Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov reflects on years of playoff heartbreak before finally winning Stanley Cup

Andrei Svechnikov will be celebrating this Stanley Cup victory for a long time.

In their eighth consecutive playoff appearance, the Carolina Hurricanes finally got over the hump and brought the Cup back to North Carolina for the first time since 2006.

The first stop on Svechnikov's celebration tour was a Raleigh Raising Cane's, where he got to take pictures, sign autographs and serve up some combo boxes to some Caniacs, both the food and the team.

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The fans had waited a long time and suffered years of season-ending heartbreak before having the Cup back, while Svechnikov had a front-row seat to it all.

The second overall pick by the Canes (not the Raising ones) in the 2018 NHL Draft, Svechnikov has never missed the playoffs. But he always lost his last game of the season.

Three times, that came in the Eastern Conference Final; another three times, it was in the semis, and the other time came in the first round.

Of course, Svechnikov would be appreciating this title no matter when it came. But knowing he had been so close so many times, he's definitely taking it in a bit more.

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"Just thinking about how much we went through, how much hard work we went through and, you know, we've been knocked out in every playoff, pretty much, it was kind of a kick in the butt every time," Svechnikov told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

"But we knew at some point we were going to win the Stanley Cup, and this was the year. So you know, very excited and we did it this year."

It did not come easily -- the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead and looked well on their way to their second Cup in their brief history.

But there was never a doubt for Svechnikov.

"We just knew what we had in the locker room, in each other. We were supporting each other, the coaching staff did such a good job of preparing us for each game, and we kind of took off after that."

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