Out of Miracles
2018-05-23-Toronto, ON
After digging themselves out of hole after hole all season long, the Hurricanes finally dug themselves a hole too deep to come out of. Wednesday night marked the end of Carolina's season as they fell 5-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second straight game, this one resulting in elimination.
"Speechless, it sucks" said Willie Desjardins following the game, "not the way we wanted our season to end. It's tough not to be upset or sad or disappointed right now. But I think we'll soon look back on the season and be proud of our accomplishments. We were able to put together a great run and I think that's the important part here. Most champions have to go through tough losses before finding their way to winning it all. I think we've set a good foundation to continue to take steps forward."
"They're obviously a great team, there's a reason they're headed to their second straight Stanley Cup finals" said captain Henrik Sedin in the locker room post-game, "that is what a winning team looks like and what we are trying to emulate. Unfortunately, I already let the team know but I think I might as well make it public now. My family and I decided back in February that this would be my last season. I couldn't be prouder of the guys in this room and I am excited to see them continue to take steps forward in the future." Sedin then stepped away as he felt the need to find some space to have a moment.
"Sucks" said GM Matthew Rose, taking his turn on the podium, "I don't know any other way to describe it. It's painful now but I am also extremely proud and excited with our group and their potential. I think we are only scratching the surface with where this team is going to go moving forward. I just spoke to [Leafs GM] Ron Dubin and congratulated him on his team. If you're going to go out in the playoffs, it had better be against a great team, and that is exactly what the Leafs have going on. As for our team, we're going to take a week or two to blow off some steam and then get ready for the off-season preparation. I like our team though and think we had a great run. We've got a young, versatile blue line. We've got, probably, a Coach of the Year candidate, if not the winner. We have an elite starting goalie locked up for the next few years. And we've got an experienced forward group with some young prospects that are going to make us faster and more dangerous next year. I'm excited with where we're going but sad to see it come to an end. I think the biggest thing is patience. Our time is going to come, it's just not this year. Before I go, just want to wish a great team luck in the finals (not that they'll need it)."
With that, the Hurricanes and their coaching/management staff closed the book on their storybook 2017-18 season. The future is bright and we've seen this year just what is set to come with this organization. So while it's tough to lose a heartbreaking series that looked like it was set to achieve greatness. Their time is coming, this Hurricane is just picking up speed.