Matt Karash: Realignment: What does it really mean for the Carolina Hurricanes?

my head hurts from the math. bottom line, beat who you are playing that night and you won't have to worry about the other teams in the division/conference.

my head hurts from the math. bottom line, beat who you are playing that night and you won't have to worry about the other teams in the division/conference.
- monty burns

That is about right. You don't see teams like Chicago splitting hairs about whether their schedule is better or worse than last year. They mostly just go out and beat other teams regularly.

my head hurts from the math. bottom line, beat who you are playing that night and you won't have to worry about the other teams in the division/conference.
- monty burns

Always a good plan. I am a big Joni Pitkanen and Elias Lindholm fan (after meeting the former after the draft and getting a picture with him and talking for a few minutes. quality guy....sorry for the tangent) but I dont see the Canes making the post season this upcoming year. I think they will come in at the dreaded 9th spot.

What do you think?

Always a good plan. I am a big Joni Pitkanen and Elias Lindholm fan (after meeting the former after the draft and getting a picture with him and talking for a few minutes. quality guy....sorry for the tangent) but I dont see the Canes making the post season this upcoming year. I think they will come in at the dreaded 9th spot.

What do you think?
- FrmRusiaWifGlov

To be completely honest, I have no idea what to expect from the Canes. On the 1 hand, the team was in 1st place when Cam Ward was injured and that was minus Tuomo Ruutu. But on the other hand, the team was horrible the 2nd half of the season and has a boat load of questions marks in the bottom 6 and on special teams (point on PP and forward on PK) plus 2 new additions to try to repair a defense that was abysmal down the stretch last season.

I am so unsure what to expect that I haven't felt like this since before the 05-06 season after a full missed season and plus a bunch of new players.

Always a good plan. I am a big Joni Pitkanen and Elias Lindholm fan (after meeting the former after the draft and getting a picture with him and talking for a few minutes. quality guy....sorry for the tangent) but I dont see the Canes making the post season this upcoming year. I think they will come in at the dreaded 9th spot.

What do you think?
- FrmRusiaWifGlov

What makes you think that? Last year prior to the Wardo and multuple d-men injuries the canes were in 1st place SE. This year the D has already been improved.
Baring more significant injuries this year i'd expect a very good season!

The new division will no doubt be tougher than the old South Least. The big issue that the Canes, and the rest of the Eastern teams face is the uneven distribution of teams until expansion takes care of that. On the positive side of realignment, it should help with ticket sales to get away from some of the Panthers/Lightning/Jets games and add some more NE teams. More ticket sales should result in a better financial situation.

I think in this new Metro division, the Penguins are the only real lock to grab one of the four playoff spots. The other three, you can make a case for any of the teams.
Rangers, Flyers, Islanders, Caps, Devils, Jackets, Canes, flip a coin. Makes for an interesting season.

I think the Canes are lucky this is when the switch was made. Philly, NJ, NYR, 3 typical powerhouses, are all in pretty weak states compared to their historical norms. As someone else said, there's pittsburgh, and then you might as well pick names out of a hat to predict the rest.

A side note, the crowds should be better this season, now that we don't have as many of the Florida/Tampa/Atlanta games as we've had in the past.

Always a great atmosphere against almost every team in the division. Hopefully that translates to good sales and more spending when the cap starts getting foolishly high again in a few years.

I think in this new Metro division, the Penguins are the only real lock to grab one of the four playoff spots. The other three, you can make a case for any of the teams.
Rangers, Flyers, Islanders, Caps, Devils, Jackets, Canes, flip a coin. Makes for an interesting season.
- Rocktane

Yeh, i totally agree, and there's a pretty good reason why, and it's called PARITY!
Every year you see "on-paper" terrible teams beat the "beasts"...any game you bet on...BE PREPARED TO LOSE! Good teams play bad, get injuries, get out-coached, get SCREWED by the Refs (you knew that had to be mentioned, we are FANATICS), and "not-so-good" teams improve etc.
Also, the matchups with certain teams is better/ worse, for various reasons like speed, size, style of play-like cycling, dumping in the puck...!