RALEIGH, N.C. -- There have been few better players in the NHL from October through April over the past 15 years than Rod Brind'Amour, but the Carolina Hurricanes' Stanley Cup win marks the first of his distinguished career.
Defenseman Glen Wesley broke in 18 years ago as a top offensive defenseman and changed his game midway in his career to that of a defensive specialist. In his fourth trip the Stanley Cup Final, he won his first Stanley Cup Monday night.
Bret Hedican came oh-so-close in 1994 and again in 2002. He thought his career was over before radical therapy restored him to health. He hoisted hockey's Holy Grail for the first time Monday night.
Ray Whitney was the stick boy for the Edmonton Oilers when he was a little kid, then played for five NHL teams that couldn't win a Stanley Cup. At age 34, he played a key role for the 2006 Stanley Cup-winning 'Canes, his first NHL championship.
Kevyn Adams hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in his six NHL seasons.
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Doug Weight broke in with the 1991 New York Rangers and played for three other NHL teams. For Doug, the wait is over.
Their teammates, to a man, mentioned their names in discussing what winning the Stanley Cup meant to them.
Hedican towers over most of his teammates and his wide smile could be seen by everyone in the postgame locker-room celebration. In a room with many feel-good stories, everyone stopped by Hedican's locker to give and get a hug.
"Wow. Unbelievable. It just feels incredible," he said, battling tears. "Being there before and knowing that it just takes every bit of energy and courage that you can muster to win the Stanley Cup. This year I knew something special was going to happen. We could feel it in training camp. We practiced hard all season long. We practiced like a team that wanted to win the Stanley Cup. In mid-season, Peter Laviolette said 'You guys are practicing like you want to win the Stanley Cup.'
"Ultimately, here we are. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win it in seven games. Everybody wrote us off. We just kept believing in each other, right from the git-go at the beginning of the season and tonight as well.
"This is everything I ever worked for," Hedican said. "This completly erases 1994. That left scars but that's what drove me to get back here. Getting my body back to where I needed it to be able to compete at a high level. So many people helped me get here. When they brought the Stanley Cup out tonight, I just reflected on every person who helped me get here, including my teammates and my family."
"You know what is at stake," said Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes' captain and a 17-year NHL veteran who previously played in St. Louis and Philadelphia. "When you have so many guys that just deserve it and you just want it so bad, not just for yourself, but for the guys sitting beside you, your dad and your kids, guys that have been with you, your friends, there's so many people that you are thinking about that are pulling for you. And, you know, it's exhausting really, and I just can't be happier for all these people that deserve it."
Brind'Amour took the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, proudly lifted it overhead and then turned and handed it to Wesley, an 18-year pro who played in two Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins against the Oilers in 1988 and 1990 and another with the Hurricanes in 2002 against the Detroit Red Wings. Wesley gave it to Hedican, who handed it Whitney. He gave it to Kevyn Adams, who turned it over to Weight, who struggled with it because of the injured shoulder that kept him out of Games 6 and 7.
"Those are guys I would go to war with," said defenseman Aaron Ward, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Detroit in 1997-98. "I did go to war with them."
"Roddy told me he was giving it to me next, it's an incredible feeling," Wesley said. "I guess to wait 18 years and be able to experience it, you know, it was never, never about me. I truly believe that. It was about every guy in the locker room and it wasn't about one individual.
"It was about Roddy's leadership. It was about Bret Hedican, Doug Weight who have never experienced it and played over 100 games each in the playoffs. It was incredible. I still can't believe it. It honestly feels like a dream to me. Throughout the whole afternoon I couldn't sleep, just thinking about preparing for Game 7. My wife back here made the kids watch a movie this afternoon so they stayed quiet."
"The biggest thing that Peter Laviolette did this year was build a family atmosphere," Hedican said. "We felt like a family in here. The close games were the big difference. We pulled out close games because we cared about each other, each other's families. Everybody's kids were down here in the locker room everyday and it was a special feeling."
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Aaron Ward is now three-time Stanley Cup winner.
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"I played a lot of years and never experienced this until I came here," Weight said. "As soon as I got here, everyone told me this team was different. From Day One, they told me they were going to win the Stanley Cup. You could see how everyone cared for each other, the respect you got from every member of the organization. I know that I contributed to this victory and I know everyone here with me contributed. I wished I could have played the last two games but it doesn't take away from it a single bit. Not a bit."
"We really had to earn that one," said Whitney. "This is an unbelievable feeling. All season long we have been a very focused group. We worked our tails off all year."
Hedican laughed when asked about the repeated references to the "underrated" Carolina defense.
"Everybody underestimated our defense corps and I think we're just a solid group of guys who all move the puck," Hedican said. "We consistently come to play every night and we work hard. We block a lot of shots, we move the puck and we do our job. When you have six guys who do that every night, the forwards know what to expect."
The Hurricanes had the winning mix of experience and youth. Their season was saved by the Conn Smythe Trophy performance of rookie goalie Cam Ward. Brind'Amour was effusive in his praise.
"The kid came in when we were down and out, so to speak, and just brought us life, and goaltending wins you championships," he said. "No mistake about it. Everybody knows it. We had the best goalie in the playoffs."
Carolina won for a lot of reasons, but hockey fans everywhere, everywhere but Edmonton perhaps, had a warm spot in their hearts for the classy Carolina veterans.
"Rod Brind'Amour, Ray Whitney, Glen Wesley, I'm so proud of those guys and how hard they worked this year," Hedican said. "Roddy is our leader, a hard-working guy who comes every night and sets the tone."
Hedican was told he can take his grandkids to the Hockey Hall of Fame someday and show them his name on the Stanley Cup. It will always be there.
"What an amazing feeling that is, I can't comprehend it," Hedican said. "All those names that are on the Cup, I'm part of it now. I'm so proud."
