Hurricanes hang banner, lose opener
For one more night, the Carolina Hurricanes got the chance to celebrate the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title.
The Hurricanes raised the banner for their Cup win Wednesday night before opening their title defense against the Buffalo Sabres, allowing themselves one last look back at a thrilling run to the first major professional sports title in North Carolina history.
They just couldn’t follow that with a big win in front of a charged, standing-room only crowd.
“Obviously, this is a game you’d like to win,” defenseman Mike Commodore said after the 3-2 shootout loss. “You’d like to win your home opener and definitely when you’re raising the banner. It just didn’t work out.
“It was an amazing year, but now it’s over. The banner’s raised and it’s time to do it again.”
The franchise held a 20-minute pregame ceremony to honor last year’s champs, introducing members of the team’s front office on a red carpet laid out on the ice. The players followed, skating to the blue line and watching the scoreboard monitor above to see highlights from their postseason run.
The Hurricanes first unfurled banners commemorating the Southeast Division and Eastern Conference titles, then unveiled the 114-year-old Stanley Cup on a table set up on the ice. Finally, captain Rod Brind’Amour, alternate captains Glen Wesley and Kevyn Adams, and injured forward Cory Stillman joined team owner Peter Karmanos Jr. to fasten the Cup banner to hooks for its slow ascent amid a steady stream of popping photo flashes from the 18,840 fans in the stands.
“I just get chills thinking about it,” Adams said. “Obviously, when you see your Stanley Cup ring or you look at a banner, you know all the things you went through. The memories are what you think about.
“It’s time to turn the page in terms of what happened. At the same point you need to enjoy tonight.”
Senators 4, Maple Leafs 1: At Toronto, Martin Gerber made 33 saves and Ottawa beat the Maple Leafs to skate off with a victory in the season opener. Patrick Eaves, Chris Neil, Cristoph Schubert and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Senators.
Stars 3, Avalanche 2 (OT): At Denver, Darryl Sydor came out of the penalty box to take a pass from goaltender Marty Turco and score the winning goal at 2:07 of overtime, and Dallas beat Colorado, extending its season-opening unbeaten streak to 10 years.
Clearing off the rink
Jim Balsillie, a Canadian business executive whose company makes the BlackBerry wireless messaging device, was negotiating to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins, with a sales agreement expected soon. … The Vancouver Canucks claimed goaltender Dany Sabourin off waivers from the Penguins.