“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Hurricanes start their bye week today and will be off the ice until Saturday. The timing could not be better in a few regards.
The team should benefit from the break physically on multiple fronts. Brett Pesce and Derek Ryan who are out of the lineup with get a few more days to mend without missing games. Sebastian Aho who left yesterday’s game with an injury will also get those days. And the locker room should also get a chance to reset and recover from the flu that was impacting players this week. In addition, even many of the healthy players looked like they were out of gas this week and could benefit from a few days off to rest and recharge.
The break will also offer a few more days for new majority owner Tom Dundon to begin his work in earnest. Minor changes have already started to pop up and a different tone was set right out of the gate in Friday’s press conference, but with the wedding now in the rear view mirror, the process of figuring out the life ahead starts now.
Finally, I think many in the Canes fan base can use a few days to rest, recharge and rebuild optimism before the #CanesCoaster rushes toward its final climax in February, March and early April.
Against that backdrop, the Monday Coffee Shop offers questions on Tom Dundon and the season ahead.
Carolina Hurricanes polls
Please remember to click ‘vote’ after each individual poll response.
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Discussion questions
1) What are your early impressions of Tom Dundon based on the press conference and what you have seen so far?
2) What are the most significant changes that you expect/hope for both on and off the ice with the ownership transition?
3) With the Hurricanes still bouncing up and down around to the playoff cut line but not much above it, what does it take to push this team over the cut line for good and into the 2018 NHL Playoffs?
4) Free for all…Who has general comments, discussion topics or questions for the rest of the coffee shop?
Go Canes!
Something concrete needs to be done, enough with the platitudes, the team must change /improve, and this group (as is) won’t cut it!
your a real mister positive aren’t ya skippy!
Puckgod gets high marks for consistency. In addition, he represents an important mark — when he converts to positive, it will be a 100% certain sign that the rebuild is over and our hockey team has arrived.
On a more serious note, diversity of opinions of all variety are appreciated and welcome as long as people are respectful.
1) Dundon saying the right things is a refreshing change from Karmanos. Peter was just getting worn out I think, and the fresh young energy of a Dundon is exactly what we need.
2) On-ice: continue to carefully spend but with the ability to add significant pieces – no drunken sailor / mortgage the future craziness but allow spending to creep up. Off-ice: Fan experience, particularly show appreciation for STH. My suggestion in a previous thread to distribute unsold tickets through STH should be implemented. Allow them to bring friends, tailgate, show them the ropes, and be ambassadors for the team.
3) We just had a run of playing the best teams. To advance to the playoffs, we MUST beat the struggling teams. Half of the teams make the playoffs and half don’t, if you want to make it at least beat the half who don’t make it. On that note, the Colorado and Arizona losses in consecutive games may come back to haunt us.
4) On today’s other thread I posted the suggested that the players union take a stand in the next CBA window to insist on a better rate and pace of games to reduce injuries. See the other post for details. i wonder what other sports have done (if anything) and what others think of the suggestion.
1-2) I love the guy’s marketing acumen. Whatever the team’s performance on the ice, the true weak link of this franchise for years has been very poor marketing. Even DeCock is noticing changes since day one. It is entirely possible to field a losing team in any sport and still make money (See: Buffalo). It just requires some effort in marketing and fan outreach. So here’s the real question, Dundon, do we get $1 Hot Dog nights back on the regs?
3. The Hurricanes continue their slow progression upward. As their talent and experience increases, their overall performance has as well. That said, the decision-making and overall consistency of this team continues to be lacking. The talent wasn’t the problem in Friday’s loss, it was one poor decision, by Noah Hanifin, that erased 2.75 periods of good work. And while I’m still mad about my boy Jordan taking a whack in the face, that wasn’t the response you’d want to see from the team either. This has been a theme throughout the season. Now, some of Canes Nation thinks this is an excuse to blow it all up. I believe it to be more attributable to youth. Hanifin can’t even legally buy a drink here yet. Faulk and Skins are still both ridiculously young veterans. I love the tack that the team took by bringing in J. Williams. If nothing else, we need more of that fire, game in and game out. Be it from an acquisition, a call-up, whatever, we need more players to deliver that fire (cough*Evander Kane*cough). That, I believe, would be the difference between April tee-times and playoff hockey for the Canes.
4. I agree with Matt, when puckgod believes then we have reached the promised land. Though, PG, i just gotta point this out, that was a fair amount of platitudes you just threw out there 😉
1. What’s not to like. He brings smarts, a new outlook, money, and the promise (at least chance) of change. Let’s give him some time to get his program going. I’ve blown 8 years worth and am into the ninth year of ticket costs, jersey purchases, watching futility, etc., but hey…I’m a fan and that’s what true fans due. My only concern is if things don’t get better, will my friends who attend the games with me will continue to do so having to put up with my continuous complaining and ridiculous know it all ramblings of what needs to be done to improve things.
2. Concentrate in getting the on ice performance better (to a playoff level at least) by forcing Peters and Francis to play younger players. I, like all true hockey fans, grow attached to our players. But there is an old saying in sports “Don’t fall in love with your players.” What his means is if players aren’t producing or playing at a level necessary to win, they need to be replaced not held on to. For example, our entire 4th line has produced 6 goals (this includes some empty netters). I realize all of the 4th line players play hard. But is playing hard the only criteria to making this team and holding a job? If management thinks so, we are in trouble. You mean to tell me that there are not three players in Charlotte that could produce more than 6 goals between them and compete as well or better defensively. If that’s the case, where is this future we have been told is coming? Our defensive core has produced 15 goals (almost half of them by one player)and very few assists while playing inconsistently on defense. We play a conservative defensive game and yet we leave our goalies hung out having to make an inordinate amount of super saves. The Lord himself might be in trouble if he had to play goal for us. Am I being pessimistic in saying that the aforementioned traits aren’t good enough to be a winning team?
3. The defensemen must play up to their press clippings. Based upon the first half they are over rated IMO. Dalback is playing better all around hockey than some of our “golden” boys.
4. This team needs an immediate shot in the arm. Call up three forwards from Charlotte and waiver three forwards who haven’t produced anything but “effort”. Get some grit into the lineup. Get the defensemen to play at an NHL level and do it every game.
No matter what is done or not done by Francis and Peters, I’m a hockey fan and I’m hanging in there no matter what. Peter K did us a favor by getting us a quality new owner and I’m going to give him time to get things done. I would also caution all of you who have read m y comments. Based on my historical track record I am rarely right on much of anything. But with my assumed margin of error being plus or minus infinity, I’m also rarely wrong, at least in my world.
Power to puckgod, ctcaniac, davidavid.., live_or die…, Karash, fogger.., Asheville.. and all the rest of the contributors to this site. Most of the time your ideas are better than mine, and if not, they sure aren’t any worse usually. One thing for sure though, they are all worth reading.
1. The Canes lack of depth will be sorely tested if Aho ends up missing a serious amount of games due to his injuries. They were already playing on the jagged edge of having to play almost perfectly to eek out one goal wins, now without their leading scorer the task gets exponentially harder. No one on the team possesses the type of skills he does and what he brings to the offense and there isn’t anyone in Charlotte that comes close either. Tough spot….here’ hoping he drinks lots of Kinetiko water and rehabs quickly.
2. I’ve been saying, along with a number of other posters, that there is a difference between building a team to battle for a playoff spot and a team that can thrive in the playoffs. The Canes are small, don’t play physical at all and depend on counter attack and puck possession to win games by a goal. It is imperative they add some grit, toughness or however you want to term a player or players who can respond to the increase in physical play that not only comes in the playoffs, but will be there the last month of the season when everyone’s battling for that last spot. It will be a war of attrition and I’m not sure the Canes will survive. A player whose name has come up over the last few days is the Oiler’s Patrick Maroon. I’ve followed him for a few years now and he’d be a good pickup to add some physical play, but still be able to chip in production to the tune of 15 – 20 goals a season. This is where the Canes have some bargaining chips, some young players with potential and with enough cap space to easily slot in a player making his salary. He’s not the play making center everyone wants and the Canes need, but he helps to build out the roster with other types of players that will be needed to get into, and be successful in, the playoffs. Building a team is just that, finding the pieces that in aggregate, provide the best shot at beating your opponent. Now may be a good time to pick one up.
Sorry….didn’t answer a single question. Just more rambling.
I have you covered…#4 was “4) Free for all…Who has general comments, discussion topics or questions for the rest of the coffee shop?”
In all seriousness, the varied opinions/viewpoints of everyone willing to share has grown to be the best part of website, and I am thrilled with the coffee shop type interaction that was at the top of the reasons I started the site.
Odd question out to whatever small audience sees this and is local to Raleigh before I consider flying it out on a larger scale…
Would anyone be interested in joining a Tuesday Club for the rest of the 2017-18 regular season? The Canes play on 9 of 10 Tuesdays after the bye week with a roughly even split between home and away. I figure we find a local brewery that will have us for the away games (Bond Brothers in Cary might work), and whoever can make the games meets up at the seating/bar area at 6:15ish (or whenever people arrive) for the home games.
I would not make all of them, but Tuesday is the 1 day that I am not otherwise scheduled most weeks, so I would attend many even if not all.
Anyone interested?
I’m all for it but won’t be able to attend any until late Feb. or early March. Really enjoyed the first one before the holidays..!!
As long I am not at the arena for a home game, I would definitely be interested.
But only…
If it is not in Cary! LOL! I live and work just north of downtown Raleigh and the drive to Cary is brutal at that time of the evening.
I have been going to Carolina Panthers’ watch parties at the Neuse River Brewery this past season. On that basis, I imagine NRB (and other breweries) would be willing to hold a table or two on a Tuesday game night and plan to put the game on the big screen and audio.
BTW, I have been to Bond Brothers once. They don’t really have a good seating area, as I recall. Again, I have only been there once.
We would come when not at a game.
Bond Brothers was not bad. They had an open area with a fair amount of seating RTJ. Can’t comment on the traffic however. It was quiet enough to where people could talk. A busier bar may not be as good.
You know I’ll be there.
I like the idea, and Tuesdays make sense with our schedule upcoming. Agree with raleightj that driving to the heart of Cary at gametime doesn’t sound as appealing. But you’ve got to land somewhere –
1, 2) I think Dundon will be an outstanding owner. He is a fan of the sport/team with great connections (Mark Cuban, for starters) and great business sense. All of that will work in the favor of the team – players, organization (as long as your name isn’t Don Waddell), and fans.
I believe he will open the pursestrings if Francis brings him a deal that RF thinks will make the team better. The difference between our salary cap and team salary is small change for Dundon’s wallet. But you have to trust that RF will do it right – no shipping out young resources for players of questionable quality or character (i.e., no Kane, but I thought a JT Brown pickup on waivers may have been interesting).
3. Much ado has been made that we are one game behind last year’s results. Last year at exactly this time we had recovered from a slow start with a strong December and early January to push ourselves within a game of the playoffs. We are now within a game of the playoffs although our path to this point was different.
This is also the exact time we started our six weeks of awful hockey – two 5-game losing streaks sandwiching a 3-game winning streak, during which we got blown out repeatedly.
Let’s not repeat that slump and we will make the playoffs.
This season has assuredly not gone as many of us had hoped or expected. But this team has the talent and ability to make the playoffs when we play our game.
Playing Hurricanes hockey with no losing streaks going forward is the key to getting into the playoffs.
4. I have recently dropped out of a few Hurricanes blog/fan sites and wonder how short the leash is for me here.
I am tired of the negativity and the bomb-throwing. I am tired of those who vent and rant – who insist that nothing is good and we need to blow up the whole bus; or that we need to tank and lose systemically.
I don’t need or want negative energy – in my life in general, or as a Hurricanes fan.
I do want good critical analysis and discussion of the Hurricaes – whether good or bad in the assessment.
Hang in there raleightj. Your input has been as good as anyone’s on the site and I sure appreciate it. With the new owner now is the time when we will really need your thoughts and ideas. I don’t think anyone who writes on this site intends to offend any of the contributors. Some are just more frustrated than others and in my case I know I come across sometimes (I hope it is only sometimes) as a “know-it-all” and I can complain with the best. But as ctcaniac, puckgod, dmilleravid, and many others can testify to, there is ample evidence that I don’t know much and they just, as a courtesy I’m sure, bear with me.
You’re my spirit fan Raleightj, you and Dmilleravid. Keep at it, and know that I will always be here to combat the skepticism of puckgod, RedRyder and teninumee. And Matt too 😉 (Love all you guys, hope this stays a thing for a while. Go Canes!)
1) Really like what we’ve heard from Dundon thus far. Seems to be a guy who is used to winning and expects to do the same here.
2)I’d like to see Dundon loosen up the purse strings to allow GMRF to be a buyer at the deadline and perhaps in free agency (JVR perhaps).i like the idea of players getting more involved with youth hockey programs- those kids are future paying fans. When we do eventually go back to having a 3rd jersey- wearing throwback Whalers jerseys would be cool.
3)I agree with Red Ryder about the 4th line. How about bringing up Foegle and Zykov and have Wallmark center them. Or maybe bump Zykov up to 2nd or 3rd line and drop McGinn down to the 4th. It would be nice to have some semblance of an offensive threat from the 4th line.
Most important thing to get us to the playoffs is Darling steppbig up and being the true #1 goalie that he was brought in to be. I think he will which is why I’m optimistic.
4)I share raleightj’s sentiments about the negativity on a lot of the Canes blogs and Canes twitter(which can b a dark place). I don’t expect them to be irrational cheerleaders, but the level of negativity and doom and gloom after losses gets tiresome.
Re your comment #4: You are right about some of the other hockey sites. I have long ago ceased writing ( I did very little) or even reading the comments after reading the articles on the various sites. As I commented above, I do appreciate this site because the various contributors, such as yourself, seem to keep a civil tone. Let me know if you feel I fall into the “doom and gloom” category and I will take it as constructive criticism and clean up my act. I, like the other contributors I am sure, really want this team to do well and provide a great fan experience. Part of that fan experience is the comraderie (how do you spell it) with all the contributors on this site. ctcaniac keeps me in line, dmilleravid provides me a good even keel baseline to work off of, and fogger84, ironcaniac, live_or_die…,and all the others including yourself provide me with commentary I enjoy reading. Even puckgod, while he generally expresses the most frustration of any of us, he does it in a short concise manner expressing his own frustrations and complaints, but he never criticizes other contributors ideas on any personal level.
I don’t think you fall into the doom and gloom category at all. The reason why this is my favorite outlet for Hurricane content is Matt’s knowledge and commitment and that the people who comment in this forum are generally civil,rational and reasonable. The Canes have flaws and issues that need to be pointed out, but the hysteria on Canes twitter after the Toronto and Boston games was ridiculous.
1) I did like that Dundon said he was impatient. I found it funny that PK was saying you have to be patient, and used Semin as his example. (That was the worst contract of the NHL) Reality is that Dundon is a results guys. I think we need some impatiens after what has been going on. PK’s patients has not seemed to work so well. I am sure Dundon will make some mistakes but gosh we need a change in attitude.
2) I believe he is focused on making visiting the games a better experience. That should help with ticket sales. He said it was on management if people do not start having a good time and buying tickets. What a refreshing change from PK who felt it was the fan’s responsibility to attend the games regardless of what he put on the ice. I feel deeper pocket will get us some better players when RF finds some deals.
3) Accountability. I am hoping Dundun’s desire to win will light a fire under players and coaches. The feeling that their job is on the line would be good, no contract, sit or trade. I was sitting next to a Caps fan during the Caps game and he was unhappy with their play (before the end) and kept saying your jobs are on the line. This is not meant to be negative but we all know what happens if we do not do our jobs. I know the team is young but there has to be consequences for non-performance. Its a fine line but it seems to be okay to have bad performances.
4) I do not believe the negativity has been bad on this site. Most people have reasons for what they are saying and thoughts are respected. There are different opinions but you see respect, and not name calling and forbidden words. Agree raleightj, I have not been on those other dark places, don’t need that.
icecobra, I like all your comments, but in particular your comments brought something to my mind. What do you think about Karash (if he’s agreeable) and the contributors to this site really sitting down and coming up with a “wish list” that we formally present to the new owner. This would be strictly suggestions and not criticisms. We could do this in a very positive and constructive manner. Just a thought, but I have seen many good ideas that others have presented on this site that might help the new guy understand what is important to the typical Canes fan.
Not sure where/how it fits time-wise, but it is important enough that I would be happy to help pull together a group set of recommendations for the new owner.
On another note, Bond Brothers will not work for Tuesdays. Their run club is that day, and it is already one of their busiest days. Does anyone have suggestions for another place (I prefer a microbrewery but it doesn’t have to be) for Tuesday away games? I think the most important requirement is a decent setup TV-wise for a group.