For anyone who checked out during the week of no games, you can find the last of 3 parts of my "playing Canes GM Jim Rutherford" articles this week HERE.
You can also find a must-listen 10-minute Jim Rutherford interview by Mark Armstrong at Raleigh's ABC-11 HERE.
It has been a heck of a week as a Carolina Hurricanes fan. From an outside viewpoint, it might not seem like such a big deal. Sure, the team lost a bad 1 at home to a mightily struggling Calgary Flames team. The loss was the 2nd in a row, and with a bunch of off days next, it left the Canes sitting near the bottom of the Metro Division and watching the rest of the division running farther away while the Canes stewed on the Monday loss. But bigger picture the team is only 6 points out of a playoff spot entering home games on Saturday and Sunday against the 2 Florida teams.
But it feels so much worse. Why?
I think it is a couple things:
1) After seeing downturns turn into collapses over the last 4 years, I think at least the die-hard fan base is shell-shocked. The worst just always feels too close around the corner.
2) This season’s struggles have been on the backs of some beloved fan favorites, players who we appreciate and just plain good people. We already had to bid goodbye to Tim Gleason. If Thursday night’s flurry across the hockey world on Twitter is any indication, Tuomo Ruutu already has 1 foot out the door. And though he is not as likely to be traded, Cam Ward is not in a good place either. All of that is on the back of Chad LaRose quietly disappearing with little fanfare this summer. When beloved players leave it hurts, but what is worse is the painful grind of weeks of it being possible before it actually happens. In a strange way, the actual event can almost be a relief because the misery is finally over.
3) The fan base needs a chance to celebrate again. I think it is almost as if we are all just holding our breath waiting for it (something bad) to happen. We need a chance to revel in something great. It does not need to be a Stanley Cup or anything close to that level – just something. I think a playoff berth even if it did not lead anywhere would be enough to provide a breath of optimism going forward.
After 4 days off that feels like a month and after a 2-game losing streak that feels more like 10, the Canes take to home ice Saturday night against the Florida Panthers. It is another of those games where I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Do the Canes look like a caged and starving animal being turned loose on an unsuspecting opponent? Or do they look timid and full of self-doubt?
It is another game in which I think the opponent matters absolutely none. We saw the parity of the NHL in full effect on Monday, so to say that the opponent is good, bad or indifferent seems silly. It is another game in which the finer points of the game matter little. It is every bit about what kind of reaction and push the Canes muster after 4 days to stew on Monday’s bad loss.
I am looking for a couple things:
1) A reaction and fire from the leadership. It is actually amazing that the team is where it is in the standings when you consider the performance of some of the top players. The Tlusty/EStaal/Semin line which Muller reunited Monday, has looked nothing like the magical combination that it was in 2012-13. If that set of players cannot find a higher gear at some point, there is no line tinkering from Muller or player additions by Rutherford that will overcome it.
A team’s best players need to win matchups regularly for the team to win. That has not happened enough this season. I think Muller smartly reattached them to each other and hopefully also challenged them.
2) A new level of determination. As I said recently, I think what determines how the Carolina Hurricanes’ season ends could depend more on how the team fares when it does not play incredibly well than how it fares when it does. The team needs to find the hunger and determination to scratch, claw and fight for points on the nights when the pretty scoring plays that are more its style of play are nowhere to be found and the game becomes more of an ugly ally fight.
I am thrilled that rather than going with a bigger crew that is part of our season ticket group and our whole family, I am going to the game as a special night with just 1 of my sons. It helps me keep the perspective with which I started watching Canes hockey as a fan who just enjoyed having a local hockey team in North Carolina of all places. I would love a Canes win as much as anyone, but I am promising myself that I will stick to my Canes roots and appreciate just having NHL hockey at all if that is all I get. And watching my/our local team, eating a gazillion calorie Twisted Waffle treat and hanging out with my son who is gradually becoming too old hang with dad much cannot be anything less than a good night.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
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