Every year, the Carolina Hurricanes face a similar situation. The State Fair occurring across the street from PNC Arena, and the hundreds of thousands of people converging on West Raleigh, forces the Canes onto the road for multiple games very early in the season. The conventional wisdom is that trip largely determines the tone for the early part of the season and often puts the team behind the pace of the rest of the conference, requiring a late surge to contend for a playoff spot.
Or does it?
The early-season trip has been a regular feature of the Canes’ schedule since 2003, a year after a Saturday game against New Jersey coupled with an N.