The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Sports

December 15, 2009

'Canes entrenched as NHL's worst team

The Associated Press Associated Press

RALEIGH — Matt Cullen greeted the all-too-familiar question with an uncomfortable chuckle clearly rooted in disappointment: How have things gone this wrong this quickly for the Carolina Hurricanes?

“I have no idea,” the center said Monday. “I don’t know. We’ve tried to figure that out a lot.”

The season’s just over two months old, and already it’s looking like a lost year for the Hurricanes, a team that used a surprisingly deep playoff run late last spring to return to prominence and figured to stay there for a while.

Instead, they came up with another surprise, one nobody in their dressing room wanted: According to the standings and the stats, the Hurricanes are the worst team in the NHL — by far.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” forward Scott Walker said. “I don’t think anybody in here would say that it isn’t.”

What makes it so unexpected is that the group that rallied to reach the Eastern Conference final mostly stayed together during the offseason with the hope of making another push toward the franchise’s second Stanley Cup.

But ever since Walker’s overtime goal in Game 7 beat Boston and sent the Hurricanes to the East final, it’s been a calamitous drop downhill.

First, they were swept in that series by eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. Now, this.

Carolina has an NHL-worst 20 points and entered Monday night’s games in need of 10 — or, a long winning streak — just to escape the league’s cellar. Only St. Louis (74) has fewer than the Hurricanes’ 77 goals. At the other end of the ice, they’ve allowed an NHL-worst 117.

Their power-play unit ranks as one of the league’s worst, converting on just 14.3 percent of its chances — 5 percentage points below the league average. They matched a club record last month with a winless streak that reached 14 games, and are 1-12-4 away from the RBC Cente. They finally won their first road game last week.

“Just because we’re down right now, you can’t be mentally down on the ice,” Walker said. “You have to become a good team through all situations. ... We’re trying to stay positive, trying to stay up as much as we can, because some guys, it does affect every second of your life, and you’ve got to try to get that out, or the next game, you’ll be as bad or worse.”

Part of the problem has been injuries, most notably to the two biggest names on the roster. All-Star center Eric Staal missed 10 games last month with an upper body injury, while former Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie Cam Ward was activated last week from the long-term injured list after missing 13 games with a sliced leg.

Not surprisingly, those struggles have led to personnel moves. Team officials said Carolina’s top offseason acquisition, Aaron Ward, was placed on waivers Monday, and teams have 24 hours to claim the veteran defenseman who had been reacquired by the Hurricanes in a summertime trade with the Bruins.

So, what will it take to turn things around for the Hurricanes?

They need scoring punch. They need stronger defensive play. They need to stay healthy. They need to find a way to put the puck in the net when they have the man advantage.

And, most importantly, they need answers.

“For some reason, things kind of snowballed early in the year on us and put us in a tough spot, but I don’t have an answer,” Cullen said. “I don’t think anybody in (the dressing room) has an answer.”

The Hurricanes have had their moments, though they’ve been fleeting.

They rallied from three goals down last month to beat Toronto in a shootout, and last week they claimed their first win away from the RBC Center by beating Pittsburgh — the team that swept them from the East final — in a victory that prompted leading scorer Ray Whitney to say, “Certainly, we’re not sipping champagne by any means, but it’s a starting point.”

And Carolina’s morale got a boost last week by defenseman Tim Gleason’s gutty effort at Washington. After taking a puck to the face, he had 30 stitches during the game, then returned to score the short-handed goal that tied the game and helped send it into overtime.

Coach Paul Maurice called Gleason’s determination a silver lining because it showed him the players still believe they can turn things around.

“We’re improving as a team, and that’s kind of been our one focus through these tough times, that we have to keep getting better as a team and hope the wins come along with that,” Cullen said. “When you get in a hole like this, you can’t really focus on the big picture all the time. You just have to focus on the things right in front of you, and that’s your effort and getting better every day and coming together more as a group every day and hope that’ll take us where we want to go.”

Text Only
Sports
  • Javin Hinton.jpg Tarboro defeats SWE 76-62 to get first conference win

    SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars head basketball coach Tom Wooten had to make some tough decisions Friday morning. He had to decide if he needed to cancel his varsity basketball game with Tarboro or cancel the JV game and move the JV players up to play Tarboro's varsity team.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • Rashawnda Pevey.jpg Lady Vikings beat Lady Cougars for third time this season 42-34

    Most basketball experts will say that it is hard for one team to beat another three times in the same year. Friday night the SouthWest Edgecombe Lady Cougars tried their best to make that a true statement in their third match up of the year with the Tarboro Lady Vikings. The Lady Cougars gave a game effort, but came up short on the scoreboard, losing to the Lady Vikings by the score of 42-34.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • NE Warriors split with Weldon; boys lose, girls win in TRC action

    LEGGETT – Senior Jasmine Downing picked up her second consecutive triple double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots Friday night to lead the Lady Warriors to a 51-40 win over the Lady Chargers of Weldon. With the win, the Lady Warriors find themselves in the middle of the pack in the Tar Roanoke Conference.

    February 6, 2012

  • First 2012 hickory shad caught

    Henry C. Knight, III, caught the winner in the 2nd Annual Tar River First Shad Contest, in Tarboro this past Sunday morning about 9 a.m. Henry Knight? Are you kidding me?
    Henry winning this season’s Tar River First Shad Contest is about like Albert Einstein being a contestant on Jeopardy, and asking Alex Trebeck, in his best old-world German accent, “Alex, I vood like you should give me da physics category for $2000.” It’s a done deal, my friend. Take the money to the bank.

    February 3, 2012

  • Rashwanda Pevey.jpg Cougar boys, girls both lose to Panthers in Eastern Plains Conference action

    PINETOPS – The SouthWest Cougars bounced back Tuesday and played the way their head coach Tom Wooten knew his team was capable of playing, but they fell short against Eastern Plains Conference foe the North Pitt Panthers. They were defeated 62-52.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Warriors sweep Kipp Pride in conference play

    LEGGETT – North Edgecombe rolled past Kipp Pride 70-56 with the help of four players who scored a combined total of 57 points to lead the Warriors. Senior Devonte Lloyd, 22 points, Denzel Lucas, 12; Mark Moore, 10; Quantarius Williams, 13.

    February 1, 2012

  • Tarboro falls to Kinston twice

    KINSTON – The Kinston Vikings, the fourth ranked 2A team in the state, had all they can handle last night as the Tarboro Vikings stayed with them for three quarters, with Kinston finally securing an 83-69 victory. Kinston remains tied for the Eastern Plains 2A conference lead, while Tarboro failed again to capture their first victory in league play. But Tarboro did not go down easy for the talented Kinston squad, who also benefitted from numerous favorable calls from the officials throughout the evening.

    February 1, 2012

  • April Poage.jpg Lady Cougars get second win of season; squeak by Lady Bruins 43-41

    PINETOPS – The SouthWest Lady Cougars continue to improve overall as a team each time they step on the court and it showed Friday when they defeated the Beddingfield Lady Bruins 43-41 for their second victory of the season. When the buzzer sounded Lady Cougar head coach Sandra Langley jumped with joy and was proud that her team had defeated the Lady Bruins in Eastern Plains Conference action.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo

  • Javin Hinton.jpg SouthWest loses third straight; defeated 75-52 by Beddingfield

    PINETOPS –  The SouthWest Cougars went into Friday's game looking to win the next three out of four games to wrap up fourth place in the conference, but things just didn't go their way. They continued to struggle from the field shooting and just can't catch a break on either end of the court. They can't get a shot to fall for them on the offensive end and they can't keep opposing teams off the boards to keep them from getting second and third chance shots on the defensive end. Things continued that way for the Cougars Friday in Pinetops when they hosted Eastern Plains Conference rival the Beddingfield Bruins.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo

  • Viking boys lose; Lady Vikings win 41-27 over Rams

    SNOW HILL – Friday night the Vikings of Tarboro gave a game effort in trying to win their first Eastern Plains 2A conference game of the year, but were denied by the Rams of Greene Central by the score of 61-57. This game was very similar to the first meeting of these two teams earlier in the year, an 87-84 overtime victory for the Rams.

    January 31, 2012