2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes season explained

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.^[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

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

Conference standings

Schedule and results

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 4 – 1 11,431 0-1-0 0 September 25 2 – 5 13,266 0-2-0 0 September 27 2 – 4 Ward 17,700 0-3-0 0 September 28 0 – 1 11,431 1-3-0 2 October 2 4 – 2 Ward 12,903 2-3-0 4 October 5 0 – 2 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 4 – 6 Ward 18,680 1-0-0 2 2 October 11 4 – 3 OT Leighton 18,552 2-0-0 4 3 October 13 3 – 1 Ward 18,680 2-1-0 4 4 October 17 3 – 4 OT Ward 14,194 2-1-1 5 5 October 19 3 – 1 Leighton 16,847 3-1-1 7 6 October 23 1 – 4 Ward 17,132 3-2-1 7 7 October 25 4 – 3 Ward 11,219 4-2-1 9 8 October 28 2 – 3 SO Ward 21,273 4-2-2 10 9 October 30 1 – 0 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 3 – 1 Ward 15,016 5-3-2 12 11 November 2 4 – 6 Leighton 15,635 6-3-2 14 12 November 4 5 – 4 OT Ward 19,266 7-3-2 16 13 November 6 2 – 3 Capitals Ward 15,391 7-4-2 16 14 November 7 1 – 2 Leighton 15,206 8-4-2 18 15 November 9 5 – 2 Ward 12,398 8-5-2 18 16 November 12 5 – 1 Leighton 14,261 8-6-2 18 17 November 14 2 – 3 Ward 16,128 8-7-2 18 18 November 16 2 – 3 SO Ward 13,781 9-7-2 20 19 November 18 1 – 2 Ward 12,164 10-7-2 22 20 November 21 2 – 5 Ward 14,848 11-7-2 24 21 November 23 5 – 2 Ward 13,042 11-8-2 24 22 November 24 2 – 3 Leighton 11,117 11-9-2 24 23 November 26 3 – 1 Ward 15,057 11-10-2 24 24 November 28 3 – 2 OT Ward 19,587 12-10-2 26 25 November 30 4 – 1 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 5 – 2 Leighton 14,559 12-12-2 26 27 December 6 2 – 1 OT Leighton 14,061 12-12-3 27 28 December 7 1 – 3 Leighton 15,308 13-12-3 29 29 December 11 5 – 6 SO Leighton 19,057 13-12-4 30 30 December 13 2 – 3 SO Ward 18,200 13-12-5 31 31 December 16 2 – 3 Ward 16,434 14-12-5 33 32 December 18 1 – 2 OT Ward 14,533 15-12-5 35 33 December 20 2 – 4 Ward 17,565 15-13-5 35 34 December 21 3 – 2 OT Ward 21,273 16-13-5 37 35 December 23 2 – 3 Leighton 18,568 16-14-5 37 36 December 26 5 – 4 Ward 16,012 17-14-5 39 37 December 27 4 – 2 Ward 16,705 17-15-5 39 38 December 31 1 – 3 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 1 – 2 Ward 17,092 19-15-5 43 40 January 3 Hurricanes 3 – 2 Ward 15,873 20-15-5 45 41 January 6 2 – 3 Ward 15,399 21-15-5 47 42 January 8 2 – 4 Ward 10,323 21-16-5 47 43 January 10 1 – 5 Ward 17,565 21-17-5 47 44 January 13 1 – 5 Ward 18,512 21-18-5 47 45 January 15 6 – 4 Ward 18,037 21-19-5 47 46 January 17 1 – 3 Ward 18,690 21-20-5 47 47 January 19 2 – 0 Ward 19,018 22-20-5 49 48 January 20 2 – 1 Ward 16,972 23-20-5 51 49 January 27 2 – 3 Ward 18,200 23-21-5 51 50 January 29 2 – 3 Ward 16,405 24-21-5 53 51 January 31 0 – 2 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 3 – 4 Ward 18,630 25-22-5 55 53 February 5 4 – 3 SO Leighton 17,496 26-22-5 57 54 February 7 7 – 2 Ward 15,229 27-22-5 59 55 February 12 5 – 0 Ward 18,680 27-23-5 59 56 February 14 5 – 1 Ward 18,680 27-24-5 59 57 February 15 3 – 0 Ward 18,690 28-24-5 61 58 February 17 5 – 1 Ward 18,680 28-25-5 61 59 February 19 6 – 2 Ward 11,802 29-25-5 63 60 February 20 1 – 4 Ward 17,711 30-25-5 65 61 February 22 2 – 5 Ward 18,680 31-25-5 67 62 February 24 2 – 4 Ward 16,541 31-26-5 67 63 February 26 1 – 2 SO Ward 18,219 32-26-5 69 64 February 28 3 – 5 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 5 – 2 Ward 17,903 33-27-5 71 66 March 6 1 – 6 Ward 18,108 34-27-5 73 67 March 7 9 – 3 Ward 15,692 35-27-5 75 68 March 9 0 – 3 Ward 17,826 36-27-5 77 69 March 11 2 – 3 SO Ward 21,513 36-27-6 78 70 March 12 2 – 3 Ward 16,788 36-28-6 78 71 March 14 4 – 5 SO Ward 18,277 36-28-7 79 72 March 18 2 – 4 Ward 18,544 37-28-7 81 73 March 20 4 – 5 Ward 18,137 38-28-7 83 74 March 21 1 – 4 Ward 18,680 39-28-7 85 75 March 23 3 – 2 Ward 14,304 40-28-7 87 76 March 25 1 – 2 Ward 17,146 41-28-7 89 77 March 28 2 – 1 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 2 – 4 Ward 18,680 43-28-7 93 79 April 4 2 – 3 OT Ward 18,680 44-28-7 95 80 April 7 0 – 9 Ward 18,680 45-28-7 97 81 April 9 5 – 1 Ward 18,513 45-29-7 97 82 April 11 2 – 3 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

See main article: article and 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 third round for the first time since 2002.^[6] However, they got swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Player statistics

Goaltenders

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

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	October 10, 2008
	1st NHL Game	October 17, 2008
	1st NHL Goal	October 23, 2008
	1st NHL Game	October 28, 2008
	100th NHL Game	October 30, 2008
	1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point	November 2, 2008
	1st NHL Game	November 2, 2008
	1st NHL Game	December 8, 2008
	1st NHL Game	December 11, 2008
	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	February 3, 2009
	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
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 Linköpings HC (SEL) 1 year/$1 million

Player New team

Claimed from 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		(C)		Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
2	45		(C/RW)		Penticton Vees (BCHL)
4	105		(D)		Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
6	165		(G)		Belleville Bulls (OHL)
7	195	Samuel Morneau	(LW)		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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Carolina Hurricanes - News: Hurricanes Sign Eric Staal to a Seven-Year Extension - 09/11/2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721223805/http://hurricanes.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=381682&page=NewsPage&service=page . 2011-07-21 . dead . 2009-05-08 .
2. News: Laviolette makes history in Hurricanes win over Senators. 2008-11-08. TSN.ca. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211125739/http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255103. 11 December 2008 . live.
3. Web site: Carolina Hurricanes - News: Hurricanes Name Paul Maurice Head Coach - 12/03/2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721223821/http://hurricanes.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=395861&page=NewsPage&service=page . 2011-07-21 . dead . 2009-05-08 .
4. Web site: 2008-09 NHL Summary.
5. Web site: This Day in Canes History: April 28. NHL.com.
6. Web site: hockey-reference.com . Hockey Reference. 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Summary . 25 August 2024.
7. Web site: NHL.com - Recap: Hurricanes @ Penguins - 05/18/2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090522091754/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030311 . 2009-05-22 . live . 2009-05-30 .