Faced with Stanley Cup Final deficit, Canes must now embody Southern resilience
There’s more Southern charm in Las Vegas than ever these days. There’s a new Bojangles on the Strip, offering all the same biscuits and sandwiches and chicken we’re used to in North Carolina.
Around the corner, a Chick-Fil-A.
One more block down, country music star Blake Shelton’s bar, Ol’ Red, sat dormant at 9:30 a.m., but remnants of the previous night’s festivities skittered across the sidewalk in the warm morning breeze. Fellow country star Jason Aldean has a place, too, across the street in front of the Aria hotel.
As the desert oasis known for its decadence and gambling greeted the morning — the sun climbing above the various casino towers stretching up and down Las Vegas Blvd. — Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal emerged from the Hurricanes’ hotel, his body still operating on Eastern time fewer than 24 hours after flying from Raleigh.
“Obviously we’re stuck on the East Coast a little but here, we were up pretty early,” Staal said. “Going for a little walk, getting some sunlight.”
Staal and his teammates got in a morning stretch – no skating with a 5 p.m. local puck drop – and he and his teammates were “out and ready to rock.”
Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour, asked whether there are added distractions, playing in Las Vegas, was quick with a quip:
“I don’t leave my hotel, so I don’t know,” he said. “Obviously, yeah, there’s stuff out there, but we’re so focused, and we’ve got a five-minute walk to the rink and back, and that’s it.”
Following Game 3, that five-minute walk felt a whole lot longer.
After a strong first period in the pivotal game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Hurricanes gave up four goals in the second period, rallied with remarkable efficiency to tie the game in the third, only to lose in soul-crushing fashion on a wacky bounce about five minutes into the second overtime.
“Proud of the group, we gave it a chance,” Staal said. “It was a heck of an effort from everyone, contributing and grinding and finding the ways and giving us a shot.”
But, Staal continued, “it was just not our game. Too many turnovers, just grinding in our own end.”
Beyond the Canes’ obvious missteps in the second period, Game 3 also felt more physical than the previous two games. The toll it took on the Hurricanes’ players was visible.
William Carrier didn’t return to the game after the second period with an upper body injury. Among those who finished the game, K’Andre Miller, Jalen Chatfield and Taylor Hall all limped or skated hunched over back to the bench at various times during the game. And of course goalie Frederik Andersen, before giving up four goals, got kneed in the head by Ivan Barbashev on a disallowed goal and lay prone on the ice for an extended time.
It’s hockey. Injuries, some more severe than bumps and bruises, happen. In the postseason, players and teams often mask injuries, but that doesn’t make them go away. Ottawa was heavy on the hitting and physical play to start the playoffs, but the Canes only dealt with the Senators for four games, and had recovery time.
Vegas is giving Carolina a dose of its own gritty medicine, and while the city is exhibiting signs of the South, apparently the hockey team has a lot to learn about Southern hospitality — on the ice, anyway.
That didn’t stop a larger-than-expected — and vocal — contingent of Canes-jersey-wearing fans from invading Las Vegas, and the Knights’ T-Mobile “fortress.”
On the strip, red and white jerseys dotted the sidewalks as morning turned to afternoon.
During warmups, hundreds of Hurricanes partisans crowded the glass when the Canes took the ice, and during the anthem, a chorus of “Red!” rang out from around the arena in a tradition familiar to fans attending games at Lenovo Center — more signs of the South in the desert.
Resilience and persistence also define North Carolinians. When the Hurricanes staff worked on a hype video for the Stanley Cup Final, it channeled perhaps the greatest example of those qualities possible in its inclusion of N.C. State legend Jim Valnvano’s inspirational speech: “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”
During N.C. State’s miraculous 1983 NCAA title run, the predominant lingering image is the chaotic scene after the victory in the final. But, two weeks earlier, the boys from Raleigh nearly bowed out of the tournament in Game 2 against … University of Nevada - Las Vegas. Down 12 in the second half, the Wolfpack never gave up, edged UNLV by one, and went on to make history.
Forty-three years later, another group from Raleigh is faced with a tough series deficit against a team from Vegas.
Its attitude?
“We don’t give up,” goalie Brandon Bussi echoed in the wake of Game 3. “A lot of times in the regular season we’ve showcased that, and in the playoffs. I think with this group, we never have any doubt.”
How … Southern.
