CAROLINA HURRICANES vs. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Friday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m. (ET)
RBC Center * Raleigh, NC
Hurricanes: 0-0-0 (0 pts.)
Flyers: 0-0-0 (0 pts.)

Hurricanes Notes

• Season Openers: Friday’s game is the Hurricanes’ seventh season opener at home since moving into the RBC Center in October 1999. The team has posted a 2-1-3 record in such games. The Hurricanes franchise has gone 7-15-7 in season openers, including a 5-5-6 mark in season openers played at home.


• Opening Night Roster: Carolina’s season-opening 23-player roster includes five players who did not suit up for the Hurricanes last season – defensemen Aaron Ward, Andrew Alberts and Jay Harrison, along with forwards Tom Kostopoulos and Stephane Yelle.


• Back-to-Back Games: Friday’s game marks the first game of Carolina’s first of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season as the Hurricanes will travel to Boston for a Saturday evening match up with the Bruins. Carolina next faces back-to-back games against Florida on Oct. 9 and at Tampa Bay on Oct. 10.


• Preseason Wrap-up: The Hurricanes finished the preseason with a 2-2-0 record. After the team lost its first two exhibition games, it scored wins against Atlanta and at Nashville in the final two tilts. Eric Staal led Carolina with six points (3g, 3a) while Jay Harrison was the lone player to suit up for all four exhibition games.

Tomorrow's Game
The Hurricanes host the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center in each team’s 2009-10 season opener.

Broadcast Notes
Friday’s game will be televised on FOX Sports Carolinas in high definition. As always, John Forslund will provide play-by-play and former professional goaltender Tripp Tracy will provide color analysis for Canes telecasts on FOX Sports Carolinas. On the radio side, Hall of Fame play-by-play voice Chuck Kaiton begins his 30th season calling games for the franchise on the Hurricanes Radio Network. This marks the Network’s third year with radio flagship 99.9 FM The Fan.

TELEVISION: FOX Sports Carolinas HD

RADIO: Hurricanes Radio Network: WCMC 99.9 FM The Fan (Raleigh – flagship); WWNB 1490AM/105.7FM (New Bern, NC); WAVQ 1400 (Jacksonville, NC); WMFD 630AM (Wilmington, NC)

INTERNET: www.nhl.com, www.CarolinaHurricanes.com

Milestones Within Reach

• Center Matt Cullen is one game shy of 800 NHL games played
• Right wing Erik Cole is two games shy of 500 NHL games played
• Right wing Scott Walker is two points shy of 100 Hurricanes points
• Left wing Ray Whitney is two goals shy of 100 Hurricanes goals

CAROLINA AT HOME: 0-0-0
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 0-0-0

CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 0-of-0 (0.0%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 0-of-0 (0.0%)

Injuries

• Forward Michael Ryan, upper body, injured reserve
• 2009-10 MAN GAMES LOST: 0

Series Notes

• Carolina trails all-time 28-53-19-3 (103), including 16-24-11-1 (52) at home and 12-29-8-2 (51) in Philadelphia
• The teams meet four times in 2009-10: In Raleigh on Oct. 2 and Dec. 26; In Philadelphia on Oct. 31 and Jan. 23
• Carolina has earned points in each of the last three meetings (1-0-2)
• Philadelphia has earned points in each of the last give meetings (3-0-2), including two straight wins
• Nine of the last 15 meetings have gone to overtime, including three of four in 2008-09
• Carolina’s roster includes former Flyers Andrew Alberts, Rod Brind’Amour, Joni Pitkanen and Michael Leighton
• Philadelphia’s roster includes former Hurricanes franchise defenseman Chris Pronger