With the news this morning that the NHL chose Ottawa to host the 2012 All-Star Game, it’s only fitting that we talk about the team that will be hosting the 2011 All-Star game, the Carolina Hurricanes. The way things are shaping up for this franchise, that could be the only bright spot on what could a very long year in Raleigh.
It’s hard to imagine that this team made it to the Eastern Conference final only a couple of years ago, but this roster has certainly made major changes in order to be younger and in rebuild mode in Tobacco Country. They will need their top players to be spectacular throughout the season and will have to hope that a couple of youngsters step up and surprise the prognosticators.
Up front, everything will revolve around their top-line centre, Eric Staal. In past years, he would have had a couple of other forwards that he could rely on to help with the offensive production, but not this time around. Ray Whitney was let go and veteran players that the Canes relied on in the past have seen their numbers go downhill.
The only other forwards that could have a chance of producing numbers equal to Staal would be Jussi Jokinen or Brandon Sutter. Jokinen broke out to be second in team scoring with 30 goals and 65 points and Sutter scored 21 goals and 40 points in his second NHL season. Every other experienced forward on this team suffered a letdown as Erik Cole, Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu all struggled last season.
Defensively, the Canes have a group of 6 that can really move the puck and offer some production from the back end led by Joni Pitkanen and Joe Corvo. But an offensive d-corps is high-risk, high-reward and that doesn’t usually bode well for an 82 game season.
It certainly won’t help a guy that is looking to get his game back on track after a season plagued with injury and inconsistency. Much like Steve Mason, Cam Ward was good enough a couple of years ago that his name was thrown around to be the 3rd goaltender for Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics. But after a freak injury early in the year, Ward could never get things going and he went from 39 wins to only 18 last season.
Two guys to look out for in camp are Erik Cole and Anton Babchuk. Cole has seen his point total drop consistently over the last 5 seasons and he laboured through the worst season of his NHL career in 2009-2010 by scoring only 16 points in 40 games. Injuries have really slowed down Cole, so the obvious question is: What does he have left in the tank? Babchuk had his best NHL season two years ago when he picked up 35 points in 72 games. Despite the strong season, Babchuk found himself in the KHL last year. Babchuk will be relied upon to be in the Top 4. What will we see from him after a 1-year hiatus?