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Thursday, January 26, 2006
Hurricanes rockin’ NHL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Raise your hand if you thought the Carolina Hurricanes would be this good this season.
To me, they are the story of the NHL this season. Every knows how good Ottawa is, but they’ve come back to the pack slightly from their otherworldly form earlier this season, and Nashville has been very good, that was not entirely unexpected. Buffalo was unreal for a while, but their record is still not as good as Carolina’s. The Hurricanes enter tonight with the best record in the league.
Consider this: They only have four players going to the Olympics: goalie Martin Gerber (Switzerland), forward Erik Cole (United States), defenseman Frantisek Kaberle (Czech, remember him?) and center Eric Staal – the Canes’ best player who is on Canada taxi squad.
Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette – who would probably win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year if voting were held right now – kept emphasizing the Hurricanes’ team aspect this morning. My colleague Guy Curtright kept parrying Laviolette with queries about Staal or the goaltending, but Laviolette seemed to get a bit irritated in stressing how integral all of his players are.
So, how much do you think the Canes are for real? Certainly, it would be a disappointment if they lost in the first round of the playoffs. How far do you think they will go in the playoffs? They have good veterans like Rod Brind’Amour, Aaron Ward and Glen Wesley, to name a few. Do you think they’ll finish first or second in the conference?
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