[citation needed] At 15, O'Neill signed with the Thornhill Thunderbirds Jr. A club (OHA), whose coach Scott McLennan stated he had the skills to make it to the Ontario Hockey League.
[4] After eliminating the Maple Leafs, his team would advance to the final series against the Detroit Red Wings.
They could not prevail however, as the Red Wings were heavily favoured with several future Hall of Famers on the roster and eliminated the Hurricanes in 5 games.
The Hurricanes could not repeat their success the next season as they missed the playoffs, but O'Neill recorded his third 30-goal season and was selected to his first NHL All-Star Game After his brother was killed in a car accident in Toronto in July 2005, O'Neill expressed a desire to play for the Maple Leafs in order to be closer to family.
However, despite scoring 20 goals that season, O'Neill was benched for the remaining few games due to inconsistent performances.
Following training camp, O'Neill played in two exhibition games with the Hurricanes, but opted to retire before the official start of the season.