The Trough Has Gone Through

Donga

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Feb 28, 2002
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-Raleigh, N.C

As the Hurricanes prepare for divisional rivals, the Florida Panthers, on the back of a 5-game win streak, it is hard to imagine not long ago, that the Hurricanes looked to be self imploding. After the hot start, there was a period of transition.

"We had guys coming in after training camp and then of course the trades,"said coach Bryan Murray. "We didn't have any chemistry."

After getting off to a flying start, the Canes added their much anticipated group of rookies. The team definitely slowed down. It seems as if there wasn't any leadership on the ice. It really showed. The only shining light was Lee Stempniak, who was able to show the others how to play. Although, he had the added advantage of being with the team on opening night.

The trade started to kick in. First to go was Nikolai Zherdev, Michael Peca. In came Stephen Weiss and Jason Allison. Allison was then shipped off to divisonal rivals, Atlanta for Sandis Ozolinsh. Possibly the defining trade of the season for the Canes, Keith Tkachuk, Mike Rathje and Adam Foote were added at the expense of Whitney, Zyzuzin and Leetch plus a few prospects. With all these additions, you would think that something would be going right.

Then the Karma kicked in. The season began to derail. It started with from the pipes out. Rick DiPietrio started to fatigue easily and Mike Morrison couldn't ably back him up until he came back. Solution was to claim Jose Theodore off waivers, which has lead the Canes to be over the cap. The likes of Tkachuk, Foote, Ovechkin, Phaneuf could not stay healthy long enough. Things looked dire.

However, the team was able to pull together. During the span, the team was able to pull ties when they were suppose to lose. That has been the big difference between this team and previous years. The ability to stay in games. The belief is there. The surprising statistic so far this season has been the Goal Against. Going into this season, you would not expect the Canes to be one of the leaders in this stat. With the acquisition of both Foote and Rathje, it seems that other teams have been finding it just a bit hard to score goals.

The problem seem to be at the other end. Bryan Murray can not seem to find the right combination. However, since placing Tkachuk on the top line with Ovechkin and Lupul, the other lines seemed to have liberated. The goals are not coming from the top line, it has been from the bottom two. This is very ironic.

Another problem area has been the PP. The Canes is at 13%, which places them in the bottom 3rd. One would think having the firepower up front like the Canes have would have produce more goals. That is not the case.

With the race for the South East division heating up, the 5-game win streak have been timely. With the resurgence of the Capital in recent weeks, the South East is not a two horse race. If either the Canes or the lightning let up, the caps will pounce.
 

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