Carolina Hurricanes
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CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 4, 2021 Status quo wasn’t going to get it done for Hurricanes. Maybe this massive retooling will. By Luke DeCock this team further in the postseason than the ones they replaced. Now that the dust has settled on two cataclysmic weeks of player movement that turned over a full third of the Carolina That starts in net, where Aanti Raanta has put up terrific Hurricanes’ roster, two conclusions have clearly emerged numbers when healthy — which hasn’t been all that often. from the madness. Raanta has all the attributes of a No. 1 goalie other than durability. It makes sense to partner him with the durable and The Hurricanes still think their core group of young players is reliable Frederik Andersen, who ironically enough was good enough to win a Stanley Cup. criticized for his playoff shortcomings with the Toronto Maple They didn’t think the players around them were good enough Leafs, who in turn replaced him with … Mrazek. to win a Stanley Cup. Familiarity and contempt and all that. After three trips through the postseason that saw the The fourth line was remodeled with Martinook, Derek Stepan Hurricanes win four playoff series before being ultimately and Josh Leivo, and there’s still room — and about $4 million derailed by what were unquestionably better teams, in cap space after Svechnikov is re-signed, now priority No. 1 combined with the unfortunate but inevitable free-agent — for another top-nine forward to fill out the group. Stepan’s departure of Dougie Hamilton, it was time for some retooling. best years may be behind him, but in a limited role his It’s the hockey equivalent of a 40,000 mile service. Change smarts and leadership should be valuable to a young team. the oil, rotate the tires, give it new brake pads and rotors, Leivo has done elsewhere what Foegele and McGinn did flush the coolant and leave it parked out back. here, but at a fraction of the price. So while the long-term foundation of the team remains intact Hamilton isn’t replaceable, but the Hurricanes tried to make it — starting with young stars Sebastian Aho, Andrei up in numbers: The polarizing DeAngelo will get yet another Svechnikov, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Martin Necas — chance as a right-shot power-play specialist; Ethan Bear is almost all of the complementary pieces on the board have only 24 and a useful second-pairing piece; and both Ian Cole been shuffled. and Brendan Smith offer the kind of veteran presence the Hurricanes have lacked on the back end. Guys like Warren Foegele, Brock McGinn and Petr Mrazek had three kicks at the playoff can, and they all certainly had On paper, that’s a stronger group at the bottom even if it’s their moments of glory, but were too often ineffective when it weaker at the top without Hamilton, but a lack of defensive mattered most. Even as Alex Nedeljkovic saved the depth has been a key factor in all three of the Hurricanes’ Hurricanes’ season, the team was clearly never sold on the playoff exits. rookie goalie even before his playoff miscues. It’s hard, after winning at least one series in three straight And Hamilton, a dynamic regular-season player who also postseasons — the preliminary-round win over the Rangers seemed to fade into the wallpaper in the postseason, still counts, given the Hurricanes’ regular-season struggles nevertheless would still have been a fit here, just not for the with that team — to see such sweeping change. In some $9 million he got from the New Jersey Devils. A tip of the cap cases, like the departures of Nedeljkovic and Hamilton and to Hamilton, who will be missed. the arrival of DeAngelo, it’s downright infuriating. Not everyone was deemed replaceable: Jordan Martinook But there’s a message here: Mere tweaks to this roster got a three-year, back-loaded contract to stay, a stabilizing weren’t enough. Incremental improvement wasn’t going to be move for an otherwise quiet dressing room that will need good enough to beat teams like the Boston Bruins and some ballast with the arrival of Tony DeAngelo, who even in Tampa Bay Lightning in their pomp. More drastic measures the most positive light has been somewhat of a loose cannon were required to meet the increasing expectations this group over the course of his career. faces. More depth. More experience. The young stars still get top billing, but they’re surrounded by It was time for a change, even if few expected this much of a new players who arrive with the very specific mandate to get change. Everyone is on the same page now: As far as the Hurricanes have come, the status quo wasn’t good enough. CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 4, 2021 Why the Maple Leafs hired Dean Chynoweth as assistant coach: ‘He doesn’t accept the status quo’ By Joshua Kloke Those conversations likely turned Dean on to the idea of coaching one day and began providing him with a lifetime of Dale Weise was just five days into his time with the WHL’s experience evident to those around him. Per Maple Leafs Swift Current Broncos when he got what he calls “the Dean policy, Chynoweth was not made available to be interviewed Chynoweth experience.” for this story. Weise was 17 when he was traded to the Broncos and Jeff believes every trait that others reference in his brother, believed he was playing well through two games before from his strong work ethic to his honest, straightforward Chynoweth made him a healthy scratch for the next game. communication style, was instilled by Ed. Normally, assistant coaches put scratches through the paces on the ice but it was Chynoweth, the head coach, introducing “Dad would always say ‘You win with class, you lose with Weise to his brand of hockey. class,’” said Jeff. “Dean and I have built our career on what we learned from our father.” “He absolutely bagged me,” said Weise. “That set the tone.” Dean took those values into his own game. As a no- Weise believed his skill alone would take him through junior nonsense blueliner, he was a first-round pick of the New hockey. But as he skated the length of the ice again and York Islanders in 1987 and would spend 10 seasons again, he believed Chynoweth, hired on July 12 as assistant bouncing up and down from the Islanders, the Bruins and the coach of the Maple Leafs, wanted more from him. minors. His suspicions were confirmed after the bag skate as they Injuries, including concussions, piled up, and he was forced sat together on the bench in the Centennial Civic Centre, and to watch more games than he would have liked from the Chynoweth told Weise he was the player he had coveted in press box. the trade. It was then that Jeff noticed his brother “following things a “The way he developed me as a player, he was extremely little closer,” and their conversations veered toward the hard on me. He forced me to be better. He made me earn observations he made. Concussions ultimately ended his everything. That set me up for so many things as I turned career at 30. But toward the end of his career, he became, in pro. I could handle adversity and being held accountable,” Jeff’s estimation, a “student of the game.” said Weise. Longtime NHL centre Butch Goring, who had coached After 513 NHL games, Weise credits both the accountability Chynoweth for three seasons with the AHL’s Capital District Chynoweth demanded and his upfront communication for Islanders, offered him a spot as an assistant on his bench getting him there. with the IHL’s Utah Grizzlies. “He’s the most impactful person I’ve had in my whole career Dean found it easy to relate to players in the minors. Having by far,” said Weise. “I literally owe the world to him.” seen his career as a highly touted high pick not pan out, he’d That accountability and communication, along with his been in their position. More than anything, Jeff believes it experience, are what could make Chynoweth a fit for a Leafs was the conversations with the young players, unsure of the team trying to take the next step and finally experience next steps in their careers, which inspired him. playoff success. “The bug bit him,” said Jeff. “The bug bit him”: Having experience in spades He had a four-season stint with the WHL’s Seattle Jeff Chynoweth fondly remembers many nights at the dinner Thunderbirds and began coaching with Canada’s under-18 table with his brother, Dean, and his father, Ed. and under-20 teams before settling in to help rebuild the Broncos as head coach. Ed, the longtime president of the WHL, would return from work and after hearing about his children’s respective days, “Word of his character had travelled throughout the WHL,” the two sons would always quiz their father: what happened said Broncos assistant coach Dave Hunchak, “and his with a highly touted young player? Why did one team have passion for the game.” success and another didn’t? Both men wanted heavy players who could bring a physical “It was like going to school at night, given the things you presence on the ice. Off the ice, Chynoweth only wanted learn,” said Jeff Chynoweth, now general manager of the players with “high character,” according to Hunchak. WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.