Thursday, April 5, 2007

The Carolina Hurricanes, the current holders of the Stanley Cup, will not be in the NHL Playoffs to defend their title. With Carolina losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night, and the Montreal Canadians defeating the Boston Bruins to hold onto their spot in the postseason, the Hurricanes found themselves on the outside looking in.

The Edmonton Oilers, champions of the Western Conference last season, were elimanated from playoff contention several weeks ago, but only two teams, the 1970 Montreal Canadiens and 1995 New Jersey Devils, have won the Stanley Cup, and miss the playoffs entirely the next season. This marks the first time both teams previously in the Stanley Cup Finals totally miss the playoffs the following year.

Hurricanes center Eric Staal said: “The year went by so fast, it just felt like we were right in the mix and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, we’re out.”