Franchise

The 2005-06 NHL season has seen quite a run of jersey retirements: Paul Coffey’s #77 in Edmonton, Mark Messier’s #11 in New York, and this week Scott Stevens’s #4 in New Jersey. But for Carolina Hurricanes fans, none surpassed Saturday night’s celebration of Ron Francis Night at the RBC Center in Raleigh. His #10 was raised to the rafters, the franchise’s first official jersey retirement in Carolina, and it was fitting that this milestone honor a man three cities called “Ronnie Franchise.”

Videos in the ceremony showed highlights from his whole career, but most of the program focused on his time with Carolina from 1998 through March 2004. Francis thanked Canes owner Peter Karmanos and general manager Jim Rutherford for offering him a multiyear contract at age 35 to return to his home franchise, spoke of old teammates, coaches and team staff that helped him on his journey, then addressed the fans. He talked about realizing the passion local residents brought to their sports, the wonder of seeing Duke, Carolina and State fans uniting behind one team, and the new heights of tailgating the Caniacs brought to the NHL during the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals run. The common thread through Francis’s entire speech, though, was deflected glory. People talk about how hockey players often seem more humble, more human, than other professional athletes; Francis epitomized that throughout his speech, a player never completely comfortable with the spotlight instead passing the accolades on to everyone around him.

Camera pans through the crowd showed several groups of Whaler- and Penguin-jerseyed fans there for the tribute. As a Caniac who still has a battered white 1995-96 Whaler jersey in his closet, I’m glad the Hartford folks in particular came down, but as a hockey fan, I felt bad for them having to endure the accolades for Carolina in general and Karmanos in particular. I don’t believe the fans of North Carolina deserve the enmity they receive from disaffected ex-Hartford followers (especially much of the old hockey staff at ESPN), but I can understand the Whaler fans’ anger, and their hatred of Karmanos is certainly fair.

As Francis made his way down the Hurricanes bench shaking hands, the last player on the bench jumped the boards to pose with him for a picture. As he turned, the camera showed Eric Staal, 2003 first-round draft pick, team scoring leader, and Francis’s fellow western Ontario native, huddling with him for a photo. Luke DeCock of the News and Observer put it best:

Leave it to Francis, though, to find a way to look to the future. Before his last lap on the ice began, Francis shook the hands of all the current Hurricanes, stopping at the end of the bench as Eric Staal hopped over the boards at Francis’ request.

The two paused for a picture, Staal closer in age to the two Francis sons standing next to him than their father, but the unquestioned bearer of the mantle Francis carried for so long — if not the captain yet, certainly the focal point and identity of the franchise now and, the Canes hope, for years to come, long after Francis is inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

Another neat moment: Francis’s two sons, both of whom he coaches in youth hockey in Raleigh, skated out with him, and they along with his daughter (who plays volleyball) attached the banner to the chains that hoisted it to the rafters. John Forslund reported on FSN South that the original plan had been for them to dress in a separate locker room, but when coach Peter Laviolette heard the discussion, he instead invited them to dress with the current Canes — and arranged for Francis and both of his sons to each have their own locker for the night. That was a class gesture by Laviolette.

The Canes are a different team now than the one Francis left for Toronto before the 2003-04 stretch run, in personnel, style and above all record. He wouldn’t take credit for the improvement, though his legend (and now his number) still looms large over the RBC Center ice. But coming back to a franchise that needed not just a leader but a reason for existence, Ron Francis didn’t just improve himself, nor even the team. He furthered the game as a whole, and for that, Southern hockey fans owe him a debt of gratitude.