Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.
This week focuses on the Carolina Hurricanes entering Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers. The calendar also goes back 54 years to their New England ancestors and how the original Whalers franchise evolved into the current pride of North Carolina.
Howard Baldwin still can't believe it when he sees the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final
"I had no money and no arena in 1971, when I started building what has become the Canes," said Baldwin, the former president of the World Hockey Association. "And to see what Carolina is doing now amazes me even more."
But it was the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers who amazed the Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Tuesday, solving the usually reliable Carolina penalty kill for two power-play goals en route to a 5-2 victory. The Hurricanes are 89.7 percent on the kill in the playoffs, second behind the Panthers (88.1 percent).
"Those goals were the difference," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We had to kill those, but I give them credit. When they get a chance, it's in the net. They play a heavy, hard game and they can score."
Game 2 is in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
"We're doing the hard things that are necessary to win," said Panthers forward Sam Bennett, whose power-play goal at 6:08 of the third period gave Florida a 4-1 lead. "We have one goal in mind and that's our focus all the way."
Panthers coach Paul Maurice revealed that he altered the game plan he used in the seven-game win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round but wasn't totally satisfied.
"We still have to build our game and get better," Maurice said.
The Hurricanes are led by Seth Jarvis (four goals, eight assists) Sebastian Aho (four goals, seven assists) and Andrei Svechnikov (eight goals, one assist), but that's just the tip of the icebox. The defense, led by two-time Lady Byng Trophy-winner Jaccob Slavin (2021, '24), isn't too shabby either.
Then there's the matter of motivation. Carolina is trying to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. Florida can be the first team to repeat as champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and '21.
"Our club is comfortable in hard situations," Maurice said after a 6-1 win at the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the second round. "And that's what gives us a chance to win."
So far, the Hurricanes have responded equally well to pressure. Then need to do so again Thursday.
"We've been a conference final before," Svechnikov said. "We have an idea what to expect."
The events leading to the birth of the Hurricanes unfolded in 1971 and the emergence of the WHA. At age 28, Baldwin, who had been Philadelphia Flyers ticket manager, persuaded real estate developer Bob Schmertz to bankroll a Boston franchise, the New England Whalers.
"Leo Monahan, a Boston writer, wrote a story about us calling our chances of making it 'Slim and None,'" Baldwin wrote in his eponymous autobiography. "Actually, I had no idea what the heck I was getting into."
Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province put it another way: "Like a dog that can sing, the miracle wasn't that the WHA started well, it's that it started at all."
When the Whalers won the inaugural WHA championship in 1973, defeating Bobby Hull's Winnipeg Jets, there was no trophy for them to hoist.
"Everybody's yelling, 'Where's the Cup? Where's the Cup?' So, I rushed my PR guy out and he came back with this huge trophy he bought for $20.99," Baldwin said. "It resembled the U.S. Open tennis trophy, and it looked very good on television."
After the Whalers played two seasons at Boston Garden, Baldwin got lucky when a new arena opened in Hartford. The venue inspired Gordie Howe and his sons, Mark Howe and Marty Howe, to sign with the Whalers, plus future Hockey Hall of Famer Dave Keon.
Unfortunately, a blizzard caved in the roof of the Hartford Civic Center around 4:20 a.m. on Jan. 18, 1978.
"It looked like Godzilla stepped on it," Baldwin said, "but we managed to survive that. Eventually, I became WHA president and worked out a deal where the Whalers, Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg moved into the NHL."
Baldwin sold the Whalers in 1988 to a group of Hartford businessmen, who then sold it to entrepreneur Peter Karmanos, who moved the franchise to North Carolina following the 1996-97 season. The Hurricanes played at the Greensboro Coliseum until their new arena opened in Raleigh in 1999. Three years later, coached by Maurice, they lost the Stanley Cup Final in five games to the Detroit Red Wings. They needed seven to defeat the Edmonton Oilers in 2006, the team captained by current coach Rod Brind'Amour giving North Carolina its first and only major professional sports championship.
Nowadays, Baldwin, 83, roots for the Hurricanes long distance from his California home. He remains secure in the knowledge that 54 years ago he fooled a legion of skeptics who predicted that he'd never succeed in big-league hockey.
"I chased my Whalers dream for years," Baldwin concluded, "and when the Canes became champs in 2006 I figured those 'Slim and None' odds suddenly looked good after all."
Then, a pause: "And they'll look even better if the Canes go on to win another Cup this June!"
