Despite their great talent and experts’ predictions that had them at the top of their division in 2023-2024, the Carolina Hurricanes had a mixed performance, much to the chagrin of their captain Jordan Staal.
The Canes defeated the amazing Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in Raleigh on Wednesday, posting a 9-7-0 record and securing third place in the Metropolitan, two points ahead of their opponents of the day. However, the presence of talented hockey players such as Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov, as well as the emergence of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, should allow head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s men to rack up more victories.
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However, corrections have to be made and it is not a question of talent here.
“As a group, it seems like we haven’t quite settled on what we want to accomplish, and this is what it’s going to look like: a .500 team that wins some games and loses others, on kind of a journey full of ups and downs. It gets a little frustrating. We need everyone. I have to get better, and so does our trio. Everyone’s contribution is required. We have to start soon,” an unhappy Staal told the Raleigh News & Observer.
More specifically, the veteran would like his team to be better positioned on the ice, especially by favoring a vertical game, i.e. along the north-south axis, in order to spend more time in the opponent’s zone.
“It’s not a big effort. The question of the desired style of play is what prevents us from progressing. In the National League, you kind of know where the puck is going because of the way things happen. “It looks like we’re not quite sure what’s going to happen, though,” he reflected. It’s starting to look like the casual play you see in the neutral zone with the disc bouncing and guys spinning in circles.”
“This is a less direct game than the team hockey we know and love. I’m sure our fans really enjoyed the game and I don’t blame them.”
The coach wants more
The situation is similar with Brind’Amour, who hopes for more consistency from his group. The scope in the ranking remains limited.
“He knows it, he’s the one who’s been putting everything back together for a long time. No, it’s not enough, it’s not regular enough. It’s hard to win anyway, and we’re making it even harder for ourselves. We have to stop trying to be spectacular and extravagant here and there,” said the pilot.
Carolina will look to return to winning habits by hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.