We are going to the playoffs, I think!

[The Faulker 27]

The board hasn't been this positive in years. I'm usually pessimist #1 considering how the last 6 years have gone. 2 heart-wrenching seasons missing the playoffs in game 82.

I just get this feeling we finally have found a coach and a GM who know what the **** they're doing. Been a long time coming. And it's a lot of fun watching these young guys develop on the blue line.

I can't help but think that game 82 may bring a big disappointment and that's not necessarily based on their current play, but more so the expectation we've grown accustomed to. That being said, the overall feeling from the front office down is most definitely different, in a good way. I think Peters\Francis wrangled the bull, and whipped this team in to shape. They finally have an identity, and win or lose they have a damn identity. That's a huge improvement.

Edit: I'm going to refer to this as BILLRON from here on out.

 

[Wolfpuck]

I can't help but think that game 82 may bring a big disappointment and that's not necessarily based on their current play, but more so the expectation we've grown accustomed to. That being said, the overall feeling from the front office down is most definitely different, in a good way. I think Peters wrangled the bull, and whipped this team in to shape. They finally have an identity, and win or lose they have a damn identity. That's a huge improvement.

To go from not knowing what the hell to expect from the Canes on any given night, to seeing them be competitive in 90% of their games, win or lose, is a complete turnaround. Full credit goes to Francis for finding the right guy in Peters, to Peters for coaching the guys up and getting them to buy into his system, and to the players for bringing it on a consistent basis.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I can't help but think that game 82 may bring a big disappointment and that's not necessarily based on their current play, but more so the expectation we've grown accustomed to. That being said, the overall feeling from the front office down is most definitely different, in a good way. I think Peters wrangled the bull, and whipped this team in to shape. They finally have an identity, and win or lose they have a damn identity. That's a huge improvement.

I honestly don't think they'll make it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still optimistic about how they are playing (as you said, the identity), the way the young players are developing, the coaching staff, the GM, the future and Hank's GDT prowess. I just don't see them surpassing 2 of Pitts, TB and NJ to get it. Would love to be wrong.

 

[caniac247]

The board hasn't been this positive in years. I'm usually pessimist #1 considering how the last 6 years have gone. 2 heart-wrenching seasons missing the playoffs in game 82.

I just get this feeling we finally have found a coach and a GM who know what the **** they're doing. Been a long time coming. And it's a lot of fun watching these young guys develop on the blue line.

Agreed. It's fun actually scoreboard watching again, even though, I believe we miss the playoffs this year. BUT, you can finally see the type of team Francis/Peters wants and it's a team/system I can get behind. The defense is a big positive. Shore up the offense and this team will be competitive year after year very very soon.

 

[AD Skinner]

I can't help but think that game 82 may bring a big disappointment and that's not necessarily based on their current play, but more so the expectation we've grown accustomed to. That being said, the overall feeling from the front office down is most definitely different, in a good way. I think Peters\Francis wrangled the bull, and whipped this team in to shape. They finally have an identity, and win or lose they have a damn identity. That's a huge improvement.

Edit: I'm going to refer to this as BILLRON from here on out.

It's a billron times better than the past few years

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I know it's probably a pipe dream, but I would *LOVE* Loui Eriksson on this team.

 

[VAcaniac]

I can't help but think that game 82 may bring a big disappointment and that's not necessarily based on their current play, but more so the expectation we've grown accustomed to. That being said, the overall feeling from the front office down is most definitely different, in a good way. I think Peters\Francis wrangled the bull, and whipped this team in to shape. They finally have an identity, and win or lose they have a damn identity. That's a huge improvement.

Edit: I'm going to refer to this as BILLRON from here on out.

I have way more confidence in Peteo to get the team past the post in a just win to get in situation than in our past -- at least we know it won't be the Bolts.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I honestly don't think they'll make it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still optimistic about how they are playing (as you said, the identity), the way the young players are developing, the coaching staff, the GM, the future and Hank's GDT prowess. I just don't see them surpassing 2 of Pitts, TB and NJ to get it. Would love to be wrong.

I don't expect them to make it, because of the aforementioned difficulty in passing other teams and the fact that we've already overachieved just to get this close.

But at this point it's almost an anyone's-game situation in the wild card race. Without having an absolute expectation of success, I'm looking at this as a do-able situation. Tampa plays both the Pens and Canes on back to back nights this weekend... somebody's going to lose significant ground. The four nights from Thursday to Sunday are going to really tell us where we stand.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Ottawa tomorrow and Toronto next week are both must wins imo if we want to have any shot. That's about as easy a 4 points as you can expect this time of year, and the kinds of games playoff teams win.

Tampa and SJ will be tougher, but again, I am optimistic.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

Ottawa tomorrow and Toronto next week are both must wins imo if we want to have any shot. That's about as easy a 4 points as you can expect this time of year, and the kinds of games playoff teams win.

Tampa and SJ will be tougher, but again, I am optimistic.

We are....not good right now. Goes to show you can have a pretty good roster and still not succeed because of sub-par coaching. And vice versa.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Ottawa tomorrow and Toronto next week are both must wins imo if we want to have any shot. That's about as easy a 4 points as you can expect this time of year, and the kinds of games playoff teams win.

Tampa and SJ will be tougher, but again, I am optimistic.

6 out of 8 points in this stretch would be massive. That could mean beating the Ontario teams and then one of TB or SJ, or choking on one of the easy games and then getting those points back at home. Either way.

The biggest thing is the Tampa game on Sunday. It's not an elimination game or anything, but it will go a long way toward determining whether we catch them or not.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

. The four nights from Thursday to Sunday are going to really tell us where we stand.

The funny thing, is we've said things like this "these next X games are going to tell us where we stand" for 2 months now. Somehow, after those "x" games, it's still as clear as mud. Even Francis echoed that.

 

[VAcaniac]

We are like 500-10 against the Leafs -- hopefully that's a gimme.

 

[VAcaniac]

Hopefully the Lightning start Vasilevsky against us. He sucks.

 

[CandyCanes]

This team has been really exciting to watch this year, they have played hard, and it's so exciting to see we are pushing for a playoff spot again. But not going to lie the biggest let down this season is not the team, but the attendance numbers. The atmosphere has been pretty week. I sure hope we can start getting some positive local media recognition to help drive up attendance to close out the regular season. They need to give the Canes credit, we are right in the thick of the playoff race, and we have had one of the best records in hockey since the New Year. This year's team truly deserves to play in front of a good crowd. I sure hope we can get PNC Arena rocking again!! I truly miss the environment we used to have back in the day.

Numbers were decent for the Cup Anniversary weekend at around 16,000. But 10,500 for the Winnipeg game last night just does not cut it.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

The next 7 games before the deadline will make or break our chances. If we take 10 points from them, we would have 72 through 64. And it's entirely doable. Five of those seven are at home, two are against other wild card contenders (three if you count Ottawa), and the only team that stands head and shoulders above the rest is St. Louis. We went into their building and beat them 4-1 last month. Of course, this league offers no guarantees of repeat performances, but we have shown that we can beat them.

If we get to that spot, I will let myself get my hopes up. That would mean needing to pick up about 22 points over the last 18 games to get in. That would be a little tougher than usual since 11 of those will be on the road, but entirely possible.

 

[Quacktastic]

To go from not knowing what the hell to expect from the Canes on any given night, to seeing them be competitive in 90% of their games, win or lose, is a complete turnaround. Full credit goes to Francis for finding the right guy in Peters, to Peters for coaching the guys up and getting them to buy into his system, and to the players for bringing it on a consistent basis.

Watching a competitive team pretty consistently is my favorite thing about BP. No team in the league plays 82 great games a year, but it's a good feeling to watch your team win lots of little battles just through hard work. That's certainly improved under Peters. Both that, and actually generating chances with shots by going to the net instead of just settling for uncontested shots from a non-dangerous scoring area like I'd been seeing the past several seasons. We're finally starting to turn the corner from having just having possession to actually making that count for something.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The funny thing, is we've said things like this "these next X games are going to tell us where we stand" for 2 months now. Somehow, after those "x" games, it's still as clear as mud. Even Francis echoed that.

It's funny you say that, I had the exact same thought after posting that comment. That's why in my next reply to CI, I narrowed it down to where we stand relative to Tampa. There's potential for us to get ahead of them, or to fall hopelessly behind them, in a matter of only a couple of days. Thursday's games (us/Sens, them/Jets) are going to set the table for 72 hours of prove-you-belong games.

Numbers were decent for the Cup Anniversary weekend at around 16,000. But 10,500 for the Winnipeg game last night just does not cut it.

Unfortunately that's going to happen when your STH base is depleted. A Tuesday game against the Jets isn't going to pull a huge walk-up crowd.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Unfortunately that's going to happen when your STH base is depleted. A Tuesday game against the Jets isn't going to pull a huge walk-up crowd.

This. It's very simple. Win consistently, and your season ticket base goes up. Lose consistently, and it goes down.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

This. It's very simple. Win consistently, and your season ticket base goes up. Lose consistently, and it goes down.

Fortunately, we seem to be starting to do more of the former.

 

[NotOpie]

The next 7 games before the deadline will make or break our chances. If we take 10 points from them, we would have 72 through 64. And it's entirely doable. Five of those seven are at home, two are against other wild card contenders (three if you count Ottawa), and the only team that stands head and shoulders above the rest is St. Louis. We went into their building and beat them 4-1 last month. Of course, this league offers no guarantees of repeat performances, but we have shown that we can beat them.

If we get to that spot, I will let myself get my hopes up. That would mean needing to pick up about 22 points over the last 18 games to get in. That would be a little tougher than usual since 11 of those will be on the road, but entirely possible.

If the math says we need 95 points then we need to do the same thing we needed to do when we came back from the All-Star break.....we've got to win 2 out of every 3 games plus 1 overtime loss. That's the math boys and girls....95 points is no guarantee, but thats how we get there.

Of course if we lose to Tampa, Boston, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and the Islanders, then our 95 points won't look as good as theirs.

 

[HisIceness]

If my cipher'n is right, the Canes have the 5th best record in the NHL since 12/1.

Oct/Nov: Canes were 8-12-4 with 20 points in 24 games (.833PPG). They were also a -20 in Goal diff.
Today: Canes are 26-21-10 with 62 points in 57 games (1.09PPG). They are now -11 in Goal diff.
Dec1 - Today: Canes are 18-9-6 with 42 points in 33 games (1.27 PPG) and a +9 in Goal Diff.

The top teams in the NHL since 12/1:

Wash: 1.59 PPG
FLA: 1.41
CHI: 1.39
ANA: 1.39
CAR: 1.27
TB: 1.26
DAL: 1.24
COL: 1.23
LAK: 1.21
STL: 1.20

If the Canes had played at the same pace the whole year as they have since 12/1, they'd have ended up with 104 points and would easily make the playoffs. If the Canes play at the same pace (1.27) the rest of the way, they'll end up with 94 points which puts them squarely on the bubble I think. With all the teams in the mix and in front of them, IMO, they'll need to play at a slightly better pace than they have since 12/1 to make it.

This is what has bothered me about this team since 2006. Most years we've had the team to at least contend for the playoffs, the problem is they can never get their **** together on a consistent basis and when they do it's either too late or some other team has caught up with them in the standings like Washington did in 2007-08.

I've been stressing it for a while now, they have to got to get off to better starts in the beginning of the season. The only time I feel they have since winning the Cup was the 2008-09 season.

This franchise will always be winning games they have no business winning late in the season, it's like an unwritten rule But it's time they start making those late runs worth our while. Hopefully they've got their **** together now, we'll see.

 

[Ole Gil]

If the math says we need 95 points then we need to do the same thing we needed to do when we came back from the All-Star break.....we've got to win 2 out of every 3 games plus 1 overtime loss. That's the math boys and girls....95 points is no guarantee, but thats how we get there.

Of course if we lose to Tampa, Boston, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and the Islanders, then our 95 points won't look as good as theirs.

A lot of teams have to finish strong to get to 95 points. Seems unlikely, especially with how often they play eachother, that the cutoff is going to be that high. I bet 92 or 93 gets in this year.

(rather than me guessing, I looked it up on that sportsclub, 92 has a 48% chance, 93 has 68% chance. Even 91 has a 30% shot according to them)

 

[NotOpie]

We play 11 games against a mix of the Flyers, Bruins, Devils, Islanders, Penguins, and the Lightning. As TarHeel alluded to, somebody's gonna know real quickly where they actually stand.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

We play 11 games against a mix of the Flyers, Bruins, Devils, Islanders, Penguins, and the Lightning. As TarHeel alluded to, somebody's gonna know real quickly where they actually stand.

To quote the great philosopher, Lil' Wayne: "I think you stand under me, if you don't understand me."