2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes season began as the defending Stanley Cup champions started to defend their title. The Hurricanes did not make any substantial changes to their roster, hoping that their lineup would be enough to get them a repeat as NHL champions. However, due to many factors, including a shortened off-season due to last season's Stanley Cup run, injuries and disappointing performances from the team's young stars (including Eric Staal and Cam Ward), the team failed to qualify for the post-season becoming the first team since the 1995–96 New Jersey Devils to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous year.

2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes
Division	3rd Southeast
Conference	11th Eastern
2006–07 record	40–34–8
Goals for	241
Goals against	253
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Peter Laviolette
Captain	Rod Brind'Amour
Alternate captains	Kevyn Adams (Oct-Jan) Cory Stillman Glen Wesley Ray Whitney (Jan-Apr)
Arena	RBC Center
Team leaders
Goals	Justin Williams (33)
Assists	Rod Brind'Amour (56)
Points	Ray Whitney (83)
Penalty minutes	Mike Commodore (113)
Plus/minus	Glen Wesley (+11)
Wins	Cam Ward (30)
Goals against average	Cam Ward (2.93)
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

Regular season

Season standings

Southeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Atlanta Thrashers	82	43	28	11	246	245	97
2	7	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	44	33	5	253	261	93
3	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	40	34	8	241	253	88
4	12	Florida Panthers	82	35	31	16	247	257	86
5	14	Washington Capitals	82	28	40	14	235	286	70

^[1]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Eastern Conference^[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P - Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	53	22	7	308	242	113
2	Y - New Jersey Devils	AT	82	49	24	9	216	201	107
3	Y - Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	43	28	11	246	245	97
4	X - Ottawa Senators	NE	82	48	25	9	288	222	105
5	X - Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	47	24	11	277	246	105
6	X - New York Rangers	AT	82	42	30	10	242	216	94
7	X - Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	44	33	5	253	261	93
8	X - New York Islanders	AT	82	40	30	12	248	240	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	40	31	11	258	269	91
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	34	6	245	256	90
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	40	34	8	241	253	88
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	35	31	16	247	257	86
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	35	41	6	219	289	76
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	28	40	14	235	286	70
15	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	22	48	12	214	303	56

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

October

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 4	Buffalo	3 – 2	Carolina	SO	Ward	18,840	0–0–1	1
2	October 6	New Jersey	4 – 0	Carolina		Ward	18,639	0–1–1	1
3	October 7	Carolina	2 – 5	Washington		Ward	16,622	0–2–1	1
4	October 11	Carolina	3 – 6	Florida		Grahame	14,312	0–3–1	1
5	October 13	Carolina	4 – 3	Atlanta		Ward	13,106	1–3–1	3
6	October 14	Carolina	5 – 1	Pittsburgh		Ward	14,351	2–3–1	5
7	October 16	Carolina	5 – 1	Tampa Bay		Ward	19,815	3–3–1	7
8	October 20	Carolina	4 – 5	Buffalo		Ward	18,690	3–4–1	7
9	October 21	Carolina	3 – 4	NY Islanders	OT	Grahame	12,349	3–4–2	8
10	October 25	Atlanta	4 – 5	Carolina	OT	Ward	15,008	4–4–2	10
11	October 26	Carolina	1 – 5	Tampa Bay		Ward	19,826	4–5–2	10
12	October 28	Tampa Bay	4 – 6	Carolina		Ward	18,639	5–5–2	12

November

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
13	November 1	Carolina	5 – 2	Atlanta		Ward	14,277	6–5–2	14
14	November 2	Montreal	4 – 0	Carolina		Ward	16,486	6–6–2	14
15	November 4	Carolina	3 – 2	Ottawa		Ward	19,548	7–6–2	16
16	November 7	Carolina	2 – 3	New Jersey	SO	Ward	10,986	7–6–3	17
17	November 9	Washington	0 – 5	Carolina		Ward	18,639	8–6–3	19
18	November 11	Pittsburgh	2 – 6	Carolina		Ward	18,726	9–6–3	21
19	November 13	Buffalo	7 – 4	Carolina		Ward	14,387	9–7–3	21
20	November 15	NY Rangers	1 – 2	Carolina		Ward	16,080	10–7–3	23
21	November 17	Carolina	4 – 1	Washington		Grahame	12,683	11–7–3	25
22	November 18	Dallas	4 – 5	Carolina		Ward	18,639	12–7–3	27
23	November 21	Carolina	0 – 4	NY Rangers		Ward	18,200	12–8–3	27
24	November 22	Carolina	2 – 4	NY Islanders		Grahame	12,419	12–9–3	27
25	November 24	Carolina	5 – 1	Boston		Grahame	16,544	13–9–3	29
26	November 28	Ottawa	4 – 1	Carolina		Grahame	14,393	13–10–3	29
27	November 30	Montreal	2 – 4	Carolina		Ward	13,103	14–10–3	31

December

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
28	December 2	Boston	2 – 5	Carolina		Ward	18,639	15–10–3	33
29	December 5	Carolina	0 – 3	Calgary		Grahame	19,289	15–11–3	33
30	December 6	Carolina	1 – 3	Edmonton		Ward	16,839	15–12–3	33
31	December 8	Carolina	3 – 4	Vancouver	OT	Ward	18,630	15–12–4	34
32	December 11	Carolina	2 – 5	Colorado		Grahame	17,214	15–13–4	34
33	December 15	Toronto	5 – 3	Carolina		Ward	18,639	15–14–4	34
34	December 16	Carolina	3 – 2	Tampa Bay		Ward	18,634	16–14–4	36
35	December 19	Carolina	2 – 1	Philadelphia		Ward	19,111	17–14–4	38
36	December 22	NY Islanders	1 – 5	Carolina		Ward	18,252	18–14–4	40
37	December 23	Carolina	3 – 2	Florida	OT	Grahame	16,147	19–14–4	42
38	December 26	Florida	2 – 4	Carolina		Ward	18,639	20–14–4	44
39	December 28	Carolina	1 – 4	Buffalo		Grahame	18,690	20–15–4	44
40	December 29	Anaheim	2 – 4	Carolina		Ward	18,790	21–15–4	46
41	December 31	Philadelphia	5 – 2	Carolina		Ward	18,796	21–16–4	46

January

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
42	January 2	Carolina	0 – 3	Pittsburgh		Ward	16,957	21–17–4	46
43	January 4	Phoenix	2 – 0	Carolina		Ward	15,096	21–18–4	46
44	January 6	NY Islanders	2 – 4	Carolina		Ward	18,639	22–18–4	48
45	January 9	Carolina	4 – 1	Toronto		Ward	19,447	23–18–4	50
46	January 11	Florida	4 – 6	Carolina		Grahame	13,552	24–18–4	52
47	January 13	Atlanta	4 – 3	Carolina	SO	Ward	18,639	24–18–5	53
48	January 16	Carolina	3 – 2	Florida	OT	Grahame	10,317	25–18–5	55
49	January 18	Washington	5 – 2	Carolina		Grahame	16,285	25–19–5	55
50	January 20	Tampa Bay	6 – 5	Carolina	SO	Ward	18,196	25–19–6	56
51	January 26	Washington	2 – 6	Carolina		Ward	18,044	26–19–6	58
52	January 27	Carolina	3 – 7	Washington		Ward	16,924	26–20–6	58
53	January 30	Toronto	4 – 1	Carolina		Ward	16,533	26–21–6	58

February

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
54	February 1	Tampa Bay	4 – 0	Carolina		Grahame	16,635	26–22–6	58
55	February 3	Boston	4 – 3	Carolina	OT	Ward	18,665	26–22–7	59
56	February 6	Carolina	2 – 1	Montreal		Ward	21,273	27–22–7	61
57	February 8	Carolina	5 – 2	Boston		Ward	13,014	28–22–7	63
58	February 10	Carolina	4 – 5	Minnesota		Grahame	18,568	28–23–7	63
59	February 13	Los Angeles	1 – 2	Carolina		Ward	15,765	29–23–7	65
60	February 15	NY Rangers	4 – 1	Carolina		Ward	17,255	29–24–7	65
61	February 17	Carolina	5 – 3	Montreal		Ward	21,273	30–24–7	67
62	February 20	Atlanta	3 – 1	Carolina		Ward	16,228	30–25–7	67
63	February 22	Philadelphia	2 – 3	Carolina	OT	Grahame	14,533	31–25–7	69
64	February 24	Carolina	4 – 1	Atlanta		Grahame	18,744	32–25–7	71
65	February 27	Ottawa	4 – 2	Carolina		Grahame	17,812	32–26–7	71
66	February 28	Carolina	0 – 2	Ottawa		Ward	19,261	32–27–7	71

March

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
67	March 2	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	Carolina		Ward	18,793	33–27–7	73
68	March 4	Carolina	1 – 3	Atlanta		Grahame	17,783	33–28–7	73
69	March 9	Carolina	3 – 0	Washington		Ward	13,970	34–28–7	75
70	March 11	Carolina	1 – 2	NY Rangers	SO	Grahame	18,200	34–28–8	76
71	March 13	Florida	1 – 3	Carolina		Grahame	18,639	35–28–8	78
72	March 15	New Jersey	3 – 2	Carolina		Grahame	18,279	35–29–8	78
73	March 17	Carolina	7 – 2	New Jersey		Grahame	15,490	36–29–8	80
74	March 22	Washington	3 – 4	Carolina		Ward	18,740	37–29–8	82
75	March 24	San Jose	4 – 6	Carolina		Ward	18,763	38–29–8	84
76	March 27	Carolina	1 – 6	Toronto		Ward	19,559	38–30–8	84
77	March 28	Carolina	1 – 5	Philadelphia		Grahame	19,123	38–31–8	84
78	March 30	Tampa Bay	4 – 2	Carolina		Ward	18,639	38–32–8	84

April

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
79	April 1	Carolina	4 – 3	Florida	OT	Ward	17,878	39–32–8	86
80	April 3	Carolina	2 – 3	Tampa Bay		Ward	20,224	39–33–8	86
81	April 6	Atlanta	4 – 3	Carolina		Ward	17,158	39–34–8	86
82	April 7	Florida	4 – 5	Carolina	OT	Grahame	18,639	40–34–8	88

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates regulation loss.
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The fans and players had high hopes for that season because the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup the previous year. Unfortunately, the season ended in disappointment as the Hurricanes missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Ray Whitney LW 81 32 51 83 46 -5 6 0 6 Rod Brind'Amour C 78 26 56 82 46 7 9 2 5 Eric Staal C 82 30 40 70 68 -6 12 1 1 Justin Williams RW 82 33 34 67 73 -11 12 2 8 Erik Cole LW 71 29 32 61 76 2 9 0 4 Scott Walker RW 81 21 30 51 45 -10 6 0 6 Mike Commodore D 82 7 22 29 113 0 0 2 1 Cory Stillman LW 43 5 22 27 24 -8 1 0 0 Andrew Ladd LW 65 11 10 21 46 1 2 0 3 Eric Belanger C 56 8 12 20 14 -2 3 0 1 Chad LaRose RW 80 6 12 18 10 -2 0 2 0 David Tanabe D 60 5 12 17 44 5 2 0 0 Craig Adams RW 82 7 7 14 54 -9 0 1 1 Andrew Hutchinson D 41 3 11 14 30 0 2 0 0 Anton Babchuk D 52 2 12 14 30 -6 0 0 2 Glen Wesley D 68 1 12 13 56 11 0 1 1 Niclas Wallin D 67 2 8 10 48 -2 0 0 0 Bret Hedican D 50 0 10 10 36 -8 0 0 0 Josef Vasicek C 25 2 7 9 22 -6 0 0 0 Frantisek Kaberle D 27 2 6 8 20 8 1 0 1 Trevor Letowski RW 61 2 6 8 18 -8 0 0 0 Tim Gleason D 57 2 4 6 57 -10 1 0 0 Dennis Seidenberg D 20 1 5 6 2 -12 0 0 0 Kevyn Adams C 35 2 2 4 17 -10 0 1 0 John Grahame G 28 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 Ryan Bayda LW 9 1 1 2 2 -1 0 0 0 Anson Carter RW 10 1 0 1 2 -3 1 0 0 Keith Aucoin C 8 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Cam Ward G 60 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 David Gove C/RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T/OT GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Cam Ward 3422 60 30 21 6 167 2.93 2 1625 1458 .897 John Grahame 1515 28 10 13 2 72 2.85 0 702 630 .897 Team: 4937 82 40 34 8 239 2.90 2 2327 2088 .897

^[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

Trades

July 18, 2006	To Carolina Hurricanes Scott Walker	To Nashville Predators Josef Vasicek
September 29, 2006	To Carolina Hurricanes Tim Gleason Eric Belanger	To Los Angeles Kings Jack Johnson Oleg Tverdovsky
November 21, 2006	To Carolina Hurricanes Jakub Petruzalek conditional pick in 2008	To New York Rangers Brad Isbister
November 29, 2006	To Carolina Hurricanes Mark Flood	To Columbus Blue Jackets Derrick Walser
January 8, 2007	To Carolina Hurricanes Dennis Seidenberg	To Phoenix Coyotes Kevyn Adams
February 9, 2007	To Carolina Hurricanes Josef Vasicek	To Nashville Predators Eric Belanger
February 23, 2007	To Carolina Hurricanes Anson Carter	To Columbus Blue Jackets 5th round pick in 2008

Free agents acquired

Player	Former Team
G John Grahame	Tampa Bay Lightning
F Trevor Letowski	Columbus Blue Jackets
D Tim Conboy	San Jose Sharks
F Jesse Boulerice	St. Louis Blues
D David Tanabe	Boston Bruins
D Brad Isbister	Boston Bruins

Free agents lost

Player	New Team
F Matt Cullen	New York Rangers
G Martin Gerber	Ottawa Senators
F Doug Weight	St. Louis Blues
D Aaron Ward	New York Rangers
F Mark Recchi	Pittsburgh Penguins

Draft picks

Carolina's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[4]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	63	Jamie McBain (D)	United States	Carolina Hurricanes	US National Team Development Program (NAHL), University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
3	93	Harrison Reed (RW)	Canada	Carolina Hurricanes	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
4	123	Bobby Hughes (C)	Canada	Carolina Hurricanes	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
5	153	Stefan Chaput (C)	Canada	Carolina Hurricanes	Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)
6	183	Nick Dodge (RW)	Canada	Carolina Hurricanes	Clarkson University (NCAA)
7	213	Justin Krueger (D)	Switzerland	Carolina Hurricanes	Cornell University (NCAA)

References

• Game log: Carolina Hurricanes game log on ESPN.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on ESPN.com
• Player stats: on NHL.com

1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
2. "2006–2007 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
3. "2006-07 Carolina Hurricanes Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
4. 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com^{[permanent dead link]} – accessed December 28, 2006