Daily Cup of Joe for Monday has a short set of random Carolina Hurricanes notes.
1) Micheal Ferland in the playoffs
During the regular season, physical play offers only a short-term gain. A team might gain a small advantage by wearing an opponent down by the third period. But that is the extent of any benefit. Then both teams go on to play other teams. But with up to seven straight games against the same team, the playoffs are a different animal. If a team physically wears down another, they benefit late in a series. As such, I think Ferland and his physical play could have a significant impact on a long playoff series. What is more, Jordan Martinook and Brock McGinn add two more players who are in the same vein.
2) Andrei Svechnikov as Erik Cole
Andrei Svechnikov is still acclimating to NHL goalies. He is not yet having a ton of success scoring on odd man rushes or being in alone on the goalie. His natural instinct is to carry in forehand and then move to backhand and shoot, but goalies are generally reading that easily and taking it away. But because he has the hands and skill, it is reasonable to believe that his finishing ability on some of these chances will rise quickly. But short-term he is starting to remind me of Erik Cole with the bull in a China shop drive to the net. Cole’s approach on the rush in simple form was to get wide and gain a step and an angle on the defenseman and then just carry the puck to the net often creating chaos in the process. The results for Cole were twofold. First, he drew a bunch of penalties from defensemen who could only impede him illegally to stop him. Second, he created a good number of goals with second chance opportunities after chaos, collisions and a cloud of dust left a puck and an opening to shoot at. Svechnikov increasingly reminds me of Cole off the rush with that same heads down and drive to the net approach.
3) Dougie Hamilton
My initial expectation for Dougie Hamilton was something similar to Joni Pitkanen. Though Hamilton can skate and carry the puck, his offensive ability is actually significantly weighted toward his play without the puck. He basically picks spots to play as a fourth forward. When the time is right and with minimal errors recently, Hamilton finds openings in the offensive zone or being a secondary player off the rush as a receive and score type of player. That is different than Pitkanen whose offensive ability was more that of a puck distributor.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Who else has random Canes observations that might be worth discussion?
2) To what degree do you think the Hurricanes lineup is built for the playoffs?
3) Do you also see a bit of Erik Cole in Svechnikov’s play off the rush?
Go Canes!
1) Scechnikov’s improvement over the course of one season really stands out to me. He started the season as untrusted in 5v5 situations. Now he is on the ice 3v3, where any miscue is magnified. We have a number of very good two way players sitting on the bench when he is out there in OT. It speaks volumes to his improvement and how RBA sees the 18 yr old.
2). The canes have size and physicality to wear opponents down, and then the speed to exploit it. MR game 7 should be kicking his chops.
3). I think if Cole every time I see Svechnikov use that bull rush around the dot to the net. Staal used the same move last night that very nearly lead to a goal. To quote Mr Forslund, That’s hockey baby!
Mr game 7 should be “licking” his chops.
Svetch is coming along nicely and has scored two big goals in the last two games. Very encouraging for the stretch run.
I know we traded for Dougie for his offense, which he’s been delivering at a very high level for a few months now, but I’ve actually been more focused on the upswing in his defense – far fewer bad clears and breakdowns and far more physicality.
The schedule is still very tough and we are not out of the woods yet so I’m not commenting on what a playoff series might look like. Superstitious 🙂
Comments aren’t open for some reason on the game-recap post so I’ll mention this here: Aho doesn’t seem right – a step slow. He may still be recovering from that knee-on-knee friendly fire incident with NN. He’s been quiet for a while now.
I think something was bothering him even before the knee. It’s been something like 6 games where he’s looked tentative and missing the extra gear that makes him so dangerous.
Dmiller, i’ve noticed the same with Aho and saw it coming. He’s played a lot of minutes in a few games recently, and once the body gets depleted of nutrients, fine motor control starts to go. We saw it with the whole Staal line in the fall and Aho now. Aho hasn’t elevatiled his shots the way he usually does at times in the last few games and that is the first sign.
The good news is that spell of more nutrients being absorbed than spent and he will be good as new.
The success of separating Pesce and Slavin as well as Aho and Turbo make this team so much more dangerous and deep. Rather than top heavy lineup, RBA has confidence in all his lines.
This team is way more prepared for a physical series than any Canes squad I’ve been watching for the last 5-10 years. You could see it, and feel it, in the last few games – especially the two vs. Pens and Bolts. They’re not backing down at all and in fact, they’re initiating the hits and overall physical play. Martinook in particular has brought the bang and McGinn is another who brings it on a nightly basis. I do believe it would help immensely to have a more physical d-man somewhere in the lineup. Faulk’s physical play has improved (along with all other facets of play) but the group as a whole plays a more stick check/speed game that can be slowed down a bit in the long playoff series. I know we can be a jaded group – with good reason give the lack of success over the past few seasons – but these guys are really playing well. I don’t believe it is a mirage either. They may ultimately get exposed in some areas, but they’ll be a tough out for anyone and would not be surprised to see a good long run in the Spring.
I think Wallmark’s steady contributions have helped in a lot of little ways.
A bit off subject. Did anyone anticipate the importance of the next 2 games, a home and home with the Capitals? If the standings stay as they are, won’t 9 of our last 16 games (those 2 plus a possible 7 game first round) be against the Caps? If so, these 2 games take extra meaning (beyond actually making the playoffs) as a prelude to the playoffs themselves. Expect to Washington to play both of these as the pre-lim for the playoffs with the extra pizazz that will entail. Be ready for a noxious dose of Tom Wilson this week.
Great points about the importance of the two caps games, something I did not anticipate.
I watched highlights of the Dec 27 Canes-Caps game. Bishop and Kuokkanen were both playing on the 4th line and a Kuokannen turnover led instantly to one of the Caps’ goals (I think Kuokkanen was injured back then – he looked slow; now he’s been shut down for the season in Charlotte and will have surgery.)
Ferland looked great on the first line with Aho and Teravainen and had two breakaways in the highlights, both stopped by Holtby. A lot has changed since then. Nino was still in Minnesota, Staal was out with a concussion and Svechnikov was not playing with a playmaker like Teravainen or a defensive stalwart and net-front-presence like Staal. The Canes pulled within one late in the third on an Aho goal. An empty netter made the final 3-1.
I think the main changes for the Caps since late December are adding Hagelin and Jensen. The Canes have changed all four lines since then, including the revamped 4th line with McKegg and Menalainen, the return of Staal and the addition of Niederreiter. Dougie Hamilton has become a force. Svechnikov looks like a different player.
The two games will show how all the Canes’ changes affect the matchup that, as you say, may represent round 1 of the playoffs. The Caps will indeed be trying to set the tone. There could be a huge swing either way, with the Canes pulling within 1 pt of the Caps or falling below the Canadiens. Can anyone remember a bigger home-and-home series this late in the season?
It’s reassuring that Mrazek was terrific in the late December game.
More off subject: Another date to watch. The field for NCAA hockey finals has been set. Of most interest in Raleigh is Harvard with Adam Fox and Jack Drury in their lineup. The single game elimination tourney starts for Harvard on March 30th. Harvard is one of 4 4th seeds and faces UMass, a first seed. The second round begins the following night. Either player could start the clock on his first ELC by signing after a Harvard loss.