Carolina Hurricanes Training Camp: Stock in Wins & Losses During Preseason

The preseason began for the Carolina Hurricanes last night in Tampa Bay. The Canes won the match 2-1 and head home to play the Florida Panthers on Friday. The excitement of having the team back on the ice can make fans start to view and judge the players as if this is the regular season. Everyone can find the pros and cons to a game, whether it is regular season hockey or preseason hockey but the idea is to pace yourself.

At what point can worry be warranted on performance? Or on the other hand, when is it too much celebration in September? Unfortunately for some organizations, you cannot win the Stanley Cup in September barring a pandemic. The most important thing to wish for during the preseason is health.

It is important to stay even-keeled in the preseason as the mix of young players and veterans on each roster can cause some lopsided results on the score sheet. Veterans are getting themselves in gear and working on specific parts of their game before the bright lights of opening day arrive.

The best part of the preseason is watching battles for roster spots and the progress of young prospects. The Canes have plenty of new veteran forwards working hard to secure a spot in the bottom six. Additionally, the play of Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau will be fun to watch, whether they make the squad or not.

As the preseason rolls on, the line combinations by head coach Rod Brind'Amour will be the most interesting part of the game. Can the players mesh quickly or need more time together? The defensive pairings will take time to develop chemistry as they will be new pairs other than Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin.

Finally, the goaltending will be good to watch as Pyotr Kochetkov got off to a good start last night and Spencer Martin and Frederik Andersen should see some minutes this weekend. Keeping the puck out of the net will be easy to track for fans but the position players will have many facets to their game that could impress the coaching staff.

First and foremost health, then enjoy Nadeau and Blake progressing before the end of the preseason arrives for the line combinations to develop chemistry. Enjoy hockey back and gear up for the real thing, it will be here before you know it!