Antti Raanta’s emotional win, and how Tony DeAngelo may be winning over Canes fans
It was a night of differing emotions for the Carolina Hurricanes’ Antti Raanta and Tony DeAngelo.
Raanta, 32, made his first start for the Canes on Friday amid the team’s perfect start to the season. The team in front of him ignited for four goals in the first period to top the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 and improve to 7-0, giving the Finnish goalie his first win with Carolina, and first victory since March 20, when he was with the Arizona Coyotes.
Raanta also said was his first victory since his father, Pekka, passed away in August. It was the first time he did not receive a pregame text from his dad.
“It was kind of a weird feeling today to go to the game and not get that text from him,” Raanta said to the media. “If anything, to get the game and get this win is kind of remembering my dad.”
Raanta was signed along with Frederik Andersen as Canes general manager Don Waddell made the decision to revamp his goaltending tandem with a more veteran presence, and few questioned Raanta’s addition, even as many Canes fans liked Alex Nedeljkovic, a rookie last season, and the fiery Petr Mrazek.
But DeAngelo? The howls of protest were many, and he was an unpopular acquisition during the offseason. Friday, Canes fans, including many who might have cussed his name when the defenseman first signed with the team, rewarded his play by chanting his name — quite the public turnaround.
“They might have changed a little bit, might be starting to change, huh?” DeAngelo said, smiling. “They love that kind of stuff.”
From lightning rod to lighting the lamp
The defenseman’s hockey career has been seen as problematic. There have been suspensions and an altercation with a former New York Rangers teammate, and his signing by the Hurricanes on July 28 was seen by some fans in contrast with the “winning culture” the team said it was cultivating with character guys.
Translation: Many Canes fans did not want to see DeAngelo in a Canes uniform.
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton left, and that was a big loss. The Canes needed offensive help from the blue line, yes, and a quarterback for the power play.
But DeAngelo? The Canes took the heat on the signing while DeAngelo appeared contrite, insisting he had learned from past mistakes and hoped to win over those Canes fans who were angry and skeptical.
In the Canes’ 7-0 start, DeAngelo has eight points. He has goals in each of the past two games, added two assists against the Blackhawks and dropped the gloves to fight Reese Johnson in the third period, fists flying.
Changing minds?
A “Gordie Howe hat trick” — a goal, an assist and a fight — with some serious fisticuffs in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks can do that for someone trying to win over doubters. (The name of that achievement is a salute to the late Hockey Hall of Famer. Long known as “Mr. Hockey,” Howe was as good and tough and rugged as they came, a hero for many.)
DeAngelo’s Gordie Howe hat trick Friday was the first of his career, and the first for the Canes since forward Brandon Sutter completed the feat at Minnesota in January 2012, with Sutter fighting Nate Prosser. It was the first for the Canes at PNC Arena since Erik Cole’s against Florida in January 2003, when Cole dropped the gloves with the Panthers’ Marcus Nilson.
“It’s great,” Raanta said. “He’s putting a lot of emotion into the game. It’s always fun when the guys are pumped up like that and I think Tony was really fired up today.”
Canes fans cheered DeAngelo’s first-period goal, when he hopped into the rush, and later his assists. But they broke into a “Tony, Tony!” chant after the fight with Johnson and again after the game — after the players handed out Halloween candy in the Storm Surge celebration — when he was named the game’s first star.
“That was real nice,” DeAngelo said. “Obviously there was a lot of feedback going both ways, positive and negativity when I signed, which I knew was going to happen no matter where I went. But I really appreciate tonight for that kind of ovation. It means more than the fans might think.”
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Raw emotion for Raanta
For Raanta, the win meant more to him than most knew. It came against the team that first signed him in 2013, a team that was content with Scott Darling as their backup goalie and traded Raanta soon after the Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup.
And there were the thoughts of his father. Pekka Raanta was so often his sounding board, offering fatherly support but also hockey perspective.
“For me, there was a lot of emotion today,” Raanta said. “It has been a rough couple of months. That was a big thing for me today. A lot of different feelings for sure.”
Next up: Hurricanes vs. Coyotes
When: Sunday, 1 p.m.
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
