SouthernHockeyChick
01-11-2004, 11:58 AM
His column today was pretty interesting. Expecially Barry's comments. :evil:
Now, heat is on Canes' scorers to score
By NED BARNETT, Staff Writer
RALEIGH--When the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers on Thursday night, they tipped their seven-game homestand to a positive finish -- four wins, three losses -- and ended the season's first half on a winning note.
In the cold night that followed, something portentous occurred. It began to snow.
By morning, a blanket of white had made the land of scarce goals and decreasing crowds look magically like a hockey town again.
The snow won't last. Will the winning?
A 4-1 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday showed the Canes' comeback isn't fully on track, but there were signs of progress. The sputtering power play finally worked, and goal-starved Jeff O'Neill finally scored.
Tonight's game against the surging Ottawa Senators will tell more about where the Canes will go in the season's second half.
Barry Melrose, the ESPN hockey analyst, former NHL defenseman and coach, thinks they could go far. He was in Raleigh for the Canes-Rangers game televised by ESPN2. He saw the Hurricanes skating like winners again.
"I think the team on the ice now will win the Southeast Division," Melrose said.
That's quite an analysis from one of hockey's top analysts. Just a month ago, the Canes were in a free fall back to the bottom of the NHL, and longtime coach Paul Maurice was released like an emergency parachute.
Melrose thinks the desperate measure is working. Under new coach Peter Laviolette, the famously defensive Canes are showing new offensive punch.
"The defense was mobile and jumping into plays," he said. "Some of the things Pete has been preaching were shown."
Melrose respects Maurice's coaching ability, but he agreed with the decision to end the coach's nine-year tenure, the longest in the NHL.
"I think Paul was a good coach, and I think he'll coach again," said Melrose, who coached the Los Angeles Kings and Wayne Gretzky to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. "But I also think after a certain time players stop listening.
"You can change the whole team, which isn't feasible, or you can change the coach. Paul is the guy who had to pay the price."
Melrose traces the Canes' scoring troubles -- the team's goal production is last in the NHL -- to the long emphasis on defense under Maurice. It was a climate, he said, in which forwards felt they were successful if the opponent didn't score.
Under Laviolette, he said, forwards are being told that's not enough.
"If goal scorers aren't scoring goals, they aren't playing well," Melrose said. "That [defensive] mind-set had to change in Carolina."
O'Neill said it has.
"I just like the way we're skating more," he said. "Before, we'd send one guy in, and if he didn't get the puck, we'd kind of just sit back. It felt like you were skating backwards most of the game. [Laviolette] preaches a high-pressure, high-skating game. It's definitely a lot more fun to play."
Laviolette said players are producing more offensive pressure, but goals remain rare despite more chances. The power play is especially weak, with the Canes scoring on only 19-of-195 (9.7 percent).
"I like what I'm seeing and what we're doing, but there's no reward for the effort, which is frustrating for the players," he said.
Forward Rod Brind'Amour said that ultimately scoring is not about a new plan -- it's about execution.
"As far as an overall change offensively, that's something you can't really bring in," Brind'Amour said. "You can open up a little bit, but still you have to execute and bear down on your scoring chances, which we haven't been doing."
Brind'Amour said the good news as the season turns for home is that the rest of the Southeast Division hasn't pulled away. The Canes are only five points behind the division-leading Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
"To be even close or still have a chance is amazing considering we haven't been able to score any goals," Brind'Amour said after Saturday's practice. "If we were just scoring our average, we'd be right there.
"That's what the hope is for the second half. We don't have to be excellent, or get on a tear. Just if guys who are supposed to score start [scoring] a little bit, that will be a big difference."
Now that the weather has turned cold, O'Neill thinks the season can be saved if the team heats up.
"We've scrapped along and kept ourselves in the hunt with very little goal scoring," said O'Neill, who has only five goals after scoring 30 last season. "Basically, [goaltender] Kevin Weekes has kept us in every game.
"Now if we can just get two or three guys to get hot and score on a regular basis and have contributions from others guys, I think we're going to like where we're going to be."
Columnist Ned Barnett can be reached at 829-4555 or nbarnett@newsobserver.com
The forwards felt successful if the other team didn't score. We've got eight plus years of that to shake off. Is it any wonder they still arent' scoring?
Now, heat is on Canes' scorers to score
By NED BARNETT, Staff Writer
RALEIGH--When the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers on Thursday night, they tipped their seven-game homestand to a positive finish -- four wins, three losses -- and ended the season's first half on a winning note.
In the cold night that followed, something portentous occurred. It began to snow.
By morning, a blanket of white had made the land of scarce goals and decreasing crowds look magically like a hockey town again.
The snow won't last. Will the winning?
A 4-1 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday showed the Canes' comeback isn't fully on track, but there were signs of progress. The sputtering power play finally worked, and goal-starved Jeff O'Neill finally scored.
Tonight's game against the surging Ottawa Senators will tell more about where the Canes will go in the season's second half.
Barry Melrose, the ESPN hockey analyst, former NHL defenseman and coach, thinks they could go far. He was in Raleigh for the Canes-Rangers game televised by ESPN2. He saw the Hurricanes skating like winners again.
"I think the team on the ice now will win the Southeast Division," Melrose said.
That's quite an analysis from one of hockey's top analysts. Just a month ago, the Canes were in a free fall back to the bottom of the NHL, and longtime coach Paul Maurice was released like an emergency parachute.
Melrose thinks the desperate measure is working. Under new coach Peter Laviolette, the famously defensive Canes are showing new offensive punch.
"The defense was mobile and jumping into plays," he said. "Some of the things Pete has been preaching were shown."
Melrose respects Maurice's coaching ability, but he agreed with the decision to end the coach's nine-year tenure, the longest in the NHL.
"I think Paul was a good coach, and I think he'll coach again," said Melrose, who coached the Los Angeles Kings and Wayne Gretzky to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. "But I also think after a certain time players stop listening.
"You can change the whole team, which isn't feasible, or you can change the coach. Paul is the guy who had to pay the price."
Melrose traces the Canes' scoring troubles -- the team's goal production is last in the NHL -- to the long emphasis on defense under Maurice. It was a climate, he said, in which forwards felt they were successful if the opponent didn't score.
Under Laviolette, he said, forwards are being told that's not enough.
"If goal scorers aren't scoring goals, they aren't playing well," Melrose said. "That [defensive] mind-set had to change in Carolina."
O'Neill said it has.
"I just like the way we're skating more," he said. "Before, we'd send one guy in, and if he didn't get the puck, we'd kind of just sit back. It felt like you were skating backwards most of the game. [Laviolette] preaches a high-pressure, high-skating game. It's definitely a lot more fun to play."
Laviolette said players are producing more offensive pressure, but goals remain rare despite more chances. The power play is especially weak, with the Canes scoring on only 19-of-195 (9.7 percent).
"I like what I'm seeing and what we're doing, but there's no reward for the effort, which is frustrating for the players," he said.
Forward Rod Brind'Amour said that ultimately scoring is not about a new plan -- it's about execution.
"As far as an overall change offensively, that's something you can't really bring in," Brind'Amour said. "You can open up a little bit, but still you have to execute and bear down on your scoring chances, which we haven't been doing."
Brind'Amour said the good news as the season turns for home is that the rest of the Southeast Division hasn't pulled away. The Canes are only five points behind the division-leading Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
"To be even close or still have a chance is amazing considering we haven't been able to score any goals," Brind'Amour said after Saturday's practice. "If we were just scoring our average, we'd be right there.
"That's what the hope is for the second half. We don't have to be excellent, or get on a tear. Just if guys who are supposed to score start [scoring] a little bit, that will be a big difference."
Now that the weather has turned cold, O'Neill thinks the season can be saved if the team heats up.
"We've scrapped along and kept ourselves in the hunt with very little goal scoring," said O'Neill, who has only five goals after scoring 30 last season. "Basically, [goaltender] Kevin Weekes has kept us in every game.
"Now if we can just get two or three guys to get hot and score on a regular basis and have contributions from others guys, I think we're going to like where we're going to be."
Columnist Ned Barnett can be reached at 829-4555 or nbarnett@newsobserver.com
The forwards felt successful if the other team didn't score. We've got eight plus years of that to shake off. Is it any wonder they still arent' scoring?