Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
They have more superior individual top end talent than the hurricanes. But their best center/forward( jack hughes) and their best two defensemen( siegenthaler, and Hamilton) are injured and done for the season. It will be really difficult for the devils to overcome their huge absence. Their presence and contributions were so important to that team. And now Luke Hughes is hurt too, another huge loss for them. It looks like New jersey might get swept smh.Devils can’t catch a break
And I don’t trust Sheldon Keefe as a playoff coach, mainly because he struggles to seize the moment, he struggles to command respect of his players, he struggles to prepare his team for the postseason, and he struggles to make in game adjustments on the fly. He gets often out coached and outsmarted. Trust me I’m a leafs fan, he was the former head coach of my team, the maple leafs. Nothing against the man personally but that’s the truth. Until proven otherwise he can’t win in the playoffs. He’s good in the regular season because he provides structure, stability and stresses defensive commitment but he can’t coach his team to to the next level in the playoffs because teams often take the demeanor and personality of their coach, and as a coach Keefe lacked emotion, resilience and competitiveness many times behind the bench . When things get intense and serious in the uncontrolled chaos of the playoffs, he can’t keep up with that energy and raise his game. He can handle the regular season though because it’s routine/controlled chaos, make your players commit to the team system, make them play well within it, make them work hard and make them do the same things well every game and a team will win many games.
Hurricanes will win easily this series because they are a much healthier team who is better built for the playoffs than the devils. They are also much more experienced than them. The Last time Carolina lost a first round playoff series was back in April 2001, to the defending champions at the time, the New Jersey Devils coincidentally . They haven’t lost in the first round since 2006, which was the first playoff year after the 2005 lockout that ushered the salary cap era. They haven’t always made thr playoffs but when they make it, they win the first round. Under the tutelage of head coach rod brindamour, the hurricanes advanced to the second round in 6 straight playoffs. He’s the head conch of the hurricanes since the 2018-19 season.
Hurricanes also have success because even though they’re not the the team with the most elite talent on their roster, they compensate by working hard within their strengths inside an efficient system. They are well coached and greater than the sum of their parts. I think Rod Brindamour is the Erik Spoelstra of the NHL. He is the kind of coach who can fit any player into his system and still be able to win anyway. He hasn’t won a Stanley cup title yet as a head coach but his day of glory will eventually come if the hurricanes finally find a legitimate clutch goaltender and elite talent especially on offense. I’m not convinced that Freddie Anderson is the answer for them in goal, trust me again on this, I’m a leafs fan, I know he’s not reliable when it really counts.
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