Chicago Blackhawks deal Darling to Hurricanes

The writing was on the wall last Saturday.

With tears in his eyes and his voice shaking, you could tell goalie Scott Darling had likely played his last game with the Chicago Blackhawks when he was asked what it meant to play for his hometown team for the last three years.

"I wouldn't change a second of my time in Chicago," Darling said on the day players met the media for the final time after being swept by Nashville in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. "It's been bar none the best three years of my life. I loved every second.

"They've been so great to me, my teammates, coaching staff, front office - everybody has been amazing and I wouldn't change a minute."

Six days later, the Hawks shipped Darling - who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 - to the Carolina Hurricanes for a third-round pick in the upcoming June draft. Carolina now holds Darling's rights and can begin negotiating with him on a new deal.

"We could count on Scott in any situation as he was always reliable," general manager Stan Bowman said. "We appreciate his contributions to the Blackhawks organization - including a Stanley Cup Championship team - and we wish him well as he continues his career in Carolina."

Darling went 18-5-5 this season with a .924 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average. He was particularly impressive in December when Corey Crawford missed three weeks after an appendectomy.

During that stretch, Darling went 6-3-1 and allowed 2 or fewer goals six times.

"I feel like I've paid my dues as a backup and when I've had a chance to play consecutive games, I feel like I've shown that I can do it," Darling said last week.

Blackhawks fans will always remember what Darling did during the team's 2015 Stanley Cup run against Nashville in the first round, coming in for Corey Crawford in Game 1 and stopping all 42 shots he saw in a double-overtime victory. Darling ended up going 3-1 in that series.

Crawford was reinserted after Darling allowed 3 goals in the first period of Game 6, but if not for the play of the 6-foot-6 Lemont product, the Hawks may have never advanced past the Predators.