‘Back to business’: Four Hurricanes rejoin team hoping to make run at division lead

Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen have rejoined the Carolina Hurricanes and gotten in some practice time, ready to resume the grind of the NHL’s regular season.

Jaccob Slavin made it back in Raleigh in time for the charter flight Friday to Toronto, where the Canes will face the Maple Leafs on Saturday to get things started again after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off event.

Seth Jarvis? He left Boston for Toronto with a medal after Team Canada’s overtime victory Thursday over Slavin and Team USA in the championship game at TD Garden.

But both Jarvis and Slavin were winners in the 4 Nations. Slavin was showered with praise for his play by the likes of Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Mike Modano, and considered the most effective player for Team USA.

Aho and Rantanen were at practice Friday at Invisalign Arena. Members of Team Finland, they were able to leave Boston after being eliminated and got a few days of rest time in before going back on the ice.

“I expected high intensity and high-level hockey and that’s definitely what it was,” Aho said of the 4 Nations Face-Off. “Obviously, you wished you did better as a team and get to the final and win the whole thing, but the games were awesome.

“It’s so much fun playing for your own country and best on best. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The 4 Nations event generated a lot of interest, just as the NHL hoped, both for hockey fans and sports fans in general. That was spiked even more when the U.S. beat Canada 3-1 Saturday in a preliminary game that had three fights break out in the first nine seconds.

‘It’s all business’

Aho smiled when asked about Finland’s game with the U.S., when he first encountered Slavin as an opponent and not a teammate.

“I think it was like the first or second shift that he stood me up at the blue line and I went offside,” Aho said. “Our eyes locked and it was kind of a weird moment.

“But after that it’s all business. You play hockey, you don’t think about that stuff unless it’s in a scrum when you might say a few words. After that first shift it wasn’t weird anymore.”

Slavin was on the ice often for Team USA, paired with Minnesota’s Brock Faber and matched up against a Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon of Canada. Of note: Slavin and Faber were not on the ice in overtime when McDavid found an open spot in the slot and buried the game winner. for the championship.

“Everyone here knows, but on a bigger platform, best on best, he did a pretty good job shutting those guys down,” Aho said of Slavin.

Aho was watching Thursday night as the championship was decided. He did not expect to see any early fights or shenanigans, and none occurred.

“Two really good teams going at it and it was kind of a coin flip,” Aho said. “People asked me who was going to win and I didn’t know. I guess the best team won.”

Asked about his play in the three games, he said he believed he could have been better. Centering a line with Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund, Aho had two assists.

“Our line didn’t necessarily get it going too well,” he said. “But it’s also a learning process. We probably will have pretty much the same team in the Olympics next year so hopefully we learn from this and then put our best foot forward in the Olympics.”

Onward they go

The Canes (33-19-4) had 26 games remaining in the regular season heading into Saturday’s game in Toronto, and are chasing the Washington Capitals, who lead the Metropolitan Division, 10 points ahead of Carolina.

“The expectations for that tournament were big, so now it’s behind us and now it’s just about this team and to win as many games as we can,” Rantanen said Friday. “Maybe mentally it will be easier with that tournament’s over and you don’t have to speculate anymore about who you’re going to play with or who’s going to win. Now it’s back to business.”

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour was happy his four players returned without an injury. The intensity and physicality did take a toll on some of the 4 Nations players, and some returned to their NHL teams with injuries to heal and games to quickly be played.

“With ‘Slavo’ getting a lot of minutes and ‘Jarvy’ winning, it’s going to be, you don’t want to say a letdown, but they have to get back into the grind,” he said.

Brind’Amour was the only one limping a bit Friday. He said he had a procedure on one of his knees, but would be good to go — and on his feet behind the bench.

“I’m just getting old,” Brind’Amour quipped.

This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

919-829-8945

In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.