Hurricanes Close Out 2017-18 Season

Just outside of the Carolina Hurricanes' locker room at PNC Arena on Monday, the ice was being melted down, scraped up and washed away, a final, biting reminder of the end of the season.
Inside the locker room, the Hurricanes cleaned out their lockers and met with the media one last time before scattering across the globe for the months ahead.
Hurricanes.com was there to capture everything. What follow are some highlights and noteworthy quotes, and each player's end-of-season interview is linked below.

Sebastian Aho
On the end of the season: "It's disappointing that we're not playing anymore. We had a lot of good things this year, but still our goal was to make the playoffs and we didn't, so we can't be happy."
On his start to the season: "I knew I was in good shape when I first got to training camp. I knew I was stronger and faster, so I felt pretty good. Still I had kind of a tough start. I still made some plays, but I couldn't score goals or produce points. … Next year I want to be a better player again and do it even better."

Scott Darling
On his first season with the Canes: "For me, I think I wanted to do so well being new here. It's kind of like quicksand: the harder you fight, the faster you sink. When it wasn't going well, I was overdoing it, trying too hard and not playing my game. It was a tough first half, but I think I had a better second half."
On his plans for the summer: "I'm going to stay here and train with our strength coach, just so I make sure I'm doing everything I can to be 100 percent ready for next year."
On the road ahead: "I've faced plenty of adversity in my life. It's tough. I'm the first to admit that it didn't go my way. It's been a long year. The media, the fans, all that stuff. But that's life. I'm excited about the challenge."

Justin Faulk
On establishing consistency: "You have to have the consistencies of your game as a player individually and your game as a team to make sure you can sustain and ride the wave of the 'up' a little bit longer."
On the future of Ward: "I think he has a lot left and could play a huge part with any team if he wants to. That's up to him, and I don't think there's going to be no opportunities out there for him. I want to see him keep playing, and I hope it's with me."

Brett Pesce
On the season: "It was tough. Everyone in the room and the organization knows it was a down year. We definitely underachieved. … What's done is done. Now we just have to move on from it."
On expectations versus results: "It's always kind of bitter when you don't make the playoffs. This one kind of hurts a little bit more, especially with the expectations. … We know what we had in the room. We believed we could have made it. That's the tough thing."
On his shoulder injury: "I decided against surgery. I talked to a few doctors, and they said it's not necessarily necessary, so I'm just going to rehab it hard and come back next year strong."

Jeff Skinner
On not making the playoffs: "It's disappointing. It's frustrating. You can throw out a lot of emotions. It's disappointing. That's about it."
On disappointment: "You come to training camp to be playing in the playoffs. That's the goal every year. We didn't accomplish our goal, so disappointment is everyone's feelings right now. … It's not a fun conversation to be having."

Jordan Staal
On the end of the season: "It's not a fun feeling. It's been frustrating for myself personally and for this organization for a while now. It's just another year that we couldn't quite get the job done. It's frustrating. That's pretty much the only way I can put it."
On consistency: "In the end, that's what good teams do: find a way to be consistent throughout the season. We obviously weren't good enough. … We kind of just hovered around .500. Then towards the end we had one bad streak, and that was it. It's a team that was close but wasn't good enough."
On strides taken: "The Finns were great this year. Seabass has continued to take steps to be the player we were all hoping he'd be. He's turning into a really good player. That's been nice to see. A lot of other players have taken steps. It's a young group that's trying to find its way."
On the summer ahead: "A new GM isn't going to come in and say everything is all fine. Whoever that may be is obviously going to come in and make changes. No one is really safe, including myself. It's going to be an interesting summer. We'll see how it progresses."
On Tom Dundon and management: "Tom coming in, he wants to win and build a team that's going to win championships. He's going to do what it takes. That's exciting, and hopefully I'm a part of that moving forward."

Cam Ward
On the end of the season: "It's a mixed bag of emotions. The uncertainty of the unknown is something that's difficult to take. I've been here a long time. We were expecting big things this year, but in a sense, I think we took a step backwards. We all have to take responsibility for that."
On what needs to change: "I think it's a culture. Being tougher to play against. We have a great group of guys in this locker room. A lot of skill. But it's got to sting more to lose. I think we can be more competitive. … It's one thing to have your temper tantrums off the ice and in the locker room, but what are we doing to change the games on the ice when things aren't going well?"
On establishing a winning culture: "There's got to be that snarl, that competitive drive. You've got to hate to lose. I've been doing it a long time here. It's been nine years since we've been in the playoffs, and it still stings every single time. You so badly want these guys to see what this place could be like in the playoffs. I've been here and done that. They don't know what they're missing yet. It's frustrating as a player who has been here for as long as I have been that we haven't been able to do that. You talk about Faulk or Skinner, they're at seven or eight years in their careers and never have played a playoff game. This is a city where we want players to want to come here and play, but they haven't seen what I've seen. It's been too long."
On the grind of the season: "I enjoyed coming to the rink every day. I still love the game. It wasn't a grind for me to come in and play with these guys. It's a great group of guys. I write 'Have Fun' on my stick, and I felt like I had fun. I broke a few sticks where I wrote 'Have Fun' - by accident - but that happens because I'm competitive. You want to be emotionally invested in winning and losing. We all know we've done way too much losing here. It's time to change that - it's over time to change that."
On taking on a new role: "When I came into the year, it was clear my role changed. It was something I embraced and wanted to handle appropriately. I'm comfortable with where I am in my career that I could be a real solid No. 2. I feel like I did that job that was asked of me to do, and I'd like to have that opportunity to do it again."
On Justin Williams:"What didn't he bring back to this room? He was a leader. He's a guy who I respect a ton. I've played with him and won the Stanley Cup with him. He's Mr. Game 7 for a reason. He's been through it all. Thank God we had him. There were times when things weren't going well, and he's the one guy who will step up, say something and try to make a difference. You respect a guy like that. He's a guy you can definitely lean on here to be a veteran leader both on and off the ice."
On the possibility of having played his last game with the Canes: "Against Tampa Bay, the last game, game 82, sure, it crossed my mind that this could be potentially be my last game as a Hurricane. I was nervous before playing that game, to be honest, just knowing that. I'm emotionally invested in this organization and have been for the last 13 years. I want to continue that, but there's a lot of uncertainty throughout the organization. … The unknown is tough to bear. I've got my family, and it makes a difference. I'm proud of sticking through it and doing what I could to try to help, and I'll continue to do that if that's what they want."

Justin Williams
On the end of the season: "We clearly didn't rise to the occasion when other teams did. To watch playoff hockey right now is going to sting and hurt. I hope it hurts for everybody. The same old story has been going on a long time here. People are fed up with it. This is my first year back here, and I don't accept it."
On not making the playoffs: "I know that once you make the playoffs and you get a taste and you get that winning attitude with your teammates, the players that you battled all year long - and then when you have that taken away, it's different than not having to feel it in the first place. … [Playoffs] is what I strive for now. It's not individual statistics or anything. It's team success. I want to have success here."
On joining the team last summer: "I wasn't coming in to be a savior or someone who's going to throw everyone on my shoulders. I can't do that. That's not who I am. I'm here to be a complementary piece and help the team excel and grow. It sucks. It's a disappointment. It's a complete disappointment this season. Standing here right now and watching the ice get melted and scooped up, it hurts. It stinks. The fun time of year is now, and we're not a part of it."
On changes for next season: "You only stay together if you win together. This team hasn't won. We haven't won. We didn't win. There's going to be changes. As far as how many, that's not up for me to decide, but I don't think you can keep being unsuccessful in your goals and have the same things happen. I would imagine things will be a little different."
On building blocks for next season: "We have guys who made strides. It wasn't all a failure. A lot of guys made strides of becoming better hockey players. We certainly need everybody to do that for us to get better."

End-of-Season Interviews
- Sebastian Aho - Scott Darling - Phil Di Giuseppe - Justin Faulk - Noah Hanifin - Elias Lindholm - Brett Pesce - Jeff Skinner - Jordan Staal - Lee Stempniak - Teuvo Teravainen - Trevor van Riemsdyk - Cam Ward - Justin Williams