It’s been a long road to the southeast, but now that we’re here you might realize I have run out of creative ways to talk about what identifies your team, or what they’re best known for. So, rats, that terrible siren the Washington Capitals use after they score a goal, and the storm warning hurricane siren. The southeast can be described in so many different ways, but these songs really cut to the core of the division.
The Carolina Hurricanes – Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, The Soggy Bottom Boys
The explanation doesn’t really need to be long. Of all four Staal brothers that are in the NHL, three of them play for the Carolina Hurricanes. Eric, Jordan, and Jared all joined forces nearing the end of the season to make a Staal-Staal-Staal line. Let’s hope the Staal’s are the answer for the Hurricanes, because it was a roller coaster of a season.
The Florida Panthers – Ain’t No Sunshine, Bill Withers
It’s funny that in a place called Sunrise, Florida, there isn’t any sunshine during the season for those Panthers. Dale Tallon worked his magic with the Chicago Blackhawks and is poised and prepared to do the same thing with the Panthers. Trouble is, sometimes you can do the exact same things and use the same process and it’s not always going to work out. Hopefully the draft will shed some light on the tunnel the Panthers are stuck in.
http://youtu.be/tIdIqbv7SPo
The Tampa Bay Lighting – Ramblin’ Man, The Allman Brothers
The Lightning are a bit of an enigma. They can make the playoffs one year, go all the way to the conference final, and miss the playoffs by a large margin the next. They’ve switched out their coach, drafted reasonably well, brought in Steve Yzerman to GM the team, and he’s made a few good trades. Trading Conacher for Ben Bishop was a move that needed to happen for both teams. The moves are being made, but when you have Martin St, Louis having a career season winning the scoring title, and Stamkos doing his normal goal scoring thing, and you still don’t come close to the playoffs… something isn’t right. It would be a waste to see the last years of St. Louis and Lecavalier’s careers go without a championship run, and even more concerning is the talent of Steven Stamkos being hidden in Tampa without treating the fans to playoff Stamkos.
http://youtu.be/HWH1bdm83ZI?t=27s
The Washington Capitals – (You Drive Me) Crazy, Britney Spears
It’s an obvious comparison to the way the Capitals seasons have gone the last few years. First round exits galore, some success, missing the playoffs, Ovechkin isn’t on, Semin traded. The rollercoaster that has been the Washington Capitals didn’t stop there. Bruce Boudreau was fired as head coach and former NHLer and HHOF member Adam Oates was hired. There’s been a bit of a change within the organization, but it hasn’t produced results that have turned anything right around. Their meddling owner Ted Leonsis doesn’t help either. With all the talent they have, they really do drive me crazy.
The Winnipeg Jets – Better Things, The Kinks
After a move from Atlanta, and a resurgence of their confidence with fans that showed up to games and were heard, the Jets went from a dead market to a city craving one. Their positioning in the worst division in the NHL in 2013 made them look a little better than they were, but they still managed to miss the playoffs. They have certain pieces that provide experience including new Captain Andrew Ladd (2 Stanley Cups), and veteran defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. They have some great up and coming prospects, and it really should only go up from here.
http://youtu.be/OdCVlmmnOzA
Part 1 – Central Division
Part 2 – Northwest Division
Part 3 – Pacific Division
Part 4 – Atlantic Division
We traded Semin??? What did we get in return???