Hurricanes open training camp with energy but without Martin Necas
The Carolina Hurricanes took to the ice Monday at PNC Arena for their first training camp practice in the Return to Play format, and an immediate head count began.
There was Dougie Hamilton and Sami Vatanen. Check off the two defensemen who were injured when the NHL abruptly paused the season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There was Justin Williams, Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho ... so it went as the players enthusiastically went through practice drills on what the Canes hope will be the first step toward contending for the 2020 Stanley Cup.
“It was like Christmas for the guys,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said during a Zoom media call. “Obviously just being back to somewhat normal for us felt good. ... I think everybody is super excited and the players are all dialed in.”
There was a noticeable absence: forward Martin Necas. He was not at practice Monday and the Canes, under the league’s Return to Play protocols, are not allowed to explain the absence.
The NHL is handling announcements on all positive testing for COVID-19 and said Monday that the league was “aware” of 13 players who tested positive for the virus outside Phase 2 — the teams’ optional workouts at their facilities. The NHL said 4,934 COVID-19 tests were administered to the group of more than 600 players who reported for Phase 2 and there were 30 positives.
Players on the 24 teams in the Return to Play format had until 5 p.m. Monday to opt out of the competition without suspension or penalty. Brind’Amour, while not asked specifically about Necas, said no one on the Canes had mentioned sitting out.
“I know there are health issues and underlying factors that make your decisions different and I’m lucky we didn’t have that,” he said. “We didn’t have anyone come and say ‘I’m worried about me or someone in my family.’ It just didn’t happen.
“If it does, that’s part of this. We all understand what we’re dealing with. We would be open-arms to anything, any reason or concern anyone has. I mean, that’s just how we are.”
Hamilton was having a season worthy of a Norris Trophy candidate — 14 goals and 26 assists in 47 games — and had been selected for the 2020 NHL All-Star Weeknd before suffering a broken left fibula in the Jan. 16 road game against Columbus. Having him back, Brind’Amour said, “Is a big wild card for us.”
Hamilton had surgery, then began the grueling rehab work, saying he’d often spend five hours a day at a clinic.
“I had my one-hour slot but they wouldn’t kick me out,” he said Monday in Zoom call.
Hamilton, 27, slowly recovered, then began skating. Little did he know he’d be a little ahead of the curve — already on the ice — when the NHL announced it would try and complete the 2019-20 season and determine a Stanley Cup winner.
“Obviously you don’t want to get injured but there’s a silver lining in everything,” Hamilton said. “There’s some stuff that’s still not perfect. But I feel good. It’s getting better and better as I go.”
Hamilton was paired Monday with Jaccob Slavin on D, with Brady Skjei paired with Vatanen, Jake Gardiner with Trevor van Riemsdyk and Haydn Fleury with Joel Edmundson.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Hamilton said of the group. “Eight legit NHL defensemen. Obviously that’s pretty nice to have.”
Vatanen came to the Canes in a Feb. 24 trade with New Jersey but was on injured reserve and recovering from a leg injury. The Finnish defenseman, who gives the Canes another right-handed shot on D, tried to practice with the Canes on March 4 at Raleigh Center Ice but couldn’t go and did not play a game before the NHL season suspension.
“Sami really wasn’t part of anything when he was here, so this is a big step, these next two weeks, for him,” Brind’Amour said.
The lines at practice Monday had Aho centering Andrei Svechnikov and Teravainen, Jordan Staal at center with Brock McGinn and Williams, Vincent Trocheck at center with Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Dzingel and Morgan Geekie centering Warren Foegele and Jordan Martinook.
Necas had 16 goals and 20 assists in 64 games this season as a rookie. The winger scored five power-play goals, had three game-winners and brought speed to the lineup. But he was missing Monday.
“There was a lot of energy,” Staal, the Canes captain, said in a Zoom call. “The boys are excited to see each other again. It’s an exciting time.”
If all goes as planned, the Canes will leave for Toronto and the Eastern Conference hub city on July 26 and will face the New York Rangers in a qualifying round beginning Aug. 1. If they keep winning they could be in the protective “bubble” and away from family and friends for more than a month — families are allowed to first visit during the conference finals and Stanley Cup finals.
Staal and his wife, Heather, have two young daughters and a son. Being away, for any period of time, would be personally challenging.
“That’s a sacrifice I would have to make and a difficult one,” he said. “I’m going to miss my boy’s first steps and miss his first birthday and stuff like that I want to be there for. But opportunities like this don’t come around too often and the guys in that room want it just as much as I do.
“There are a ton of sacrifices you have to make to win Cups and that’s just one of them this year.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Hurricanes open training camp with energy but without Martin Necas."
