Carolina Hurricanes: Breaking Down the 2019-20 Schedule

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BOSTON, MA – MARCH 05: Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) scores on Boston Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes on March 5, 2019, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

December 2019

So into December. Christmas is coming and people around the world are starting to feel festive. Sadly, the Carolina boys won’t be spending a huge amount of time with their families as the equal biggest road trip of the season, falls in mid December.

Let’s start with where we finished in November. The boys have (hopefully) just beaten Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida and are now going to make the trip to Massachusetts for their first road game of December. The pick of the month for this month.

Pick of the Month – Boston Bruins – 3rd

The regular season matchups against the Boston Bruins were even. Three points earned from three games isn’t too bad against the second best team in the NHL this season. However, this is the first time that Carolina and Boston will meet since Boston swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final.

As we all know, Boston went on to lose the final to the St. Louis Blues and by December, we’ll have a decent idea as to whether Boston are ready for another run at the cup. Surely their minimum goal would be to reach the playoffs, so this was always going to be a tough game, regardless of the season’s playoffs game between Boston and Carolina.

The thing is, it has to be a grudge match. There is no way that revenge isn’t in the minds of the Carolina players before they step onto the ice at TD Garden. They couldn’t solve the Tuuka Rask puzzle in the playoffs and ultimately, that led to their downfall. There will be a serious buzz in the air for Carolina fans and possibly a whiff of over confidence for Boston Fans.

Further into December, the road trip starts. The Carolina Hurricanes will spend a week in Canada, visiting Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg. Before returning back to America and to Colorado. By the time they face Colorado on the 19th, the Carolina Hurricanes players won’t have been at home since the 7th.

Long road trips are part and parcel of the game we love. Players are fully aware that they’ll have long trips away from home at various points throughout the season. That being said, a road trip of this magnitude, at this time of year, will have extra consequences. This season, the Carolina Hurricanes had a fairly nice home stand during Christmas, so I guess it’s just the way things work.

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