Carolina was picked to win The Stanley Cup two years in a row by The Hockey News Yearbook.
The fact that the Rangers are beating the Hurricanes three games to none may be surprising to some.
After all, Carolina's favorite NHL team was picked to win The Stanley Cup — not once, but — two years in a row by The Hockey News Yearbook.
And for good reason.
The Raleigh sextet appears to have everything a Cup-winner needs, at every conceivable position. Ah, but wait a minute. What about the fact that the Canes last eight playoff losses — dating back to the Panthers series last spring — were by one goal. How amazing is that; and how revealing.
Eight losses by one goal tells me that Brind'Amour's team lacks a KILLER INSTINCT.
Period.
That's why The Maven calls them Team Close-But-No-Cigar. This is a club that finds a way to lose close playoff games. It's right there in the numbers. Even more enlightening is a notable note Jared Clinton inserted in this year's THN Yearbook: "Since Brind'Amour's arrival, the Hurricanes have been the league's most analytically superior squad in a number of key 5-on-5 categories."
It looks good on paper but what about all those one-goal losses. This is "Team Close But No Cigar" if ever there was one.
And I say that Laviolette has been around the circuit long enough to have figured that no matter how analytically pure the Canes may be, they are flawed when the chips are down.
It also helps explain why Carolina's last minute third period tying goal didn't faze Lavvy one iota.
"I really was confident," he concludes.
Who can argue with a guy whose club has won seven playoff games in a row?
Not The Maven!