For ‘Fishy, Svechy, Turbo, Slavo,’ their time has come. The Hurricanes’, too.
The old warhorse Jordan Staal, veteran of many a lengthy playoff series, mentioned his four younger star teammates by their nicknames during a Zoom call on Friday, and it sounded like he was naming the Four Horsemen of the Modern Apocalypse.
In Staal’s parlance, they are known as “Fishy, Svechy, Turbo, Slavo.” These are only aliases. Their real names are Aho, Svechnikov, Teravainen and Slavin. They form the vanguard of the Carolina Hurricanes.
As the Hurricanes prepare to open the NHL’s first-ever qualifying round against the New York Rangers in the NHL’s Toronto bubble Saturday afternoon, for all the talk about which goalie will start and how the Hurricanes will fare without Dougie Hamilton, the real dividing line in the series will be young stars vs. young stars, talent on talent, skill on skill.
The Hurricanes have Sebastian Aho, the Rangers have Mika Zibanejad. The Hurricanes have Andrei Svechnikov, the Rangers have Artemi Panarin. The Hurricanes have Teuvo Teravainen, the Rangers have Ryan Strome. The Hurricanes have Jaccob Slavin, the Rangers have Jacob Trouba. Of that group, only Panarin, a Hart Trophy finalist, is older than 25, and he’s only 28.
Both franchises have built themselves around cores of young talent, especially in terms of depth on defense. That’s always been the Hurricanes’ way, by necessity. It has become the Rangers’ way, in a cap world, after years of wasteful overspending on high-priced veterans. For the Hurricanes, last season was this group’s introduction to playoff hockey. The Rangers are getting it now.
So the questions about where and how this series will be won have to start there, with each team’s fastball, a combination of forwards with dazzling moves and skilled defensemen suited for the modern game. And from the Hurricanes’ Four Horsemen, it’ll have to be more than last season.
Aho had 12 points in the 15 playoff games, but struggled with an injury that kept him from taking faceoffs for a big chunk of the playoffs. Svechnikov started hot, got knocked out and never really found his footing when he came back. Teravainen wasn’t the playmaker he can be at his best. Slavin was … well, Slavin is always Slavin.
Which is to say, last year wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anywhere close to what these players can achieve. Aho in particular has so much more to offer. Svechnikov is a completely different player than he was 15 months ago. Teravainen was having a remarkable regular season before it ended abruptly. Slavin was … well, Slavin is always Slavin.
“The group we had last year, the core that we have, those kids … all those guys, they know how to do it,” Staal said.
This is a chance for all of them — and others, to be sure — to show what they can do on this largest of stages, presumably unencumbered at this point by any of the usual 82-game wear-and-tear on their bodies. The Hurricanes envision this group at the heart of considerable future success for many years to come. Last year was a beginning, an introduction, and the Hurricanes went farther than anyone expected. There can be no turning back.
Because in a salary-cap world, even one tweaked and altered by the NHL and NHLPA amid the pandemic, the window doesn’t stay open forever. Svechnikov is only a year away from a new contract that will rival Aho’s; someone (or someones) will have to go to make room for that. Change is the only inevitability. It may seem like this group is only getting started, but the clock is already ticking.
Fishy, Svechy, Turbo, Slavo. By any names, their time has come. It is here. It is now.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 2:15 PM with the headline "For ‘Fishy, Svechy, Turbo, Slavo,’ their time has come. The Hurricanes’, too.."
