So far, this season is a disaster for the Hurricanes, a projected contender that fell flat from the get-go, hit with injuries and bedeviled by underperformance. Asked the reasons for his team's fizzle out of the gate, Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford told FanHouse, "I don't have enough fingers. It's been a little bit of everything."
Yet Carolina is showing some positive signs of late. The team snapped a franchise-record-tying 14-game winless streak last week, then followed that up by playing well in a shootout loss to Montreal. Coach Paul Maurice praised his squad after that game, and Rutherford agreed.
"The players played with confidence, and the team played with confidence," Rutherford said by phone. "We weren't waiting for things to happen. If the team continues to perform like that, I can see this thing starting to turn around."
"This group can get it done. That doesn't mean it's the group we'll stick with."
-- Jim Rutherford on the Hurricanes Making a MoveThis thing is a 3-12-5 record, and the Hurricanes' 11 points tie them at the bottom of the league with Toronto, which comes into Carolina Thursday night for a battle to avoid 30th place. The Hurricanes are last in the NHL in goals scored, yet they've allowed the second most goals, stunning considering Carolina was in the Eastern Conference finals just six months ago with essentially the same team.
Except that bunch hasn't been on the ice together much, with injuries to, among others, Joni Pitkanen, Erik Cole and Eric Staal taking a toll. Then, of course, there's the biggie: goalie Cam Ward is out until Dec. 5, at the earliest, after a severe leg laceration. Yes, all teams have injuries, but the Hurricanes' have been so extensive that fielding a complete roster has been a challenge and the salary cap is starting to become an issue.
"All teams deal with it," Rutherford said of Carolina's injury glut, "but our team wasn't able to deal with it very well."
Rutherford isn't going to point to the trainer's table as the primary reason for Carolina's struggles, at any rate. Before ever mentioning the players who have missed time, Rutherford brought up underperformance as an issue. He didn't name names, and with the Hurricanes neither scoring nor preventing goals, it's safe to say the blame is spread around pretty well. Even the injured players weren't lights out when they were able to suit up.
Nevertheless, during the 14-game winless streak, Rutherford said, the Hurricanes only played four really bad games. "There were five or six games we should have won," he said. "But that's the way it goes. Now we have to climb back out of it.
"I've never felt like there was not a good work ethic, though. It's just seemed like nothing went right."
Manny Legace has done what Rutherford expected since being picked up to fill in for Ward, and Rutherford said the good thing is that Legace has the ability to get hot and win a few games. As far as adding other pieces, though, the salary cap is going to make things tricky. That doesn't mean he's not on the phone trying to improve the club, but the possibilities are limited.
"This group can get it done," Rutherford said. "That doesn't mean it's the group we'll stick with."
"We thought he'd play at least half a season at Albany, then we brought him in to help -- and Brandon has come in and been our best player," Rutherford said. "He always projected a player who could have an impact on the organization, but at this age, the offensive skills he's shown are something."
