1) Justin Faulk
Yes. I realize that he makes up 30 percent of what I write about first bad early in the season and more recently good (with a dash of optimistic). He has dialed up the offense (8 points in his last 8 games) and more significantly seems to be finding his game defensively. I really like the trend right now and am obsessed with it because I continue to think that if the Canes are going to hit a higher level, he needs to be right in the middle of it.
2) The team’s age
As the season wears on and young players play night in and night out in big roles, it starts to become commonplace. But I think it is important to realize how young many of these player are and the future upside that comes with that.
3) Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce
Per #2, I think this duo would share flag bearer responsibilities for the young group. To be playing together as a top defense pairing in only their second season in the NHL at the age of 22 is just incredibly impressive and not to be underestimated.
4) Cam Ward
I would never have expected him to be on this list in September, but he is. Right now, the lesser of his games are still the kind that do not steal away his team’s chance to win and quite often he is a key driver of wins. He just looks comfortable and steady right now which hopefully is an indication that his level of play is sustainable.
5) Derek Ryan’s extended run in the NHL
His story continues to be 1 of the best for Hurricanes hockey this season. As a model for perseverance, hard work and just sticking to it when people tell you that you can’t for whatever reason (too small in his case), I cannot be happier for him getting a couple games this season and making the most of them such that he is now playing on an NHL scoring line. I wrote about him in more detail in this recent post.
6) The Hurricanes winning at home
The Hurricanes’ 10-3-1 mark at home is a nice change. The numbers are even better (9-0-1) if you remove the slow start (1-3-0). Fans who make the trek to PNC Arena for Canes hockey are being rewarded for it, and that is fun.
7) The penalty kill
The Hurricanes penalty kill established itself as tops in the league awhile back and have held that title ever since. Somewhere along the way, the penalty decided to start chipping in a well-timed goal here and there to boot. Better would be win-loss record of course, but it is fun to be the best in the entire league at something.
8) The play of the leadership
So far, it looks like the decision to go with 4 A’s looks about right. Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner are driving a first scoring line together and currently rank first and second on the team in scoring. Jordan Staal started a little bit slow maybe but is getting stronger as the season pushes into the difficult middle stage. And per #1, Justin Faulk is having a good season offensively and more significantly is showing signs that the defensive part of his game is rounding into form. The four players wearing letters are leading the team as hoped right now.
What do you like about the Carolina Hurricanes right now?
Go Canes!
Coach Peters. Absolute perfect coach for where the Canes are in their rebuilding mode. If you step back, it is remarkable how well this team has played since he’s been here with relatively little veteran talent. Most NHL teams are young, how the Canes are currently constructed is the norm. However, most young teams don’t play as balanced and responsible a game as the Hurricanes and that speaks volume for the message and direction coming from Peters and his staff. He appears to be headed toward a long stint in Raleigh and that bodes well for providing the stability that is absolutely necessary for developing teams.
Great call on Bill Peters. Completely agree.
Agree that several things are looking up.
Wardo has had a better stretch (lately) than I can remember, and our young players are playing well, as well as working hard!
I see two needs (BIG NEEDS)!
1. Anothergoalie (no matter how good or bad your perception of Ward), he can’t play every game, and who will play (and give us a chance to win)?
2. Veteran scoring forward! IT seems obvious to me that we have several good skating forwards, a few good passing forwards, and….
SKINNER may be our closest thing we could call A SCORING FORWARD…
My feeling is this team will not score enough, or save enough…w/o
solving these two deficiencies!!!
Good observations above and I agree with all except I believe Lack needs a sustained opportunity to prove he is or isn’t worth his salary. Bickell was supposed to be our big guy to create a net-front presence; a veteran scoring forward that could fill that role would be a welcome addition. A couple other comments: McGinn reminds me of Chad LaRose in some ways – an energetic spark plug that infuses energy; Lindholm does many things well and seems to be right on the cusp of breaking out. Have to keep in mind that he is only 22 years old, but if he puts it all together and scores like he is capable then he could boost the Canes to another level. It will be interesting to see if RF makes a move before the trade deadline in February if we are close to a playoff position. My guess is that there will be some major shakeups in Colorado soon unless they unexpectedly get on a run. Columbus, the youngest team in the league, is on a 12 game win streak.