Hurricanes' First Place is Slipping | Here's What Must Change

First place feels great until you look down and see seven teams breathing on your neck. We’re riding the high of two statement home wins and asking the bigger questions: what’s truly sustainable about Carolina’s surge, and what must change to keep it rolling through spring?

We start with the bright spots. Shayne “Ghost” Gostisbehere has been more than a power play specialist; he’s driving five‑on‑five offense by attacking the middle and still holding up defensively while Slavin heals. We dig into why a Slavin‑Ghost pairing could convert expected goals into real ones without sacrificing structure. Seth Jarvis continues to hunt high‑danger ice, pile goals, and set the tone for how our forwards should play: cut inside, shoot early, and force chaos. Jordan Staal quietly resets our identity with faceoff wins and net‑front muscle, and he may even help jumpstart PP1 by securing the opening draw.

Goaltending gets a fresh twist with Brandon Bussi’s right‑catching surprise run, but we add context on shot quality and the smart cap‑savvy steps to keep depth intact once everyone is healthy. On the back end, rookies Alex Nikishin and Joel Nystrom are accelerating the learning curve—strong reads, quick releases, and enough poise to earn real minutes together. That internal growth matters while the Metro race tightens and every shift counts.

Then we go straight at the pain point: the power play. The process is broken, not unlucky—too static, too scripted. We make the case for positionless motion, faster exchanges, and shooting with intent to force recoveries. The penalty kill’s underlying numbers are solid and should rebound as pairings stabilize and the crease settles. Up front, the second‑line center slot is the swing factor; if you want 2C production, you need 2C minutes or a lineup rethink that adds forecheck gravity and interior chances. With a four‑game homestand against beatable teams, banking points while fixing habits is non‑negotiable.

Highlights:

• Gostisbehere’s on‑ice tilt and possible Slavin pairing
• Jarvis scoring from high‑danger areas
• Bussey’s right‑catching wrinkle and contract path
• Jordan Staal’s faceoff edge and PP draw role
• Rookie blue line growth with Nikishin and Nystrom
• Five‑on‑five goals pace versus special teams drag
• Why the power play needs motion not new spots
• PK process strong, finishing and goalie variance lag
• Second‑line center minutes and production gap
• Homestand target: bank points and refine habits

If this breakdown hits, tap follow, share it with a Canes fan who yells “shoot,” and drop a review telling us your one change to fix the power play.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_03 (01:04):
Well, after two big home wins versus the Jets and
the Flames, the CarolinaHurricanes have moved into top
spot in the Metro, moving aheadof second place New Jersey
Devils with a game in hand.
What a race it is.
Only six points separate thefirst place Kanes from the
eighth place Rangers in thedivision.

(01:25):
But the Kanes have receivedgreat news recently as most of
the walking wounded havereturned, with only star
defenseman Jacob Slavin still onthe men.
Despite their success, there arestill areas of concern for the
Kanes.
What's been working well for theKanes?
What's not working?
And what do the Kanes need to doto stay atop the East?

(01:50):
As always, joining me to talkabout this some more, Aaron and
Katie.
Ladies, lots to talk about.
Absolutely.
Let's do it.
Okay, so I thought we'd spend afew minutes and talk about some
of the players that have stoodout for us.
I mean, one of the guys that Iknow we've all liked has been

(02:11):
Shane Gostasper.
The ghost, he's been on a tearthis year.
He's got 18 points in 16 games.
That's amazing.
I think if you extrapolate thatover the year, it's a big
number.
In any case, uh he's been doingit both ways, defensively and
offensively.
He's a plus nine, he's lookinggood.
What are you seeing with uh withShane, Aaron?

SPEAKER_02 (02:34):
Well, you know, like you said, he's just been getting
it all done.
And um the the encouragingthing, I mean, we know that uh
Ghost is a tremendous offensivedefenseman, and and you know,
that's been his game forever.
But with uh the extended absenceof Slavin, as well as the
rotation in and out of some ofthe other guys that have been
coming back in, um, he's had theopportunity to do more, and he's

(02:56):
got the opportunity to show thatyou know he's capable of
playing, I would call it aresponsible defensive game.
He's never going to be ashutdown defenseman.
That's not his role, and it'snot something that he can do
well, it's not where his talentslie.
But he certainly isn't being aliability most of the time.
Now, he has been on the ice forthe goals against that you would

(03:18):
expect from some of the highevent stuff that happens when
he's out there, especiallydepending on which line he's out
there with, because that's alsoa big factor.
Um, but the high event stuff isstill coming, tilting in the
team's favor.
He's producing more than isbeing given up when he's out
there, and you want that, youknow, with a high event player.
The question that a lot ofpeople are raising on uh X and

(03:39):
right now, and I think it's afascinating discussion, is does
he get a shot next to Slavinwhen Slavin comes back?
We know that Jacob Slavin cancover for the occasional
defensive lapses of a strongoffensive partner, and we know
that Slavin himself doesn'tproduce a lot offensively, but
certainly creates theenvironment for a lot of

(03:59):
expected goals, and and Ghostmight be the one to turn some of
that into actual goals.
So I mean, I know that there's alot to think about with that.
They had Walker up with Slavinoriginally, they may be more
comfortable going back to that,but he's making a case for
himself, and that's kind ofexciting given everything that's
been going on on the blue linethis year with the Kanes.

SPEAKER_03 (04:19):
Well, that's interesting because we did see
uh Shane was playing some bigminutes.
Um he's averaging uh, I thinkover 20 minutes a game.
He's a guy that uh, again, um hecould play his offside, which is
uh would be a critical point uhto what you're saying, I think,
Aaron, and that uh you know hecould be a guy that could move
up with Slavin.

(04:39):
That's an interesting thought.
And you know, one of the thingsthough that it's interesting how
this has all played out forShane because he was uh he was
really doing great on theplus-minus, and he had two games
where for whatever reason hereally uh he kind of fell on his
sword.
He was a minus six over twogames, which was really unusual.
Um, and now he's bounced backand of course had a great game

(05:01):
last game, but he's deliveringthe offense, and many nights
we're seeing him make actuallysome highlight plays in terms of
uh his defensive acumen.
He made a couple, I think, theother night as well.
So he's uh he's definitelytrying to be a lot more that
way.
What are you seeing with him, uhKatie?

SPEAKER_00 (05:19):
Well, if you look at his hockey vis chart, the one
that I pulled had to do with hisfinishing because it combines
his 5v5 and uh power playopportunities.
And the red area where he ishaving the most success is when
he comes down into the zonebetween the circles and gets
shots off.

(05:39):
He's scoring a lot from there,and when he's not scoring, he's
creating rebounds and otheropportunities for his um for his
partners out there for the forthe forwards and his D partner
for five on five.
And that's part of what's reallyhelping the Kanes generate
offense because we all know thatjust the shots from the point
are not nearly as effective.

(06:01):
They have less chance of gettingthrough to the goalie, um more
chance of either being sloweddown or captured by the
defensive team and sent back theother way.
But when he gets those couplestrides and gets that momentum
going downhill, particularly inbetween the dots, he is creating
a lot of fantastic opportunitiesfor the Kanes, and they really

(06:24):
need him to do that.
And they have a structure thatallows him to be aggressive in
that way because you have theforward falling back to cover
for him or his D partner five onfive to to watch his back.

SPEAKER_03 (06:37):
Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
Like you mentioned, there there were a couple games
there where it didn't work outquite so well.
Um, one of the games there wassix goals scored in the game,
and he was on the ice for all ofthem.
The ones for and the onesagainst.
So it it can get like it can geta little uh high event, like
Aaron said, but more often thannot that t that tips in the

(07:00):
Kane's favor.
And I think as he gets his legsunder him after having come back
from injury, more and more we'llsee that because I think the
majority of the scoring beforehe got hurt was um the few power
play points that they got.
And I think it's I think it'sbalancing out now.
He's definitely still kind ofhelped give the power play a

(07:21):
little hope.
Um but uh it's balancing out.
He's he's coming up with morefive-on-five plays, which is
good because you know there'stighter spaces, there's not as
many opportunities.
So look looking forward toseeing his production.
And I think point per game, he'sright up there with Kale McCarr
in tops for the he is actuallyhe's right in the top five,
yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 (07:42):
Uh points per game.
Uh interesting.
I mean, you talk about um youknow moving to the center.
We've talked about this a lot interms of uh on the point, you
know, being able to movelaterally over to that center
area where you've got, I mean,it's much tougher for the goalie
to to make the saves.
And you know, you think aboutKale McCarr, you think about uh
Quinn Hughes, you think aboutsome of the guys that do that so

(08:04):
very well.
And he's been doing it well thisyear, I think.
Um he's really impressed me withuh with the way he's he's seeing
the ice.
He's seeing the ice extremelywell.
And he's made a number of uh ofyou know just wonderful passes.
Like the other night, the thebeautiful setup for uh for
Jarvis, um, one of his goals wasI mean, it was just ideal.
So he's making great plays, he'she's jumping in, and as you say,

(08:27):
I think one of the the keythings for the canes is that
they do play a style where youknow the forward will drop back.
And if that happens, of course,that gives uh that gives uh
Shane the the green light to dowhatever he does and does best.
So I I like what he's doing thisyear.
I'm always concerned with Shanebecause uh of the injury bug and
things he's had in the past.

(08:47):
He's you know, he gets goinglike this where he's a house of
fire.
Gosh, the next thing you see,he's uh you know, there's
something he's derailed and he'son the sideline.
But but he's definitely beengetting it done.
He's got five points his lastfour games.
That's not bad at all.
So hopefully he can continuethis.
And and it's kind of aninteresting part of you know the
hurricane scoring, and we'lltalk a little bit about that in

(09:09):
a few minutes, but he'sdefinitely a key part of that.
Now, next up, we can't talkabout players getting it done
without talking about this guy,and that's Seth Jarve.
Man, uh, you know, Jarve is uh,you know, obviously he's focused
right now on playing his game aswell as he can because he wants
to be a member on Team Canada.

(09:29):
You know, that's a hugediscussion right now, and he's
kind of on the bubble.
We don't know where he sitsright now, but uh for sure he's
trying to make a case, and ofcourse getting a hat-trick the
other night wasn't a bad uh badmove in that case at all.
Um and he's been he's beenflying.
He's got five goals his lastfive games.
He's got 15 goals in the year,so he's really getting it done.

(09:52):
Aaron, thoughts on uh SethJarvis?

SPEAKER_02 (09:56):
I think he just needed to get back to because he
had that little lapse therewhere he wasn't putting up the
points.
I think he just needed to getback to the simplicity of the
game that he plays because whenhe plays that simple game, he's
he can put up points likenobody's business, and we've
seen him doing that.
Um I think that um that line iscoming together.
You know, we don't see umeverything that they're doing,

(10:16):
you know.
But uh, and as much as you know,we we may say, well, Aho can can
do a little more and Svetnikovhas his ups and downs, but
having those two players allowsJarvis the freedom to do some of
the things that he does outthere.
You know, he's he's not doing italone.
This isn't a solo act.
So I think that his success is areflection of how well that line
is working, even if the othertwo players have been a little

(10:38):
quieter.
Um and then just to sum it up, Iwould say um there was a Keynes
fan that had a sign the otherday that was, you know, featured
in a little picture that thatpopped up on X, and it was, I
just hope Seth Jarvis has fun,you know, as their their sign
for the game.
And you can tell that when he'swhen he is in that zone, he is

(10:58):
having fun out there, he'scelebrating his goals and he's
feeling good about himself.
And I think that whenever yousee um Jarvis in that mindset,
you know, where as seriously asthey all take it and as hard as
they all work, where he'scapable to just enjoy the
moments and really, you know,treasure those experiences,
getting that hat check andeverything else, you know,
that's when we see Jarvis at hisbest.

(11:19):
So if he can stay loose likethat and keep having fun, I
think that the Canes are goingto continue to see the best
version of him.

SPEAKER_03 (11:26):
For sure.
And and you know, he's a guythat uh he continues to show
that he's got you know elitetalent.
He's on track for like a 40 goalyear.
Uh he's made this, I guess he'sadjusted his stick, as we've
heard.
He's got a little bit of a hookor whatever it is on the end of
his stick, and it seems to beworking.
So sometimes uh a little tweaklike that can go a long way.

(11:49):
And I know he did do a lot ofwork in the offseason with some
special training, uh, which hewas working on to uh to affect
the skating, and certainly thatseems to be helping as well.
What are you seeing, uh Katie?

SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
Well, if uh we pull up the hockey viz chart for his
shots taken at 5v5, and it looksvery similar for other
situations as well, but we cansee that the majority of his
shots, whether it's goalsscored, saves made by the
goalie, shots missed, are in thehigh danger areas.
And that is something that isunique for most of the canes

(12:21):
forwards.
We know that they play like Imentioned with Ghost, a little
bit more of a perimeter game,trying to get the fact through,
create the rebounds.
But Jarvis is the one that doesdrive to those high danger
areas, and it's part of why hehas been successful, more
successful scoring goals forthan any of the other canes, is
because he gets in close, hegets his shot off quick, he's

(12:44):
deceptive with how he works hisshot.
It depends on if there'sdefenders nearby.
He has so many tools in histoolkit that when you when he
gets a chance in close, thereare more than one way for him to
um for him to score and to to besuccessful.
So I think that's veryencouraging.

(13:05):
I still want to see him doingmore of that, especially with
Aho and Svetch wanting to makethe pretty pretty dangly plays
and the fancy passes.
He needs to be kind of the lunchpail mentality of get puck,
shoot puck, score goal, rinseand repeat.
That's I think I think there'sanother level to his game that

(13:28):
he hasn't quite embraced there.
And I hope he does get to thepoint where he just decides that
he is going to start puttingrubber on the goalie as
frequently as he can.

SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 (13:41):
Yeah, and I mean, interesting.
The other night uh Trev Tracywas saying that uh he thought
Seth might be the next captainof the Canes, which I thought
was an interesting uh kind of aweigh-in from him because we,
you know, up until now it's beenkind of a foregone conclusion
that it would be Sebastian Aho.
But Seth is uh, you know, he'she's actually, you know, he's

(14:02):
obviously he's a character as anindividual, but he's one of
those rare players that plays uhjust a tremendous 200-foot game.
And as he builds out hisoffensive game even more, I
mean, he becomes he becomes aplayer that you can really build
around.
So I uh I'm excited with whathe's doing, and gosh, I hope he
hits 40 goals this year.

(14:23):
Awesome for the Kings to have a40 goal guy.
Um, okay, so talking about theother side of things, and we've
talked about this uh gentleman anumber of times, and I think
gratefully so.
And uh he's not on waivers orhe's not going anywhere soon, I
don't think, uh Katie.
So we'll probably have to uh putup with him for a little bit
longer.
And that's the bus man, BrandonBussey.

(14:44):
Now, Bussey uh he did a he'sgone back in and did a
back-to-back, which was great,uh really playing outstanding
hockey.
And one of the things aboutBussey that we see that I really
like is that he makes saves thatare almost circus saves.
Like he makes saves that youknow you love to see them, but
so often we've watched in thepucks in the net.

(15:07):
So I think he's been a guythat's been able to make some of
those saves and play very, verywell.
Um what are we seeing with uhBrandon Bussey, Aaron?

SPEAKER_02 (15:17):
I think his enthusiasm for where he is right
now, living in the moment andjust loving what's what's
happening, you know, when he'sbeen an AHL guy all this time
and then just coming into theNHL and doing this.
Um it's it's one of the mostendearing things because you
know, a lot of guys would not beable to relax and just enjoy the
moment as much as he is.
And he has that humility to saythat, you know, whatever they

(15:38):
want from him is still what hewants to give them.
He's not looking to be havingall these back-to-back starts,
and he's not expecting to bethis guy that they rely on so
heavily.
Um, and I think that that'sjust, you know, that's exactly
what the canes need from himbecause you know, it is still
early and it is still arelatively small sample size.
Now it's a very encouragingsample size because of how well

(16:00):
he has done.
And getting his first uh shutoutwas also very um exciting.
So that was a great uh um thing,milestone for him to hit this
early in his career as an NHLgoalie.
So um I think that uh there aresome Keynes fans that are, I
think, jumping the gun a littlebit as far as how excited they
are about him.

(16:21):
But um, but he does bring someunique um talents to his role.
And I think that being aright-catching goalie is one of
those things that it gives himan advantage.
You see other teams that havethat the goalies that that catch
on the opposite side and and howhow often they stymie the the
guys that even can shoot all thetime.
You know, there it's not justthe Jordan Martinooks who can't

(16:43):
score on him, it's the AustinMatthews who can't score on him,
you know.
And and that I think that's thekind of thing that if his talent
is is uh nurtured and if hebecomes a reliable, um, I could
see him becoming a reliablebackup goaltender.
And you know, that would be agreat career advancement for him
at this point in in his uhjourney in the NHL world.
So I love what we're seeing.

(17:03):
I'm glad that the Kanes have himbecause I do think that right
now they need that um extraperson with uh Kachekov having
battled through um injury somuch this season, a little more
than I think was expected.
And then, you know, um the thesituation with Freddy.
So really, really good stufffrom Brendan Bussey.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 (17:24):
Yeah, having three goaltenders, uh, you know, we
wondered how it might work, butso far it's uh it's been a
blessing for the Canes for sure.
Katie, what are you seeing interms of the way that things are
are breaking down for Bussey?

SPEAKER_00 (17:37):
Um once again, if we go back to my handy-dandy hockey
viz, there is a chart that showswhere his saving is, where he's
making a lot of his saves.
And you'll notice the blue rightaround the crease.
So he's doing a good job onthose high danger chances, which
is kind of typical for the Canesgoalies the past few seasons.
It seems like uh the Canes havehad a good high danger save

(18:01):
percentage comparative to theleague, regardless of the goalie
that you're looking at.
So it's nice that he'scontinuing that trend.
Um to his right, there is alittle bit of a red area where
it shows that that might be aplace that teams might start
exploiting a little bit morebecause he's giving up.
Um but again, that's kind ofbeen the trend for the Canes
goalies.

(18:22):
If you look at Kochekov andAnderson, they also seem to be
giving up goals in that midrange a lot more.
Um, one area of caution, if youalso look at this, when it shows
the um shot quality, it showsthat the shot quality other
teams are getting on him are nothigh quality shots.

(18:42):
If you compare it to Anderson,there's almost a 20-point
difference in the other way.
So people like like Aaroncautioned, we need to not go
crazy about thinking that we canjust trade Anderson somewhere
else because Busy's here to savethe day.
Anderson has really, reallyfaced a lot tougher challenges
when it comes to the goaltendingthan Bussey has.

(19:04):
And eventually those things aregonna even out because you know
Freddy's gonna get his startsalong with Busy, and then when
Kochekov comes back, he'll begetting his starts as well.
So we just need to see howthings play out.
Um like Tom alluded to.
I think eventually Busy will goon waivers, but not until after
January 1st, where they canrenegotiate a new contract for

(19:28):
him, the kind of contract thatis long enough and has perhaps a
year or two in there that is anNHL only deal.
That even if he goes down to theAHL, he's still paid his NHL
salary.
That that's the sort of contractthat makes teams not interested
in claiming him off waivers andwould allow him to go to Chicago

(19:49):
and still be the uh put you knowpress button in case of
emergency goalie if somethingwere to happen to Piotr and or
Freddie.
Because I think eventually theCanes are gonna be making a move
here and they're gonna needevery little bit of cap space
they can get in order to roundout this team, come trade
deadline time.
So they're not in a rush.

(20:11):
It's I I definitely don't thinkit's gonna happen before January
1st where they can negotiatethat new contract and make it
kind of a poison pill for otherteams.
But he is he his story is sogreat.
He is such a fun interview tolisten to.
And I do hope he sticks with theorganization at one level or
another, not just the rest ofthis year, but moving forward.

SPEAKER_03 (20:33):
Yeah, I mean, uh it's a great story.
He's won five in a row.
He's coming in and and uh Ithink really you know, shoring
up the goaltending.
Good stuff with Busse, and let'shope he can continue to ride
this wave that he's got goingfor sure.
Um I had an honorable mention Iwanted to throw out because uh
this guy I think steps up andjust keeps doing it.

(20:56):
Uh, and you know, we keepwondering you know, when's the
the battery gonna go?
But uh of course I'm talkingabout Jordan Stahl.
Um Jordan was on a bit of atear.
Uh he had uh he had a number ofgoals in a few games, and and
then of course he went down andwas out uh with an illness for a
period of time, but he's back.
And it just, you know, watchingthe canes without him, you just

(21:18):
saw how critical that uh JordanStahl is to the team.
And particularly in the face-offdot, of course, he's been
leading the canes by a largemargin there, 57.5 percent.
Um, and that's been an area ofreal challenge this year for the
canes.
So it's great to have him back.
What are we seeing with uh withJordan Stahl?
Katie?

SPEAKER_00 (21:40):
I think he's just leading by example.
He's going in.
Um I I like to joke sometimeswhen it comes to scoring
opportunities.
He has concrete in his glovesbecause it seems like he's so
clunky with the way that hemaneuvers the puck.
But he's actually gone againstthat grain for some of these
goals that he has scored andlooked like he's turned back the

(22:02):
clock a little bit.
So those have been nice,especially the ones where he's
been more aggressive and cuttingtowards the net and using that
little flick to get the puck togo.
And that's been good to see.
And of course, we had theinteresting wrinkle in practice
today where he was put for onfor some reps with power play
one, which um I think is in partdue to face-off issues on the

(22:26):
power play.
The canes have not been doing agood job uh winning the initial
face-off when they get a powerplay, and then there's also the
benefit of having his big framein front of the goal in order to
help with the screening andstuff like that.
So Brenda Moore suggested itmight just be uh, you know,
trick up their sleeve that theycan pull out once, you know,

(22:46):
once here, once there.
But I'd uh Stahl's doing reallywell.
I'd like to see it and see howit goes because it could be that
little wrinkle that helps tojump start the power play and
get them out of the basement.

SPEAKER_03 (23:00):
Well, as you said, uh you know, he he scored a
couple of goals where I had tolook and say, that can't be
Jordan Stahl.
Exactly.
And uh and doing some good work.
And you know what?
We've seen him on the power playbefore.
Um, you know, in past years,we've seen uh Jordy on the power
play, and and you know, he doesgive you that big body.

(23:21):
He's a guy that can win theface-offs, and for sure uh the
power play has struggled becausewe haven't been winning those
draws.
And you know, it's just like youknow, when uh you know, start of
a period or you know, going intoovertime or whatever, uh you
know, he always leans on on uhon Jordo.
So um anyway, we'll follow it,see how it goes.

(23:44):
Um Aaron, what are your thoughtsabout uh Mr.
Stall?

SPEAKER_02 (23:48):
Well, one of the interesting things about his
stats right now, and I was justdouble checking because I wasn't
sure if I had that right, but hedoes have he has seven goals so
far this year.
But he only has two assists.
So right now he's rocking a 24%shooting uh uh percentage,
individual shooting percentageof his on ice isn't bad.

(24:09):
But you know, um I think thatthat's you know gonna balance
out.
He's gonna he's gonna stopgetting so many goals, but he
will be contributing on theassists on some of the um plays
that are going on on his line,you know.
Um so that's that's actuallykind of fun.
And I wonder a little bit aboutthe effect of Will Carrier on
Stall's goal scoring, becauseCarrier is not a scorer himself,
but he certainly does facilitateit for his teammates, you know.

(24:30):
Um and and I think that he hasdone that, you know, a little
bit this year too.
Um and as far as the the the uhthe the power play, I think
you're you're exactly right.
Uh I know that um I think it wasCorey Lavalette or or or
possibly Ryan Henkel, one ofthem said that looked like the
play with that they weredeveloping involved Jordan
taking the face-off and thengetting off the ice for Jackson

(24:51):
Blake to get out, just to kindof maybe bolster those face-off
wins.
Um and of course, the the onlydanger with that is you know, it
would have I think that youwould not want to do it um on a
play where where um Jordan hasyou know to get off quickly
because that would be the thatwould be the drawback.
On the other hand, if the playstarted turning the other way,
who else would you want therebut Jordan?

(25:12):
So, you know, I think that itcould work in their favor.
I'd love to see what they dowith it just because we're all
dying for them to do somethingwith the power play.
I know we're gonna talk aboutthat later, but um it was
interesting to see them try thattoday.
So it kind of gave us all of agood chuckle out there.

SPEAKER_03 (25:27):
Well, for sure.
I mean, they've they theyhaven't changed up much on the
power play.
Um and you know, throwing a guylike Jordan out there, you know,
he's he's got the hot hand.
Uh they I looked at theextrapolation of his numbers, he
would end up with 23 goals andseven assists.
So that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 (25:46):
So he'd still he'd still have his usual 30 points.
It would just be a strangebalance.

SPEAKER_03 (25:51):
That's an interesting uh combination for a
Sarah.
Um okay, so yeah, interestingstuff around Jordo.
I think he's I think he'splaying great hockey for the
canes.
You know, one of my concerns,and I've said this over and over
again, though, is you know, asthe season goes on, he's being
called upon to do a lot of heavylifting, and that line, that
line continues to play hardminutes.

(26:13):
And you know, it's a longseason.
So let's hope that as you know,we get towards the end of the
season, we don't see you know uha situation where he's you know
he's played up.
So we'll see how that goes.
Um, so now let's move on towhat's working well in our
minds.
One of the things that blows mymind is the scoring of the
canes.
You know, if you you know wewatch the games and we wonder,

(26:35):
you know, how do they cobblethese wins together?
They are sitting fifth overallin goals scored per game.
They're sitting at 3.4, which isreally surprising.
Uh to me, it's it's a bit of ashock.
Now, they did get off at thestart of the season, they did
get off with some a lot ofhigh-scoring games.
It's not been so good recently.

(26:55):
Uh they've seen that uh, youknow, they've seen a lot tougher
scoring goals.
And we've seen as an example uh,you know, some of the lines just
not getting it done like theywere earlier.
So we'll talk a little bit aboutsome of that.
But again, um what do you thinkit is that led to you know this
success?
And and can they get back to thesuccess uh and stay up there as

(27:18):
one of the highest scoring teamsin the league?
Katie?

SPEAKER_00 (27:21):
I think part of what's led to their success is
even though we'd like to seemore of it, they seem to have a
greater commitment to shooting.
You can't score if you don'tshoot.
Um and they're getting some moreum transition in their in their
game and um really pressuring.
There's not as much dump andchase as there uh, especially

(27:44):
from the uh the Aho line and theStank Open line.
They seem to really be pushingthe pace, going up the ice, and
um I think that's helping a lotbecause teams are expecting the
canes to just gain the red lineand dump it in and go to the
four-check and try to win itback and cycle and you know put
it up high to the point and dowhat they do all the time.

(28:05):
And some of that, some of that'sstill working, some of that's
still definitely embedded intheir DNA.
Yeah.
But it's it's more balanced.
And I think that that uh thoseextra tools and their toolkit
are making them more dangerous.

SPEAKER_03 (28:20):
You know, we talk about that blue line and we talk
about the next man up and andthat whole mentality.
And I gotta say this is that uhsome of these young defensemen
have come in, they played big,big minutes, and I think they've
really, you know, they've reallycome in and made a difference.
And of course, at the top of thelist is Alex Nikishan.
Um and you talked aboutNikkeishan's great speed in that

(28:43):
play that we saw uh against theFlames, and that was, you know,
we hadn't seen him really dothat before, but he's continuing
to show a lot of you know playsand moves that uh only you know
top talent can do.
And of course, uh at the sametime, he's he's learning the
game.
And interestingly enough, we sawhe sat out a game, and of

(29:04):
course, that created a monsterstir uh on the X crowd.
Of course, uh they were nothappy at all to see uh Nikishan
on the sidelines.
What are we seeing with uh Alex?
And do we are we pleased withhis uh his growth so far, Katie?

SPEAKER_00 (29:19):
I'm definitely pleased with his growth so far.
It's it's been a work inprogress, um especially in a few
a handful of the recent games.
You've seen he's been tryingsome stuff and it's worked
really well sometimes, but therehave been other times it has
turned in to an on-man rush backin the other direction.
But I think also the Keynes areas a team are actively trying to

(29:44):
support him better so that thoseopportunities are fewer or
they're at least better coveredwhen they do go in the other
direction in order to give himmore confidence in going for
those types of plays.
And man, he came close in thatCalgary game a couple of times.
That was phenomenal.

(30:05):
Um, the one thing I would liketo see more from him is I just
have not seen enough of that bigslap shot of his where he just
really wound up and let let flyand let go.
And I I hope he's getting somereps in practice getting that
shot off because it's one of hisbiggest weapons.
And we just have not seen enoughof that from him this year.

SPEAKER_02 (30:27):
Um, I would agree with Katie.
I want to see him in general.
I'd like to see him shootingmore when he has the
opportunities because you knowhe does have such a heavy shot
even when it's not the slapshot, you know.
So at the very least, he's gonnamake guys think twice about
blocking the net, you know, umblocking shots.
He's gonna he needs to he needsto use that shot as a weapon a
little bit more, I think, inthose situations.

(30:49):
Um and that was the kind ofgame, you know, Calgary again,
going back to that game again.
Um, that's exactly what theflames are doing.
They're, you know, collapsing infront of the net, getting in all
the shooting lanes.
So that's when you want someonelike Nikishan to step up and
say, Okay, you can be there, youknow, but do You really want to
be.
But uh but you know, he thatwill come with time.
I I think that that's just amatter of you know figuring out

(31:11):
um his his timing on some ofthat because the game is played
at such a faster speed, youknow, in the uh NHL than
anywhere else.
Um and yeah, as far as thecontroversy on X over him
sitting out, you know, I thinkthat it was a justified one
because he was at that time aplus 14.

SPEAKER_04 (31:31):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (31:31):
Um and you know, the the the mantra that Rod
Brindamore preaches is thatpeople need to earn their ice
time and they need to, you know,do play in such a way that they,
you know, and and I think thatsometimes it's not clear to even
the player themselves, well, whyam I sitting if other players
below me or you know have havegiven up a lot more or been more

(31:54):
of a liability or you know,don't have are they not
producing, you know, what whatis what are the standards here,
you know?
And I think that as long asthat's being communicated well,
these things can be really goodlearning experiences for
players.
Um as long as they understand.
It doesn't matter if weunderstand, you know, because we
don't, we're not the ones, youknow, we don't know who's maybe

(32:15):
getting over a little bug, oryou know, as as we've had that
one go through the room, and wedon't know, we don't know if
there's a particular series of aplayer being told don't do this,
and then the player does itanyway and doesn't stop doing it
and seems to think that that'sthe right thing to do, that
maybe there's a littlecorrection there.
But um, he's not a typicalrookie, and I I think that it's

(32:38):
important, even while weacknowledge that he's a rookie
and we while we acknowledge thathe needs to learn the game,
you're not gonna get the same, Ithink, results from too many
punitive measures againstsomeone who is as established in
the professional hockey world asNikishan already is.
So that's the balancing act, andI'm sure they're doing a good

(32:59):
job of that.
But it it certainly did create atempest, like you said.

SPEAKER_03 (33:04):
We saw um the Athletic came out with their uh
Calder rankings so far, which iskind of fun.
Uh Matthew Schaefer, of course,is uh is at the top of the list.
He's he's something else, andhe's an incredible young player.
Uh, but Alex was number two,which is kind of fun.
And not far down the list atnumber six was uh Yoel Nestrong,

(33:26):
okay, who I want to talk aboutright now.
And I think that's a great,great, great story.
Uh, you know, Yoel came overafter playing in the SHL for the
last five years.
He comes over as a 23-year-old.
He's going to go to Chicago,heads down there, he's good to
go.
Plays his first seven games, andthe next thing you know, he's
with the Hurricanes.
And I don't think he has lookedout of place at all.

(33:48):
Um, he has been rock solid backthere.
And the thing I like about himis his hockey IQ.
I mean, he he thinks the gameextremely well.
And you can see he's gotchallenges with size, for sure.
Uh, you know, there's some bigguys coming in on him.
But uh, but he finds a way toget leverage or get the puck or
make something happen.

(34:08):
And uh, and I think you know,he's just uh he's earning the
minutes, and he's been gettingpenalty kill time, a whole bunch
of stuff.
And you sit there and go, wow,you know, he's still out there.
Uh he's doing it.
So, you know, obviously I'mimpressed with UL.
Um, Katie, what are yourthoughts on UL Nestrum?

SPEAKER_00 (34:25):
Oh, I definitely agree with everything you've
said about him.
And I think part of what showsthat Brindamore is growing in
confidence in both Nikkeishanand Nystrom is that recently
they have been paired together.
If Brindamore did not haveconfidence in both of those
players, they he'd be puttingthem with a vet in order to help
kind of cover, support, teachthe system to um to the two of

(34:51):
them.
And so I think it's really coolgetting to see um Nikitian with
his size and his presence, andthen Nistrom with being a little
bit more nimble uh with hisskill set and how well that they
have complimented each other outthere um over the past little
bit.
That's that's really been whatstood out to me.
Aaron.

SPEAKER_02 (35:11):
I would agree, and I would say the only thing I would
add is that um I think we'reall, you know, we've seen uh
Nick uh Nistrom come so close onmultiple occasions to getting
that NHL goal.
And you know, I really hope, Imean, um I'm I'm thinking that
the plan is going to be for himto return to Chicago once Slavin

(35:32):
is uh is fully back.
Um but I would really love tosee him get that goal before he
goes back because he's been Imean he's been on the doorstep
on multiple games where it'sbeen by a hair off the pipe, you
know, which how many times havewe done that this season?
Um so so the canes in their intheir uh interesting

(35:53):
entanglement with the postlately, but you know.
Um I think that if if he getsthat, I mean, whether he gets it
or not, he's gonna go to Chicagowith a lot of confidence and
he's gonna have every reason toto be looking forward to his
next opportunity.
And that opportunity will bethere, it will.

SPEAKER_03 (36:09):
So well, a couple of interesting things.
I mean, he I think I said thisbefore.
He sometimes reminds me of BrentBurns because as soon as it
comes back, he's shooting it.
Like he gets it away so fast.
Like it's it's it's true.
Is that right?
He's a bit smaller now, butokay.
He's firing it.
And I mean, the other thing, uh,I mean, for sure, I mean, for

(36:31):
sure, with yeah, it's not Burnsfor sure, but for sure, I mean,
he's he's definitely um, youknow, he's he's got the
confidence of the coaching staffbecause he has gone in in lieu
of Mike Riley uh in this lastcouple of games.
So I mean, I find thatinteresting where you know the
guy that's the veteran and youknow was really brought in to do

(36:51):
this uh is sitting on thesidelines and he's got uh he's
got Yuel Nistro in there.
So he's definitely uh he'sdefinitely got the confidence of
the coach.
And one thing that has reallybeen, I think, impressive for
him, and a lot of folks havetalked about this, is he picked
up the system very quickly.
Um like he's obviously he's asmart player, he he just picked

(37:13):
it up and ran with it.
He he seems to know where heshould be.
And you know what he does, and Idon't know if you noticed this,
but he's been out on a number oftwo-on-one breaks uh where you
know he's back, he's the loneperson back.
And one thing he does extremelywell is he'll pick up the one
forward and let his goalie, youknow, handle the the player he

(37:34):
should be handling.
And you know, he's not trying toget in the middle of it, and
then there's a pass to the guythat's open and he taps it in
the back.
He's doing it extremely well.
And you know, they they reallyhaven't been beaten when he's
done that.
So you can see that uh, youknow, he's thinking the game
well and uh he skates well, hedoes everything uh, you know, I
think extremely well.

(37:55):
And it's gonna be tough to sendhim down.
You know, that's one of thethings that, you know, as you
look at the canes D, it's gonnabe great to get Slavin back, but
boy, I I'd love to keep Nistromup there.
He's doing a great job.
Some things that aren't working,we're not gonna spend a lot of
time on this one because it'sbeen beat to death is the power
play.
Uh the canes are sitting rightnow at 13.7% success.

(38:18):
The leader is Pittsburgh at33.3.
You can do the math.
It's a disaster.
Um, the fact they're winningwith a power play that's uh so
anemic is is actually quitesurprising.
Now, they've had a little bit ofsuccess recently, as you know.
Um, and last year they wereactually, they didn't do all

(38:39):
that great last year.
They were 18.7% in 25th.
So they have not had the magicon the power play.
And this is something that youknow, as they've gone into the
playoffs in particular, wherespecial teams are the game, uh,
they really decide uh who thewinners are gonna be normally.
Um, this is not good.

(39:00):
So that's why they're gonnastart throwing some stuff
against the wall, I think.
And that's maybe why Jordan willbe out there, and who knows who
else.
But uh they they have, you know,they just have not got the
magic.
Any thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 (39:16):
Um I guess my main thing is even though they've
scored three power play goals inthe past four games, we don't
need to take that as a sign thatthings are going the right way.
At least two of them have been aresult of happenstance and not
their process.
There was the one, I mean, itwas a beautiful goal where
Ehlers fed Svechnikov for thepower play goal, but it was on
the rush.

(39:37):
That's not part of the normalpower play process when they're
setting up and and working theirsystem.
And then there was another onewhere the buffalo player ran
into his own goalie and causedthe net to be wide open for
ghosts to shoot into.
Once again, that's not becausethe Keynes process was good,
it's because the Buffalo umplayers ended up getting in each
other's way.

(39:57):
So I they they've got to figureout something.
And at this point, I I just Idon't know what the message is.
I don't know if the message isthe problem or if it's the
players just being stubborn,thinking that if they keep
hammering away doing exactlywhat they've already been doing,
that somehow the the law ofaverages is going to break in

(40:20):
their favor.
Um but I don't think that'sgonna happen.
Bad process is going to lead tobad results time and time again.
And sometimes you'll fall intothe lucky goal like they got
these past few games, but thatit's the exception that proves
the rule.
So something's gotta give in.
Maybe, maybe having stall outthere will light the fire.

(40:44):
But even then, even then, thatfeels kind of like a gimmick
until you get the power playguys to commit to shooting the
puck quickly and not justlooking for that perfect pass,
that perfect play.

SPEAKER_02 (40:58):
Agreed, a hundred percent.
And um, you know, it's it'sfunny because two things that
you said really um sparkedsomething in my memory.
One is, you know, when you talkabout just hammering away and
hoping that that that you knowthe things will change, that's
kind of been their strategyforever at five on five.
And it's like we said, it'schanged this year with the with
the rush goals and things likethat.

(41:18):
But how many times in the pastyears have we heard uh Rod
Bretamore say that, you know, ifthey get enough chances, they're
gonna get some lucky bounces,you know, and not looking at the
quality of chances.
And I think that that's wheresome of the stuff behind the
scenes has been tweaked to allowbetter quality of chances.
Um for the power play itself,though, um I was watching and

(41:41):
listening to the MontrealCanadiens game the other night.
Um, and you know, the the Haves,now this is not the one against
the Evs, because obviously theydid not do well against the
Evves, but it was a pre- one oftheir previous road trip games
where they did do well and theydid um win the game.
But they were being complimentedby the broadcasters about the
power play in particular becausethere was so much movement that

(42:03):
um they said it's it's theydon't really have positions.
They play positionless hockey onthe power play.
And I had not noticed thismyself.
I just knew the Habs were doingbetter this year on the power
play, but I didn't know why.
Um and it's it's it you know, asthey explained it, they said
they don't come in with anumbrella format, they don't come
in with one of these point, youknow, formats or one of these

(42:23):
other well-known schemes andsetups.
They just skate in and startskating around in circles, like
you know, the HarlemGlobetrotters passing the puck
to each other, one to the other,and they're scoring quite well.
And in fact, even in a uh powerplay where they didn't score,
the announcer made a point ofshowing that they had had seven
shots on goal while the firstunit was out there, and the

(42:45):
first unit was not out there forthe entire time.
After about a minute and 15seconds, they switched up and
put the second unit out there.
That's what the Keynes arelacking.
They're not moving enough,they're so static on the power
play.
They they get up there and thenthey just kind of hang back and
everybody finds their spot.
Well, this is my spot and thisis your spot, you know, and and
they're you know, they have theability.

(43:06):
And I was actually thinkingabout this, Katie, in terms of
the aves and their struggles onthe power play.
The aves have the players to dowhat the haves are doing and do
it better because they're sofast.
They have so many fast players,especially on that first unit,
to just get in there and andswirl around and mix it up and
never be in one spot for morethan a couple of seconds.

(43:26):
You know, there's almost nopenalty kill unit in the world
that could stop the aves if theyplayed that way.
And they're not.
So again, why?
But it's an interesting story.

SPEAKER_03 (43:39):
And you know, we've talked about this a lot.
The power plays that aresuccessful are in motion.
End of story.
There's no question about it.
I mean, you look at Montreal,they've also got Cole Hudson,
who's unbelievable back in thepoint.
Lane.
Yeah, and and for sure.
But but I think I think you'vehit it right on the head with
any power play that I see that'sreally magical, they are moving

(44:01):
like crazy.
And and they're you know,they're getting they're making
things happen, and you know,they're finding that open
opportunity to go cross ice orwhatever the case is because
everybody's moving around,they're all jumbled up.

SPEAKER_02 (44:17):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 (44:18):
So so so that's definitely, and you know what?
We talked about this for solong.
I don't think there's going tobe a quick fix.
Um and I think it has to do withthe personnel and the way
they're structuring the powerplay.
That's a much bigger discussion,but we'll leave that for now
because I wanted to talk aboutthe penalty kill.
Right.
Um, you know, special teams.
I keep talking about specialteams and I keep saying how

(44:38):
important they are.
The Canes have historically beenright near the top.
Last year they were second at85.11%, and this year they're
sitting 19th at 79.7 percent.
The leader is Buffalo at 88.9.
Look, you gotta be able to killpenalties.
And yes, for sure, we're missingJacob Slavin.

(45:01):
But look at there's still, youknow, uh 18 players or whatever
that are out on the ice, and uh,and you know, they've got to go
get their job done.
What's going on with the PK?

unknown (45:14):
Okay?

SPEAKER_00 (45:16):
Well, as always, I kind of like to go to my hockey
vis charts and I looked at it,and unlike the power play where
the process is bad, the processis actually good on the penalty
kill.
They have, if you look at thatvalue up there, it says that
they're a negative 10% on thePK.
And defensively, you want thosenumbers to be in the negative.

(45:37):
The bigger the negative, themore effective the defense is,
the less effective the offenseis.
So in this one, I think perhapsthere have been a couple cases
of bad bounces, bad luck, or theprocess has been good and the
other team has just managed toget through them a little bit
more.
I do think the Kanes are notquite as aggressive as they
normally are on the PK, thatthey sit back just a touch,

(46:01):
they're just a little bittentative, and that's in my
mind, that's almost entirely dueto the fact that they have had
to switch up so many defensivepartners on the PK.
Um Stahl and Martinook are stilldoing their thing out there.
Aho and Jarvis are definitelygetting their time as well as
you know making lots of plays upthe ice.

(46:22):
I'm kind of surprised they onlyI think they only have one
shorthand of gold to show forit.
Yeah.
But um more of those, I think,will come as as time moves
forward because they've had somany good looks.
So I I honestly think it's justkind of a combination of the
unfortunate bounce here andthere and just a little bit of
tentativeness with the D-pairshaving been mixed up so much.

(46:43):
But now that we have all of thetop six back save Slavin, that's
gonna start to settle down andlook better.
And I think as they get more andmore confidence that the those
penalty kill numbers are gonnastart to tick back up because
the process is already there.

SPEAKER_02 (46:59):
If I could add just one thing, there's the old
mantra about your best penaltykiller is your goaltender.

SPEAKER_04 (47:04):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (47:05):
And that has been a factor that we haven't really
talked about because we'vealready kind of touched on
goaltending.
And, you know, certainly that'snot something that's gonna
affect them down the road.
But with the situation they'vehad, with uh Kochekov in and out
with injury, with um bothAnderson and and Bussey having
some good days on the PK andsome not so good ones, I think

(47:28):
that that's another artifact.
You know, I do think that whatKatie said about the defensive
pairs having to switch so muchis a bigger factor because you
know, you really rely on knowingwho your partner is and what
they're doing, you know, inthose kinds of special team
situations.
Um but to a certain extent, thegoaltending having been a little
bit shaky here and there has nothelped the VK.
And that's that's gonna that'sgonna get better because, you

(47:50):
know, like Katie said, theprocess is there, everything's
working the way it should be,but the goals are going in when
they shouldn't be.
And and a couple of times Ithink we can look back at game
tape and say, that one was onwhoever was in the net, they
they should have had that andthey didn't.
Because there's been at least acouple of power play goals
scored where that's been thefirst thing Trip Tracy has said.
He'd like to have that one back.

(48:10):
And whenever Trip says he'd liketo have that one back, you know
that he knows what he's talkingabout.

SPEAKER_03 (48:15):
So you're absolutely right.
They are a key part of that PKand uh will be important.
I just want to touch on one lastthing here, um, and that is the
what I call the sputteringoffense concern.
I've had this for a while.
The canes started fast, Imentioned before.
You know, we're starting to seethings like uh, you know, the
second line has really, reallystruggled lately uh to get

(48:39):
anything going.
Um for sure, uh Logan Stankhovenuh haven't seen much from him
and Jackson Blake.
He had that all-world game, andthen kind of he's not done much
since then.
Um and you know, you see thesesmall guys, they're getting
pushed around, they're notgetting room.
And it concerns me as we movealong in the season and we get

(49:00):
into these tougher games, andboy, it seems like every game
right now is almost a must-winbecause the the uh division is
so tight.
I mean, it's unbelievable.
You watch these games, and theseteams are just fighting, you
know, tooth and nail to try towin these games because
everything is important.
Um just not seeing it.
And and you know, you theface-off concerns with Logan and

(49:21):
so on, and and you know, some ofthe days I think that uh
Sebastianaho's almost missing inaction.
He gets a point here and there,but you know, again, uh smaller
players, it's tough slugging.
What do we think as we lookforward to you know this the the
the next part of the season andsome of the challenges we're
seeing offensively?

(49:42):
Aaron?

SPEAKER_02 (49:43):
Well, like you said, Jackson Blake um has been a
little bit quiet lately.
He has not had a point, Ibelieve, in five games.
Yes.
But the bigger concern is, youknow, as far as production goes,
is Logan Stankhoven, because umStancoven has had no goals in
the last 10 games and only twopoints in the last ten games.
And when production like thatfalls at 2C, as we know from
years past, that starts toimpact the top six in their

(50:06):
ability to score.
So the center on the second lineneeds to be driving some
offensive play.
Now I know we're calling it thesecond line.
We still know that how RodBrindamore numbers his line.
And that is actually somethingelse that I think I should point
out in fairness to Logan,because I know that Rod is still
100% on board the Stancoven isour two C guy, you know, train.
That is that is where he'sparked his his uh you know, his

(50:28):
supplanted his flag.
Um but he's not getting the icetime that he was getting in the
beginning.
At the beginning of the season,um the Stancoven line was
getting um right was right thereunder Aho's line, and then the
stall line followed that, andthen the fourth line followed
that.
And that was, you know, anencouraging sign to those of us

(50:50):
that really want there to be anactual 2C on this team.
Not just two, you know, you havewe have our we have our Aho line
and we have our stall line, andthen we have two interchangeable
bottom six lines that we don'treally label and we don't really
number because they're both, youknow.
We we've seen how that's workedbefore.
It's never gotten them throughthe playoffs, you know, it's
never gotten them deep into theplayoffs because that's when

(51:12):
you're starting to do thosematchups against other teams
very defined, very high identitylines, and and it doesn't, it
doesn't go well.
So I'm disappointed thatStancoven's not getting the ice
time that he was getting in thebeginning.
I'm disappointed to see his icetime fall, you know, into that
area where he's kind of neck andneck with stall in terms of you
know minutes played, at leastbefore the stall went out with

(51:32):
the uh illness.
Um, because if you wantproduction from that line, it's
the same thing I've always said.
And I I you know, you guys knowme.
You know that I'm gonna, itdoesn't matter who's occupying
2C.
It has nothing to do with thespecific player there.
If you want your 2C to producelike a 2C, they cannot do it if
they're playing 15 or 14 minutesa night.
It's not gonna happen becauseyou can't get those levels of

(51:54):
production with that kind of icetime across the board unless you
have the kind of player who isjust more than capable of doing
that, and that those are rare.
Now they're playing with one ofthose guys, they're playing with
uh Nikolai Ehlers, and he is oneof those guys who managed to
produce 60 points while playinga little below 16 minutes a
game.
But I don't think it's fair toexpect Logan Stankoven at his

(52:16):
age to be able to produce likethat on that line with so with
with the ice time dropping, youknow.
And that could be a factor forBlake, too.
I haven't looked as much as hisat his TOI, so I don't know how
much ice time he's getting rightnow.
But you want these guys toscore, they gotta be out there,
and they gotta be out there forsome good lengths of shifts, not
just a number of shifts, butthey need to be out there long

(52:38):
enough to create that havoc thatwe were seeing in the first part
of the season because you knowthey were wearing other teams
down, and we want them to dothat.
So that's my concern.

unknown (52:47):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (52:50):
I think part of it is I just I want to see a little
bit more bulldog come out andsomebody on one of the top lines
to take control of a game ortake control of a shift, even,
and put their head down and say,I am going to drag this team
kicking and screaming into thisgame so that we can win the game

(53:13):
or tie the game or whatever itis.
And it just feels like they'rewaiting for somebody to do it,
but nobody's actually wanting tobe that person.
It needs to be Aho to startwith.
Um or Jarvis at least.
It really should be Aho.
And like you said, Tom, there issomething off about Aho.
We were hoping he was gonnabounce back for what we kind of

(53:34):
felt was like a quiet year lastyear and be that more uh present
offensive threat.
You know, we at the beginning ofthe season, we were predicting a
90-point season for him.
And I'm not sure that he's gonnaget that because he's too
passive.
If he is gonna be a leader, he'swearing that A on his chest.

(53:56):
If he is gonna be a leader, heneeds to bring out the dark elf
magic.
And we're getting that intensitythat we know that he has and
pull the team kicking andscreaming into some goals and
into some points in thestandings.
And I don't know where thatswitch is on in him and what

(54:16):
it's going to take to bring ituh to the forefront.
So he's doing that, but thecanes don't have that person.
You can go through every singleteam in the league and you can
talk about who is gonna be theone uh dragging them, kicking
and screaming into a game withuh a ton of intensity.
And who's where's the intensityon the canes?

(54:37):
There there isn't any, andespecially in the forward core,
and they need to get thatfigured out quick, otherwise
it's gonna be another rinse andrepeat season of hey, great
statistical regular season, butcan't pull it off in the
playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 (54:51):
Well, you know, it's actually it's a it's an
interesting, it's an interestingsegue into uh a new feature
we're gonna do on a regularbasis, and that's something
we're gonna call the rumor mill,because uh I think right now the
canes are in a situation wherethis team, frankly, is not good
enough to win the cup.
I don't I don't see the lineupstrong enough.

(55:12):
I think there's you know some ofthe things you're talking about
in terms of uh you know thatedge, that you know, that
willingness to take the teaminto the fight and so on.
We just don't see enough ofthat.
And of course, we talkedrepeatedly about size concerns
for the Hurricanes.
And, you know, in talking aboutthat second line, I think
questions are gonna start torise if they haven't already as

(55:35):
to whether Logan Stankhoven isreally the guy that's gonna get
it done.
I think the Canes are asking himto do a lot, and he's been he's
given it a valiant fight.
And I I really like Logan.
But I gotta say this, I justdon't think, I don't think he's
ready to take that spot.
And I think you know what'shappening is the self-fulfilling

(55:55):
prophecy, as you said, Aaron.
He's now he's his ice time isgetting diminished, and so then
it becomes a like a you know,just a it's a bad situation all
around because he doesn't getthe opportunities with his
linemates to get it done,they're not getting it done.
Blake, man, I thought this guy'sgonna have a huge year.
Now he's quiet, really quiet.

(56:16):
And again, as we get intotougher games, you wonder how
the the you know a line as smallas their line is gonna do.
So, you know, there have been alot of discussions going on in
the rumor mill these days.
Of course, the canes are alwaysinvolved in it.
We had a bit of a you know, abit of a situation that popped
up on uh Andrey Svechnikov.
Uh for some reason a whole bunchof noise came out that you know

(56:39):
when Svetch wasn't playing earlyin the year or wasn't playing
well, you know, he would bewilling to move to another team.
Well, this is you know, wherewould that come from?
Like that's kind of crazy.
Um and of course, you know, thenyou get uh guys like uh David uh
Panyota coming out and saying,well, yeah, Svetch is the guy
that they would probably includein a deal for a blockbuster, you

(57:02):
know, premier player.
So, you know, you've got allthis noise going on around the
canes.
And you know, then the other daywe heard that Don Waddell was uh
visiting the Canes and hung outin the he's probably up at the
food court and checking up withthe guys.
Uh anyway, Waddell was in town,and what's he looking at?
And is there a possibility ofsome discussions going on with a

(57:24):
team like uh like Columbus?
Okay, um, just wrapping up, aninteresting thing that we heard
today, which really threw meoff, just gonna mention it, was
uh Cal Foot signing in Chicago.
That's weird.
Don't get it.
Anyway, we'll move on.
Um wanted to uh go to closingthoughts.
Uh we've got uh this is the bigseven-game homestand for the

(57:45):
Canes.
We're two and one right now.
We got four big games coming up.
What do we think uh as we wrapup?
What are our thoughts?
Katie?

SPEAKER_00 (57:54):
Um I think that the canes need to be very uh
intentional about going andwinning all four of them.
That these are teams that havestruggled, teams that um are on
the outside looking in for a bigum for the most part, and you
gotta you gotta bank the pointswhen they're in front of you.
You can't go and play thedivision leaders until it's your

(58:17):
turn to play them.
And so you they need to bankthese points, they need to get
themselves in a good position inthe standings, refine their
habits, um improve in the areaslike the special teams that
they're struggling in, so thatwhen they do meet those harder
opponents, they're ready andthey're giving themselves the

(58:38):
best chance to pull points outof those matchups.

SPEAKER_03 (58:40):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (58:44):
I agree with you that they should absolutely try
to win these games.
These are games they should win.
I think I will be happy,relatively speaking, if they get
three of four.

unknown (58:54):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (58:55):
And even if the if the if they if they maybe the
fourth one, if there's maybe anovertime loss rather than a
regulation loss, you know.
I just looking at the at whothey've got, you know, the
leaves are certainly not in goodshape right now, and the canes
should beat them, but every gamewith the leaves is weird, as
Steve Dangle says.
Every single game between theCanes and the Leafs ends up
being weird.
So you have to allow for thatweirdness.

(59:16):
Um the Predators, uh, if theycan't beat the Predators at this
point, I would be very worriedabout them.
Um the Sharks are kind of afunny because the actually
pulled some incredible wins outthis so far this season.
I don't think the Canes willhave too much difficulty
handling them, but it's gonna Ithink it's gonna come down to
who's in net for that gamebecause it's gonna be really
important that whoever's in netcan stop uh Smith and Celebrini.

(59:40):
So um and then uh the the BlueJackets uh they did a nice job
last night in their win.
And uh it all depends.
A lot of again, we're talkingabout net.
Uh if Elvis Merzleakin is in thezone and if he's the one
playing.
He can be very hard to beat.
So I would like the to the Canesto work on you know not shooting

(01:00:03):
everything into Merzlikens'crest because that's kind of
what they've tended to do in thepast.
They're gonna have to get inthere, they're gonna have to get
some net front traffic and youknow just make some havoc happen
because that's the only wayyou're gonna do that.
Again, if if it is Mersleakinsin net, and we have no way of
knowing this far out.
But yeah, so that's where I lookat all four, and I say they
should win all four, but Iwouldn't be surprised if there's

(01:00:24):
one game that they just can'tget it done.
So we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:28):
Well, you know, historically the canes have uh,
you know, they've laid a gooseegg in some of these games that
uh we fully expect they shouldwin.
And uh so that's the challenge.
You know, the Preds, they won afew games in a row.
They started to get their mojogoing.
That scares me.
Uh with uh with the sharks, I'vewatched the sharks a lot this
year.
Uh they're the real deal.

(01:00:50):
And one of the things thatscares me is Askarov.
Uh oh yeah.
I've watched him on some nights,he just steals the game.
And so if uh if Ned's in there,I'm good.
If Askarov's in there, I'm notso good.
Although I don't

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:03):
No, sometimes Ned has that um, you know, revenge
game mindset going.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:07):
Yeah, but and actually he's been playing quite
well this year.
But yeah, they're a fun team towatch, so that'll be a great
game as well.
But yes, uh I think the Caneshave to they have to really in
order to stay where they are inthe standings and and hold their
position, you know, quitenicely, they've got to win these
games.
These are muscling games forthem.
And you know, as we look atthat, at that standings with

(01:01:29):
just six points between them andthe Rangers, uh, you know, who
are bringing up the bottom ofthe of the division.
Um boy, I'll tell you, this isfrightening.
This is really frightening.
And it can change in a hurry.
We're seeing some teams likeWashington, they won four in a
row, they moved way up in thestandards.
Okay, so they're right behindus.
And so now you've got, you know,you've got folks starting to get

(01:01:51):
their mojo, and you always haveto worry about, you know, you
know, so the Rangers, even theRangers at times seem like
they're gonna do somethingserious.
So, you know, it's tough.
And you just gotta be smartabout it.
In any case, we'll be watchingclosely.
It'll be a lot of fun.
We'll be all over this.
Uh, hopefully we can uh we canlook back at these games and
say, hey, that was uh job welldone by the hurricanes.

(01:02:13):
But uh yeah, it's uh kind of awork in progress season, and uh
I think that's how it's gonna gofor a while.
They're gonna win some and andthen lose some as well.
So, anyway, um as always,ladies, it's been great talking
hockey and uh lots to talk aboutthese days, and I'm sure that as
the season goes on, we're gonnahave more and more because uh

(01:02:34):
boy, it's uh it's a great, greatseason this year.
It's just so much fun, and allthese games are so meaningful.
Uh, you just you're on the edgeof your seat the whole time.
So it's it's great stuff.
Anyway, uh for those of youwho've been watching or
listening, of course, we'redelighted you spent time with
us.
If you have uh any uh questionsor comments you want to make,

(01:02:55):
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(01:03:16):
on Storm Tracker.