Carolina Hurricanes (16-14-5, 37 pts): The Hurricanes were once the pride of the lowly Southeast Division. With Atlanta struggling to make the leap from expansion team to competitive franchise, and Washington in the throes of a serious rebuilding period, the Hurricanes romped through the division for a few seasons, culminating in a Stanley Cup victory in 2006. Since winning the Cup, however, the Hurricanes have been plagued by injuries and inconsistent play, and have failed to return to the playoffs.
This season, the Hurricanes have managed to stay within striking distance of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, despite having one of the lowest goal totals in the NHL, as well as the 17th ranked defense in the league. The drop in offensive production can be closely linked to the loss of star winger Erik Cole and a serious injury to Justin Williams. Point leaders Ray Whitney (12-17-29) and Eric Staal (14-11-25) are on their way to respectable seasons, but when three of a team’s top ten scorers are defensemen, (Joni Pitkanen, Joe Corvo and Dennis Seidenberg), it doesn’t take a hockey genius to realize that a team won’t be successful for long.
The firing of coach Peter Laviolette after a poor November (7-9), hasn’t made any immediate improvements, but Paul Maurice, the coach who took the Canes to the Cup in 2006, has many of the same pieces to work with which he was successful in previous years. Aside from a few difficult games against teams like Boston and New Jersey in the next few weeks, Carolina has a very soft schedule in January, and has an opportunity to make up some ground on Washington.
Current League Rankings
Goals - 24th Goals Against - 17th Powerplay Goals - T-19th Powerplay Percentage - 25th Shorthanded Goals - T-27th Penalty kill percentage - 26th
