In reality, the Carolina Hurricanes are out of the playoffs. In fantasy land, they’re in the playoffs with a multitude of matchups as a possibility.
It’s playoff time around the NHL, and the Carolina Hurricanes extended their league best playoff drought to nine years. With the Canes left out once again, the fans in Raleigh are left watching the rest of the league take part in the Stanley Cup Finals without them.
Carolina fans have to be eager to experience some playoff hockey again at PNC Arena sometime soon. Considering more than half the league takes part in the playoffs each spring, missing the postseason nine times in a row can ware on a fan base. That’s exactly what’s happening to the most stagnant team in the league over the past decade.
It’s tough to find direction when it seems like everything a team, its coaching staff and players do to finally make a successful playoff push. Carolina actually finished with less points this season than they did during the 2016-17 campaign. Head coach Bill Peters tied the previous best amount of wins he had at the helm for the Canes, with 36. But, the Canes did have less overtime and shootout losses than the season before.
Fans can only imagine what it would be like for their team to take part in the playoffs now. Moreover, since the Metropolitan Division was so competitive again, the Canes ended up falling behind along with the New York Islanders and New York Rangers.
Altogether, five teams from the Metro made the playoffs in the East this year. That made it very tough for the rest of the division to play catch up down the stretch. Although, Carolina was expected to make a run similar to that which the Florida Panthers actually put together.