Carolina Hurricanes Headlines: Rumors, Clune, and the Pens

The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a big two points last night in Brooklyn over the Islanders, but there was a lot of other happenings from around the league on Thursday.

The league was filled with a lot of tight, one-goal game last night, and the Carolina Hurricanes were involved in one of them. They defeated the Isles by a final score of 3-2 on the road.

More from Cardiac Cane – Di Giuseppe is Worthy of an NHL Call-Up

Calgary’s rocky start has many wondering if the team will make a trade, and their general manager addressed that topic.

The Toronto Maple Leafs inked a former fan favorite in Nashville to a deal on Thursday after putting Mark Arcobello on waivers.

A highly anticipated homecoming finally happened last night, but the Penguins played the role of spoiler for former head coach Dan Bylsma.

Let’s take a look at today’s news.

Yesterday’s Carolina Hurricanes News

The Hurricanes picked up a big win in New York last night. We recapped the game with the three stars, a look at the scoring summary, and insight on how the team performed. (Cardiac Cane)
Canes head coach Bill Peters confirmed yesterday that defenseman Noah Hanifin will remain with the club for the rest of the season. (Cardiac Cane)
Who are some potential off-the-radar offensive sparks for the Carolina Hurricanes? Matt Karash takes a look at some players that could surprise you this season. (Canes & Coffee)

Calgary Dispels Rumors – Calgary Sun

Coming off of a massive breakout campaign a year ago, the Calgary Flames were expected to do great things this season, but so far it hasn’t clicked in Alberta.

The Flames have come out of the gate with a 2-7-1 record, planting them in 13th Western Conference, in front of just the Anaheim Ducks. The also sport a league-worst -20 goal differential.

Early season failure has led to trade rumors surrounding key players, including the likes of Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman, but Flames GM Brad Terleving says that making trades isn’t always the bets move in a situation like this.

"“Going out and just saying, ‘Ok, you’re going to trade your way out of slumps or trade your way out of issues,’ it’s just not realistic,” Treliving said. “We’re not out there trying to blow up our team and do all these sorts of things. At the end of the day, we’ve got a really good group here. We’ve just got to get everybody to play better, more consistently, longer. And that’s the challenge here for us right now.”"

The Flames do sport a very young and talented lineup with the likes of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett, and Dougie Hamilton among others anchoring this team as they look to right the ship early in the year.

Calgary needs to turn things around soon if they want to hop back into contention in a very competitive Western Conference; they can’t afford to fall too far out of the postseason race.

Rich Clune Signs in Toronto – Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a splash on Thursday by signing forward Rich Clune to an NHL deal. The club also put forward Mark Arcobello on waivers with the intent of sending him to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

More from Cardiac Cane

Clune had previously been with the Marlies on an AHL deal, but his play at the minor league level was good enough to get him back into the NHL. He had 5 points in the Marlies’ opening 8 games.

Rich Clune has made a living as a rough, gritty forward as a professional hockey player.

A veteran of 120 NHL games, Clune has just 18 points but 305 penalty minutes. He has split his first 8 years as a pro hockey player with three organizations – the Dallas Stars, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Nashville Predators.

The Toronto, Ontario native is still just 28, so he fits well into a younger mold that the Maple Leafs are starting to develop, even though he likely will not play a big role with the club.

Dan Bylsma Returns to Pittsburgh – NHL.com

When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009, they did so under interim head coach Dan Bylsma.

Of course, Bylsma would go on to coach the team through the 2013-2014 season prior to being fired by the club along with long-time GM Ray Shero.

After a year away from coaching in the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres saw the great talent and experience that Bylsma offered, and they made him their new head coach during the offseason.

It wasn’t until Thursday night that Dan Bylsma made his return to the arena in which he became one of the most respected head coaches in the league, but the homecoming was spoiled by Sidney Crosby and the gang from Pittsburgh.

Despite putting a ludicrous 53 shots on goalie Jeff Zatkoff, the Sabres fell to the Pens by a final score of 4-3.