LAS VEGAS – After the Carolina Hurricanes finished off a march to the Stanley Cup that was as clinical as it was cathartic, the emotions started bubbling over as soon as Jordan Staal wrapped his big paws around its silver edges.The Hurricanes captain let out a guttural roar while thrusting it into the air, culminating a 17-year wait for him that included 14 seasons with Carolina. The first teammate Staal skated towards hadn’t even been in uniform for Sunday’s series-clinching 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.Instead Frederik Andersen had found himself “nervously shaking” in the dressing room for three and a half games while watching Brandon Bussi come in to close out the series in his place. Andersen had tweaked his knee during a Game 2 win over Vegas and was pulled during the second intermission of Game 3. But everything he contributed during the 12-1 run that got the Hurricanes to the final, not to mention the years of blood and tears spent before it, wasn’t forgotten.“He’s been grinding the longest,” Staal said. “He got us going in the playoffs. … Figured he’d be a great start (to give the Cup to first).“I wanted to win that thing so bad, but I wanted to win so much more for everyone else in that room, and how much they deserved it, and how hard they’ve all worked, and it just gives me chills that we were able to pull it off for each other.”Andersen had no idea it was coming.The 36-year-old Dane had been riding an emotional roller coaster in recent weeks, starting with the death of his longtime agent and close friend Claude Lemieux on May 28, to reaching his first Stanley Cup Final, to getting injured in the middle of this series.Finally, as he looked skyward with the Cup over his head, he could exhale.“I’ve always heard people say it’s heavier than you think, but it didn’t feel too bad,” said Andersen. “It felt good. It felt right.”He was unsure whether he was dreaming.His journey to this heartfelt celebration mirrored that of an organization that took 20 years to get back to the NHL’s summit. Once upon a time, Andersen was a seventh-round draft pick by Carolina in 2010, but chose not to sign with the team and re-entered the draft. He went to Anaheim in 2012, established himself as a NHL regular and got traded to Toronto for five seasons before he signed with the Hurricanes as a free agent in 2021.He continued to be tested by blood clots and a knee surgery, but even after watching the Cup clincher in workout gear, he could take heart in knowing that there would be no championship parade in Raleigh this spring without him.Staal made sure that wasn’t forgotten by singling Andersen out for the first Cup pass.“I mean, it means we’re a group that we appreciate everyone here and what we’ve been through,” said Andersen. “And I think that speaks to that.”Staal was first. Andersen was second.And their coach, their former 2006 Stanley Cup-winning captain, the beloved Rod Brind’Amour, received it last.When Brind’Amour finally got his hands back on the Cup for the first time in 20 years, he playfully tossed it in the air and gave it a bear hug. Someone who spends less time in the gym would likely have botched that maneuver.Not Rod.“You don’t even know what you’re thinking at that point,” he said. “This is why this is the most special trophy in the world. No. 1, how you have to acquire it, what goes into it, and then what it means to everyone because they know. They know all of the sacrifice that everybody has put in and you just see it pouring out of everybody.“It’s the greatest thing in the world.”Brandon Bussi and his fiancée, Mary Raclawski, are interviewed postgame by NHL Network’s Jason Demers and Cory Schneider. (Michael Russo / The Athletic)Bussi, the unexpected heroAs Mary Raclawski stared at her fiancé, tears came to her eyes.A week ago, nobody — not even Mary, his biggest supporter — could have envisioned Bussi would become a Stanley Cup hero.Undrafted, Bussi was thrust into action when Andersen got hurt earlier in the series, then started Games 4, 5 and 6 and won them all, including becoming the third goaltender in NHL history and first since 1937 to record a Stanley Cup-clinching shutout during their first NHL season.“Oh my gosh. I’m so emotional right now,” said Raclawski, who will marry Bussi next month, in an interview with The Athletic. “I can’t even comprehend what is happening. It’s been such a long road here for him, and he’s never given up, never doubted himself. And I’m just … I can’t believe we’re standing here today celebrating him and his team. I’m so proud of all of them.”Bussi shared the ice with his proud parents, Lisa and Robert, who hustled to Las Vegas from the East Coast when they found out he was starting in Game 4. Family and friends on the ice appropriately wore hats labeled with what has been Bussi’s longtime motto, “HOUSE MONEY,” a Vegas term that works so well for him. These hats are available for purchase, with all proceeds going to The Autism Society of North Carolina and Pucks for Autism.“It’s something that he’s not only played by but lived by, and it’s betting on yourself, knowing that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be in that moment, and you’ve earned the right to be where you are, and just be confident,” Raclawski said. “And I mean, they killed it tonight.“He amazes me every single day. He’s taught me so much. He’s been very even-keeled throughout this whole process, and I cannot wait to celebrate, because we haven’t really celebrated throughout this whole season, because it’s always on to the next. So I just have no words. I am so excited, and these guys deserve this so much, and they work so hard for this, and their families have sacrificed so much, and it’s a blessing.”Back in October, the Florida Panthers placed Bussi on waivers. He and Raclawski were driving two separate cars from South Florida to Charlotte, N.C., because he thought he was being sent to Florida’s AHL affiliate.On the road for 10 hours, Bussi got a call from his agent telling him he was claimed by Carolina. Bussi called his fiancée and told her they needed to pull over. They stopped at a gas station.“Our entire lives changed from that point on,” Raclawski said.“The next thing you know, the following day I’m in Raleigh and I’m on the opening-night roster,” Bussi said.And now he’s a Stanley Cup champion.“It still hasn’t hit me just yet,” Bussi said, still on the ice more than an hour after that clock hit zero. “I’m losing my voice and I really need to pee.”“It’s kind of funny that this has happened again 20 years later,” said Eric Staal, left, who was the Canes’ leading scorer when they won their first Cup in 2006. (Michael Russo / The Athletic)The Staals’ brotherly loveThe Zamboni entrance opened. Eric, Marc and Jared Staal sprinted to their brother Jordan. Fired up, the four brothers embraced wildly.Eric Staal is a Canes legend. Twenty years ago, he was their leading scorer when they won their first Cup. His No. 12 hangs from the rafters at Lenovo Center. He fired up the home crowd by sounding the siren in advance of Game 1.“There’s a lot of people that have grown up and been around the Carolinas, where they don’t really know the team without a Staal on it,” Eric Staal said. “So it’s kind of funny that this has happened again 20 years later, and obviously Jordan at the front of it, it’s super, super unbelievable. Like it really is.“It’s just kind of one of those storybook kind of things. And he was a horse. He was unreal the whole playoff, and the whole year, and the whole last however many years he’s been there. He’s just grinded from Day One, and he deserves it.”