
The Carolina Hurricanes placed goaltender Antti Raanta on waivers Saturday afternoon.
At Sunday's pre-game skate, members of the media spoke with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour and Sebastian Aho about the situation. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the situation: He's been part of our group for a while. You don't like to see it, but obviously his game wasn't quite there. It's such an important position. Other players can have a little bit of off time, but when a goalie is not quite there, it's glaring. It is what it is, I guess.
On if he's been playing at less than 100%: Nope.
On the mental challenge of goaltending: There's a lot that goes into that position other than technique. Your confidence is a big deal, a big part of it, like any player, but that position gets magnified both when you win games and when you lose games. Sometimes it's overdone on both sides of it, but we have to keep moving on.
On if the position needs to be addressed in a more significant way: That's a question for Tom [Dundon] at this point. It's part of the business. That position is so important. It's something that you can't have enough of.
On if it's something that falls on the team too: It's easy to point the finger at the goalie. That's the last line of defense. There's plenty of blame to go around when that happens because the puck doesn't get to the goal by itself. We can definitely be better there and there's a lot of guys that need to be a little better.
On the room's demeanor: Nobody likes to see their buddies get traded or for that happen to them. So there's going to be a little bit of... I don't know the right word, but it's not great. But coming back today, everybody's got a job to do. We've gotta turn the page, move on and find a way to get two points. That's the name of the game.
Sebastian Aho
On Raanta: Obviously a well-liked guy. Gets along with everyone and very positive. Just a great guy, great teammate, so obviously it's tough to see that stuff happen. At the same time, it's the business we're all in. We all understand it at some point. It's not all on him. We've been struggling. That's never how it works. It's never just one guy, but obviously goalie is a tough job, I feel like. You're either the hero or the anti-hero. It's tough. I don't even know what the next phase is or what's going to happen, but whatever happens to him and his family, I just hope all the best.
On the effect on the room: We all have a job to do. Obviously, we haven't been performing as up to our standards. That has to change. Obviously it's tough to see stuff like that happen, but at the same time, we all have a job to do.
On the team shouldering responsibility too: 100%. This has to be a wake-up call for this locker room and everyone has to take a deep look in the mirror and show up to work and do our best tonight. It's tough whenever stuff like this happens, but it's hockey. It's a business. We have to move forward.
On the instability in net: You take Freddie out of any lineup, it's going to affect you. He's an elite goaltender. Like I said, a goalie's job is weird. It shows every night and when the team's not playing as well in front of you as they could, it's tough on goalies. We have to do a better job in front of them
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