Carolina Hurricanes Links: Boxing Day Edition

Oct 16, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk (27) scores against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk (27) scores against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

We took our normal day off this Sunday because of Christmas, but we have a very special Boxing Day edition for our Cardiac Cane readers

Here’s hoping that everybody’s holidays were the merriest and brightest they could be.  The Carolina Hurricanes certainly did their part to bring Christmas cheer.  Using the extra time off from the Red Wings game postponement, the Hurricanes won both games before the holiday break.  With a record of 15-11-7, Carolina sits seven points behind Philadelphia for the last playoff spot. They have three games in hand to help make up the difference.  This means with one more loss by Philadelphia the Hurricanes control their own destiny.

Links so Good You Won’t Need to Return Them

Of course, everybody knows about Compressorgate which led to the postponement of the game against the Red Wings.  They guys over at Puck Daddy give a good timeline of exactly what happened that night.  The game is rescheduled for March 27th.  The idea that the Hurricanes

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knew the ice was bad early that morning is not upheld by Henrik Zetterberg’s words: “Sometimes it is bad in the morning , and we just thought it was one of those days.”

Here some more news on the business side of things for the Carolina Hurricanes.  Triangle Business Journal reports two minority owners pulled out of the Hurricanes investment group.  Another owner increased their share by $1.5 million purchased the leaving investor’s stakes, but there still remains $4.5 million equity left to sell.  I checked my couch cushions but unfortunately was only able to come up with $1.2 million.

The guys over at Between the Circles wrote a nice piece detailing the history of trades between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins. There’s a little bad and a little good all mixed together.  And no, they don’t say the Hurricanes lost the Jordan Staal trade so facepalms averted.

The crew over at Canes and Coffee turn in a great report on the Charlotte Checkers.  It seems like the call up of Brock McGinn and Derek Ryan really put a hurting on the team offense.  The real surprising thing is Valentin Zykov leads the team with only eight goals.  With thirty games played and no one with double-digit goals may mean the next wave of Hurricanes top forwards is playing elsewhere.

Next: Blast from the Past: Trevor Kidd

Ryan Stimson over at All About The Jersey wrote a nicely researched piece on NHL breakouts.  There are some stats in there, but mainly it is a lot of great video analysis of how defenses breakout.  It especially focuses on breakouts that go against the grain as in moving one direction with the puck before passing in the opposite.  It’s a great combination of the eye-test and statistical techniques applied to NHL film.  Also, he shows some great breakouts by Jaccob Slavin so if for no other reason you should go read it just for that.

Coming up Next Week

The Hurricanes need to continue their winning ways to climb back into the playoff spot, but the next two games won’t be easy.  Playing the Penguins in Pittsburgh and the Blackhawks at home presents a formidable challenge for Carolina.  If Carolina wins both of those games it will go a long way to showing the fans and the league that they are a serious playoff contender.

Schedule