Carolina Hurricanes Morning News: Jamie Benn Injury, Stadium Series, and 2016 WJC
By Brett Finger
The Carolina Hurricanes are set to be represented pretty well in the upcoming World Junior Championships, especially on Canada’s blue line.
More From Cardiac Cane – Should Justin Faulk be an Alternate Captain for the Carolina Hurricanes?
Also, Jamie Benn continues to recover from his offseason hip surgery, and the Minnesota Wild’s relentless owner finally will bring an outdoor game to the State of Hockey in February.
Let’s take a look at today’s news.
Yesterday on Cardiac Cane
Will the Carolina Hurricanes be a playoff team this season?
Yesterday, we discussed what needs to happen in order for this year’s squad to make a playoff push in the upcoming season. You can read more about that HERE.
Jamie Benn Recovers from Surgery
The NHL’s leading point getter from a season ago is looking to bounce back from offseason hip surgeries.
Jamie Benn is skating three times per week according to NHL.com, and he hopes that he will back and ready to go for training camp in September. He had his surgeries in late April and is expected to be sidelined for 4-5 months.
"“Workouts are picking up, but it’s still controlled,” Benn told The Dallas Morning News. “I get pretty antsy at times, but the trainers remind me that I’ve got plenty of time and just take it slow.”"
Benn, 26, tallied 35 goals and 87 points in 82 games last season, including a remarkable 13 points in his final 5 games of the year.
Jamie Benn will be joined by Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Valeri Nichushkin, and new comer Patrick Sharp and will lead the charge at the forward positions.
Dallas looks to be stacked up front, but will their offense carry them to the playoffs? Only time will tell, but the team looks like the could be in for another playoff birth in 2015-2016.
The additions of Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks, will certainly add a lot of playoff experience and leadership to the young core in Dallas.
Stadium Series Game in Minnesota
On Wednesday, the league released the 2016 Stadium Series logo for the game set to be played at TCF Bank Stadium, home of the NCAA’s Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, on February 21, 2016 between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks.
http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=776370
Wild owner Craig Liepold has apparently been very eager to get an outdoor game in the North Star State.
"“He was utterly relentless for an outdoor game for his team and this community,” Bettman said."
The matchup makes a lot of sense. The game will be played during NBC’s “Hockey Weekend Across America”, and it will feature big name American players like Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, and Ryan Suter, amongst others.
This game looks like it will be a hit between these two Central Division rivals. The two clubs will likely be serious playoff contenders, especially the visiting team and reigning Cup winners, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago is no stranger to outdoor games, as they have played in the Stadium Series games many times over the past few seasons, but this will be the first outdoor game for the Wild in Minnesota, and it is about time that the State of Hockey got some love in that regard.
The NHL continues to give more team opportunities in Stadium Series games, so those in North Carolina likely are very much in favor for a game outdoors in Raleigh with the Carolina Hurricanes.
If there is an outdoor game in Raleigh in the coming years, it will almost certainly be at Carter Finley Stadium, the home of the NC State Wolfpack football team, which is literally just across the street from the PNC Arena.
It will be interesting to see if Canes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. and GM Ron Francis push for a game here in the next few seasons.
Canes are Well Represented for 2016 WJC
The Carolina Hurricanes aren’t usually stocked very well in the prospect department, but the defense is certainly there, and that can be seen from team Canada’s camp invites.
Two Hurricanes defensemen are not only invites, but very likely to make the team. Those two players are Haydn Fleury, 2014 7th overall pick, and Roland McKeown, who the Canes traded for at the trade deadline in 2015.
These two actually formed the team’s top pairing in exhibition games this week, which is hopefully a testament to just how good these young players are.
Noah Hanifin is of course suiting up for the US team, and he has been in action with the team in exhibition games as well, though he had a rough go against Finland last week when he was given a game misconduct for roughing in the United States’ loss to the Fins.
Sebastian Aho is also representing the Carolina Hurricanes on the team Finland. The Canes drafted Aho with the 35th overall pick in the 2015 Draft back in June.
The 2016 WJC will be incredibly entertaining. Team Canada will look to defend their 2015 gold medal, but they will face a tall task with a lot of solid teams on paper around the globe.