Carolina Hurricanes: Will the Extended Break Hurt or Help Them?

The Carolina Hurricanes are coming back tomorrow from 10 days off from playing. Will the extended break help or hurt their playoff hunt?

It has been 10 days since the Carolina Hurricanes have played any hockey. They are one of 14 NHL teams that have combined their bye week with the All Star Game break in order to give their players their CBA agreed time off during the season. Some times these extended breaks help a team come back strong, other times it can take a few games before the team finds its legs again.

The question becomes how will the Hurricanes fare when they come back tomorrow?

So far teams coming off the break have not done well against other teams that have gotten at least a game under their belt. Of the twelve teams that played the first night back after the All Star Game weekend, keeping their break short, seven went on to play again within the next two days. Those seven teams went 5-2-0. The two loses came to other teams that played that first night.

The Calgary Flame who dropped their first game back the second night back from the break went on to win the Battle of Alberta against the Edmonton Oilers the next night. It seems that teams that are getting their legs under them quicker after the break fare better.

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Perhaps players are not keeping up with their physicality during their vacations. After all, not everyone can stay jacked 24/7 like Rod Brind’amour. The CBA also limits how many skates they can have before the next game to a single skate. That was today for the Hurricanes who practiced without Nino Niederreiter, who came in late, for most of the day..

Luckily the Carolina Hurricanes will face the Vegas Golden Knights whom have had an equally long break, counted as one of the 14 teams who will finally get back into action tomorrow night. This thankfully puts the Hurricanes on equal footing with home advantage. They also have a bit of a momentum push looking to extend their point streak to four games and their win streak to four.

The Canes will be truly challenged on Superbowl Sunday when they take on the Vancouver Canucks who will be playing their fourth game since the break and their second half of a back to back weekend games. Let’s hope that the team gets their legs nice and warm in a win tomorrow to follow it up with another win to close out the extended homestand.

Question for CC Readers: How do you think the Hurricanes fare when they get rest?