Canes season finally comes to merciful end

By: Nolan Stout

The suffering is finally over.

The Carolina Hurricanes finished their season 36-35-11 with a shootout win Sunday over Philadelphia 6-5.

This was a fitting end to the season. In the last two games the Hurricanes played in the season, they showed exponentially better effort than they did in an embarrassing 5-2 loss to Washington in the last home game of the season.

The Canes blew a lead in a game in which they seemed to be in control. They had a 4-1 lead on Philadelphia and then gave up three straight to tie the game 4-4.

Jeff Skinner put the Canes up 5-4 late in the third but the Flyers were able to score with nine second left to force overtime and the shootout.

This season was a train wreck. It all started when Cam Ward was injured. After he went down, Anton Khudobin was playing stellar and it seemed like everything was going to work out, but then he went down as well.

Justin Peters came in and struggled to hold the team together. Peters was able to bounce back after a rough start and keep the ship afloat, but things were already trending down.

However, Peters and Ward cannot be alone in the blame for tough losses this season. Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk have been stellar defensively, but the rest of the defensemen were spotty at best and many times left their goaltender all alone to fend for himself.

Khudobin did finish the season with a .926 save percentage to set a new franchise record.

This season was very disappointing for a fan base starving for a trip to the playoffs. The frustration has continued to mount in the past five years and it seems that the same problems happen year after year.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the season was the weak play by the Hurricanes at home. Down the stretch, the team gave questionable effort and suffered bad losses at PNC Arena. Worst of all was the last game before Christmas break in which the Canes blew a 3-2 lead with less than five minutes remaining.

In the last month of the season they also blew third period leads against the Blue Jackets and Rangers. The latter by surrendering four goals in the third period.

The offseason is going to be very important for Carolina. With Jim Rutherford stepping down as GM and Ron Francis his likely successor, it is going to be important to see what the direction of this team will be moving forward.

It cannot be argued, however, that this franchise must make changes. One playoff appearance since winning the Stanley Cup is not good enough.

In moving forward, the head coach must be considered. Kirk Muller has done his best with what he has been given. If the team wants to continue developing their younger players then stay with him. Players like Elias Lindholm, Jeff Skinner and Riley Nash have improved greatly as the season has gone along.

However, it seems Muller has struggled to get a consistent effort out of the Canes' top players. Unless those players start playing more consistently, Muller may need to be dismissed. He is not a terrible coach, but his tenure in Carolina has been mediocre at best.

Too many times in the past few years, this organization has been called out for inconsistent effort. They have been called out for not playing hard the entire game and blowing leads in the third period. This has been happening consistently and needs to be addressed in the offseason.

There were many times that this team did not seem to play together. The few tough guys on the roster did not stand up when they needed to most.

When Alexander Semin suffered a concussion after a hit from Alex Pietrangelo in St. Louis, not a single person stood up for him. Eric Staal even tripped over him while skating past, do nothing to help and not sticking up for the team he is captain of.

Ron Hainsey did stand up for Anton Khudobin against the Dallas Stars, but there were few times this team really looked out for each other as they should.

This organization has been trending downward in the past few years. It seems they have been worried more about making the playoffs one year than becoming a perennial playoff team. This needs to change or playoff appearances may become even more rare.

Despite the uproar, owner Peter Karmanos Jr. did speak true when he said this team has a core of good players. What he did not address, however, is how well they play together. Unfortunately, asking a fan base that has seen only one playoff appearance since 2006 to be patient may not have been the best choice of words.

Many changes need to come this offseason. Whether Eric Staal loses his captaincy or Cam Ward is traded, major changes need to occur that will not only help the Hurricanes get into the playoffs not only next season, but for many seasons to come.

Straight To The Heart, Wolfpack falls 83-80 in OT

By: Nolan Stout

ORLANDO, Fla. – The game was over.

            NC State had it in the bag. They were up by 14 with five minutes left.

            Maybe they started thinking about a matchup with Louisville. Maybe they let off too much.

            All that would be fine if the Wolfpack had made their free throws.

            Those free throws cost NC State a trip to the round of 32. With an 83-80 overtime loss to St. Louis, the Wolfpack has now lost in the round of 64 twice after a trip to the Sweet 16.

            This loss hurt. It hurt worse than the last second turnover at Syracuse, worse than the buzzer beaters against Wake Forest and UNC, worse than the overtime embarrassment against NC Central. Those games were close throughout. This game was a complete and utter collapse.

            But, should we be surprised? It seems to be the trend in Wolfpack athletics this season that just when you think they are going to do the impossible, something keeps them from winning (see NC State football vs. Clemson).

            Alas, free throws have been ruining this team all season. For the year, the Wolfpack went 501-762 from the line, 62-percent. That’s over 200 points thrown away at the free throw line.

            But in losses the story is even more dismal. In the 14 games NC State lost this season they were outscored by a combined 165 points. In those losses, they went 199-313 from the free throw line.

            Those buzzer beaters at Wake Forest and Syracuse and against UNC should never have happened. Despite the fact the Wolfpack lost on a turnover to Syracuse, they went 7-14 from the line. Just two of those free throws could have changed the outcome of that game.

            It gets worse. At Wake Forest, the State went 21-31 from the free throw line and lost by one.

            Then there’s the loss against UNC. The Wolfpack foreshadowed their collapse against St. Louis. In that one point overtime loss, State went 19-31 from the free throw line including a missed free throw at the end of the of overtime that would have put them up by two. That game was theirs to win and they lost it.

            Against St. Louis, the Wolfpack gave the game away. They were being fouled for nearly three minutes and went 9-20 from the line during that time. TJ Warren missed a free throw that could have tied it in overtime and walked off the line on another free throw the Wolfpack desperately needed.

            If Warren had made his free throw to tie the game, the outcome may have been different. St. Louis got two more points from free throws to make it 83-80.

            But a few made free throws from the Wolfpack would have undoubtedly changed the outcome.

The freshmen for NC State had played well all game, but St. Louis put them on the line and dared them to come up clutch. In the end, freshmen didn’t keep State from having a great year, free throw shooting did.