Hurricanes 1st Quarter Review

[Hanna Sniper]

Hurricanes 1st Quarter Review

Team
Record: 9-8-3 .525W%
Standing: T7th Eastern Conference
Goals P/G: 2.90 18th
Goals Against P/Gt: 3.00 17th
Power Play: 17.31% 17th
Penalty Kill: 89.58% 1st

Players
Goals: 8 Roope Hintz
Assists: 19 Roman Josi
Points: 21 Roman Josi
+/-: 3 Carter Rowney
GGA: 2.87 Jaroslav Halak


The View
The Carolina Hurricanes finished the 1st quarter of the 2020-2021 season with 21 points, tied with the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburg Penguins for 7th position in the Eastern Conference. A huge improvement from fishing dead last in the CPHL the previous year. At this point in time, it's hard to imagine that the Hurricanes could be in a much high position than they sit right now. So to take the final step and climb into a playoff position the Canes will really have to find some additional help outside of its current roster.

Top Performers
Roman Josi - Roman leads all defenceman in the league in posits with 21, and do so being paired with rookie defenceman Noah Dobson. Game in and game out has been the most consistent Hurricane. The team's captain and all-around best player

Jaroslav Halak - Halak came into the year rated as the backup goalie to Corey Crawford but was able to take the starting position with his play straight from pre-season. For the first year, the Hurricanes ignored the rating and let the goalies earn their position and not their OV's. Halak rewarded the team's confidence with a 15GP 7-5-3 record and a 2.87 GGA. Nothing to write Miikka Kiprusoff about, but we're talking the worst team in the league last year and now in a playoff race.

Noah Dobson - In 20 games Noah has 1goal for 3 points. Why is he on the top performers for the season. The kid has a 63OV rating, that's why. Due to the lack of defensive help, Noah was forced into the No. 6 position to start the season. A couple of games into the season the second pairing of Jake McCabe and Marco Scandella were getting lit up. Canes had to move Christopher Tanev down to the 2nd unit and Noah Dobson took his place on the No. 1 unit with Roman Josi. Dobson plays 18 minutes 5 on 5 every game and has come out of it only a -2. Him holding his own on the 1st unit has allowed the Hurricanes to sure up their defensive depth through the rest of the core

Biggest Disappointments
Robert Thomas - in 20 games Robbie has a total of 2 goals for 3 total points. His fall from the 1st line to the 3rd shows no signs of slowing down. It's only a matter of time before his play finds him watching from the press box. With the depth at center, unless an injury there's very little chance that Robbie will have any chance to turn his season around unless he does it at wing.

Casey Cizikas - Like Robbie, Cizikas 's season for the Hurricanes has been a complete struggle., fallen down the depth charts Cizikas finds himself centring the 4th line. Since moving to the 4th line Cizikas has started to show some signs of life, and recent play is promising.

Next 20
The upcoming games for the Hurricanes might be the most important games that this organization has played in a long while. The team will get an idea where they stand and if they have any hopes of making the playoffs this season. They have been able to avoid any lengthy losing streak and the next 20 will show if that's a fluke or if this is a serious possibility. The Canes have avoided all offseason of making any trades in which they sold off any future of this team. It'll be interesting as the season climbs towards the middle and the teams long term goals become a lot closer will the GM be able to make that move to push them over the hump