‘Canes Travel Victory Road

After the Carolina Hurricanes wasted their first chance to win the Stanley Cup, and then their second, Rod Brind’Amour feared that the dream he’d nurtured since childhood was receding beyond his reach.

“Since Game 5, there was a great big lump in my chest,” said Brind’Amour, a veteran of 17 NHL seasons. “So much was at stake and you want it so bad, not just for the guys sitting beside you, but your dad and your kids, guys that have been with you, your friends.

“After Game 6, I just kept thinking, ‘We can’t let this go. There’s too many guys that deserve this.’ ”

The Hurricanes got what they deserved on Monday: a championship wrested from the determined clutches of the Edmonton Oilers, a splendid and gritty effort that capped the NHL’s strong comeback after having lost last season to a lockout.

As confetti swirled around the RBC Center and the 18,978 fans roared their approval of the Hurricanes’ 3-1 victory, Brind’Amour lifted the Cup for the first time, kissed it, and stomped his feet in pure, unfettered joy.

He lovingly handed it to Glen Wesley, who had never enjoyed that privilege in 18 seasons and was the last holdover from the franchise’s days as the Hartford Whalers. Wesley cried as he kissed the gleaming silver trophy, which was not awarded last season because of the lockout but had lost none of its majesty in the interim.

“It was incredible,” Wesley said. “I still can’t believe it.”

Believe it.

The team that was teetering two days ago and was about to be bumped away from the Cup by the relentless Oilers found its footing at the last and best possible moment. Boosted by a 22-save performance by goaltender Cam Ward, who became the fourth rookie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, the Hurricanes clung to the lead they’d built on a first-period goal by Aaron Ward and a second-period power-play goal by Frantisek Kaberle, goals that glanced off Oilers defensemen before caroming past Jussi Markkanen.

Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani converted a rebound at 1:03 of the third period to give the Hurricanes some nervous moments, but Justin Williams allowed them to exhale when he slid the puck into an empty net with 61 seconds to play. The cheers rivaled those generated by Oilers fans, to whom hockey is a birthright. College basketball and other sports usually rank ahead of hockey here, but not for the fans at the RBC Center on Monday.

“I don’t think they sat down the whole game,” said Hurricanes Coach Peter Laviolette, a Massachusetts native who became the fifth American-born coach to guide a team to the Cup.

“I don’t think they stopped yelling the whole time. They are Caniacs.”

The Hurricanes rewarded them with a staunch performance.

“People say that it’s your rookie season and chances are it will come again, but you never know,” said Cam Ward, who was Martin Gerber’s backup when the playoffs began but took over the starting job in the fifth game of the Eastern Conference finals against Buffalo.

“You can’t predict the future,” added Ward, who grew up in a suburb of Edmonton and professed no guilt over depriving his hometown team of a title. “You’ve got to take care of the present.”

The present looked bleak to the Oilers on Monday. They’d begun the playoffs as a lightly regarded eighth-seeded team in the West, but they’d become a close and feisty group that blended the skills promoted by the post-lockout NHL with the fortitude that makes the playoffs an annual test of endurance and heart.

Watching the Hurricanes celebrate “was everyone’s worst nightmare,” Edmonton center Shawn Horcoff said. “We fully expected us to come back and tie the game and force overtime.... You come all this way, you want to win the Stanley Cup. We just couldn’t find a way to score that tying goal.”

Markkanen, who performed admirably after Dwayne Roloson suffered a sprained knee in the opener of the finals, said coming close was no consolation.

“You battle so hard for two months and you come out short just a little bit, it’s tough to take,” he said. “It was a great run, but it’s pretty tough to take right now. Maybe in a couple of days we can put it in perspective.”

Cam Ward has another memorable moment coming up soon: He’s getting married on July 22 and now can invite the Cup to the festivities. “I haven’t put much thought into it,” he said, smiling, “but it probably would make a nice centerpiece.”