‘We’re all practiced out.’ Hurricanes are ready for season opener against Islanders
The Carolina Hurricanes have had an extensive and exhaustive training camp.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has evaluated various line combinations of forwards and potential defensive pairings, new look power-play units and his two new goalies, Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.
The players are all vaccinated. So, too, the coaches and all of the staff around them, mindful that the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended and that there’s an 82-game season to be played.
And the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canes plan on being a part of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season under Brind’Amour. Their goal is a simple one: win the Cup. They believe they can do it.
All that’s left is to drop the puck and begin the 2021-22 season. For the Canes, that comes Thursday at 7 p.m. against the New York Islanders before a sellout crowd at PNC Arena as Carolina, the 2021 Central Division champions, rejoins the Metropolitan Division and some old rivals like the Isles, Capitals and Penguins.
Andersen will be in net for the opener, Brind’Amour said Wednesday. Having left the Toronto Maple Leafs after last season and signing with the Hurricanes, the veteran goaltender is coming off an uneven 2021 season marred by injury and believes a fresh start with a new team is what he needs.
It should be a crowded scene in and around the arena. The N.C. State Fair begins its run Thursday across Trinity Road at the State Fairgrounds. The Canes are hoping for a sellout crowd. The message to all: come early.
Opening night in the NHL always is special for every team and having the State Fair across the street should add a little extra pop to the atmosphere. Inside the arena, there’s the matter of opening a new season against a Barry Trotz team that reached the Stanley Cup semifinals last season before losing a seven-game series to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Everybody is itching to get out there,” center Vincent Trocheck said Wednesday to the media.
Brind’Amour likes his team, which he likes to call “our group.” He’s ready for the season opener.
“I think everybody is,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday in a media interview. “I think we’re all practiced out, so to speak. Guys want to play.”
The coach, like the players, says there will be first-game butterflies.
“I’ve still got some questions about the whole group because I’m not 100 percent about how the lines are going to go; I’m not sure how the combinations are going to work,” Brind’Amour said. “We haven’t had a chance to really see it go. You probably need to be excited, as a coach, but you’re always a little apprehensive.”
Brind’Amour’s first three teams as head coach have had strong starts. In 2018-19, the Canes lost to the Islanders in overtime in the opener at PNC Arena but then won the next four. A year later, the Canes won the first five games and six of the first seven.
The 2020-21 season did not begin until January because of the pandemic and was condensed to a 56-game regular season with four new divisions. Carolina won six of its first seven games, including a 1-0 overtime win over Tampa Bay.
Goalie Petr Mrazek had the shutout in that game. He’s gone. So are goalies James Reimer and Alex Nedeljkovic. The Canes have turned to Andersen and Raanta.
But it’s a new mix on this Hurricanes team, with new players taking on important roles. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo, for one. He’ll quarterback the Canes’ first power-play unit. The Canes traded for defenseman Ethan Bear and Brind’Amour should have Bear play Thursday with Jaccob Slavin in the top D pairing — in a spot on the right side vacated by the departed Dougie Hamilton.
The Canes obtained forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens after the Habs did not match Carolina’s offer sheet — one year, $6.1 million — to the restricted free agent. Brind’Amour had him on the Canes’ top line with Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas in the Wednesday practice at PNC Arena.
“He fits in great,” Trocheck said of Kotkaniemi. “Tons of skill, big frame. He sees the ice really well, smart hockey player. Whoever gets to play with him I think it will be be easy for him.”
It’s also time for others to take the next step, become bigger contributors.
Andrei Svechnikov signed an eight-year contract with the Canes that pays him an average of $7.75 million a year. Much is expected of the power forward as he enters his fourth NHL season. More is expected of Necas as he begins his third full season, and with a potential big contract of his own to be earned this season.
“We’re all ready to get started,” Necas said in media interview. “We have some new guys who I think will fit in, and it will be nice to see how it goes.”
Of note ...
The Canes announced Wednesday that Aho would join Slavin and Jordan Martinook as an alternate captain this season. Jordan Staal is the captain.
N.Y. Islanders at Carolina Hurricanes
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh.
TV/radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM.
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
