Hurricanes enter Stanley Cup Playoffs without a clear starter in net, and that’s OK
The old rule, as the Carolina Hurricanes so ably proved during the final season of their Dark Ages, was that if you have two captains, you have no captain at all.
The ironic part of that was not only was their next captain in the room at the time, the captain after that was stuck being one of the awkward co-captains.
Not to rehash all of that ancient, awful history at a time when the Hurricanes are entering their fifth straight postseason since that error (and so many, many others) was corrected, but the same rule has traditionally applied to goalies in the NHL playoffs: If you have two No. 1 goalies, you have no No. 1 goalie at all.
As the Hurricanes head into the playoffs with No. 1, No. 1A and No. 1B goalies, and it’s anyone’s guess who ranks where at this point, it’s fair to ask whether that particular rule still applies, at least to the Hurricanes.
It’s always been in Rod Brind’Amour’s coaching DNA to use all of his goalies anyway, and given the options available, that may make the most sense for the Hurricanes.
“I don’t think we have a set plan,” Brind’Amour said Saturday. “I think we’ve got certainly an idea of how we want to do it and hopefully it sticks to that. But we’re pretty confident in both guys and we’re open to anything at this point.”
Frederik Andersen, over the long arc of history, gives the Hurricanes the best chance to win the Stanley Cup, but has been so maddeningly erratic that it’s impossible to say he gives the Hurricanes the best chance to beat the New York Islanders on Monday.
Antti Raanta’s play down the stretch has clearly earned him the start Monday, not to mention his undefeated 11-0-1 record at PNC Arena, but he’s worn down under the playoff workload before, which suggests that even if he starts this series in goal, he may not end it.
And then there’s Pyotr Kochetkov, the ultimate wild card — nepredskazuemoe javlenie — who’s capable of just about anything, and while he’s fighting for an AHL playoff spot in Chicago at the moment, in the right (or wrong) circumstances he could become this year’s version of Cam Ward circa 2006.
At some point, Andersen is going to have to get the opportunity to shed the postseason baggage he accumulated in Toronto and still carries with him, the one that didn’t happen a year ago. But it might not be right away this time around. Nor does it have to be.
If the Hurricanes are in for the long haul, as they hope to be, there’s no reason they have to start the same goalie 28 times. If their history alone is any indication, it’ll take two guys. Maybe even three.
Why not start out with that mentality by choice, rather than adopting it by necessity? It’s what the Hurricanes have done all year when both guys are healthy, and just because it’s traditional to lean on one goalie in the postseason, that doesn’t mean it has to be that way.
Raanta’s earned the right to start Game 1. Andersen’s earned the right to play, and might just have a bee in his bonnet waiting for his turn.
So perhaps the debate isn’t who should start Game 1, with the assumption that the net will be his until it is relinquished, the traditional model of playoff goaltending, but who should start Game 2 or Game 3, no matter what happens in Game 1 or 2.
The Hurricanes may not have a clear No. 1 goalie, but nothing says they need to have one, either. Why not two?
Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at tinyurl.com/lukeslatest to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.
Luke DeCock’s Latest: Never miss a column on the Canes, ACC or other Triangle sports
This story was originally published April 15, 2023 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Hurricanes enter Stanley Cup Playoffs without a clear starter in net, and that’s OK."
