WENDELL — Hockey fans’ season may have ended with the Carolina Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup semifinal loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that’s not necessarily true for local Brian Hagan.

Hagan, a licensed massage and body work therapist, has been the team’s go-to guy when the high demands of the sport have taken their toll. He said the Canes won’t start practicing for next season until around September, but those who need his expertise know how to get in touch with him.

“If the players are in town they have my number. They know if they need me they can call,” Hagan said. “Many players take off and are back home in different areas over the summer break.”

A massage therapist for Carolina for the last year and a half, Hagan said over the summer there will be some players coming in for routine care, and others he won’t see until training sessions begin in the fall.

“It would be fantastic if some of the guys called for some maintenance soon, but I also understand these guys need to get out and see some family. We work a pretty hectic schedule,” he said.

Last season was Hagan’s first full season with the team and thanks to a long playoff run he says it couldn’t have been much better.

“For the first time actually working with them, for them to go that far into the playoffs — it was unbelievable,” he said. “It was a great ride, a fantastic opportunity. It was really great to get to work that close with the team. I don’t know how else to describe it. They’re a great bunch of guys. It was fantastic.”

That’s what diehard Canes fans would hope the Wendell resident would say of getting to work so closely with the team the state as come to identify with since its 2006 Stanley Cup win — and for many even earlier.

What might be sour to stomach to many of the Hurricane faithful is how Hagan came across his occupation that earned him the behind-the-scene gig with the team.

“We went out to Colorado specifically for my wife, Christina, to get her massage training,” Hagan said. “I couldn’t find work in the field I was in, which was recreation therapy. We had just married, I was doing all kinds of odd jobs, and I saw it as a great opportunity. I went to the school and met the instructors and I thought massage therapy was done mostly by females, but many of the instructors were males.”

After more time he realized the massage therapist opportunity wasn’t one to miss. He took the courses, became certified and opened up a small business in Colorado.

“We wanted to start a family though and be close to family,” he said. “My wife’s family lives in Franklinton, so we moved here and ever since this has become a great place of opportunity for us. It was a great move.”

The Hagans have now been in Wendell for two years, after moving to the Triangle three years ago. Brian Hagan said he and his wife went house shopping and really liked the eastern Wake County area.

“It’s just the right amount of distance from the Raleigh area — you kind of want to keep it a secret, but people are starting to find out about it — but it’s got that country feel to it and that’s nice,” he said.

Although he admits the job with the Canes can be physically demanding beyond working with Raleigh Orthopedics and running his own business in Raleigh as well, he said getting to work as closely as he does with what are heroes to many is special.

He said his job has grown beyond massage therapy to helping out the team wherever he can — from helping the players switch gloves to replacing water.

“During a game I’m wherever they need me,” Hagan said.

He said what’s going on with the players when they’re not in the spotlight is a different reality.

“Genuinely speaking, the Hurricanes are the nicest guys. I’ve never run into what you call an attitude with any of them. People have a perception of [professional] athletes making money and being overly aggressive, in general. Take these guys off the ice and they are gentlemen. They have my respect because it’s not what I expected. I guess I was biased and they caught my misconceptions,” Hagan said. “Even the higher-ranking guys have a good solid respect for the younger guys coming up. It’s nice to see, honestly. North Carolina should be very proud of these guys. I know I’m glad they’re here because I think they are a great representation of the state.”

Hagan said he hopes he can continue his job manipulating collective muscle tissue as a massage therapist for the Hurricanes.

“I would be very interested in staying with the team,” he said. “It really deals with them contacting me, so we’ll wait to see what happens, but yes, I would be just thrilled. The organization has such strong backing from the surrounding area as a whole, and it’s just great to see.”