Yesterday was the last game of the season for the Carolina Hurricanes. As is usual, season's-end gives way to much opining from all corners - the fans, the media, the pundits, and last week even the owner of the Canes, Peter Karmanos himself. Everyone has an opinion, including yours truly. At the end of the day, however, the common thread is a desire to have a winning team again here in Carolina.
In an interview with Carolina television play-by-play talent, John Forslund, owner, Peter Karmanos raised plenty of eyebrows and even more hackles when he announced that the Canes are a pretty good team and that the fans just need to be "more patient than they have been." After years of missing the playoffs, there are few things he could have possibly said that would have been less well-received than imploring fans' patience.
In Peter's defense, rare is the owner who will publicly berate his team. Most are rarely heard from, and certainly do not make a habit of bemoaning their teams' performance in front of a microphone. Those fans wanting to hear Karmanos say, "This team sucks," are likely in for a long wait. However for him to play the "patience" card was lame at best.
Canes fans are some of the most loyal in the NHL. They have and will continue to be patient. But, it would be easier to extract this virtue if management gave some indication that they are not content with the status quo. Had Peter been forthright and said something akin to, "I know we are not living up to expectations," fans may have been a bit more understanding, and patience would have been a natural by-product. His statements instead gave rise to visions of just another owner with his head up his aspirations of personal success, with no sense of reality regarding his fan base.
So in the spirit of opining, here is my take on state of the Carolina Hurricanes. I love the potential. No really. I think that the young stable of talent has enormous potential. "Skins" had a career-high 33 goals this season, and has shown that he is a legitimate scoring force when he is on his game. Elias "Lindy" Lindholm has shown skating magic at times, a nose for the net, and a maturity beyond his youth. If Carolina can keep him and develop him over the next few years, I see a real star in the making.
Other young talent is on this team, and I think this is where management needs to focus its building efforts. Justin Faulk at 22, Anton Khudobin at 27, Brett Bellemore at 25, Nathan Gerbe at 26, Andrej Sekera (out 6 weeks with abdominal surgery) at 27 are just a few of the young guns I would try to build around. Riley Nash and Ryan Murphy and even Jordan Staal (shock!) are also keepers in my opinion. Today's agreement with Boston College center Patrick Brown could be a promising move. We'll see.
And I like the "30+ club guys" Jay Harrison, Ron Hainsey a lot. 30-year old Alexander Semin is about to have wrist injury - (is that "upper body")? I think he has a lot to offer this team. In my mind, he is definitely a key to the Canes' future.
This brings us to the Captain, Eric Staal. At 29, is he still technically a "young gun?" Much has been made of his less than superstar-caliber season. But he still led this team in points, and can still deliver. I agree he has not lived up to expectations of late. The overriding question is, "Whose fault is that?" It's been asserted that Coach Muller has tried to force him into a style of play that is not his strength. Maybe so. But Staal IS a superstar-caliber player. I told a friend last week that it would not surprise me one bit if the Canes traded him and he went on to have his best season ever. This team needs the Captain. Coach Muller - if he is still the coach - needs to adapt his game-plan and put E. Staal in the best possible position to play his best.
Regarding goal-tending, I think that Anton Khudobin is the future of this franchise between the pipes. Do the Canes keep Cam Ward as a strong second - if he wanted to stay? Or, do they shop his fat contract and hope for something viable in return? If it were me, I'd thank him for all he has done, shop him, and see what's out there. If there are no takers, then worse things could happen then having him as a backup to Khudobin.
Certainly there are other issues to address beyond the scope of this one article. The biggest of which is related to management. Rumors are swirling that Muller is out. If true, who will be the new coach? Is it time for another Peter Laviolette run? John Tortorella of the Canucks might be looking soon.
Furthermore, will Jim Rutherford give the GM duties to Ron Francis? If so, will Ron smile for the first time since moving to the management side of the ice? How much will Rutherford try to hold onto if he stays on as president? Will he stay on as president?
The summer will certainly be interesting for Canes fans. Let's hope it will bear witness to the start of a new culture of wining in Carolina. I said management is the biggest issue, when in reality the culture is what needs help more than anything. I guess we will have to be patient.
Question: Should Kirk Muller be let go? If so, who should the 'Canes hire as their new head coach? Make your vote in the comments section below.
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