Take over the settings of the NHL season with a legendary NHL night. Listen in Areena or on the player below.
No one can argue that excellent work hasn’t been done in Raleigh for a long time.
The local Carolina Hurricanes have been the NHL’s second best regular season team for the past six years and haven’t fared badly in the playoffs either. Twice the team has reached the conference finals and four times to the second round.
At the same time, there is a strong smell of disappointment in the air.
Carolina is an excellently coached team with the clearest game identity in the series, but the powder has been wet in a tough place.
This core group has never reached the finals.
Especially the frequent second round losses have eaten away at the core of the players.
Last spring’s disappointment was so heavy that it is still on the mind when the new NHL season starts.
Carolina got the scoring power the team desperately needed in the middle of last season when it captured the top berth from Pittsburgh By Jake Guenztel. Other reinforcements were brought in, so the already strong team had to be ready to seriously fight for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
However, the end result was familiar: the games ended in the second round of the playoffs.
– We had an absolutely amazing gang last year. It had the right pieces and a really good chance to succeed. Gets in the head and fusses for a long time when you didn’t get the job done. It was a missed opportunity, the Finnish star of the team Sebastian Aho times for Urheilu.
– Let’s try to learn from mistakes together and take self-confidence from the good things.
Where did the thing come from in a tight spot?
Statistically, one theme rises above the rest: goal scoring.
Last spring, in a losing series against the New York Rangers, Carolina got the taps open, but the average goals scored in the three previous spring series were recorded as 1.5, 1.9 and 1.8.
The combined superiority game percentage of these series was around thirteen.
– The goal has been to be the best for several years. I can’t bear to go very far to find the reasons for the losses, commented Sebastian Aho.
– The team changes every year. The way I see it is that every day you have to do everything you can to be better and that way you can help the team to take the next step.
Narrow tip
In terms of scoring power, the summer did not offer good news for the team.
The club tried to keep Guentzel, who was in the last year of his contract, in their ranks, but the Yankee striker packed his things and took his goal to Tampa. In addition to this, he left the attack department Teuvo Teräväinen, Stefan Noesen and returned to Russia Yevgeny Kuznetsov.
Of the players brought in by Jack Roslovic the point record hovers around 40 corners. William Carrier and Tyson Jost are bottom chain players.
Carolina is a team that, in addition to a second center, lacks a clear number one in the scoring department. Andrei Svetshnikov a lot has often been counted on, but the Russian has broken the 30-goal limit only once, and that was two years ago.
Carolina is expected to be a playoff team this season as well, but the top of the offensive team is, on paper, more boring in terms of championship contention.
In the defense and goalkeeping department, Carolina hardly stumbles.
– It goes without saying that in the summer you think about what the team will look like. If we now think of something about Guentzel, then of course it takes into account that he cannot be screwed with the contract, Aho states directly.
– Guys left us, with whom I have played for a long time and have become good friends. That’s the sad part of this business, that you can’t like everyone and the players understand that.
Sebastian Aho’s shoulders will rest more and more in the future. Aho played the most efficient season of his career last season (36+53=89) and the team needs at least the same from the striker from Oulu this season as well.
If Carolina builds its top chain in Aho, by Seth Jarvis and around Svechnikov, the result will come, but the tip threatens to remain narrow.
In the second chain Jesperi Kotkaniemi mixed Martin Necas are players in whom the club has invested heavily, but whose development has remained stagnant. Now if ever the club needs a breakthrough from them.
Aho recognizes his position, but does not take pressure from it.
– I just want to take steps forward. Whether it was goals or leadership. Here, you also have the opportunity to take some steps up by doing small things.
– It starts with summer training. That’s where confidence comes from. Through the experiences of previous years and the natural growth that comes with age, you can make yourself a better version.
Does the coach’s voice still resonate?
There is also an interesting situation in terms of coaching. Rod Brind’Amour has been the team’s head coach for seven years already, after serving as an assistant coach for seven years before that.
The Canadian, who won the championship as a player for the club in 2006, has created a high-quality and recognizable way of playing for the team, but on the other hand, he has not been able to take the train to the terminal station.
North American reports have told about the growing pressure towards coaching as well, but Aho assures that the coach’s voice still carries.
– You’ll be fine with Rod if you’re ready to do the work and stick to the things agreed upon. He doesn’t expect any magic tricks from anyone. It’s about the quality of daily work and commitment to a common cause.
Aho recognizes the changed starting points, but does not compromise faith.
– Faith in the team is strong. Maybe now there were a little more changes than before, but I want to see it as an opportunity. There is new blood in the booth and new guys who bring their own thing to this. That way, this will definitely be good, Aho assures.
The Carolina Hurricanes’ NHL season begins next Friday with a match against the Tampa Bay Lightning.