Twenty years ago, on May 6, 1997, Peter Karmanos announced at a press conference that the Hartford Whalers would relocate to North Carolina, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes.

Yes, it’s really been twenty years.

In that time, the Triangle has been treated to some extraordinary highs — a Stanley Cup, three Eastern Conference Final appearances, three division titles, the NHL All-Star Game — and some depressing lows — the Greensboro black curtain, a season where the top goal scorer didn’t crack 20 goals, and a too-long playoff drought.

With the Canes’ bye week coming up, we thought it would be a good time to come up with a list honoring the top 20 Hurricanes players of the past 20 years. The Canes Country writing staff will weigh in, and we want your participation as well.

Below you’ll find a ranker poll with players from 1997 to today. Please upvote as many players (up to 20) as you would put in your list; don’t worry about ranking them individually. Downvotes will not be counted for purposes of this poll, so please don’t downvote anyone.

If you don’t see a player you’d put in your top 20 list, there is a space to add them to the list at the end. The poll will close on Saturday, February 4, and we will tally up the votes to give Canes Country readers a spot in the final calculations. We’ll reveal the list five players at a time, beginning with #20 on Sunday, February 12, and going all the way to number one on Wednesday, February 16.

The only rule to consider in voting is that we are only taking into account what the players did while with the Hurricanes. So Ron Francis’ Cups with the Penguins don’t count, and neither does Jack Johnson’s distinguished career after forcing his way out of town.

If you have any questions about the poll or the project, feel free to leave us a comment or drop us a line at sbncanescountry@gmail.com. Have fun!