Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes is vying for his first Stanley Cup. He was acquired from Tampa Bay on March 5 for Shane Willis and Chris Dingman, and previously played for Florida, Vancouver and the N.Y. Islanders:

	Kevin Weekes posted two shutouts in eight playoff games this year.

How does the crowd in Tampa Bay compare to the crowd in Raleigh?
It's funny, on some nights our crowd in Tampa wasn't very good, and on some nights it got very loud. We played some excellent games in the two years I was there, but I can only envision what it would be like in the playoffs. Ultimately, you have to give fans a reason to cheer. The don't just cheer to make themselves hoarse. In Tampa, we were able to do some good things, but not on the consistant basis that we are able to do here. Our fans in Carolina have a lot to cheer about, and it makes it a lot easier. They're great. They're not just clapping and cheering for the sake of cheering.

After growing up playing in colder climates, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make in warm-weather cities?
Hydration is probably the biggest thing. You can also get sick. Your system adapts to your environment, for the most part, and you climatize yourself to warm weather, so the cold can obviously be a shock to your system when you have to go into a winter place. But, I had the benefit of growing up in a winter environment, and now living in a tropical environment, which is genetically more my natural environment, since my parents are from Barbados. It's kind of cool, I don't mind it, but you do have to take precautions and drink enough. I prefer the warm weather, that's for sure. I grew up in Toronto, and I love playing hockey, but I don't really enjoy the cold unless I'm playing hockey.

What aspect of the South do you like the most?
I just find that people are a little more patient, probably too patient in some instances, a little toooooo slooooooow, but they're less hostile. People are a little warmer. The food is pretty cool. I love barbeque. My main thing is just the fact that it's relaxed. I like it a lot during the season. Being up North during the season, there are too many experts that know too much. They think they know more than they actually do, and everybody has something to say because they played on a lake or played minor hockey somewhere. But, ultimately, if they were that good, they'd still be involved in the game to some extent. I like the relaxed atmostphere. People are a lot more appreciative of our efforts and are a lot less cynical. I really appreciate that because back home, as much as I love Toronto and New York, there are just too many haters, too many people that have too much to say. They think that just because they grew up around the game that it gives them the right to say what they want to say and critique every aspect of the game.

The Hurricanes are known as a cool, calm, collected team. What's the atmosphere on the bench during games?
We're pretty chill on the bench, pretty cool. Cool, calm and collected is a pretty accurate description of our team. At the same time, it's getting frunstrating, because we want to be able to directly impact the outcome of the game, and to a certain extent, that's being taken away from us. It's a little bit frustrating. But we don't run our mouths at each other or criticize each other, but we've been frustrated of late because we don't get the respect as far as actually playing the game on the ice is concerned. We don't care what people say or what they write, but we're not getting the respect we should from the people that are actually working the games. For the most part, we're just a chill group. If you hear us complaining, we're complaining about those zebras out there in the stripes. We speak to one another, but it's positive. Just encouragement, or reinforcement, or positive instruction. It's a little different than other teams I've been on, but everything about this team is different. We're unique in that we're a very unified team, there aren't any haters on this team. We're all here for the common goal and we have a common sense of purpose. We don't have anybody who tries to step outside the framework of the team to accomplish their own objectives. We're all trying to do what we can on an idividual basis for what we're here for collectively.

	Irbe

What is the most important thing you've learned from Arturs Irbe?
Patience. He's so patient, very patient, super patient, maybe patient to the point where he's a little too patient. On and off the ice, he's a very even, very chill guy. He's been through it all before. He's been through so many different scenarios and so many different things. I've been through quite a bit myself, especially for such a young player. But just patience and perseverence. Archie works hard, which I've always done myself, but it's nice to have somebody else that works that hard. He takes things as they come. It serves him well, and it serves me well, too. In this position in this game, there are a lot of fickle people. The nature of our position already, even if it's not going bad, people make it out to be a lot worse than it is, and Arturs handles it well.

Where did you get the idea of putting the eyes on your pads?
It's a black panther. It was my idea. I love big cats, but the black panther is my favorite one and I wanted that represented in my equipment as much as possible. The graphic artist at our equipment company did a good job. The next ones will be even more detailed. I've seen them at the Metro Zoo at home in Toronto. They're unbelievable. I liken myself to the black panther in a lot of ways. For obvious reasons, they're black. They're independent, very strong, but understated. They're very stealthy, undercover, they do their own thing. Obviously, they're very athletic, very quick, very strong. Those are the main attributes that I like and they fit my personality. They do their own thing, they don't care who's looking at them, they don't go out of their way. They're very secure in themselves and that's pretty much how I am too. I'm a people person, but I'm never all up in somebody elses business. I'm just chill.