Do they have rights to play reruns of old playoffs? It's been so long and I've mostly forgot the drama of it.
I'm sure they do but I doubt we get to see them. Would be cool though.
Some of you may think I'm nuts for saying this, but in some ways I cherish the 2009 run more than the 2006 and 2002 runs, and maybe last years run too. 2009 was one of my favorite teams. Prime Eric Staal and Cam Ward, Rod was in decline but still effective, Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov had career revivals, Dennis Seidenberg and Joni Pitkanen were holding down the fort on the Blue-line (seriously I think Joni was underappreciated during his time here since he was originally traded for Erik Cole). I went to about 10 games that regular season and that group just clicked, even after the coaching change they didn't miss a beat although they went through some rough patches.
The stretch of games leading down to the end of the regular season that year were some of my best memories watching this team play. I was in college then and introduced friends and classmates to the team and the sport, it was so much easier getting college kids interested in this team than it was my High School buddies. I'd walk into class in the mornings wearing my 2006 shirt and they'd say to me, "Dude I watched the game last night, that was a crazy comeback, that Eric Staal dude is a tough motherf***er and Damn, Cam Ward is a f***ing brick wall!", "9 wins in a row! Hell the Panthers can barely win 9 games in a season! This NHL shit is fun!". Hell even at the grocery store and restaurants I frequented people would talk to me about the team. Just amazing the free publicity I gave this team just walking around in my Canes gear and flying my car flags.
And, the NJ and Boston series were just a blast. They were underdogs and to pull off what they did in both series was the epitome of why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best. The Boston series was great, every Bruins fan and media writer predicted a Bruins sweep and an eventual Cup parade that summer. The
Boston Globe douche-nozzles (Dan Shannagusly? and that guy from
Around the Horn on ESPN) wrote their usual "Carolina doesn't deserve Hockey, they are uneducated rednecks" crap.
And then Scott Walker shut them up in game 7 Overtime. His post-game interview with Tripp afterwards still makes me cry.
Unfortunately they went out with a whimper the next round, but they lost to a better team while knocking out two Juggernauts, no shame in that.
