Sharks spoil first night of Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup team celebration
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- Sharks beat Hurricanes 4-1, spoiling the 20th‑anniversary celebration.
- Brind’Amour called effort embarrassing for two periods despite Staal’s power‑play goal.
- 2006 champions attended red‑carpet events and tributes, reconnecting team and Raleigh.
Twenty years ago Sunday, the Carolina Hurricanes were on the longest road trip of the 2005-2006 season, on the West Coast, still coming together as a team.
After two games in Los Angeles, the trip ended against the San Jose Sharks, with a 4-3 loss. Rod Brind’Amour had the first goal for the Canes in that game, the captain scoring on a power play.
We all know how that season ended. Stories about it are being told and retold with Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup champions back in Raleigh to be feted during a 20th anniversary Cup celebration.
There was a red-carpet reception Sunday for the ‘06 champs at the Lenovo Center, a few hours before the home game against the Sharks. They’ll put on their skates Monday for a 7 p.m. game against N.C. State’s Icepack, then be recognized during the home game Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Brind’Amour should again put on No. 17 and be on the ice Monday with several of the teammates he helped lead to the Cup. But he’s also a busy man, coaching the Canes in games Saturday against Nashville and then again Sunday against San Jose.
This year’s edition of the Sharks is not lacking energy, and they spoiled the first night of celebration, coming away with a 4-1 victory.
Jordan Staal, now the Canes’ captain, was given a chance on the power play and scored in the first — his eighth goal of this season and his first power-play goal since October 2021. But that was one of the few things Brind’Amour liked about the game, as the Sharks led 3-1 after the second period against a Canes team playing its third game in four nights.
“We were mentally not prepared,” Brind’Amour said. “It was an embarrassing effort, really, for two periods, and then it was, ‘Oh, we better get playing,’ and we did. Great third period as far as doing it right, but we were down two and they hunkered in. But we were not sharp.
“But no excuses. … This is the National Hockey League and you have to be prepared every night, whether there’s four games a week or not.”
Sharks center Macklin Celebrini had a goal, his 15th, and two assists for San Jose (14-13-3), and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, playing against his former team, had 28 saves and was named the game’s first star.
The Canes (17-9-2) did have goalie Pyotr Kochetkov back in net for the first time since Nov. 17 after he was out eight games with a lower-body issue. Kochetkov allowed three goals on 21 shots.
Many of the stars from 2006 watched in a private box at Lenovo Center. While those players’ faces are a bit more creased after 20 years, they remain so recognizable — Glen Wesley and Bret Hedican, Erik Cole and Chad LaRose, Cam Ward and Martin Gerber, Nic Wallin and Aaron Ward. And former coach Peter Laviolette, who was celebrating his 61st birthday Sunday.
A bearded Laviolette, wearing his Stanley Cup ring and with longtime former assistant Kevin McCarthy by his side, sounded the warning siren before Sunday’s game.
Before the second period, it was LaRose’s turn, earning another big cheer from Canes fans.
“It’s pretty cool to see their camaraderie,” Canes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said Sunday.
With the Canes now thoroughly entrenched in the community, and game sellouts so common at Lenovo Center, one must remember the team was just eight years removed from the franchise move from Hartford to Raleigh in 2005. The Canes had overachieved and reached the 2002 Stanley Cup, but two years without making playoffs and then the lockout season of 2004-2005 seemingly stalled the forward momentum being painstakingly being built by the franchise.
Then came 2006.
The community was all-in on the Hurricanes’ march to the Cup; culminating with the seven-game Stanley Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Mark the date: June 19, 2006. That’s the night Brind’Amour was the first to raise the Cup after a gritty Game 7 victory. He did so gladly, hurriedly, as the arena rumbled.
“That team was a very good team, and you could see everybody getting behind that team,” Brind’Amour said Sunday. “Then we had a lot of traction for a few years and then that kind of weaned. But the common thread was that when you win, you’re going to have that support.
“We had it earlier (2002) and then that group brought it back to life. But the real takeaway was we can do this here. And now we have that belief and understand we can do that.”
There’s a banner in the arena rafters that’s a consent reminder.
Some video tributes to the 2006 champions were shown during including one from Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, a member of the ‘06 winners.
Recently, Adams was in Raleigh with the Sabres and reminisced about that championship season.
“From the start we kind of had a special feeling in our room and let it build in the course of the year,” Adams said.
Adams recalls Justin Williams scoring the empty net goal late in Game 7 against Edmonton to seal a 3-1 victory, clinch the Cup, and ignite a wild celebration.
“That was the first time that it was like ‘We’re going to do this’ and that’s something I’ll never forget,” Adams said, “And that’s the great thing about hockey. The years go by, but the memories don’t fade at all.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Sharks spoil first night of Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup team celebration."
