RALEIGH, N.C. – Although the Carolina Hurricanes are down 3-0 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final confrontation with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a deficit that has been overcome only twice in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs, they can draw upon the successful postseason experience throughout their roster for inspiration.
But while the remaining cornerstones of the ‘Canes’ 2006 surge to the Cup – Cam Ward, Eric Staal, Rod Brind’Amour, et al – can certainly provide the poise needed to make the Penguins sweat, two members of the Carolina coaching staff could also be welcome resources in the days ahead.
That seasoned pair, associate head coach Ron Francis and goaltending coach Tom Barrasso, coincidentally played elephantine roles on Pittsburgh’s back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1991 and ’92.
Francis, the slam-dunk best player in franchise history, earned that designation by accumulating 1,185 points in 16 seasons for the Hartford Whalers/Hurricanes and dazzling with his extraordinary play-making skills. It was the infusion of his immense talents that helped push the Penguins over the top in the spring of 1991, when they acquired Francis from Hartford in a trade.
The star center went on to play parts of eight seasons in Pittsburgh, providing a stabilizing force on multiple powerhouse clubs led by Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. Francis returned to his original franchise in 1998 for the Hurricanes’ second season in North Carolina, where he would finish his stellar playing career and transition into a role in longtime general manager Jim Rutherford’s front office.
When Rutherford fired former head coach Peter Laviolette on December 2, the four-time all-star moved rinkside for his first professional coaching experience as part of new-old bench boss Paul Maurice’s staff.
Barrasso’s route to a prominent role in the Hurricanes organization is nowhere near as deep-rooted as Francis’, but NHL history buffs will recall that Barrasso enjoyed the last extended stretch of solid play of his career while with Carolina during the 2001-02 season, posting a 2.61 goals-against average after a one-year retirement.
Of course, the fifth-overall pick in the 1983 NHL Draft made his name with the Buffalo Sabres, where he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year as a 19-year-old in 1985. Barrasso galvanized his reputation as one of the best American-born goalies of his era while with the Penguins from 1988-2000, earning a pair of championship rings and setting franchise records in the process.
The stoic Bostonian, who was known to be standoffish to both his teammates and the media in the second half of his playing career, has been anything but in his dealings with Cam Ward and Michael Leighton in Carolina as well as the rest of the organization’s netminders at the AHL and ECHL levels.
Most notably, the still-maturing Ward credits his second-year instructor with improving his stick-handling abilities, an aspect of the game Barrasso mastered on the way to setting an NHL record with 48 career assists.
With Barrasso and Francis at their service, the Hurricanes can look forward to input from legends for both the remainder of this postseason as well as in the future, assuming their assignments stay the same.
If the current series plays out as expected, though, ‘Canes and Caniacs alike couldn’t blame their repatriated former Penguins heroes for indulging in a bit of wistful nostalgia.
Stanley Cup memories can do that to a man.
Contact matt.gajtka@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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