Today’s Daily Cup of Joe offers a short collection of random thoughts…
Scott Darling
One of the biggest challenges for the Hurricanes right now is getting consistently decent or better goaltending. Though not perfect himself, Ward has been the better of the two goalies. On the one hand, Peters and the team in general needs to have an overarching bias toward forcing Scott Darling into the starting role until it works. That said, I think an interesting step on the path to accomplishing that might be to shut Scott Darling down for a few games. To be clear, my aim is NOT to punish him or play mind games. Rather, the aim is very simply to give him a chance to just completely reset and start fresh. There are no guarantees that this would have the desired effect, but given the current trajectory of Darling’s play, I think it is worth a try.
Overtime
The Hurricanes shootout win on Tuesday marked the eleventh time that the Hurricanes have played extra hockey in only 30 games. The Hurricanes are now 4-7 which means they have left 1.5 points on the table relative to average and even more if they could beat the average.
Trying to make it February
I said before it started that I would be happy with a 5-4 record for the nine-game stretch that includes to current six-game road trip followed by a single stop at home before two more road games. I stand by that assertion despite the fact that treading water is increasing the gap between the Hurricanes and the teams that are swimming away. At some point, the Hurricanes will need to find a higher gear and go on a run. Those runs usually result more from just playing better than from schedule, but I still think the goal for the Hurricanes is to stay within range until February.
Starting on January 30 and running through February 23 the Hurricanes play 11 out of 12 games at home. If there is a time for the team to surge, that stretch of schedule offers the greatest potential boost.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Van Riemsdyk has been quietly playing his best hockey of the season of late despite the team’s struggles. He has been a bit noisier with three scoring points over the past two games including a huge game-tying goal late in the second period on Tuesday night, but I think the bigger thing has been his ability to complement the Canes young left shot defensemen. Van Riemsdyk played a significant role in helping Haydn Fleury get his feet under him in his rookie season. And more recently, van Riemsdyk has been playing with Noah Hanifin during Hanifin’s best run of hockey thus far. Right now van Riemsdyk reminds me a bit of John-Michael Liles playing next to Brett Pesce in Pesce’s rookie season and providing the kind of stable situation that helps a young player build confidence and grow as a player.
What say you Canes fans?
Who has random Hurricanes hockey thoughts to contribute to the conversation?
Go Canes!
Very good point about TVR — I forgot to mention him in the long-winded Vegas post I just made. I thought he was our best defenseman last night, honestly. Not only did he have a massive goal right after Fleury shot down a flurry (…) of grade A chances, but he made some HUGE plays in the defensive zone all night too. Blocked shots, breaking up plays with an active stick, moving the puck up the ice efficiently, and just generally being in good position… He and Pesce both had beautiful breakups of a 2 on 1. I thought our defense as a whole was a massive positive on the night, and Cam was mostly a wall behind them on the few higher danger chances he did see. That will help out whoever is in net a lot, keeping those shots from the slot or in odd-man situations down. We have the personnel to do it, we need to see Hanifin, Faulk, and Fleury bring that level of their games a little more frequently. Justin in particular had a much better game last night even though he couldn’t finish, but I thought he was physical in our end, and had a couple good shots that just didn’t quite find the net. He’s close. I still think that when the offense comes for him his entire game will go up about three levels. Here’s hoping.
It’s time for our co-captain Justin Faulk to get untracked. Compared to previous years his giveways far exceed his takeaways, his shooting % is 1% vs. 8% typical, and he is a minus 8. On the ice he has looked heavy-footed, slow and hesitant at times. If you had told me before the season that Van Riemsdyk would be tied with Faulk for goals and assists I wouldn’t have believed it. I believe we really need his play to improve for the Canes to begin rising in the standings. He is supposed to be a leader not a liability. Time for him to step up. Maybe BP needs to make him accountable, like he did with Rask?
A very much needed win indeed. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who dreaded the shootout, especially when Faulk (???) was sent out, but all’s well that end’s well. And TVR did stand out in a good way. As far as Friday’s game, which now looms pretty huge, I’d really be surprised if Cam’s not between the pipes. Bottom line, right now, he’s giving us the best chance to win.
I agree about sitting Scott for a few games. I mentioned a little while ago to “Just play the hot guy for a bit.” I like Darling, I think he will be good for us when he gets comfortable. He looks like he is trying to do to much and fights the puck at times. Let him get comfortable and ease in the role.
I have said for over a year that we need to trade Faulk and Rask. Recently I proposed to package both for RNH. I still think that deal improves our team long term, I’m not convinced it does anything this season, in fact that wouldn’t help us at all. Ive focused much more on both Faulk and Rask recently…
Faulk: He is still a legitimate talent and a dynamic player. I think he is in a string of bad luck offensively and I would bet that he will lead our D in Goals this season. He is the key to the powerplay andf his puck moving skills are right on. Hanifin will be our best D in the coming years, you can see that progression, but Faulk is still a special player. He looses something at moments, I’m not sure if its attention, focus or desire and drive. He has times of flat-footed and gets caught watching, This is a newer trend and I’m not sure why its happening. I didn’t like the captain tag on him. I was very public on my opinion of it. My only thought why he was… Faulk has always played his best in tough match-ups and tight games. So, naturally I thought that maybe the brain-trust wanted to put more on him to get more out.. its actually a good idea, I’m not so sure its had that effect though. I doubt it has affected his play either way.
Rask: That guy gas been a turn-over machine for a year+. He has looked slow and lazy at times. This recent stretch has shown that just a little bump in effort makes a big difference. He looks like a completely different player, that’s with or without the goals he has potted. His defensive game is much tighter and is making smart plays with the puck. He is still young and could grow more offensively. Still not my favorite player, still makes some loose turnover plays, still will not be winning a lot of races. But I like his desire and effort since being scratched. That might be a sign that Peters knows more than we do lol.