{"id":8922,"date":"2026-05-17T15:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T15:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:44:14","slug":"carolina-hurricanes-waiting-game-continues-ahead-of-eastern-conference-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

When the NHL holds its postseason tournament, it\u2019s supposed to be a grind for whatever teams can make it to late May and June.<\/p>\n

But there has been nothing hectic or grueling about these Stanley Cup playoffs<\/a> for the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve hardly had anything to do.<\/p>\n

Across a period of more than a month, they\u2019ve played eight games. Won them all, and that\u2019s what has caused this spring inactivity.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve waited more than a week to not only learn who they\u2019ll play \u2013 either the Buffalo Sabres or Montreal Canadiens — in the Eastern Conference finals, but when they\u2019ll play again.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s progress on that front because we know a date \u2013 Thursday night. When the Hurricanes return to the ice for Game 1 in Raleigh, N.C., it will be another case of the conversation revolving around the pros and cons of rust vs. rest.<\/p>\n

This latest layoff for the Hurricanes at least comes with a point of reference \u2013 to some degree, they\u2019ve already gone through this once this postseason, waiting a week between the opening round and the Eastern Conference semifinals. This gap in games will cover nearly two weeks.<\/p>\n

So coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour has leaned on that recent experience<\/a> to get through the past week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always say \u2018sharpening the knife,\u2019 \u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep razor sharp on what we do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all has gone perfect for the Hurricanes in these playoffs. The first line has been rather inactive on the scoresheet, but that ought to be considered a blessing to go 8-0 and still wait on Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov to kick it into gear.<\/p>\n

The goaltending part has gone better than any Hurricanes fan could have hoped for. Frederik Andersen has been splendid in tending to the crease for the entirety of Carolina\u2019s postseason run so far.<\/p>\n

He was pretty much a part-timer during the regular season, ringing up a 16-14-5 record as rookie Brandon Bussi made waves in the nets. But Brind\u2019Amour went with the experience angle when choosing who to send out for the first game against the Ottawa Senators.<\/p>\n

There hasn\u2019t been a reason to make a change, so it has been Andersen all the time.<\/p>\n

And given the reduced rate of games for the Hurricanes, the whole part-time job aspect might be right down Andersen\u2019s alley.<\/p>\n

For a team in the middle of the playoffs, some of the quotes from Carolina players sound like comments that might be heard in September on the dawn of a new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to get going again,\u201d captain Jordan Staal said.<\/p>\n

As the Hurricanes have waited, one thing hasn\u2019t changed from when the horn sounded on Game 4 in Philadelphia as the Hurricanes dismissed the Flyers into offseason vacation.<\/p>\n

Carolina still needs to win eight more games to achieve its goal. So don\u2019t worry, the grind will come.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the NHL holds its postseason tournament, it\u2019s supposed to be a grind for whatever teams can make it to late May and June. But there has been nothing hectic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":8923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1565,3738,619,1624,7220,3222,1060,3063,6222],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nCarolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"966\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Creamer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Creamer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Creamer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9e44a9f85955141f414dc099652b91a\"},\"headline\":\"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\"},\"wordCount\":510,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125\",\"keywords\":[\"ahead\",\"Carolina\",\"Conference\",\"continues\",\"eastern\",\"finals\",\"Game\",\"hurricanes\",\"waiting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\",\"name\":\"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125\",\"width\":1460,\"height\":966},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"description\":\"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Frisco Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9e44a9f85955141f414dc099652b91a\",\"name\":\"Chris Creamer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chris Creamer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=34\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times","description":"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times","og_description":"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.","og_url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922","og_site_name":"Frisco Times","article_published_time":"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1460,"height":966,"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chris Creamer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_site":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Creamer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922"},"author":{"name":"Chris Creamer","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9e44a9f85955141f414dc099652b91a"},"headline":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals","datePublished":"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922"},"wordCount":510,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125","keywords":["ahead","Carolina","Conference","continues","eastern","finals","Game","hurricanes","waiting"],"articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922","name":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals - Frisco Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125","datePublished":"2026-05-17T15:02:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00","description":"The Carolina Hurricanes are 8-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now face another lengthy layoff before the Eastern Conference finals.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779030032125","width":1460,"height":966},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=8922#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Carolina Hurricanes Waiting Game Continues Ahead of Eastern Conference Finals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","name":"Frisco Times","description":"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization","name":"Frisco Times","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Frisco Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9e44a9f85955141f414dc099652b91a","name":"Chris Creamer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","caption":"Chris Creamer"},"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=34"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8924,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8922\/revisions\/8924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}