I think the overtime win simply took it our of the Canes, I'm not sure they were good enough (yet) to beat that Wings team even if they had won that game. Carolina did not seem to have the depth, nor the chemistry that the Wings did (not saying they were bad, they just didn't seem quite as good).
Igor Larionov. The Professor. The Russian five. Stevie Y. All those great team mates.
We are now on the fourth resurrection (rebuilding) of a great team since then. It's been an amazing run. I don't see how they keep finding great pieces to reinvent the team every few years. Heck, they have the best salary cap situation of any team going in to the trade deadline. I sure hope the goalie comes back from his recent injury, if he does, they are in for another deep run.
If the Canes have a miracle come back, we'll try to join you if they both get to the final.......
That day of game 3 with the Mayberry stuff and all the tailgating was a fabulous day. Everybody from Detroit and Raleigh had a lot of fun. Also, the Canes’ arena - due to how its layed out and the steepness of the seating and the college basketball type fans that go - is incredibly loud. The game atmosphere was amazing.
And Detroit was much better than Carolina that year, but if we had gone up 2-1 we might have pulled an upset. Our talent was mediocre, but our chemistry was awesome. Detroit was better, and when you won the real long game (that we led 2-1 with less than two minutes to go in regulation) we were done. We had no chance at that point.