| Michael Sonday. 15th February, 2008 - 1:48 pm
 "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of life."
The theme song from that oh so witty 1980's sitcom pretty much summed up Thursday night for the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 putting them in first place in the Southeast division, but in the process the Canes lost captain Rod Brind?Amour for the season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Playing his first shift of the game, Brind?Amour was checked and sandwiched in between Penguins' Nathan Smith and Georges Laraque. During the hit Brind?Amour and Smith?s knees collided, sending Brind?Amour down to the ice. Brind?Amour lay on the ice in pain for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room by team trainers. It was later reveled that the innocent looking hit tore the ACL in his left knee.
The loss of Brind?Amour, who led the Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup, could not have come at a worse time. Last week the Hurricanes traded away forward Cory Stillman to the Ottawa Senators so the Brind?Amour injury leaves a big hole in the Hurricanes' offense.
The injury to Brind?Amour will not only hurt the Hurricanes offensively. Brind?Amour was last years' Frank J. Selke Trophy winner, an award given to the best defensive forward in the NHL. Brind?Amour has continued his tight defense this year and was relied on heavily by Coach Peter Laviolette. Brind?Amour?s 58.3 face off percentage, which is third in the NHL, was a valuable asset that the Hurricanes defense will miss the rest of the season.
In order for the Hurricanes to stay at top of the Southeast Division, they must get more out of forwards Eric Staal, Ray Whitney, and Erik Cole. Brind?Amour played almost 23 minutes a night and contributed 51 points this season so the three forwards mentioned above have a great deal of work ahead of them to fill his void.
With just 22 games remaining, Coach Laviolette will have to do his best Edna Garrett impression and find a way to keep the "boys" together. If he fails to make it work, Coach Laviolette and the Hurricanes will be learning the "facts of life" at home during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. |
