2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes season was the franchise's 37th season, 30th season in the National Hockey League and 11th as the Hurricanes.

Key dates prior to the start of the season:


 * The 2008 NHL Draft started on June 20, 2008.

Off-season

 * June 5: After 20 seasons in the NHL and 13 as one of the most popular faces of the Hurricanes' franchise, Glen Wesley announced his retirement.
 * September 11: The club announced that they have signed Eric Staal to a seven-year contract extension worth US$57.75 million.

Regular season

 * November 7: Peter Laviolette made NHL history by becoming the winningest American-born NHL coach with his 240th victory, as Carolina defeated the Ottawa Senators, 2–1.
 * December 2: Peter Laviolette was fired as the head coach and Paul Maurice was rehired in his place. Ron Francis became the team's associate head coach.

The Hurricanes finished the regular season having tied the Montreal Canadiens for the most power-play opportunities, with 374.

Divisional standings
2 points for a win, 1 for an OT or shootout loss, 0 for a loss in regulation

Record vs. opponents
Notes: * denotes division winner; teams in bold are in the Southeast Division; teams in italics qualified for the playoffs; points refer to the points achieved by the team whom the Hurricanes played against

= Member of the Atlantic Division = Member of the Northeast Division = Member of the Southeast Division = Member of the Central Division = Member of the Northeast Division = Member of the Pacific Division

Playoffs
The Carolina Hurricanes ended the 2008–09 regular season as the Eastern Conference's sixth seed. In the first round, they defeated the New Jersey Devils following a game 7 victory following two goals with 1:20 minutes in the game from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal in what is known as the “Shock at the Rock”. In the second round, they defeated the Boston Bruins in 7 games, denying Boston's 3–1 series comeback attempt following an overtime goal from Scott Walker. In doing so, they reached the third round for the first time since 2002. However, they got swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Goaltenders
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Hurricanes. Stats reflect season totals.

‡Traded mid-season

Bold/italics denotes franchise record

News
On June 14, the Hurricanes agreed to an extension of their lease at the RBC Center by five years through to 2023-24.

Draft picks
The 2008 NHL Entry Draft was in Ottawa, Ontario. The Hurricanes had the 14th overall pick

American Hockey League
The Albany River Rats are the Hurricanes American Hockey League affiliate for the 2008–09 AHL season.

ECHL
The Florida Everblades are the Hurricanes ECHL affiliate.