Hurricanes Raise Nearly $300,000 for Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts In 6-4 Loss to Predators
A veteran Nashville lineup hung six on the younger Canes Wednesday night at Lenovo Center, but a lot of good came from the night.
The Carolina Hurricanes might have lost 6-3 in a lopsided matchup against the Nashville Predators Wednesday night at Lenovo Center, but there's still a lot to be positive about from the game.
Namely that the Canes raised over $235,000 from ticket revenue Hurricane Helene relief efforts from the sellout crowd.
The Hurricanes offered a special discounted ticket night for fans, offering general admission tickets for just $10.
In addition, the team took donations and also held a silent auction to help raise even more money as well bringing the total close to $300,000.
"Obviously that's the most important thing coming out of tonight," said Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "I think just everybody coming together... anything can help. What's going on down there... this is just having fun. They're dealing with real stuff so anything we can do to help is great."
In terms of the game, it was about what you would expect from a mainly prospect and PTO group going up against a lineup of nearly all NHL regulars.
The Canes were heavily outshot and outmatched all night, but Carolina did manage to have their moments in spurts and they made it a closer game toward the end.
Felix Unger Sorum, for one, continues to showcase why he's going to be a really good NHL player one day.
The forward had a three-point night with a goal and two primary assists while also going five-for-eight in the faceoff dot.
"He's fearless," Brind'Amour said. "He's just a kid still and learning a new position and all that. He's just right here, right now and I think there's still a lot of room for growth when he gets stronger naturally and figures out the game a little bit, because he's still asking a lot of questions and he should. We're excited about him."
Ryan Suzuki, Brendan Lemieux and Bradly Nadeau all also found themselves on the scoresheet.
The Hurricanes penalty kill also had a perfect showing, going 4-for-4 against the Nashville power play of Roman Josi, Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O'Reilly, who last year scored a combined 177 goals between them.
"Yeah, that's a positive," Brind'Amour said. "They didn't score on the power play, right? They probably had their looks, but I appreciate you bringing that up. That's a good one. They were what, 0-for-5? 0-for-4? That's definitely a positive.
Defensively it was a struggle, but the Canes put up some goals and honestly held their own in the final two frames.
And in the end, the important part was the money that was raised and the lessons that were learned by the young prospects.
"I think just overall, as a group, it was a tough start," Brind'Amour said. "But you still saw a lot of resiliency in some guys. Could have went the other way. We battled hard all night, we were just overmatched clearly. I think we hung in there and you take the small positives. There were a few guys that definitely hung in there a lot better than others and showed well."
