Hurricanes weather the storm for first Cup

RALEIGH, N.C. – This time, the Stanley Cup gets to stay on Tobacco Road.

A couple of low-scoring Carolina defensemen put Edmonton’s comeback on ice, and Cam Ward stopped nearly everything that came his way, giving the Hurricanes their first NHL championship with a 3-1 victory in Game 7 on Monday night.

Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle found the net for the Hurricanes – a couple of unlikely players to carry the offense, considering they were each six-goal scorers during the regular season and had combined for only four in the playoffs.

Then there’s the guy who made sure two goals were enough. Cam Ward, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the playoffs, wasn’t even Carolina’s No. 1 goalie at the beginning of the postseason, but the 22-year-old rookie got the call when Martin Gerber struggled in the opening round against Montreal.

The young star wound up winning more games in the playoffs (15) than he did when he was backing up Gerber during the regular season (14).

“I mean, this is a dream come true,” Ward said. “I couldn’t be with a better group of guys. They definitely deserve it.”

Justin Williams finished off the Oilers, scoring an open-net goal with 1:01 remaining after Edmonton had cut the lead in half early in the third period.

Edmonton defenseman Chris Pronger, a stalwart throughout the series, gave up the puck in the Carolina zone and wound up making a helpless dive to block Williams’ gimme into the goal.

Bret Hedican, among a contingent of 30-something Carolina players who had never won the cup, leaped in the air after Williams’ shot went in. The crowd of nearly 19,000, which stood throughout the game, went into a frenzy.

“We want the cup!” they chanted over and over.

They got it, bringing the trophy to territory best known for college basketball.

“I can’t describe it,” said Hedican, who lost in two previous trips to the finals. “Both times were gut-wrenching. I’ve got the scars. But tonight, all that work, all that hard work, and our team winning, it all paid off.”

It paid off, too, for captain Rod Brind’Amour, Glen Wesley, Doug Weight and Ray Whitney. Along with Hedican, they had been in the league for a total of 78 seasons without winning the cup.

Now, they’ll all have their names on it.

The Hurricanes were born in the old World Hockey Association as the Boston-based New England Whalers, and entered the NHL in 1979 playing out of Hartford. When their demands for a new arena were turned aside, the team headed south in 1997.

The first two years in Carolina were a dismal experience, the team forced to play 80 miles away in Greensboro while a new arena was built in Raleigh. Few fans turned up in the beginning and the upper deck was curtained off, the demand for tickets so light.

Now, the Hurricanes are champions, capitalizing on their second trip to the finals. Four years ago, they were beaten in five games by Detroit.

The Oilers have nothing to be ashamed of, making it all the way to the final game of the season after barely getting into the playoffs.

Fernando Pisani did it again for Edmonton, scoring his playoff-leading 14th goal just over a minute into the third to make a game of it, and goalie Jussi Markkanen had another strong game with 25 saves.

The series looked as if it would be a rout when Carolina rallied from a three-goal deficit to win Game 1 and blew out the Oilers 5-0 in Game 2. The Oilers also had to cope with the loss of playoff star Dwayne Roloson, who had played every minute of the postseason in goal until he went out with a knee injury in the opener.

But, led by Markkanen and Pisani, the Oilers rebounded from a 3-1 deficit. They pulled out an overtime win in Carolina – with the cup somewhere in the bowels of the RBC Center, waiting to be handed out if the Hurricanes won.

Edmonton returned home and blew out Carolina 4-0 in Game 6.