Carolina Hurricanes continue to persevere through injuries

Carolina Hurricanes continue to persevere through injuries

[Music] Shout out to the Carolina Hurricanes. I talk a lot about excuses and reasons. The Canes have reasons if they wanted to let a few slip through their fingers. Few games that maybe they had in their grasp and it doesn’t work out. They have reasons. Every game it seems like a a defenseman gets hurt or at least every other game. Charles Alexis LGO, by the way, next up sliced his hand open. Hospital stay, all those sort of things. that they beat Buffalo 6-3 on Saturday. They beat Toronto 5-4 on the road on Sunday, which is a a tough backtoback. And and yeah, they had reasons, right? They they they wouldn’t be making excuses. You wouldn’t be looking at them like, “Oh, you’re just whiny, baby.” If you said, you know, the guys are having to play a ton of minutes. They’re having to change up their pairings. They’re they’re having to do all of these things. They’ve got three goalies rotating in goal. Like if if if you wanted to to say, “Yeah, you know what? You get a couple freebies. They’re winning anyway.” And it’s about their mental toughness. Winning both of those games is a sign of of what they’ve built in that locker room. And not just the talent, although that plays into it into it, right? when you need a spark in in a tough stretch and Sebastian Najo gets to score both goals and Andre Fetchnikov on on what was it Saturday sets up Aaho with one of the best moves we’ve seen Andre Fetchnikov make this year like that’s not oh how mentally tough are you like some guys can’t do that because they don’t have the skill right it’s you know the the old joke about dunking from the free throw line the other players on the court aren’t watching that going why didn’t I think of that right it’s just they can do it and I can’t right there there’s certain talent levels on the canes that are impressive. And then there’s the mental side and it’s equally as impressive to me. If I’m Rod Bindore, I’m very very proud like like a like a mother goose or something, right? Just looking looking at these these hatchlings that have grown into super mentally tough hockey players. By the way, we did see Eric Robinson and William Kerier come back into the lineup this weekend as well. So, they play both Saturday and Sunday, which is refreshing to see those guys back in the lineup. made the forwards a bit more more easy to deal with. Meaning meaning like that they weren’t scraping and duct tape and and chewing gum holding things together. Meanwhile, the blue line still is. Yeah, blue line’s still struggling a little bit. I actually talked to again I filled in doing storm watch for Adam Gold on Saturday and I talked with Trip Tracy as part of the pregame Kane’s color analyst and I asked him about Robinson and Carrie A coming back into the lineup because these are bigger body guys that get heavy on the forche and all those things and he had brought up an interesting stat to Trip Tracy is that through the first 13 games of the season the Canes had scored 20 goals on the rush which is a lot and because you had some of the bigger body guys like Ker A and Robinson out of the lineup, you had to adapt your game a bit, especially with the injuries also on the blue line as well, is that they were scoring and generating a lot on the rush. But now with Kerier and Robinson in, it allows them to get back to that identity of being a heavy forche team. And you actually saw on Saturday a microcosm of that because you saw that very first goal you mentioned on the play by to Aaho. Beautiful play. That was off the rush. But then later on, you saw a goal by Cook and Yummy where it was Ker Stall Martinook heavy on a forche in the second period. All five guys on the ice change while still keeping the puck in the zone. And then it’s Robinson and and Kok and that line out there. And then sure enough, Nestrom jumps on the play, fresh legs, finds Koki, one-time goal. So, you’re able to score in both ways. And it’s it’s going to be nice for Carolina that they have the skill set to be able to do both. And and first of all, all of that excellent analysis, but I I would add doing that with two guys that are fresh off and and Nestrom who’s a rookie and having the the chemistry to make those switches. All right, this guy was here, I’m picking up there. Here’s where I need to be on the ice, knowing where they are and leading to it. That doesn’t happen with a team who doesn’t have everybody ready to make a play. That doesn’t happen with a rookie whose head is spinning or a rookie who’s so nervous that the veterans are going to say he did something wrong, right? Like like there’s it’s a it’s a culture thing and it matters. And then to go in the next game, right? To to go from from Saturday’s game uh Buffalo at home to on the road Toronto uh which is a different challenge in and of itself just team to team. But then you throw out the Canes didn’t have their best hockey the entire game, right? They didn’t. They got behind. They had to come back. They they had to scratch and claw and and to walk out of that one with a win is, you know, it’s it’s it’s just commendable and it gives you so much confidence for when Jacob Slavven comes back. Like it’s not like they’re missing scrubs. Jacob Slavven is one of their best players. Right. When Jaylen Chatfield, who is underrated as heck, comes back, when Shane Gostaspear, who does look like he’s he’s on the way back, it’s it’s unbelievable, right? When those guys get back, you’re going to be so much more confident because you did all of this without them. It’s I I hope that they don’t have to keep proving their mental fortitude. I hope they get some easy wins where they’re up, you know, 5-1 and and Slavven has them locked down and and Gosspear scored two on a power play and it’s all just gumdrops and roses. I hope they get there, but let’s be real. What happens in the postseason? Bleep happens in the postseason, right? Uh a guy gets hurt, right? The opposing team has a goalie standing on their head. uh your special teams go quiet, whatever it is, like in the postseason over a a long series against a good team, you’re going to be dealt some bad hands. You’re going to be dealt some bad hands. And they’re going to go, “Yeah, we’ve been dealt bad hands. We dealt with it.” It’s one thing to think you can do it. It’s another to show you can. Let’s hear from Rod Brendmore. He he was asked about seeing more injuries, obviously talking about the uh the the LGO injury and still being able to execute. I’ve never seen anything like it to be honest in all my days. I mean, we you know, you get injuries a couple here or there, but this degree it’s just been uh just, you know, the way it’s gone. So, but it’s really it’s impressive for me is just how like how we’ve found ways to get it done. And tonight was kind of everybody, right? Like that’s the way it has to be. We That’s how we’re built really, too. So, you know, that uh that came kind of to the fruition tonight, right? That was that’s what you saw. It’s it’s it’s just again I’ I’ve I’ve made the joke. It’s stereotypically hockey to me, right? You can have good players get hurt and it’s just, oh man, got to go execute. You have a thousand rookies playing on a a blue line of one of the most demanding systems for a defenseman. They’re gonna go play well. It’s it’s it’s it’s good to see. And you know, I try to get into more of like the hockey ex’s nose and this line and that line and uh you know who played well and Jarvis has what 10 goals, second fastest of any Kane in the last 15 years. Like there’s there’s there’s a lot we could get to. uh which goal is soft and not by the the the the guys in in net. We could do that, but I don’t think that’s what’s deciding games for the Canes right now. I think it’s you have Taylor Hall rejuvenated and he’s going to score a goal late in a game to give his team a boost, right? I think it’s you have Aaho understanding it’s the second half of a back-to-back and everyone’s tired and Shawn Walker is playing 24 minutes a night and and and Aaho is like, “No, I’ll score the first.” And Spetch is waking up. Doesn’t it feel like a million miles ago, million years ago that we were counting how many games to start the season, Fetch didn’t have a point? Now he’s playing really good hockey. Nikolai Eer, same thing. For everybody that that when Nikolai Eer scored his first goal of the year and and we made a big deal about it and we had a bunch of uh listeners telling us it’s just one goal, it’s just one goal. He’s still not on pace for. He has played great since getting that weight off his shoulders. Not to mention, he’s tallied a bunch of points. They’re they’re a team that is looking like they have the DNA to overcome things. Now, you’re going to need the luck to get healthy. Again, I’m not saying that’s not important, but those two games were wildly fun. Wildly fun. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Before we move on, we do have the starting five coming up. By the way, a quick note here. Yep. Regarding the Carolina Hurricanes, last seven games, so basically like the second half of the games they’ve played this season, 28% on the power play. 28’s not awful. No, 28’s actually really really good. It’s actually 28.6. Hey, that’s not 9%, which is what I feel like everyone treats their I know their uh power play like it is performing. They’ve scored power play goals in three of the last four as well. Maybe I need to stop because every just saying I keep saying every time they score a power play goal. I go and bonus points for it being on the power play. Maybe that maybe they’re now good enough that you don’t need to reward them with the extra credit. Still, actually, no. I’m not changing anything. If they’re improving, I’m not superstitious, but I’m not also not going to attempt fate. Not gonna change it just to change

Tim Donnelly & Dennis Cox discuss the Carolina Hurricanes beating the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in back-to-back wins.

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