Carolina Hurricanes: 3 reasons Aho injury kills playoff hopes

The Carolina Hurricanes might not recover from the possible long-term loss of young star left wing Sebastian Aho, after Mark Giordano got him with an elbow.

A nasty hit on Carolina Hurricanes sophomore left wing Sebastian Aho, from defenseman Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames, presents bad news for a hockey club that cannot afford any losses. Aho leads the Canes in points, with 37, and goals, with 16. Moreover, he’s second behind only Teuvo Teravainen (who has 24 helpers on the season) in assists.

On the other hand, good news for the Canes is that the upcoming stretch gives them a much warranted breather. This five-day break gives the players and coaches nearly a week to relax in Raleigh, before traveling to take on the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 20.

Prior to Aho’s injury, the first forward line for head coach Bill Peters was firing on all cylinders. Aho, Teravainen, and Jordan Staal are three of the top four scorers. Staal is the only first liner that is not above the 30-point mark yet and Jeff Skinner is the only second-fourth liner that has more points.

Giordano’s malicious hit knocked Aho out of the game completely. After some discussion from the referees, the Calgary captain was sentenced to a game-misconduct. A controversial decision from the NHL was made to not suspend Giordano or bring down any sort of consequences.

Here’s a look, on the next slide, at Giordano’s hit that concussed Aho in the original SportsNet broadcast.