Cardiac Cane
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How the Carolina Hurricanes Should Spend the Extended Break

By Omar Abdelgawad

ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes center Erik Haula (56) at center with his teammates after Haula scored a goal in the second period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks played on October 18, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes center Erik Haula (56) at center with his teammates after Haula scored a goal in the second period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks played on October 18, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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SUNRISE, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 08: Andrei Svechnikov #37 and Dougie Hamilton #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate with teammates after a goal against the Florida Panthers during the first period at BB&T Center on October 08, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 08: Andrei Svechnikov #37 and Dougie Hamilton #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate with teammates after a goal against the Florida Panthers during the first period at BB&T Center on October 08, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Work on Special Teams

Okay Caniacs, let’s talk about the special teams. This might be the sole reason the team is not 9-0-0 instead of 6-3-0. Both sides of the special teams need work. While early in the season the powerplay looked stellar and the penalty kill looked impenetrable, the last five games took a deep hit to those numbers.

Currently the Carolina Hurricanes sit 19th (!!) in the league when it comes to converting the power play at 19.2%. They fair slightly better at the kill coming in at 17th in the league stopping opponent conversion at a 78.4%. When those two numbers don’t add up to 100% or more, thats a big indicator that special teams need to be worked on.

Now, I am not an NHL head coach. I do not know what they need to do to improve their powerplay. There seems to be a unit that is out-performing the other on the powerplay and it includes guys like Dougie Hamilton and Erik Haula who have been powerplay scoring machines, these guys need as much time on the ice with the man advantage as possible. The rest is all about set plays they practice.

The kill on the other hand really comes down to winning faceoffs at the right time and properly clearing the puck. Basics. The Carolina Hurricanes seem to be attempting to try and score short handed each time which has led to the puck staying in their zone for far too long and legs getting tired. Just send the puck down the ice and let the other goalie have to work instead.

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