With the dust just settling on the trade deadline and the adrenaline rush that comes with it, what now?
March has the potential to go a couple different directions and oscillate back and forth multiple times along the way. The whole season has been a rollercoaster and Tums special, so while die-hard Canes fans are a bit tired and weary, they have also been training for this all season.
I mostly let go of this season and any chance of seeing playoff hockey after the Dallas loss, but I also know that this team has a knack for making its fan base go through this painful letting go process multiple times in a single season. As a fan 'til the end Caniac, I understand my duty to suffer more and deal with bouts of hope followed by despair before it is officially over.
When I look at the standings it is not so much the distance in points as the number of teams to be chased down. Making up 7 points on say the Rangers is a huge challenge, but it is possible. Heck the Canes could make up 4 in the next 5 days just by beating them twice. The bigger issue for me is the volume of teams that the Canes need to hunt down. Even with a win, there will be too many nights when the Canes make up points on 1 team but not on 2 others who pass the 1st team. I said forever ago that it would take 94-95 points to make the playoffs. I still think that is about right. Working backwards from 94 points says the Canes would need to go 15-4-1 in their last 20. That is difficult enough before you look at the schedule that still includes Pit, Bos, and Chi for the "other games" and most of the rest against equally desperate playoff contenders.
So back to the original question, what now? For me it goes like this:
1) I hope for the 3-game winning streak that it takes for the Canes to pull the Rangers and to some degree the Devils down and get high enough to start grabbing for the ankles of the teams in playoff positions.
2) I keep in my back pocket the fallback of picking small things to root for. Years ago I got through a miserable March of 2004 cheering for Josef Vasicek to reach 20 goals. He scored a 20th goal that was waved off incorrectly that still haunts me today. In March of 2008, the energy and heart of the Bayda/Aucoin/Walker line was enough to bring joy. This year, I think I am going with another round of Ryan Murphy (who was recalled!) and possibly later a last opportunity (that he earned!) for Zach Boychuk.
3) When possible, I either tailgate or hit the Wendy's by the arena on game nights. For the latter, the key is to get there early enough to spend a few minutes looking at all the old Canes pictures heavy on the 2001-02 Cup run. Either of those is enough to erase most of any bad that can happen over the 2 1/2 hours that follow.
What say you Canes fans? Do you have enough energy left to pull for a playoff miracle no matter how remote the chances? Or are you just worn out and ready to be finished with the 2013-14 season? What are your small joys to cheer for in March?
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