The Maple Leafs bring a little inside information into their Eastern Conference final series against the Hurricanes. And, at this time of year, a little inside information could go a long way.

The source of the info: backup goaltender Tom Barrasso, who played most of the season in Carolina before being sent north in a March 15 deal.

Ironically, the Leafs decided to deal for Barrasso as an insurance move when starter Curtis Joseph suffered a broken hand in the final regular-season meeting between the Leafs and 'Canes on Feb. 26 in Toronto.

And Barrasso isn't the only Toronto player with some intimate knowledge of the opponent.

Playoff superhero Gary Roberts migrated north from Raleigh, N.C., to Toronto as a free agent in July 2000 after spending three seasons with the 'Canes. According to Carolina coach Paul Maurice, Roberts' positive impact on the organization still is being felt.

Because of Barrasso (who split his two starts against Toronto earlier in the season) and Roberts, the Leafs shouldn't be surprised by the size, speed and overall balance of the Hurricanes. Certainly, the 'Canes proved their playoff toughness with series victories over the defending conference champion Devils and the upstart Canadiens.

But despite the inside information, if the Leafs plan on making their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 1967 they must find a way to ground the BBC line of center Rod Brind'Amour and wingers Bates Battaglia and Erik Cole. In the past, Leafs' coach Pat Quinn has matched Shayne Corson against the opponent's top line. Right now, in their injury-depleted lineup, Corson is working the left side of center Travis Green and right wing Alexander Mogilny.

Regardless of the matchups, Brind'Amour and Green can expect to see quite a bit of one another in the faceoff circle. Both centers have been brilliant on the draw during the postseason. In fact, their effectiveness (especially in the offensive and defensive zones) has directly contributed to their teams' success this postseason.

Brind'Amour, who had the second best faceoff percentage in the regular season (behind Montreal's Yanic Perreault), has taken nearly half of the Hurricanes' playoff draws. The former Blues and Flyers center has a 62.2 percent success rate in the circle, winning 214 of his 344 playoff faceoffs.

Believe it or not, Green has been even better, winning 230 of 352 draws for a 65.3 percentage. Against Ottawa, Green was ridiculously good on critical defensive zone draws, capturing 69 of 93 and a stunning 26 of 32 in the final two games.

In goal, Quinn will live and die with Joseph, who seems to be getting stronger with each passing playoff game. In the past, Cujo has come into the postseason like a lion and gone out like a lamb. A potential unrestricted free agent on July 1, Joseph seems to be reversing that trend in this playoff campaign. Perhaps, though, he's just playing himself back into good health after missing the final six weeks of the season due to his broken hand.

At the other end of the rink, Maurice will start this series with veteran Arturs Irbe, who came off the bench in Game 4 of Carolina's conference semifinal series to help spark the Canes' amazing comeback. In Games 5 and 6, Irbe didn't have a heavy workload, as his mates rang up 13 goals against the Habs.

If Irbe falters, Maurice won't hesitate to go back to Kevin Weekes, who replaced Irbe in the first round against New Jersey. Weekes was brilliant against the Devils and very good against the Canadiens before stumbling in the first period of Game 4. If Maurice calls on Weekes, it will be interesting how the Toronto native reacts playing against his hometown team.

Finally, there'll be two other players to watch in this series.

For the Leafs, that player is captain Mats Sundin, who missed the entire second round with a broken hand. Sundin has been skating, but still can't handle a stick. Sundin's status will be game-to-game. His return will probably be necessary against a strong Carolina team.

For the Hurricanes, left winger Sami Kapanen will have to start producing some offense if they want to make their first-ever trip to the Cup finals. The club's second-leading scorer with 27 goals (tied with Ron Francis) and 69 points during the regular season, Kapanen has no goals and just four assists in 12 playoff games.

During the regular season, Kapanen enjoyed some success against the Leafs, netting a hat trick in a 5-2 'Canes' win on Nov. 23 in Toronto. If the speedy winger (who plays with Francis and rookie Jaroslav Svoboda) can get his game on track, Joseph will be a very busy goalie.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.