The start of two seasons, in two different divisions, and their first divisional title in 15 years encapsulate the Carolina Hurricanes' topsy-turvy 2021.
The Canes began the 2020-21 season in the temporary Central Division after the pandemic postponed the season start until January and reduced it to 56 games. They won the division, their first such title since 2006.
The 2021-22 season then began in October, with the Canes back in the Metropolitan Division and with the hope of a semblance of "normalcy." They've been among the divisional leaders — and NHL points leaders — in the first third of the season. PNC Arena has been full, loud.
Some year, 2021. And that wasn't all:
Tom Dundon took over full ownership of the team. The Canes' Rod Brind'Amour won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year and earned a new contract extension. Canes captain Jordan Staal played his 1,000th career game. Forward Andrei Svechnikov signed an eight-year, $62 million contract. The team got into a social media feud with the Montreal Canadiens, and owned them in an offer-sheet kerfuffle.
The pandemic remains with us, though, and no one can say what 2022 will bring — Dundon, Brind'Amour and the Canes want a Stanley Cup championship.
Here's a look at some of the highlights of 2021:
Game of the year
Remember that "#Pack13" game at the 2021 College World Series, when N.C. State played a baseball game with 13 players because of COVID-19 issues? Call this one #Canes18.
The Canes faced the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 16 at PNC Arena with 16 skaters and two goalies — two skaters shy of a full roster — because of six players on the NHL COVID list. The Canes were limited in the number of AHL callups from the Chicago Wolves given the salary-cap restrictions, and required to play one game "short" before going back to a full roster.
No problem. The Canes won 5-3 as one of those callups, forward Jack Drury, scored his first NHL goal and was named first star of the game in his NHL debut. Brind'Amour called it "one of those special wins." So it was.
Player of the year: Jaccob Slavin
The defenseman earned more NHL exposure as the winner of the 2021 Lady Byng Trophy, given to the NHL player who best exhibits "sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."
Pretty accurate description of the Canes' No. 74, yes? Slavin rarely ventures into the penalty box and never has a harsh word to say on the ice. He has been a consistently steady and dependable player, protecting his goalie, getting sticks on pucks, piling up important minutes, always being there.
Slavin has added a different element to his game, it appears: more thump. He has rattled the teeth of a few more opponents in 2021-22, all with clean, jarring hits.
Rookie of the year: Seth Jarvis
The forward, Carolina's first-round draft pick in 2020, came to Canes training camp in September saying he wanted to make it hard for the Canes to send him back to junior hockey.
They all say that, don't they? Jarvis meant it. He didn't go back.
When Jarvis played his 10th NHL game, the first year of his entry-level contract with Carolina began. He was 20 games into his rookie season when he entered the NHL's COVID protocol along with Sebastian Aho, but has shown enough of his skill, savvy and solid three-zone play to earn Brind'Amour's trust and spot in the lineup.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic won 18 games for the Canes as a rookie in the condensed 2021 season and was a big part of their divisional title. Jarvis should be a big part of the Canes' future.
Goodbye, and hello
There was quite an exodus after the 2020-21 season ended with a playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2021 Stanley Cup champions. Gone were defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forwards Brock McGinn, Warren Foegele and Morgan "Can't out-pizza the hut" Geekie, and goaltenders Petr Mrazek, James Reimer and Nedeljkovic, a Calder Trophy finalist in 2021.
Coming to the Canes were goalies Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, forward Derek Stepan and defenseman Ian Cole. And then there was ...
The name is DeAngelo
The Canes made defenseman Tony DeAngelo a free-agent signing on July 28. The contract: one year, $1 million.
The reaction was immediate, the backlash fueled with vitriol. Some angry Canes fans threatened to cancel their season tickets. Many took to social media to vent. DeAngelo was persona non grata to some because of a controversial past on and off the ice.
DeAngelo asked for a chance. That's all: a chance to make amends and show he could be a model player and a good teammate. He has made good on that vow and been one of the league's most productive D-men.
And the Canes would make one more addition with a ... feuille d'offre.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, sign here please
It apparently simmered for a couple of years but never went away. The Montreal Canadiens tendered Sebastian Aho an offer sheet on July 1, 2019, hoping to steal away the Canes center. That didn't work as the Canes matched it. Nor was it forgotten.
The Canes struck back this year. They made Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet on Aug. 28. Kotkaniemi signed it. The Habs did not match it. Just like that Canes had another forward and the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, just after Svechnikov.
The offer sheet was announced on Twitter by the Canes in French. Canes president and general manager Don Waddell issued a statement that was nearly word-for-word what the Habs' Marc Bergevin, now the former Montreal GM, had said in 2019. Plus there was the $20 signing bonus, matching Aho's number.
The Canes claimed there was no ill intent, just marketing and some social media fun. But they made a point with their bold hockey move. And, unlike the Habs, got their man — la vengeance est douce.
Golf, anyone?
Few things made a bigger stir off the ice in 2021 than pop star Harry Styles popping into town for a concert and deciding to hit the links. Aho and Martin Necas joined him at Old Chatham in Durham for a few swings, and their round on Oct. 11 had Twitter atwitter and social media blowing up after a photo of the three appeared on Necas' Instagram page.
"It was a great day," Necas later said. "We really enjoyed it. He was like super nice. He was making jokes, wasn't cocky at all. That was nice to see."
It ain't over yet ...
COVID-19, quarantine, protocol, testing, variant, outbreaks ... it's still with us, still a part of the hockey lexicon. While so many had hoped the pandemic would wane in 2021 and no longer be a major issue, the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 only added new, distressing problems. The 2021-22 season began with such promise, but a mass of positive tests resulted in games being postponed and the NHL's decision not to allow its players to go to the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Canes had games postponed, players placed in the COVID protocol. Dundon sent out a rescue flight at one point to bring six quarantined players back to Raleigh. Brind'Amour said it was "hold your breath" every day as teams awaited the COVID test results.
But enough. Let's end it there. On to 2022.
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 6:00 AM.
