What if I told you the Dave Ayres game happened just over one month ago?
I guess we’d first have to determine what day it is, and that is a challenge difficult enough in itself right now.
It’s Wednesday, I think, and that means the Ayres game happened just over one month ago, and way less than two months ago.
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When we look back on this 2019-20 regular season that’s most likely dunzo, we will obviously remember that game. We will also remember that Andrei Svechnikov became the first in NHL history to do the Michigan — then “Oops! (He) did it again.”
We all obviously understand why this had to happen, but we will also remember how much we missed hockey when it was abruptly taken away from us.
There’s so much to remember here that I’m worried about what we might forget. I already chronicled the lost files. Now it’s time for the might-get-lost files.
Here are 10 things we shouldn’t forget about the 2019-20 regular season Carolina Hurricanes.
Haydn Fleury proved himself
This was the year Haydn Fleury could no longer pass through waivers without getting snagged. This was the year the Hurricanes’ 2014, seventh overall pick had to put up or shut up, and he knew it.
I wouldn’t have blamed him for showing a level of resentment for things out of his control, like the amount of NHL-caliber defensemen the Hurricanes had in their arsenal for the past few seasons, or that time coach Rod Brind’Amour played him for literally one shift then benched him. Mind you, that was the game after his first NHL goal. I get that it’s all about winning games, but that scenario isn’t exactly a breeding ground of confidence — and he didn’t do anything wrong.
Regardless, the self-proclaimed “happy-go-lucky kid” tried to control what he could control and add a little more snarl to his game all season. As unfortunate as the losses of Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce were for the Canes overall, the depleted blue line forced Brind’Amour to play Fleury more.
It was a silver lining.
The — our — one and only Dom Luszczyszyn finally weighed in on this topic after months of deafening silence.
i found it pic.twitter.com/IEFSNBBvcw
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) March 15, 2020
Luszczyszyn: “So, Fleury has 10 games where his 5-on-5 ice time is greater than 15 minutes. In those games he has: 6 points, a 55% xG rate, and is +7 at 5on5 (12 gf 5 ga). His average game score is 1.14. In his 35 other games he has: 8 points, a 48% xG, and is -9 (9 gf, 18 ga). His average game score is 0.11. So obviously it’s a very small sample, but you’re onto something here. He’s looked better, he’s getting better results, better chances and producing more in the games he’s earned more ice time.”
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Justin Williams was worth the money — duh
The one and only “Mambo No. 5” was blasting in the LCA dressing room after what would (probably) be the last Hurricanes game of the regular season. I didn’t think it had a meaning at the time — they’ve played this one a few times before. Someone in the Hurricanes locker room loves this song, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it is Jordan Martinook.
Anyway, I tweeted about it and one of you suggested the glorious song played because Justin Williams was riding a five-game goal streak. Makes sense, then I was like, “Woah, let’s stop and think about this for a second — Justin Williams is on a five-game goal streak.”
And not just any five-game goal streak, that’s six goals in five games to you, partner.
The Canes were maddeningly inconsistent after Williams’ storybook return. Two wins, one loss, one win, one loss, two wins, one loss, one win, one loss, one win, one loss, one win. Then four straight losses. Often in Williams’ career, he seems to emerge to fix whatever is ailing the team around him during these stretches. His five-game goal streak started during that third loss, and went strong as the Hurricanes ended the regular season on a three-game win streak.
There was a running joke in the Hurricanes locker room that the hot water ran out peculiarly close to Williams returning. “Thanks, Justin,” etc. they’d joke.
I’d venture the cold showers paid off.
Of course, it wasn’t just about the goal streak, but how it was happening — ugly tip-ins, deflections, vaguely standing in front of the net. While this can seem random, it usually isn’t. The Canes were trying too hard to be too cute at this time of year, and I doubt they’d have ended in a playoff spot without the reminder that ugly makes things happen during the playoff push.
“I’m not really scoring them, did you see how when I have empty nets, I don’t really shoot at them?” Williams joked at PPG Paints Arena after scoring two goals, and yes, missing an empty net. “I just kind of tip them in. That’s how I like to do it. Nah, after I missed that one I really had to atone … This time of year, that’s what it is. It’s dirty, it’s grind, it’s rebounds, it’s all over the place. It’s pretty rare to get the Tic-Tac-Toe goals — that hasn’t really worked the last 15 games, I feel.”
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He ended up performing exactly as necessary for the Hurricanes after signing his mid-season contract. Whatever comes next, he did his thing.
Morgan Geekie rode off into the sunset as a franchise legend
Three goals and one assist (so generous) for four points in two total NHL games played. People don’t forget.
Dougie Hamilton had a Norris-caliber start
A week before what was almost Dougie Hamilton’s first All-Star appearance of his eight-season NHL career, just as the 26-year-old was on pace for a career season in goals, points and plus/minus, the Hurricanes defenseman suffered a broken left fibula in Carolina’s 3-2 loss at Columbus on Jan 17.
He had Brind’Amour calling him the “most important player” on his team, which means a lot coming from Brind’Amour considering Hamilton had been branded an offensive defenseman while Brind’Amour was a defensive offenseman.
Those two were really figuring it out — Hamilton was proud to log minutes on the penalty kill because he knew that’s a badge of honor to Brind’Amour. He’d also been crushing it on the power play and the entire unit took a hit when he went down.
The good news?
First off, it was a clean break, so the injury won’t physically change him.
Second, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell told me there’s a good chance he’ll be ready to go when all of our quarantines finally end.
First-line Svech
Obviously, when we think about 2019-20 Andrei Svechnikov, we will think about multiple Michigans. But this was the season he really earned Brind’Amour’s trust as a first-line player.
Yeah, he still messed up with the stick infractions — his 54 PIMs were second on the team to noted tough guy Joel Edmundson. But as Brind’Amour finally unleashed Svechnikov alongside Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, he’d always give you a look as to say: “What else did you want me to do?”
It seriously reminded me of when you used to pick Pablo Sanchez in the Backyard Baseball video game and the announcer would be like, “The kid can play!”
As Svechnikov chronicled after just missing a hat trick in Arizona a few days after Brind’Amour took the first-line Svech plunge:
Svechnikov, after two goals and almost a hat trick: “What’s up, guys?”
The Athletic: “How are ya?”
Svechnikov: “Unbelievable, you?”
The Athletic: “You, Aho and Teravainen really have some chemistry, huh?”
Svechnikov: “I feel they are the best in the world of Finnish, it’s very enjoyable to play with those guys, and like you see we score a couple goals. It’s great for us.”
Coyotes reporter: “Just to be clear, you said those two Finnish guys are the best?”
Svechnikov: “The best, yeah.”
Coyotes reporter: “You said that, right?”
Svechnikov: “I mean, yeah.”
(I’ll never get tired of this.)
Sebastian Aho probably would’ve become the third player in franchise history to hit the 40-goal mark
Two goals away.
Unbelievable but true — Eric Staal and Jeff O’Neil are the two Hurricanes to have done it.
Aho will do it eventually.
Teuvo Teravainen was consistently a beast
I want every single person reading this to remember the time Teravainen messed up for the first time in maybe decades by not shooting the puck. He doesn’t shoot the puck often, and you usually wince then get over it. We cut him a lot of slack around here for that, because he sauces it with the best of them in the league. But man, that empty net against the Avalanche on Feb. 28 was an all-timer.
Though the Canes would lose 3-2, Teravainen promptly made up for his own mistake with two, third-period goals — then it was right back to business as usual.
The Athletic: “Did you kind of think in the third, ‘OK, I’m just gonna shoot it now’?”
Teravainen: “I don’t know. If I see someone open, I’ll still try to pass. But I’ll probably shoot a couple, too.”
OK, fine.
Teravainen finished right behind Aho in points, with 15 goals and 48 assists for 63 points (three behind Aho). What’s more is he pulled weight when Aho went on negative streaks, and it’s clear these two work with each other.
Sebastian Aho (right) and Teuvo Teravainen (86) (James Guillory / USA Today)
Aho and Teravainen were best together, and maybe that’s best of all. This was the season of the power kill.
I walked out of the Scotiabank Saddledome after Warren Foegele scored two shorthanded goals, feeling like I had scored them myself.
The day prior I’d written about how effective the Hurricanes penalty kill is. It was a crazy game regardless, so as I was walking out of the arena the security guard said “Guess you won’t struggle for a storyline tonight, eh (for real, eh)?”
I winked (when else will I be this correct), and said “Pal, I already did.”
The Hurricanes penalty kill has been my favorite storyline of the season for a few reasons. No. 1, being right is awesome. But also — I appreciate the retro, Pavel Bure vibes. I respect playing your best players as much as you can and challenging them to do some full-court press and maybe snag a puck — because they do. I appreciate Brind’Amour’s guts in all of this, and I appreciate Aho’s and Teravainen’s willingness to comply. I also appreciate the conditioning it takes to be them.
The tandem of Aho and Teravainen on the penalty kill had been brewing since 2017-18, but it flourished this season. It made the act of the Hurricanes committing a minor penalty actually fun. That would prove important, as the Canes took the second-most minor penalties in the league.
The Hurricanes ended up No. 4 in the league with an 84 percent penalty kill percentage, and No. 2 in shorthanded goals with 10.
None of this quite captures the electricity that is the Aho-Teravainen penalty kill tandem, though.
Aho totaled 122:44 shorthanded time on ice this season and Teravainen got 120:37. They were shifted together almost constantly.
Aho’s last goal of the season was a shorty, mind you.
Brind’Amour: “You gotta give (Aho credit), but you gotta give 86 credit. They’re a little bit of a tandem. You talk about special teams — they were a huge part of that.”
Aho: “We play pretty well together, we can read each other. That’s how we do it. We don’t even need to talk that much — I kinda know where he’s going to put pressure and he knows where I’m going to put the pressure.”
Rod Brind’Amour seemed to be evolving as a coach
I saw this in aforementioned things, like first-line Svech. But it was also in his honesty when things went wrong. Scott Burnside really captured this for me.
Hockey will be back
And maybe we will appreciate it more than we ever have.
(Top photo of Justin Williams: Jeff Bottari / NHLI via Getty Images)