The Carolina Hurricanes current roster is an interesting mix of utility veterans, 20-somethings trying to building their careers, and bright-eyed rookies looking to secure a spot in the NHL.
Anyone looking at it on paper would say, categorically, that this team shouldn’t be able to compete right now when every other team has bulked up and is playing playoff hockey. Well, the Carolina Hurricanes are doing their best to prove that opinion wrong, and there are two main reasons why.
Any really successful NHL franchise is built on a foundation made up of two essential ingredients, and these two ingredients are like the ‘chicken and the egg’ – it’s hard to say which comes first, and you can’t have one without the other.
For a truly successful hockey team you need a coaching staff with a solid system and a vision of what kind of players would work well. And you need a roster of players with the skills to implement the system and the commitment to play hard every shift. The Carolina Hurricanes have those two essential ingredients right now.
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The Coach & His System
Head Coach Bill Peters has a hockey perspective, attitude and system custom-made for a group of players like the Carolina Hurricanes.
Raised in a town accurately described as a “blue collar, small community,” and once described by former boss and Head Coach in Detroit, Mike Babcock, as a “straight, old-fashioned Alberta redneck”, he brings a true ‘old-school’ mentality to coaching.
It’s a simple ‘play hard or you don’t play’ attitude that anyone who grew up playing hockey in small Northern towns can relate to. It’s a work ethic that legendary coaches like Scotty Bowman instilled in their players and coaching staffs over the decades.
Practices should be as intense as games are, or you might as well just have a public skate with your wife and kids.
If Coach Peters is holding a true practice for the Hurricanes it is always go, go, go. There are no breaks between drills, and even line changes are worked on continuously during practice sessions. The work ethic and motto for a Canes practice this season is ‘preparation and intensity’.
"Quotes from Coach Bill Peters: “We have a good foundation, great kids in that room and unbelievable veteran leadership.” – “We’re going to coach the same way and prepare the same way. We’re going to have the same expectations. It’s all about work ethic.” – “There’s a good plan in place, and I buy in 100 percent. I like what we’ve done.” – Courtesy Carolina Hurricanes"
Every part of that practice regime and work ethic goes towards the two keys of Peters’ system: puck possession and a five-man offense.
By any measure available in today’s advanced hockey statistics, the Carolina Hurricanes have evolved into one of the best possession teams in the NHL. You can also see that result on the ice most nights, as the Canes have gotten good at exiting their zone, passing and possessing the puck through the neutral zone, and entering the offensive end with speed.
Peters has pointed out numerous times that the Canes roster is not filled with big players who can bang and grind in the corners. He wants to see his players carry the puck into the offensive zone, rather than dumping and chasing.
All of this is no surprise given Peters’ three-years as an assistant coach to Mike Babcock for the possession-heavy Red Wings. In Detroit, Peters was in charge of the team’s blueline, and the task of transforming the team’s defense into a powerful offensive weapon. He has brought that to the Carolina Hurricanes.
No longer do successful NHL teams rely on a stay at home defensive corps and a three-man offense. Peters has joined the list of coaches like Babcock and Darryl Sutter in Los Angeles, that preach a five-man unit on the ice.
Peters’ insists that all five skaters on the ice have offensive responsibility. The Canes’ back-end is a very young, quick group of players that can handle the puck in tight quarters, and has become much better at exiting their zone with the puck instead of wildly dumping it to the neutral zone or icing it.
All of these pieces are working together right now to create a puck-possessing, tight-checking, fast-skating, five-man, offensive-minded and hard-working team that has become a true joy to watch.
The Roster
The Carolina Hurricanes roster has had a tumultuous season so far. A top-line defenseman was lost 47 seconds into his first shift of the season, when James Wisniewski went down with a serious knee injury. New players, like Joakim Nordstrom and Andrej Nestrasil needed to be worked into the right positions for them. Numerous players are in the last season of their contracts, which ultimately led to high profile trades at the deadline. Young rookies and AHL players from Charlotte have been given their shots at playing alongside the big boys, with many success stories so far.
Fortunately for the Hurricanes and their faithful fans, all of this upheaval and uncertainty has happened under the leadership of Peters and his coaching staff. The attitude of hard work and fast play, coupled with the belief that player who is not making mistakes and learning from them isn’t trying hard enough, has sparked this team to play some of the best hockey seen in Carolina in a long while, and produced results that have surprised the hockey world.
Although this team doesn’t have the superstar scoring talent like a Patrick Kane or Alex Ovechkin putting up huge points, they have a scoring depth that bodes well for the future.
The roster currently boasts fourteen players with double-digit point totals for the season. And though there are only four players with double-digit goals (Jeff Skinner – 25, Jordan Staal – 17, Justin Faulk – 15, Victor Rask – 15), there are twelve with double digit assist totals.
The statistics are even brighter when you look at the rookies and youngsters who have bought into, and are thriving, under Peters’ system.
Hurricanes sophomores like Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask have found their games under the new system, producing what could end up being career-high numbers this season. Lindholm currently has 32 points in 67 games, with a power-play tally and two game-winning goals. Rask, who has proven himself an NHL centerman, boasts 40 points in 65 games, along with 2 power-play and 3 game-winners.
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The bigger story with the Canes this season is there group of rookies that are getting the attention of the entire league. Granted, none of them are over fifteen points yet, and in some games there is clearly experience left to gain for each of them. However, considering the eldest of the group is 23 year-old Phil Di Giuseppe, the production of these kids is impressive.
Di Giuseppe, Brett Pesce and Noah Hanifin all sit with 14 points so far, and decent to good plus/minus numbers. Both Pesce and Hanifin, as defenseman, have been very quick to learn the Peters’ system of using puck possession and quick skating to exit your own zone, and not to fear joining the rush as a five-man unit. There have been some rookie mistakes by both, but as Peters has preached to them all season, mistakes made at full speed and intensity aren’t considered mistakes. Learn from them and get ready for your next shift.
Jaccob Slavin, especially recently, has made a name for himself around the league. His story is a good one, having been the Hurricanes fourth round draft pick, 120th overall, in the 2012 NHL draft, and playing in the USHL and at the collegiate level before getting his shot with the Canes. His numbers are good in his rookie season, with fifteen points in 48 games and a plus 3 rating.
His strong play on both sides of the puck, though, has really made him shine under Coach Peters’ leadership. He has great hockey sense with the puck in both ends, and a sick set of hands when he gets the chance to score, as everyone saw with his game winning shootout goal against the Ottawa Senators.
His overall play is so good in the eyes of the coaching staff that he is averaging over twenty minutes a game this season, and recently clocked his time on the ice near the 30-minute mark. With the absence of All Star defenseman Justin Faulk, Slavin has clearly become a top blueliner for the Hurricanes.
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With a baker’s dozen draft picks this year and next, and a prospect pool of talent that is the envy of many other NHL general managers and coaches, the Carolina Hurricanes are truly positioned to strive for greatness in the seasons to come. Don’t be surprised, this time next season, if you see this franchise solidly in the playoff picture preparing for a deep run to the Stanley Cup Finals. I, for one, will put money on it right now.