After about four and a half months off of hockey, the Carolina Hurricanes returned in dominant fashion, sweeping through their Stanley Cup Qualifier Matchup with the New York Rangers and being the first team to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper.
Their reward? At least another week off, with round one of the playoffs scheduled to start Tuesday, Aug. 11. Obviously there are both positives and negatives of a long layoff, with the negatives exacerbated by being stuck in the Toronto bubble.
“I think the focus here is we don’t want to lose sharpness but at the same time we’re not playing for a while,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour.