Are we there yet?

By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Anyone who knows me knows the fervor with which I follow Cleveland sports.  It takes a special kind of masochism to cheer for teams that you just know will find a way to rip your heart out at precisely the wrong time.  My parents still have yet to recover from seeing John Elway march down the field in the 1987 AFC championship.  For older generations, Willie Mays and Rocky Colavito still awaken painful memories.  Jose Mesa.  Earnest Byner.  Art Modell.  Michael Jordan-over-Craig Ehlo.

The list goes on...and on...and on...and on.

I don't use the above introduction to hint that the current incarnation of the Carolina Hurricanes will somehow find a way to give up a 98-yard drive, move to Baltimore and resurrect themselves as a shell of their former existence.  Rather, it's a commentary on the fact that I've seen a lot of losing in my day, and this year's Canes would feel right at home with a nondescript 2-14 Browns team and a 65-97 Indians club.  As I write this on Sunday morning, the Canes have lost eight in a row, and that's quite the accomplishment when you consider they've played but twelve games.  At this point, does anyone doubt that they'll make it nine in a row when the second-place-in-the-West Sharks visit the RBC this afternoon?

I won't rehash the arguments for or against Michael Leighton getting the start yesterday in Philadelphia, as that's being discussed in detail elsewhere.  I've been beating the Ward-needs-a-break drum for a while now, and it's high time he got one.  However, I am worried now that Leighton got plastered yesterday, will he ever make a meaningful start again this season?  Could we be looking at a situation where Ward plays 70-some games, makes everyone forget about Arturs Irbe's 2000-01 season and burns out well before a deep playoff run?

What scares me more than anything is this quote from Paul Maurice after the game, as told to Chip Alexander:

"We didn't make a lot of mental mistakes like blown coverages or cheating or not competing. We were better in so many areas. I know that's hard for me to sell that. ... When you get beat 6-1, you can't be sitting there saying we were right there, because you weren't."

Even granting Maurice the premise, which is tenuous at best and, more likely, cheerleading to keep a team's fragile psyche from completely collapsing, there is enough in that statement to give Canes fans nightmares.  If a "better" effort means that you lose a game 6-1 to the eighth-place team in the conference, then what happens when you don't get that "better" effort and lay an egg?  9-1?  12-1?  Where does it end?  Getting a good effort should mean that you're at least competitive on the scoreboard.  Maurice may have liked what he saw, such as it was, but it's well past time for moral victories.  They might count every once in a while, but when you pull out the "we did things well" card repeatedly it loses its luster.

Now, before running off on a fire-the-coach tangent, remember that the Canes are still paying Peter Laviolette to not coach them.  There is a better chance of your humble reporter appearing on page one of the New York Times for finding the cure for cancer in his down time from writing the great American novel than there is that the Canes will have three head coaches on the payroll.  Maurice isn't going anywhere, so let's just quash that right now.

What is clear, however, is that changes need to be made.  Whether that means moving a franchise stalwart, making someone a healthy scratch, demoting someone to the minors, or something else, the Canes' 2-7-3 start has proven that the current mix, while good on paper, simply isn't working in real life.  Now, they have to try to pull themselves out of the dungeon in November, traditionally a tough month for the Canes under Paul Maurice.  His seven Novembers with the Canes have resulted in a cumulative record of 44-41 with 14 ties, or roughly 14 November points per year.  That projects the Canes to 7-7-1 in November this year, and puts them at 11-14-4 at the end of the month.  Not nearly as bad as where they're at now, but still no sure bet to make the postseason.

As I Tweeted yesterday, what we're seeing isn't a slump.  Slumps end at some point.  The Canes have given no indication of when this malaise might finally break, and even when it does there's no guarantee that the juggernaut that went 18-6-2 down the stretch last year will resurrect itself.  Given the hole the Canes have dug for themselves, a run like that is about the only way they can reinsert themselves into the playoff conversation.

If this isn't rock bottom, I'd hate to see what it's like when the Canes do hit it.  In the meantime...only 155 days till Opening Day.