Canes prefer this early trip

Long road stretch will be behind them

If there is an upside to embarking on a six-game road trip four games into the season, the Carolina Hurricanes seem to have found it.

Better now than later.

"When you look at it, pretty early in the season we'll have a quarter of our road games done, over with, out of the way," general manager Jim Rutherford said.

And the Hurricanes really don't have much of a choice. The fear of traffic jams during the State Fair caused schedulers to avoid home games while the fair is going on.

"It upset a lot of people," Rutherford said. "And so we've decided it's better not to do it. Let the fair have their time."

As far as team captain Rod Brind'Amour is concerned, it's best to get the longest road trip of the season out of the way.

"Personally, I hate the road," he said. "But if you're going to do it, it's better to do it early when you're still excited and everybody is still hyped about the season. ... I think road trips as the season goes on are tougher because that's when you'd rather be home on your days off as opposed to a hotel room."

Rutherford and wing Matt Cullen said the early road trip offers a chance for bonding among the players and coaches.

"It's good for a team like this with a lot of new guys to get together and know each other a little bit better," Cullen said.

Coach Peter Laviolette was cautious when asked whether it was good to get the long trip out of the way early.

"I'm not sure about that answer," he said. "Road trips can be good. It's always harder to win on the road than it is at home. You gotta do a little bit more. You gotta dig a little bit deeper. But you can also thrive in that and enjoy it as a team. Ultimately, the results will determine the answer to that question. I'll let you know when I get back."

Last season, the Hurricanes split their six-game road trip and returned home 4-4. But in the 2006-07 season, the Canes won three of seven on the early trip and returned with a 3-6 record to start the season.

This year, they head out with a winning record (2-1), and outside of two other road-heavy stretches in December and January, the schedule eventually turns in their favor: Eight of their last 10 regular-season games will played at home.

"You know you play 41 at home and 41 on the road," Laviolette said. "This is the way it lined up. We'll go play with it, hopefully have some fun, win some hockey games and come back with a winning record."