2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes Preview

Who would ever have expected North Carolina to become a hockey hotbed? However, that’s the reality as the Hurricanes have put a successful product on the ice since arriving in the Tri-City area and the fans have taken to the team with a NASCAR-like zeal. While it certainly helps that the Hurricanes are one of the more talented young teams in the NHL, the excitement of the fans and the 2006-2007 Stanley Cup have sealed the Raleigh area as a strong hockey market.

Looking Back at 2008-2009

Carolina gave their fans something to really cheer about for the first time since that Cup run, finishing the regular season with a 45-30-7 record, which earned their first playoff berth in 3 seasons. They quickly became the Cardiac Canes, scoring winning goals late in games throughout the first two rounds as they upset New Jersey and Boston en route to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Carolina met their match when the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins shut them down. The microcosm of the series was the struggle of the Staal brothers: Pittsburgh’s Jordan prevented big brother Eric from muster a consistent attack and that sealed the Canes’ fate.

The Offseason

The Hurricanes really didn’t do too much after their strong season. There was a little bit of reshuffling in terms of depth players but the only big move was bringing in Aaron Ward from Boston in return for Patrick Eaves. While Ward was the victim of a well-publicized sucker punch during a fight at the hands of Carolina’s Scott Walker in last year’s playoffs, both have been teammates in Carolina before and the incident shouldn’t affect the team’s chemistry at all as both are apparently friends.

Thus, the biggest moves were internal as the Canes locked up Chad LaRose, Tuomo Ruutu, Erik Cole and Jussi Jokinnen and have been working to ink franchise goalie Cam Ward in the long term.

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2009-2010 Outlook

The biggest strength for the Hurricanes is at center, where Eric Staal, Matt Cullen, Jokinen and aging captain Rod Brind’Amour give the team reams of depth. Along with strong scoring wingers like Ray Whitney, Sergei Samsonov, Chad LaRose (who was the team’s most dangerous player outside of Staal in the playoffs), Ruutu and Cole, there is more than enough talent for a very diverse attack.

Despite their strong showing on defense in last season’s playoffs, the Canes lack a truly dominant defender. Joe Corvo, Anton Babchuk and Joni Pitkanen are all solid two way players and Ward, Tim Gleason and Andrew Alberts are all responsible defenders. However, there is no elite blueliner here and that makes this a solid but unintimidating unit.

Carolina also boasts one of the league’s best goalkeepers in Ward. He is a likely inclusion on the Canadian Olympic team and is one of the best technical keepers in hockey. In short, he was a human highlight reel throughout the playoffs and already has hoisted the Stanley Cup. Carolina is rock solid between the pipes.

PREDICTION:The Canes are a very good mix of youth and experience. Their best two players, Staal and Ward, are just coming into the prime of their careers and should really have big seasons. The Hurricanes are deep up front and should score a lot of goals while their defense is responsible in their own end. This is just a good hockey team, plain and simple.

With so much going for them, I expect Carolina to finish 2 nd in the Southeast Division behind Washington for the 2 nd consecutive season. However, expect the Canes to give the Caps a run for their money atop the standings this year. Carolina is a dangerous playoff team with Ward in net but I don’t think they’ll make it back to the Eastern Finals this season simply because I feel that they’re only the 5 th best team in the Eastern Conference. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canes did win a playoff series and they should certainly be considered a legitimate Cup contender.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

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