Detroit Red Wings Villains: 2015 Carolina Hurricanes

Over the next 30 days, Octopus Thrower profiles every Detroit Red Wings “villain” in the NHL. Today we take a closer look at the Carolina Hurricanes. We also recruited Brett Finger from Cardiac Cane to help us out with some scouting.

Team Name:

Carolina Hurricanes

Division:

Metropolitan

FanSided Foe:

Cardiac Cane

Games Against Them:

Home: October 16th & October 27th

Away: October 10th

Last Year’s Results:

Detroit won series 3-0

Results: 12/7 Red Wings 3 – Hurricanes 1; 4/7 Hurricanes 2 – Red Wings 3; 4/11 Red Wings 2 – Hurricanes 0

Head Coach:

Bill Peters

Watch out for these guys:

C Eric Staal; C Victor Rask; LW Nathan Gerbe & D Justin Faulk

Farmhands worth Noting:

(Via Brett Farmer from Cardiac Cane)

1. Noah Hanifin (Defense)

2. Haydn Fleury (Defense)

3. Trevor Carrick (Defense)

4. Brock McGinn (Forward)

5. Sebastian Aho (Forward)

Goaltender:

Cam Ward, although the team just picked up Eddie Lack from Vancouver so expect a battle for the number one spot.

Sieve or Savior?

Who will start in net is anyone’s guess. Ward probably unless he falls on his face in preseason. Either way neither goalie will be lifting the Vezina. I suspect we may be looking at a pair of sieves, especially given the teams’ defensive woes.

Why You Scare Us

(Via Brett Finger from Cardiac Cane)

There aren’t a lot of players on this year’s roster that will haunt you in your sleep, but the youth on the team should really stand out.

Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifin, and Ryan Murphy among others will all be under the age of 24 at the start of the year, which not only sets up the Hurricanes for success this year, but for a long time to come.

If Skinner can bounce back from his sub-20 goal campaign a season ago and turn back into the 30+ goal man that he has proven that he can be, the offense can be very dangerous, especially with the company of Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, and the aforementioned young players.

Faulk has big expectations after a great year in 2014-15. He emerged as a legitimate number one defensemen with the Canes, and he is now a top-15 blueliner in the NHL with very similar advanced numbers to reigning Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith. Another big season from the 23-year-old could mean big things for him in regards to league-wide attention.

Eddie Lack will get every opportunity to win the starting goalie job this training camp after being acquired via trade on draft day in June. He is coming off two straight 41- game seasons in Vancouver, putting up good numbers both years.

8 Quick Thoughts about the Hurricanes

4 Things We Respect About You:

1. You always give up the points.

2. Last season you finished above the Toronto Maple Leafs.

3. You give your team lots of family time by not burdening them with pesky playoff games.

4. Your home jersey is cool. Can’t go wrong with red with white stripes.

4 Things We Hate About You:

1. You have no road game. 29 of your 52 losses last season were away from home.

2. You regularly give up points to our conference rivals.

3. 2014-15 saw the lowest attendances at the PNC Arena since 2003/04. Lots of empty seats are never a good thing.

4. The PNC doesn’t rank highly when it comes to fan experience.

Playoff Threat Level (1-10, 1 being minimal)

1. The ‘Canes haven’t made the playoffs for six straight seasons. This next season won’t be any different.

Final Thoughts

It’s difficult picking reasons to hate the hurricanes, simply because they’re currently in a different league to the majority of the teams in the NHL. Sure the ‘Canes once lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup, but that team is long gone. Big changes are needed before Carolina can make the playoffs, never mind win something shiny. Hating the ‘Canes is like hating a puppy. They’re no real threat to any teams’ playoff chances.

I wish the Hurricanes were more than just a team known for giving up the points so easily. It would make the league more interesting and give the few ‘Canes fans left something to look forward to. Sports fans are the most passionate fans in the world and those from NC are some of the best in North America. It’s just a shame that they don’t get to watch good hockey.

Next: Corsi 101 or How I Learned to Love Advanced Stats

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