Carolina Hurricanes: Most Difficult Road Trips of the 2015-2016 Season
By Brett Finger
Oct 21, 2014; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Ladd (16) scores on Carolina Hurricanes goalie Khudobin (31) during the first period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
#4: A Trip to Canada in February
WHEN: February 3 – February 7 (3rd, 5th, and 7th)
WHO: Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Montreal Canadiens
That Carolina Hurricanes will take a quick, three game trip above the border in early February to take on 2 Western Conference opponents and 1 Eastern Conference opponent. It will be the team’s only three-game road trip of the season.
The trip will start in Alberta against the Calgary Flames. The Flames are undoubtedly a team on the rise, and they will be a year older when the Canes take them on this season.
Calgary not only made the playoffs last year and shocked the whole league, but they also advanced to the 2nd round in the West and gave Anaheim a little bit of a push in a 5-game series, all without their workhorse and captain Mark Giordano after he had a season ending injury prior to the playoffs.
Now, the Flames are healthy, a year older, still very youthful, and they have a key new addition in Dougie Hamilton on the blue line. They have a fantastic young core on defense, and players like Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, and Johnny Gaudreau up front will lead the charge offensively. This team finished 10th in the league in scoring a year ago.
The Hurricanes split their two games with the Flames last season with both teams winning on their home ice. Both games were very close, and the two clubs actually were tied in shots (47-47) and faceoff victories (59-59) in the 2 match-ups.
Next, the Hurricanes will take on former head coach Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets, a playoff team a year ago, got swept by the Ducks in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Former Carolina Hurricanes 1st round draft pick and current Jets captain Andrew Ladd will be poised to lead this team to another playoff season in 2015-2016, and he will have a good group around him.
This year’s Jets team will feature the aforementioned Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, and Tyler Myers among others.
The Hurricanes lost both games against Winnipeg last season and got outscored by the team 6-2.
The road trip will end in Montreal with a date with the Canadiens and former Hurricane Alexander Semin.
Of course, the headline here, if Semin is in the lineup, will be the Canes going up against the team for the first time on Canadien soil since the infamously massive buyout in July.
Montreal was awesome last season, and they will be again this season. On top of Semin, they will bring back P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Carey Price, and many other solid players.
The Habs beat Carolina all three times last season and they outscored the Canes 11-2. The Hurricanes couldn’t find the back of the net to save their lives against this team last season, and that will need to change if they want to end this early-February road trip on a good note.
Luckily for the Hurricanes, this road trip has a day off in between each game, which will make travel wear and tear less of an issue.
Next: Tis the Season for Road Trips