Hurricanes #1 in the NHL

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I gotta say, I did not see this one coming. The Hurricanes getting the love from ESPN? Maybe the bitterness of separation has finally worn off, eh?

It's not like the Bristol, CT based network had any regard for the team when they were still in Hartford. Prior to the move to North Carolina, it's doubtful that even a hardcore hockey fan south of New York City could have named more than one player on the Whalers' roster. (I couldn't... could you?) We simply never, ever saw them play (unless of course, they were playing the Rangers who seemed to be on every other broadcast). But all that's changed now in the world of the NHL on Versus (which still baffles me).

With ESPN now relegated to highlight reels and the Team Formerly Known as the Whalers hoisting a Stanley Cup banner, they've begun to take notice of The Little Franchise That Could. Like this gem for example.

Since 2003 ESPN has been compiling what they call the "Ultimate Standings" for all teams in all major (by their definition, okay?) sports. In their words: "in which we measure how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to the fans in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them."

The formula for computing the standings is dizzying, and a few of the categories puzzle me to no end. But when they tallied everything, my beloved Hurricanes finished #2 in the overall rankings across all sports and #1 among NHL teams. It's not a Stanley Cup, but I'll take it.

So in the overall standings for all sports, we got nudged out of the top spot by the MLB's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (WTF is up with teams from Anaheim and names that won't fit on a marquee anyway? Must be a Disney thing. At least the Ducks finally figured that one out.)

Where did some of the more "iconic" sports franchises finish? Well, predictably the Super Bowl Champion Steelers were #3, but surprisingly the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins only rose to #8. The Detroit Red Wings landed in the #4 slot despite a 7-game series loss to said Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final. (Come on Pittsburgh, get your priorities in order here!) Other notable teams, the Green Bay Packers finished in the #13 spot, and Boston's highest ranked entry was the Celtics at #20 (with the Bruins and Red Sox coming in at #56 and #58 respectively. If you want to count the Patriots as a "Boston" team, they came in just ahead of the Celtics at #19.)

And one development that had me laughing up my sleeve was the 76th place finish of The NFL's Lords of Arrogance, the Dallas Cowboys who got smoked by both of theirs neighbors, the NHL's Stars (#22) and the NBA's Mavericks (#46). Take that Jerry Jones.

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