``Realistically, every team that goes in the playoffs is a top-end team,'' he said. ``You go out there and you get good goaltending and you get breaks at the right time, and you can be there.
``Anyone can beat anyone. There's a fine line in this league between winning and losing. I don't see why they won't have just as much a chance as anyone else.''
Weekes thinks the Lightning also could use an assist from the home crowds.
``I hope the fans are very supportive of them because they can feed off the excitement,'' he said. ``When your team is in the playoffs, it's not only the players and coaching staff and the management. Everybody feeds off that excitement.
``All the fans, the whole community, everybody comes together. It's a very unique feeling.''
Ack. Maybe this goes better in Other NHL.....