The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
‘Canes surge into summer with confidence after playoff run
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) >> The Carolina Hurricanes enter the offseason confident of one thing: They shouldn’t have to wait another decade to return to the playoffs.
They hope their nucleus will make postseason appearances an every-year thing.
The Hurricanes made their first playoff berth since 2009 last much longer than most expected, advancing to the Eastern Conference final before they were swept by the Boston Bruins.
After getting a taste of postseason hockey, this largely young team wants to do it again.
“I think we all know now what it takes first of all to get to the playoffs, and to go through those tough series,” forward Sebastian Aho said Monday. “Now we’re even more hungry.”
There’s reason to believe this group has staying power.
The entire defensive corps — including young stars Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce — is under team control for next season, with six of themsigned and Haydn Fleury a pending restricted free agent.
Key winger Teuvo Teravainen is locked up through 2023-24. Promising forward Andrei Svechnikov oozed with promise during his rookie season. Aho, who also will be a restricted free agent, looks to be a candidate to receive a long-term deal. He declined to discuss his contract status.
This core was responsible for turning the franchise around and bringing entertainment — both during and after games — to the rink.
They brought back those beloved Hartford Whalers uniforms for a couple of games. They broke out the “Storm Surge” celebrations, those choreographed on-ice parties after regular-season victories at home. They wore the jabs from curmudgeonly commentator Don Cherry as badges of honor — plastering his “Bunch of Jerks” insult onto T-shirts that sold for $32 at the team shop. They welcomed a live pig named Hamilton into the building for home playoff games.
And, of course, they played winning hockey — especially after the calendar flipped to January. Their record of 31-12-2 was thirdbest in the league and propelled them from last place in the division to the top wild-card berth.
“As the year went on, as the record shows, it was a lot of good results, andcoming to the rink was a lot of fun,” defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said.