Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to beating disgraced Hawks
Carolina is off to the best start in the history of the franchise. 6-0-0 and in a dominant fashion, the team is looking to improve to 7-0-0 tonight on the second part of a back-to-back as they face the disgraced Chicago Blackhawks. Being on the second half of a back-to-back when you’re playing a team that didn’t play last night means that this is going to be a difficult task regardless.
Now, I’m going to touch on why the Blackhawks are currently disgraced, but I will not dive into detail. If you want more information, I highly suggest reading the legal investigation into this series of events that has led to many heads rolling in the National Hockey League. Nothing I can say will do this justice, but I’m going to give a very basic outline of the situation.
During the playoffs in 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks video coach committed an act of sexual violence against someone who was unnamed until recently. It’s come out that many members of the front office ignored his claims in order to focus on winning the cup. I would like to reaffirm our support of Kyle Beach here at Cardiac Cane. This is bigger than hockey, and this was an extreme act of neglect from Chicago.
Making the awkward transaction back to the game tonight, Carolina looks to go 7-0-0 against a struggling hawks team. Sitting at 0-5-2, this is an underperforming Blackhawks unit. A team that was labeled as a dark horse for the playoffs by many different people in the hockey world, to only have two points shows their struggles to this point of the season.
Everyone is backing the Canes at home tonight, so let’s see how the Canes can get two points from this game as they complete their first back-to-back of the season with this game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Don’t start late
Carolina needs to start this game on time. If they can gain the lead early and start to put Chicago to the sword, the clock ticking down will become their friend. We know that the Hurricanes are on the second half of their back-to-back and will need to be out of the traps early and compete from puck drop to whistle.
We know that Carolina’s esteemed head coach will not let his team rest early. Carolina’s coaching staff is going to do everything it can to get the most out of every player on the roster. So ensuring that the team competes from puck drop until the final buzzer could be vital to seeing the Canes improve to 7-0-0 on the season.
We saw the Boston Bruins compete for 60 minutes on the second half of a back-to-back last night with travel. Carolina is still in Raleigh, they didn’t skate tonight and they have the option of some fresh bodies to go into the lineup. This team needs to start on time and there is really no excuse for it unless they’re looking ahead to tomorrow when there’s not a game.
Carolina started in a big way last night with a huge hit off the opening draw. Starting with that intensity again tonight could be very important for the Canes to see themselves continue to improve on the 6-0-0 start that the team has to begin this new year. This is a team Carolina should beat. A Stanley Cup contender needs to beat a 0-5-2 team.
Stars shine through
As fans of the Carolina Hurricanes, we all know that this team is home to a lot of talent. Carolina will need their stars to shine through tonight against a Chicago Blackhawks team with a lot of defensive frailties. I said Boston was a team that would require the Canes to grind a win out. Tonight, Carolina’s stars are going to need to carry the load.
I talked about how Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov extended their point streaks in the Boston game. We know that the Carolina Hurricanes have the depth to keep up with any team, but we’re yet to see a game where these two completely take control and dominate a team. Tonight needs to be that night.
It’s strange to say that when they have a combined 18 points in the 6 games played so far this season but we know that the team has not exactly seen their complete domination yet. While they have been very impressive to start the year, we all know that these two players in particular have so much more to give. All three members of the SAT line have more to give.
Chicago’s defensive unit is very suspect right now. If the big talents on the Carolina Hurricanes team can shine early and put this game to bed early. Chicago has some good forwards, but this could very much be a night for the Canes offense to blow the doors off early and often to demoralize the Hawks roster.
Hockey is a game after all!
Carolina is 6-0-0 to start the season and is in direct competition with the Florida Panthers to be the final unbeaten team in the NHL. This is a game with no pressure on the team at all. It’s the second half of a back-to-back when the team is unbeaten through the first six games of the season against a team that’s far inferior on paper? This is a game to enjoy, there’s no pressure here.
Carolina’s roster can afford to lose this game. No one wants to lose, especially a team as competitive as the Carolina Hurricanes. But this isn’t a must-win game and the team’s hot start has given them a lot of leeway in the standings. Relax, and enjoy the occasion because we know tonight, PNC Arena is going to be in full force against the disgraced Chicago team.
Winning is fun, we all know that. But enjoying the process of winning can be the most enjoyable part of participating in sports. If the Carolina Hurricanes are winning tonight, look to see a lot of smiles on the bench. This is a team that enjoys playing together, and it’s helped the team lure some key free agents to the City of Oaks. But tonight, enjoy the game! There’s no pressure on tonight.
As for this piece, that’s it for this one! There will be a takeaways article from this game as soon as possible after the fact, but that’s it from me! Carolina takes on the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 PM EST on Bally Sports Carolina and 99.9 FM. If you cannot join the broadcast, then there will be takeaways tomorrow! Until then, LET’S GO CANES!