NHL All-Star weekend
For those who took a short break from hockey to recharge during the NHL All-Star break weekend, aside from a random collection of light fun, two newsworthy items are most notable for me.
First, on the negative side, the NHL announced that a game would in fact be played in Finland in November. Many expected the Carolina Hurricanes with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen might get the nod, but instead the game is between Winnipeg and Florida which is a disappointment.
Second, on the positive side, Noah Hanifin made a fine impression over the weekend in Tampa despite not racking up awards, points or any statistical measures. Hanifin’s skating was off the pace but respectable in the fastest skater competition, but the visual of him whirring around the rink with his hair flowing without a helmet was absolutely fabulous and in my biased Canes-slanted opinion should make any weekend best of lists for photos or GIF-able content.
Local hockey Monday
Closer to home, Monday is still an off day for the NHL, but a big hockey day at PNC Arena nonetheless with a local hockey showdown between UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State hot on the heels of the Wolfpack’s upset win on the basketball court on Saturday. Carolina Hockey preview is HERE. NC State Icepack preview is HERE.
Monday night fun
7pm at PNC Arena
Free parking and suggested $5 donation at the door
Carolina Hockey vs. NC State Icepack
FUN college atmosphere, spirited play and a great way to support our local hockey community!
Five playoff ‘ifs’
And closer to home, the weekend off represented a chance for Hurricanes fans to catch their breath before a fast and furious run of home hockey that likely will decide the fate of the 2017-18 season. I detailed the stretch in Friday’s Daily Cup of Joe which you can find HERE.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe will make an attempt to boil things down to five ‘ifs’ that will decide the season.
1) If the Carolina Hurricanes receive at least league average goaltending, the team will make the playoffs.
2) If the Carolina Hurricanes can find one bigger (5 games or more) winning streak, it will likely be enough to vault them up and standings and at the same time build the confidence and positive momentum that will be necessary to get from there to into the playoffs.
3) If the Hurricanes can hit a stretch of hockey where all of its offensive leaders are clicking at the same time, the margin for error becomes larger and the chance to win every night higher such that the Canes can start to win more consistently and make the playoffs.
4) If Francis swings just one trade and maybe does so early, the dual effect of improving the team and maybe even more significantly making a clear statement to the locker room that it is time for the playoffs will help boost the team up and in.
5) If the Hurricanes can find a change in mentality, that in itself will take care of everything else fuel the conversion from playoff ‘wannabe’ to playoff team.
What say you Caniacs?
1) Which of the five ‘ifs’ are absolutely required, and which are nice to have but not necessary?
2) Is there anything that you would add to the list?
3) How critical are the first three games coming out of the break against current non-playoff teams?
Go Canes!
1. I rank them in the order you listed. Goaltending the the rock our playoff hope seem to sink on every year. A win streak would vault us ahead of teams ,and at that point a trade might make sense.
2. No
3. It’s 6 points against weaker competition. Gotta grab as much low hanging fruit as possible.
If the Canes get and stay healthy.
I think the most important is (2), provided we don’t followup with a 5-game losing streak that is. And (2) happens with (1) and (3), as well as (6) – minimizing the defensive and puck clearing lapses.
These next 3 games should definitely provide a tell. I like to say if you are going to be the best then you have to beat the best. Losing to the worst is counterproductive to that goal. I can see tired legs by Friday, but hopefully the team can get 3 straight wins coming out of the all-start break.
Unfortunately, something must be done to make any of the “ifs”, REALLY HAPPEN!
What action(s) do you “expect” will precipitate those results?
I can’t believe doing nothing MAKES ANY SIGNIFICANT “POSITIVE” IMPACT…?
What justifies your projections?
1, 2 and 5 are all absolutely necessary, 3 would be VERY nice, but not required and trades are trades. They could work, they could bomb.
I second dmilleravid’s point. Injuries screw up everything. We don’t want those.
Puckgod, I’d explain to you how it’s justified, but you’d have to look at statistics and probably some of our prospects too. I can understand if you’re not interested. I think you and all the rest of us know that if Darling picks it up at any point to anywhere near his Chicago level, we’re very close to playoff worthy.
(If you are interested, look up Foegele, Zykov, Matheos, Elyniuk, Geekie and Bean and you’ll realize that we HAVE to make a trade eventually, for equal ice time purposes. Just need the right trades. Impatient trades are generally not good ones)
Regarding dmillerdavid’s and fogger’s comments on injuries, I think the Canes have been much more fortunate then other teams when it comes to injuries this season (with the exception of Stempniak). A lot of teams, including teams in the Metro, have suffered a lot more with injuries. It’s the nature of the game but frequently we have been playing healthy against teams that have been playing injured. That said, Aho may be back against OTT.
The biggest if is if Darling plays like a 4.15 million per year goalie. That is significantly above league average. For those who forgot, Darling wasn’t on the roster last year. Which reinforces fogger’s point. Trades/additions don’t always equal improvement. Aho coming back will be equivalent to a trade as either McGinn or Ryan will have to move to fourth line— giving it some additional offensive punch.
I would like to see Aho at center with Skinner and Stempniak. But I have been wrong about too many Canes related things lately so it’s not likely.