While we might be living in some trying times without hockey, there are some positives to take away from this break in the season for the Carolina Hurricanes.
In early March this year the unthinkable happened, the 2020 NHL season came to a halt. There has not been anything more than rumors about a return and when and those have been far and few between.
Players and coaches have been in self-isolation and all arena have been empty for over four weeks now. On top of our struggles, the canceling of sports has made everything harder for us. They are normally a way for most to escape from reality for a few hours. While it might not seem like it, this break could be good, even great for the Carolina Hurricanes.
There are a few factors outside of normal rest and reset that could immensely help the Canes if and when hockey comes back.
1. Dougie Hamilton is back!
Our fun-loving, blue line scoring, favorite redhead is back! After sustaining a gruesome injury months ago, Dougie has been medically cleared to return to play.
I believe I speak for all canes when I say this was a must! The Canes blue line suffered a great bit in finding its identity after his injury. Towards the end, before the hiatus, they began to roll with some steam but the added loss of Brett Pesce didn’t help. This is a time for him to heal as well.
If Brett and Dougie can both be good to go by the time hockey returns, oh boy watch out for the Canes! Especially now with Sami Vatanen also good to go from his injury!
2. A fresh start.
The Canes had made some huge trades at the deadline in February, and with all of the injuries, it seemed at times the team wasn’t meshing as well as it did during the start of the season.
While hopefully the players and coaches are abiding by the social distancing guidelines they are also hopefully bonding in other ways during this time off. Team chemistry is always a huge part of a winning dynamic.
The Canes also started the year 5-0-0 and with everyone being off recently there will be rusty players on every team and almost no momentum to build off of for anyone. It becomes an even playing field and the Canes could benefit from this and take off in the standings.
3. Worst Case Scenario…
The one option nobody is talking about or wants to even think about is that the 2019-2020 season is canceled without any team hoisting Lord Stanley’s cup.
What some might not realize is the last time that this happened, the 05 lockout, the Canes surged back to win it all again in the glorious 06 season. If hockey were to not resume until next season, could this be the second time Rod gets to hoist the Cup for the Canes? Could this be a re-write in history in the Canes favor?
The Odds point to yes especially with the roster that would return next season.
There are is a lot of uncertainty during this time, but if everyone does their part we will be back on the ice before you know it!
So Canes Fans: Stay Home, Stay Safe, and see there are only good outcomes of this for our boys in red and black!