RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes 2018-19 season came to a screeching halt, courtesy of the Boston Bruins.  A 4-0 win in game four of the Eastern Conference Final wrapping up a tidy four-game sweep, sending Boston to the Stanley Cup Final as the Eastern champs.

 

 

 The end of any season is always so sudden.  Like a car hitting a telephone poll.  The jolt is hard to forget.

There is no spin to put on this series.  Over four games, Boston was the better team in so many facets.  Their specialty teams were clearly better.  Their goal tending was better.  Their top line accounted for all four goals in the series clincher.

I could go on about how this series played out perfectly for the Bruins.  That's not what the purpose of this piece is.

The Carolina Hurricanes upset the apple cart of the NHL over the course of the season, and in doing so, changed their culture.

They made hockey in the Triangle cool again.

It starts with their owner Tom Dundon.  I don't think I have seen him in a suit and tie.  That's cool.

Make no mistake, he wants to win.  He wants results.  He wants the team to be profitable.  He also wants to be comfortable, and I can respect that.

But Dundon's decision to have Don Waddell serve as GM (which earned Waddell a spot as a finalist for NHL GM of the Year), and then the hiring of Rod Brind'Amour as head coach, is where the shift began.

Brind'Amour was given a team with some proven veteran talent in Jordan Staal, Justin Williams, and Justin Faulk.  Budding young stars like Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce continued to progress.  Hitting the lottery for the 2nd overall pick in last year's NHL Draft (Andrei Svechnikov) didn't hurt a bit, either.

Waddell's move to bring in Petr Mrazek, snag Curtis McElhinney off waivers from Toronto, and then fleece Minnesota for Nino Niederreiter bolstered a group that was longing to play well, and eventually did.

There was plenty of grit in the lineup, too.  Micheal Ferland.  Brock McGinn.  Warren Foegele.  Saku Mäenalanen.  Greg McKegg.  Jordan Martinook.

There isn't one player you can pin the season success on.  This was a team.

This Bunch of Jerks made the old guard mad with Storm Surges after home wins (something I sincerely hope returns next season).

The were in second-to-last place in the entire league at the beginning of calendar 2019.

They banded together, played inspired hockey to reach the playoffs, and won two rounds in the post-season.

Culture changed.  Future bright.

Hockey in the Triangle is cool again.