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Oh no, Carolina: Hurricanes making unwanted NHL history

The defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes are making history — just not the kind they were hoping for.

The Hurricanes enter road games in Atlanta Friday and Pittsburgh Saturday with the dubious honor of being the only defending champion in NHL history to lose its first four games (one loss was in a shootout).

The last Cup winner to lose its opener was the Detroit Red Wings in 1998; the last one to lose as many as its first two games was Colorado in 1996. But the Wings rebounded from their opening-night loss with four consecutive victories, while the Avalanche went 3-0-1 after dropping their first two games on the road after winning the Cup.

No Cup-winner since the 1955-56 Wings had lost its first three games. Those Wings are also the only other defending champion that failed to win at least one of its first two home games Hurricanes losing grip on Stanley Cup? – that Detroit team sandwiched home losses to Chicago and the Rangers around a road loss to Toronto.

The Hurricanes are trying to avoid the two worst five-and six-game start by defending champions. The 1995 New York Rangers started their post-lockout season by losing their opener, won their second game and then dropped the next three for a 1-4-0 record.

The 1945-46 Toronto Maple Leafs tied their season-opener, then lost their next five games before ending their 0-5-1 start with a victory.

The Hurricanes probably envisioned a start more like the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers. That team tied its opener 2-2 in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, but wound up going 12-0-3 from the start of the season before finally dropping a 7-5 decision in Philadelphia on Nov. 11. That’s still the longest unbeaten streak from the start of a season.

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