For anyone who wants a some nostalgic Hurricanes reading or a quick reminder before voting, short bios for all of these players plus a few more can be found HERE.
To help get click off another day of the long NHL offseason, the task today is to build a roster of 20 plus a coach for an all-time Hurricanes team.
I made the lists ad hoc, so if I made a horrible mistake and missed someone obvious, someone please holler quick via comments, email or Twitter and I will update.
Goalie (Pick 2)
- Cam Ward (45%, 115 Votes)
- Arturs Irbe (44%, 112 Votes)
- Kevin Weekes (8%, 20 Votes)
- Trevor Kidd (2%, 5 Votes)
- Other (1%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 138
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Left Wing (Pick 4)
- Ray Whitney (26%, 132 Votes)
- Jeff Skinner (21%, 108 Votes)
- Cory Stillman (19%, 98 Votes)
- Sami Kapanen (17%, 88 Votes)
- Bates Battaglia (6%, 31 Votes)
- Gary Roberts (5%, 25 Votes)
- Martin Gelinas (4%, 20 Votes)
- Other (1%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 139
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Center (Pick 4)
- Ron Francis (25%, 132 Votes)
- Rod Brind'Amour (25%, 130 Votes)
- Eric Staal (22%, 116 Votes)
- Matt Cullen (8%, 41 Votes)
- Jordan Staal (6%, 32 Votes)
- Jussi Jokinen (5%, 25 Votes)
- Josef Vasicek (4%, 23 Votes)
- Keith Primeau (3%, 17 Votes)
- Kevyn Adams (2%, 11 Votes)
- Other (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 138
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Right Wing (Pick 4)
- Erik Cole (25%, 128 Votes)
- Justin Williams (23%, 120 Votes)
- Jeff O'Neill (21%, 108 Votes)
- Tuomo Ruutu (11%, 56 Votes)
- Kevin Dineen (9%, 45 Votes)
- Scott Walker (5%, 27 Votes)
- Chad LaRose (5%, 24 Votes)
- Craig Adams (2%, 12 Votes)
- Other (0%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 137
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Defensemen (Pick 6)
- Glen Wesley (16%, 124 Votes)
- Justin Faulk (16%, 120 Votes)
- Bret Hedican (13%, 97 Votes)
- Joni Pitkanen (12%, 90 Votes)
- Niclas Wallin (11%, 81 Votes)
- Tim Gleason (8%, 61 Votes)
- Aaron Ward (8%, 59 Votes)
- Mike Commodore (5%, 42 Votes)
- Andrej Sekera (3%, 25 Votes)
- Sean Hill (3%, 22 Votes)
- Dennis Seidenberg (3%, 22 Votes)
- Frantisek Kaberle (3%, 21 Votes)
- Other (0%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 137
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Coach (Pick 1)
- Peter Laviolette (51%, 69 Votes)
- Bill Peters (44%, 60 Votes)
- Paul Maurice (4%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 135
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Go Canes!
Barasso, Gerber??
Both are good inclusions if I wanted to be more thorough I guess.
Thought about Gerber but did not include him. He had 1 good season and was gone. Barasso is a big name, but his role was modest.
One thing that did jump out quickly was how few goalies had a meaningful impact on franchise in 20 years now. Irbe and Ward obviously did. Weekes and Gerber did but in pretty short spans of well-timed greatness. That is really about it unless you want to reach back to Trevor Kidd as a goalie from ‘the early years.’
Some early surprises in the voting for me are Kevyn Adams, Chad LaRose, and Joni Pitkanen. I remember KAdams and LaRose as being fan favorites so it’s a bit jarring to see them near the bottom of their respective lists and with so few votes. Also, my impression of Pitkanen was that he was a polarizing player. Some loved him for his offense and some hated him for his defensive shortcomings. It’s a little surprising that he’d be voted ahead of guys like Gleason and Commodore. Fascinating poll results. 🙂
In writing the polls a few things jumped out. If he continues on his current path, Justin Faulk could arguably be the first star defenseman (when he was a star) the Canes have ever had. It is also interesting that only 2 coaches in 20 years have had any success. I like Bill Peters and am optimistic that he does well on this in 10 years, as of now only 2 coaches have led the team to the playoffs. Lack of LW also jumped out. If you Kapanen to RW, it gets even thinner.
I also have a surprises in the voting but will wait until this wraps up before commenting on that.