For nearly a decade, the Hurricanes were a league-wide footnote, and postseason hockey in Carolina was nothing but a pipe dream and a reflection of yesteryear.

However, the 2018-19 season was a different story, as the Hurricanes captivated fans with exuberant post-win celebrations and embraced those who looked down on their fun shenanigans. But most importantly, they won, snapping the NHL's longest postseason drought and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

Even though the season ended in bitter fashion - a sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Thursday night - captain Justin Williams was able to reflect on the impact this campaign had not only on Carolina fans but on the entire league.

"I'm proud of what we've done," the 37-year-old told reporters postgame, per NBC Sports. "I'm proud that we've gotten ourselves relevant again. I'm proud that we raised the bar in the organization, and I'm proud of every one of my teammates."

One of the primary reasons for the Hurricanes' miracle run was the leadership from head coach Rod Brind'Amour. But even though his squad exceeded all possible expectations, he didn't stray from his fiery yet compassionate persona when reflecting on Thursday's 4-0 loss.

"I want to thank the people and community for supporting us. I hate that we went out like that on that game," Brind'Amour told Michael Smith of the team's website. "That was a dud game for them to come watch. I apologize for that. Tremendous support for our team. ... It's a real community feel. It's something special."

The Bunch of Jerks' season may be over, but with a young, promising core and plenty of cap space, there's no reason to believe it'll be another nine-year wait for playoff hockey in Raleigh, N.C.

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For nearly a decade, the Hurricanes were a league-wide footnote, and postseason hockey in Carolina was nothing but a pipe dream and a reflection of yesteryear.

However, the 2018-19 season was a different story, as the Hurricanes captivated fans with exuberant post-win celebrations and embraced those who looked down on their fun shenanigans. But most importantly, they won, snapping the NHL's longest postseason drought and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

Even though the season ended in bitter fashion - a sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Thursday night - captain Justin Williams was able to reflect on the impact this campaign had not only on Carolina fans but on the entire league.

"I'm proud of what we've done," the 37-year-old told reporters postgame, per NBC Sports. "I'm proud that we've gotten ourselves relevant again. I'm proud that we raised the bar in the organization, and I'm proud of every one of my teammates."

One of the primary reasons for the Hurricanes' miracle run was the leadership from head coach Rod Brind'Amour. But even though his squad exceeded all possible expectations, he didn't stray from his fiery yet compassionate persona when reflecting on Thursday's 4-0 loss.

"I want to thank the people and community for supporting us. I hate that we went out like that on that game," Brind'Amour told Michael Smith of the team's website. "That was a dud game for them to come watch. I apologize for that. Tremendous support for our team. ... It's a real community feel. It's something special."

The Bunch of Jerks' season may be over, but with a young, promising core and plenty of cap space, there's no reason to believe it'll be another nine-year wait for playoff hockey in Raleigh, N.C.

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The Boston Bruins completed their sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-0 victory on Thursday night to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.

It's the Bruins first finals appearance since 2013, and they await the winner of the San Jose Sharks-St. Louis Blues series to determine their opponent.

More to come.

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The Boston Bruins' Don Sweeney, St. Louis Blues' Doug Armstrong, and Carolina Hurricanes' Don Waddell have been named finalists for general manager of the year, the teams announced Thursday.

Sweeney made two key trades for the Bruins prior to the deadline, landing Marcus Johansson from the New Jersey Devils for a pair of draft picks and acquiring Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Ryan Donato and a conditional draft pick.

The Bruins GM didn't make any major offseason splashes, but the low-risk depth signings of Jaroslav Halak, John Moore, Joakim Nordstrom, and Chris Wagner proved integral to Boston posting the second-best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference.

Armstong endured one of the busiest offseasons in Blues franchise history. He landed Selke Trophy candidate Ryan O'Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres without giving up any major assets and signed Tyler Bozak, David Perron, and Patrick Maroon in free agency.

His best move, though, may have been not making one at all. After an abysmal start to the season, the Blues were rumored to be sellers, but Armstrong gave his group time to gel before making any major moves. The team rewarded him with one of the league's hottest second-half runs, going from last in the NHL on Jan. 2 to a playoff berth by the end of the regular season.

Waddell had a busy offseason of his own during his first summer at the helm in Carolina. He made a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames at the draft, shipping out highly touted youngsters Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin to acquire Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland.

He also solved the club's longstanding goaltending issues by signing Petr Mrazek to a one-year deal and claiming Curtis McElhinney off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. His pre-deadline trade sending Victor Rask to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Nino Niederreiter has proven to be one-sided in Carolina's favor.

The NHL's 31 general managers vote on the award at the end of the regular season. The winner will be announced on June 19.

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The Boston Bruins will be without defenseman Zdeno Chara as they look to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

It appears Chara will be replaced in the lineup by John Moore. There's no word yet on the extent of his potential injury.

Chara was limited to 62 games in the regular season due to a knee injury but has played in all 16 of the Bruins' playoff contests.

Boston's captain hasn't been prominent on the scoresheet with just three points in the postseason, but he's still logged over 22 minutes per night on the club's top defensive pair and is an integral factor on the Bruins' penalty kill.

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NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell admitted the league made a mistake on the controversial play that led to the conclusion of Game 3 between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

“That was the wrong call," Campbell said on Sportsnet's Hockey Central at Noon. "It should’ve been a whistle if the referee had seen it live.”

With the contest in overtime, Sharks forward Timo Meier made an illegal hand pass that led to San Jose's game-winner. The pass went undetected by the officials, and under the NHL rule book, it wasn't a reviewable play.

“It’s so unfair that the game ended that way,” Campbell added. “The wrong way.

"Yes, you could probably use (Rule 38.4(ix)) but I think it has to be a discussion (before expanding use of that rule).”

Rule 38.4(ix) allows the league to “assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g. to ensure they are “good hockey goals”). For example (but not limited to), pucks that enter the net by going through the net meshing, pucks that enter the net from underneath the net frame, pucks that hit the spectator netting prior to being directed immediately into the goal, pucks that enter the net undetected by the referee, etc.”

This wasn't the first time in these playoffs a non-reviewable play has caused a game to end in contentious fashion.

Trailing 3-0 with 11 minutes left in Game 7 of their opening-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks were awarded a five-minute power play after forward Cody Eakin was called for a controversial cross-checking major. San Jose scored four goals on the power play and won the game in overtime.

The Sharks recaptured home-ice advantage over the Blues and now lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Friday night in St. Louis.

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The Dallas Stars signed defenseman Esa Lindell to a six-year, $34.8-million contract extension on Thursday, the team announced.

Lindell's first big-money contract comes at an average annual value of $5.8 million and keeps the 24-year-old in Dallas until the end of the 2024-25 season.

The Finnish blue-liner logged a team-high 1553:37 of ice time at five-on-five this season and led the club with 161 blocked shots. He tallied career highs in goals (11) and points (32) in his third full NHL campaign.

Dallas selected the 6-foot-3 rearguard in the third round of the 2012 draft.

With blue-chip defenseman John Klingberg under contract through 2021-22, the Stars have locked up the core of their blue line for the next several years.

Still, with Ben Lovejoy, Roman Polak, and Taylor Fedun scheduled to become unrestricted free agents July 1, and Julius Honka coming off his entry-level deal, the Stars will have to make some important decisions to round out their defense corps.

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Anthony Mantha scored two goals as Canada defeated France 5-2 for their third straight victory at the worlds.

After Mantha opened the scoring, Darnell Nurse and Anthony Cirelli gave Canada a 3-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.

Damien Fleury potted the lone goal in the second frame to get France on the board. Anthony Rech made it a one-goal game just minutes into the third period, but Mantha's second of the contest put Canada back in control before Mark Stone delivered the dagger with 10 minutes to play.

France will look to capture their first win of the tournament when they take on host Slovakia on Thursday.

After dropping their tournament opener to Finland, Canada has rallied and now sit in second place in Group A.

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The system is broken.

If the National Hockey League, its fans, and the media didn't believe that prior to Wednesday night, the hand-pass debacle in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final eliminated all doubt.

Officiating shouldn’t be the prevailing talking point following an entertaining 5-4 win by the San Jose Sharks over the St. Louis Blues. It shouldn't have led the discussion after Game 7 of the Sharks-Avalanche second-round series, but it did because of the Gabriel Landeskog offside snafu. There was also the major penalty called on Cody Eakin in Game 7 of the hard-fought Sharks-Golden Knights opening-round matchup, which dramatically altered the final result.

And here we are. Again.

Off the top, let's state the obvious: Wednesday’s on-ice officials deserve a chunk of the finger-pointing. Referees Dan O'Rourke and Marc Joannette and linesmen Matt MacPherson and Jonny Murray all missed Timo Meier’s hand pass that led to Erik Karlsson's game-winning goal and a 2-1 series lead for the Sharks. Those officials are at the top of their profession, they've survived the playoff cuts to work the third round, and they're expected to perform under pressure. They didn’t.

Nobody's perfect at their job, but that doesn’t make the blunder any easier to swallow for the Blues. Afterward, GM Doug Armstrong reportedly yelled profanities at the officials room, head coach Craig Berube sternly declined comment, and captain Alex Petriangelo wondered aloud if there are separate sets of rules for the Sharks, a team that's been on the happy end of all three controversial moments listed above.

So, yes, there are human beings responsible for not blowing the play dead before the goal, and they'll face consequences in the court of public opinion. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the hockey world who doesn’t believe that the officials - as well-intentioned as they are - screwed this one up. Their superiors can't be pleased.

Which brings us to the NHL and its rule book, which turns the referees' on-ice mistake into something much bigger.

Rule 38.4 states only the following sequences are eligible for video review:

• Puck crossing the line

• Puck in the net prior to the net being dislodged

• Puck in the net prior to, or after, expiration of time at the end of the period

• Puck directed in by a distinct kicking motion

• Puck directed, batted, or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with the stick

• Puck deflected directly into the net off an official

• Puck struck with a high-stick, above the height of the crossbar, by an attacking player prior to entering the goal

• To establish the correct time on the official game clock, provided the game time is visible on the video goal judge's monitors

• To assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g. to ensure they are "good hockey goals")

You’ll notice all of these plays have something in common: They relate directly to a goal being scored, not to the sequence of events leading up to a goal. Therefore, under the current system, a hand pass such as Meier’s doesn't meet the criteria. (Coach's challenges can involve actions leading up to a goal, but only with regard to goalie interference and missed offside calls.)

This is where the blame game gets tricky.

Technically, the NHL's off-ice decision-makers - from commissioner Gary Bettman all the way down to Sharks-Blues series supervisor Kay Whitmore - are at the mercy of the rule book. They can't ignore it just because of the high stakes, or because the call on the ice was clearly wrong. Making exceptions to the rules is a slippery slope.

(A counterargument to the above: Some refs alter their interpretation of the rule book come playoff time and put their whistle away. Suddenly, fewer penalties are issued and dirtier plays are permitted. If the rule book is being followed with regard to reviewing contentious plays, like offsides and goals, why isn't it being followed in other ways?)

In March, I spent some time in the league's video review center in Toronto (also known as the Situation Room). One main takeaway from that night applies to Wednesday's madness: The rule book is god. There is no wiggle room for adjustments on the fly.

No matter the call, the folks tasked with reviewing it always defer to what's laid out on the page. It's a process with no improvisation. The Situation Room, led by director of hockey operations Colin Campbell, comes to a consensus based on video and rules. That's it. No personal preferences or opinions are considered until after the review is over and the debriefing begins.

In the latest case, since the play was not subject for review, the league's hands were tied. "It's just non-reviewable," Whitmore told pool reporter Jeremy Rutherford afterward. "I know that sounds like a cop-out answer, but that's the truth."

The NHL is not off the hook, mind you. This is a league that has struggled greatly with video review over the years, and the bubble has officially burst. The conversation always seems to circle back to the list of what's reviewable. At this point, given what has transpired this postseason, it's fair to expect more types of plays will be reviewable in the future. But where will the league draw the line?

The argument against additional reviews has always centered on the length of games and fans tuning out because minutes are being spent watching endless replays and officials huddled around an iPad. However, the past month or so seems to have shifted public opinion toward taking the time to get calls right versus being wrong but slow.

What happens next will be fascinating. The NHL's 31 general managers hold the hammer. Along with the board of governors, they have the power to change the way the game is officiated by instituting new rules and guidelines. Could we one day see two refs on the ice and another in the press box, as suggested Thursday morning by Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour? In the end, as NHL VP of hockey ops Rod Pasma noted inside the Situation Room in March, "The managers are our compass.”

The GMs are scheduled to meet in Vancouver on June 20, and you can bet video review will lead the agenda. At this point, our sanity depends on change of some kind.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

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