After a five-day layoff, the Carolina Hurricanes will embark on what could be considered a second phase of the 2019-20 season. Many consider the NC State Fair road trip to be the cause of the hole that the Hurricanes have traditionally dug by mid-December, but I actually think the bigger factor has been the team’s inability make hay in November which in many years has featured a healthy helping of home games.
With a 6-3 start, the team has take a small, positive step toward not requiring second half heroics and a minor miracle in the second half of the season to make the playoffs. But again, November and early December will be critical. The Hurricanes close out October with a tough rematch against Columbus who continues to be a tough out because of their style of play even minus stars Bobrovsky and Panarin, the Blackhawks and then another match up against a 2019 playoff team in the Flames. But after that the schedule turns decidedly toward teams that struggled in 2018-19. All of the next 13 games are against teams that missed the 2019 playoffs. No doubt some of those teams are better in 2019-20 with the Sabres being one good example. But in total the stretch of schedule is a favorable one with pairs of games against beatable teams in the Senators, Flyers, Rangers and Red Wings. When that stretch of schedule concludes, it will be Thanksgiving weekend, and the Hurricanes will be nearly one-third through the 2019-20 NHL season with 25 of 82 games played. In addition, what follows is a tougher stretch of schedule that includes a healthy helping of some of the NHL’s top teams which just makes the November run even more important.
When a team is playing well, schedule and opponent often do not matter. In addition, Hurricanes fans know too well that favorable match ups mean very little when a team is struggling. But there can be an element of pairing strong play with favorable schedule to reel off some wins.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Will this be the November when the Hurricanes win and make the rest of the season easier? Or is it just inevitable that November is spent digging a hole to try to climb out of in the second half of the season?
2) What would be your target for the last three games in November against Columbus, Chicago and Calgary? What would be your target for the 13 games that follow against teams that missed the playoffs for the 2018-19 season?
Go Canes!
In spite of their slow starts, don’t understimate the Devils, who have too much talent to not figure it out, and the Rangers, who really shortened their rebuilding phase.
I think it would be a mistake to think the Sabres are a fluke so far this year. And the Flyers could be very good.
But if we don’t feast on these teams before turkey day, it will be a bit of a turkey for us. See what I did there! LOL! But if we are not in a good spot come T-Day that will be a tell.
The Devils are an interesting situation. Jack Hughes should be OK. If they are counting on Hughes to be a huge point producer as a rookie, well, that’s on them. When it comes to Subban people make too much of him. Great guy, amazing off the ice, not all that on the ice. He’s not bad, but many around the league consider him to be quite overrated.
The big issue is Taylor Hall. Hall is the Bryce Harper of hockey. He’s had one very good year. The rest have been meh. Who is Taylor Hall? Is he one of the best forwards in the league, or is he a chronic under-achiever? The Devils need Hall to be a Hart candidate to be a Cup contender.
Matt. I thought about the same points as I was looking at the schedule through the end of November—so the next 17 games. The Canes should win at least 11 of them. That puts them a minimum of 8 games to the good. If there are any OT losses, the Canes could be 10 games over hockey .500 on December 1.
I would argue anything less than 10 wins in the next 17 would be a poor outcome. I will admit that my confidence is lower than it should be given the 6-3 record. By the end of November it should be much higher.
First, off topic. More rumors swirl about the Canes and Puljujarvi, with Bokk now in the mix. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2019/10/oilers-notes-puljujarvi-niemelainen-hall.html
That guy thinks Edmonton would want Hall back? Seriously? Hall left town a very unpopular man, and not just with fans.
Hard no on Puljujarvi unless he learns to play hockey and not looping all around the ice.
Well, Hall has won a Hart trophy since then so I think the Oilers fans would be more than happy with a player like that. Edm would have 3 Hart Trophy candidates.
As long as Hall ends up West then that would be a good outcome.
The rumors around the canes getting another top 9 wing make sense, so far McGinn,Foegle,Goat and Marty(hurt) have not been good enuf.
The entire Edmonton organization wanted Hall gone. He burned nearly every bridge. Immaturity most likely, but I would bet a lot of money he never ends up there again. The fans don’t mean squat.
Second, on topic this time. Think marathon, with a closely packed group in the lead after the first 3 miles. The competition to be in the top 3 in the Metro will be tough, likely tougher than ever before. No one in the division will be an easy out. The Atlantic might have a patsy or two, but there will be a war for the top 3 spots there. As result competition for the Wild Card slots will be intense. Last season the Canes had 46 wins, the Islanders and Washington had 48, Columbus 47, Pittsburgh 44. The Canes will in all likely hood need to improve slightly on their 46 wins to vie for a top 3 position this season. Let’s pick 48 as a target. The Canes would need 16 wins to be on target at the 1/3rd point of the season (27 games). Nov. 30th is our 27th game. There are 18 games from now until then. 10 wins/8 loses keep us on schedule for 48 wins for the season. Definitely doable.
The schedule through November is favorable on paper, but these will be against pesky teams wanting to prove something. While the Canes added scoring talent, their fore-check has been missing. So if they can get back to their fore-check, if Aho/Svech/Nino can bolster the score sheet, and if goaltending avoids those preventable leaky goals, then I can see a dozen or more wins through this stretch.
I really don’t think the teams on the schedule make a big difference. If the Canes play their game they will win plenty. Barring major injuries the talent does appear to be there, especially with a legitimate third line that can score.
The exception to me would be a tough stretch like they had to start the season with so many games close together along with a long road trip.
In other news, the Canes (technically the Checkers) have signed Brock McGinn’s older brother to a tryout contract. Is this the McGinning of another brotherly season for the Canes?