1999-00 Carolina Hurricanes Paul Ranheim Jersey

After spending four seasons at the University of Wisconsin, which included being a team captain and All-American,  as well as scoring 6 goals and 9 points in 7 games for the United States at the 1986 World Junior Championships, Paul Ranheim spent the 1988-89 season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League, where he had an impressive first professional season scoring 68 goals and 97 points in 75 games which earned him IHL rookie of the year honors. The Golden Eagles then made it to the Turner Cup Finals, where Ranheim chipped in 10 points in 14 games. He also made his NHL debut with five games for the Calgary Flames, who had drafted Ranheim in the second round of the 1984 NHL draft.

Ranheim as a member of the Wisconsin Badgers

He left the minors behind when he joined the Flames full time in 1989-90, scoring 26 goals and 54 points as a rookie, which would prove to be career highs in both categories. After playing all 80 games in 1989-90, The left winger's sophomore season was ruined when he suffered a shattered ankle which caused him to miss half the season. Once Calgary was eliminated from the playoffs, Ranheim extended his season by appearing at the World Championships for the United States, scoring 4 times in 9 games.

He rebounded by playing in all 80 games in 1991-92, which saw him reach the 20 goal mark for the second time with 23. The 1992-93 season saw Ranheim play in all but one of Calgary's 84 games and top 20 goals for the third time with 21.

After 67 games of the 1993-94 season, Ranheim was dealt to the Hartford Whalers as part of a six player deal along with Ted Drury and Gary Suter in exchange for Michael Nylander, James Patrick and Zarley Zalapski going to Calgary.

The move to Hartford had a dramatic effect on his offensive numbers, as he would never again score more than 10 goals in a season for the remainder of his career, but would remain a valuable penalty killer and responsible defensive forward. After four seasons with the Whalers in Hartford, Ranheim relocated with the franchise when they became the Carolina Hurricanes. Following the Whalers final season in Hartford, Ranheim would make his second appearance at the World Championships, scoring twice in 8 games in 1997.

Ranheim scoring against Martin Brodeur

He would rarely miss a game for the remainder of his career, playing 230 our of a possible 246 games over the next three seasons with the Hurricanes, which included a return to the playoffs in 1999, Ranheim's first post season appearance since 1993 with Calgary, owing to the extended poor play of the Whalers

A trade sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers in time for the 2000-01 season. There, his habit of staying in the lineup continued with 159 games out of 164 over the next two seasons, which were extended with playoff appearances in both 2001 and 2002.

His final NHL season of 2002-02 began in Philadelphia but 28 games in, Ranheim was sent back west in a trade that sent him to the Phoenix Coyotes for the final 40 games of his career, which included his 1,000th NHL game on this date in 2003 in a game against the St. Louis Blues.

He would retire with 1,013 games played, 161 goals and 199 assists for 360 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999-00 Carolina Hurricanes Paul Ranheim jersey. This is a very desirable jersey, as it is the rare coming together of three different patches on one jersey, as all teams in the NHL wore the NHL 2000 patch in recognition of the Millennium. Carolina then added the Raleigh Arena inaugural season patch and then unfortunately the #3 patch on the left sleeve in memoriam of Steve Chaisson, who died in an automobile accident following a team party just after the conclusion of the Hurricanes season in the spring of 1999.

We have always given the Hurricanes original jerseys high marks for the italicized names and attractive numbers as well as the clever waist striping made of hurricane warning flags. The Hurricanes also boasted one of the better secondary logos on the league, their tattered flag flying from a hockey stick.

We have often wondered why more teams do not use italicized numbers, as they give the players the appearance of speed even when standing still. During the 1999-00 season, only five teams used italicized numbers, those being Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Nashville and Tampa Bay.

Honestly, the only thing that really bothered us was the main crest, because we always felt we were looking at the bottom of the puck because the crest was upside down!

Today's video section are the Top 5 Goals of the Week, featuring a stunning goal by Ranheim.