First, a couple disclaimers:
In no way can anything that happens from this point forward diminish what has already been accomplished during the Carolina Hurricanes 2018-19 season. The young team took a big step forward just by making the playoffs.
At the other end of the spectrum, by no means am I writing off the playoffs based on the tough opponent that the Hurricanes will face. Anything can and does happen. As the Hurricanes proved in 2009, underdogs can and do pull off surprises.
So with the disclaimers aside, today’s Daily Cup of Joe offers a short list of three wishes for the 2019 NHL playoffs
1) A home win
Though the team’s accomplishments thus far cannot in any way be tarnished, the playoffs would be a bit of a letdown if the team is unable to win at least one home game to allow the Hurricanes hockey community to experience the exhilaration of playoff hockey on one of its best days.
2) A reasonably even series that provides valuable experience for the Hurricanes young guns
With so many Hurricanes players never playing in the playoffs, even a first round exit could have a huge benefit for the young players. The playoffs are different such that even good young players need to acclimate before reaching top gear in the playoffs which are both faster and more intense. So ideal looking forward into the future would be if the Hurricanes can at least get into the series enough that the team’s young players get a good training course on what it takes to win in the playoffs. If at least the individual games are close, the young Hurricanes can get a round of dealing with the pressure and amped up intensity.
3) Young stars rising up
There are many factors that contribute to winning and losing in the NHL playoffs but one common deciding factor is the play of a team’s top players. That is why a large number of Stanley Cup winners of late were teams that had a handful of elite players. The Blackhawks had Kane, Toews, Keith and Crawford. The Penguins have Crosby and Malkin. Washington had Ovechkin and Holtby. One other thing that I would love to see from the playoffs is the Hurricanes best players rising up and playing well. So even in a losing effort, ideal would be to see the Hurricanes young leaders like Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Teuvo Teravainen to acclimate quickly to playoff hockey and show that they rise up rather than withering under playoff pressure.
What say you Canes fans?
1) What would be your short (and reasonable) wish list for the Hurricanes in the playoffs?
2) Of the three wishes that I listed, which would you consider most important?
Go Canes!
For some playoff teams the post season can be seen as the time to win. The window is wide open, but can be seen closing in the future. They must win. For the Canes winning is simply gravy, for the window has just been cracked open. My wish is that players, “the committee” and the owner have a learning experience that increases their commitment to future success built off of this foundation of real “culture change”.
This comes under the heading of unreasonable wishes: I wish the referees would call the playoffs with the same standard for penalties as the regular season.
I want to see the star players rise up. I think if they do, close games / success will follow.
I wonder if the Canes can rest some of the top players on Saturday, bring up some Checkers who deserve a little NHL spotlight (the Checkers already clinched their division title) and give them a little showcase game in Philly.
1) Need to win. Don’t want TB.
2) If the Rangers do the Canes a solid they could play the Islanders.
I hope the Canes play full tilt tomorrow since I will be there. Also, finishing third is the best, even if unlikely, scenario.
That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Bean or Saarela. If any more injuries happen in the the playoffs, it would be beneficial to know if either of those players can contribute. I really think the Canes have 10 or more games ahead.
My three wishes:
1. Don’t get swept.
2. Cherish the valuable experience.
3. Build Playoff Hunger. Make yourself yearn to come back for more.
I think your #2 is most important.
Matt – your post reads like loser thoughts. “I hope we at least get this..”
Bull-hockey! I am with ct – a hard-fought first series win takes us into the second round. Wish? I don’t know. Expectation? – Yep!
I agree that Matt sounds a bit negative. We need to win tonight in order to maintain momentum. If we win tonight, we don’t have to face the Bolts. I don’t care if the Pens win or lose. We can beat either the Caps or the Islanders.
We will need to show our grit as well as our ability to out skate, out forecheck, and out score anybody. We will need to establish residence in front of the enemy net. We can do that. We can, if we want to.
I’ll take the counter argument. Matt sounded realistic, not negative. Realistic is looking at the entire season, looking at head to head match ups and projecting the most likely outcome. Negative is taking the facts and then making negative assumptions to supplement the facts. Example of realistic. The Canes are 0-3-1 head to head with the Caps, having recently played one of their better games of the season result in one of those loses. Thus, the Canes are going to be long shots to make the second round. Example of negative. Brind’Amour was hired with no NHL head coaching experience. Brind’Amour was hired because Tom Dundon was too cheap to pay for an experienced coach. Thus, Brind’Amour’s hiring was a bad idea.
Now I will make an attempt to all-in positive. Our record in the black alternate jersey’s indicate we should win the series with the Caps in 5 games. Why not?!!