PHOTO OF THE DAY

Edmonton's Ethan Moreau and Carolina's Frantisek Kaberle battle for position.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"You know we have a lot of veteran players in the room that have played their whole careers and some of them have had long careers to get to a point where they have this opportunity. But I think it's real important not to be looking at the Cup, but to make sure we're looking at the game and the 60 minutes." -- Hurricanes' coach Peter Laviolette

GAME BREAKERS

Cory Stillman (CAR): 1 goal, 1 assist Jussi Markkanen (EDM): 18 saves Cam Ward (CAR): 20 saves

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

Edmonton @ Carolina 8:00 PM (NBC, CBC, RDS) -- All times Eastern

RECENT EDITIONS

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 Monday, June 12, 2006 Sunday, June 11, 2006 Saturday, June 10, 2006 Friday, June 9, 2006 Thursday, June 8, 2006 Wednesday, June 7, 2006 Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Monday, June 5, 2006 Friday, June 2, 2006

Stealing here liberally from the Postman's Creed, neither snow nor sleet nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the NHL Playoff Daily staff from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Although Wednesday's torrential rain -- remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto -- sure did its best to delay us from delivering our loyal customers all the Stanley Cup Final news fit to print on the eve of Game 5 here at the RBC Center. Roads around the arena were flooded by noon, and all modes of travel -- planes, trains and automobiles -- were adversely affected.

Rain is nothing new in this Final, as it has rained virtually every day since our arrival in Raleigh last Saturday for the start of this series. Our five-day stay in Edmonton was dominated by cool temperatures and on-again, off-again rain showers. But, nothing has compared to the sheets of rain that lashed against our hotel windows upon prying open tired eyes this morning. We're talking wrath of God, end-of-the-world downpours here.

But, the show must go on and the NHL Playoff Daily staff waded its way through torrents of rain to arrive on scene for the morning skates.

There, we learned that the rising excitement in Raleigh about the potential of their team claiming the Stanley Cup -- a belief that will not be dampened by the downpour -- has had little effect on the Hurricanes, who are treating this potential series-clinching day just like any of the other 57 days so far in this year's playoffs.

"Well, I mean, the only thing that we can really focus on is the work we have to do tonight and there's going to be a lot of it," Peter Laviolette, the Edmonton coach, said. "That's the best thing that you can try and do. Things are going to happen, the game is going to happen. We have to show up and make sure we play the game. That's all you can keep doing is remind (the players) of that.

"You know we have a lot of veteran players in the room that have played their whole careers and some of them have had long careers to get to a point where they have this opportunity. But I think it's real important not to be looking at the Cup, but to make sure we're looking at the game and the 60 minutes. Edmonton will fight like crazy tonight to extend this. We need to fight like crazy to make sure that it ends."

Other than dodging the rain drops, the Carolina players insisted Wednesday was just another game day.

"We don't want to listen to anything right now," young forward Andrew Ladd said Wednesday night. "We just want to focus and prepare for the game tonight. We've been going through the same routine for the whole year and we are not going to change now. That's what keeps players going is the routine. We need it."

One reason that Carolina is so focused on the game is that captain Rod Brind'Amour insists it be that way.

"We've done a real good all year of focusing on the task at hand," Brind'Amour said. "That's what we're going to do tonight."

Even if the media, yours truly, keeps asking about being one win away from hockey immortality, about the Stanley Cup set to arrive at Rexall Place during tonight's game and about the proposed route for an already planned victory parade, the Hurricanes refuse to bite.

But, while the Hurricanes and Oilers concentrated on the game -- hopefully catching a quick game-day nap in the process -- RBC Center remained abuzz with activity as others planned for the celebration they hope comes tonight.

Meetings went on through the day, planning every last detail of the Stanley Cup presentation, if it were to happen. Later in the afternoon, rehearsals were set to take place to make sure the intricately choreographed program runs smoothly. The attention to detail is stunning in its scope, and yet remains hidden from the naked eye.

Tonight, if Carolina is crowned NHL champion, it will be presented its hard-earned and well-deserved spoils by Commissioner Gary Bettman. That will be a show that Carolina fans will remember forever and it is a show that was hundreds of hours and hundreds of unseen and anonymous people -- all battling the elements -- in the making.

So while the players on both sides of this Stanley Cup attempted to make Wednesday a normal day, it was far from that, and not just because of the weather, for most people here at the RBC Center.