They say everyone has a twin out there somewhere in the universe. Research suggests that for every person there are up to 7 doppelgängers roaming around this great big blue marble. Furthermore, studies have been done about this phenomenon and it’s been concluded that people with similar facial features may share DNA even if their ancestry is from different parts of the world. Maybe the relation goes beyond just the surface? Maybe it’s part of their personality? Maybe the DNA similarities carry across work ethic, competitiveness and drive?
It’s like looking in a goddamn mirror for these 2.
Which brings us to the Carolina Hurricanes. The former Hartford Whalers with a head coach who still doesn’t believe they got swept 2 years ago. Rod the Bod or maybe Rod the Fraud?
The Hurricanes rolled into the post-season as the 2nd place team in the Metropolitan division and took on the New Jersey Devils who had secured 3rd place in the Metro. The ‘Canes made quick work of the Devils winning the first round matchup 4-1, a gentleman’s sweep, but I’d wager Brind’Amour calls it an actual sweep.
North of the border, the Toronto Maple Leafs took 1st place in the Atlantic Division and matched up against the wild-card Ottawa Senators. TOR made fairly quick work of OTT winning 4-2 to advance to the 2nd round.
In the 2nd round CAR took on WAS and dismantled the overachieving Caps in just 5gms. As we said on the most recent podcast, WAS had their focus this season on Ovechkin catching Gretzky and blew their load during the regular season. You can read some next-level rationalization from our Washington writer Disco in his series ending blog here.
On the other side of the coin, the Leafs took on the juggernaut from Florida. I’d like nothing better than to re-hash all the Laffs playoff woes, but you can just check out the pod and go to around the 3:30 mark to hear/see my comments.
So this sets up a FLA/CAR Eastern Conference Final. I mean, c’mon. This was over in the first period of Game 1 when Carter Verhagee roofed that backhand and Freddie Anderson barely reacted. And then the 2nd game? That was a curb-stomping. Like I said on the podcast, FLA in 3 games if possible. Anderson may play in CAR now but he’s still a TOR goalie. At one point in the 2nd game FLA had 3 goals on 5 shots (that’s a .600%SV), but I’m sure Brind’Amour thought they had a shutout going.
The Panthers came into Raleigh and dragged their nuts up and down the ice in front of a sold-out crowd that was chanting “SHOOT THE PUCK” in the 2nd period. By the 3rd period there were more Florida fans in the rink than Hurricane fans and I was just waiting to see jerseys getting tossed on the ice. Oh wait, that’s the other shit-bag fan base.
This series is over. The Panthers are going to steamroll Carolina the rest of this series. Guys are already looking over their shoulders (Shayne Gostisbehere) playing poorly (Andrei Svechnikov) and taking staggeringly dumb penalties (Brent Burns). And I cannot wait for Sebastian Aho to get his head caved in for acting like a tough guy while hiding behind the refs. The only player who seems to be grinding away in this series for CAR is (no surprise) Jordan Staal. As long as they don’t try to have a Pride Night, Staal will continue to show up. Even the most dynamic ‘Cane (in my opinion) Seth Jarvis, got rocked in Game 2 and was limited in his return.
So this is where the comparison comes into play. Regular season domination: TOR put up 108 points (6 ahead of the 2nd place Lightning) while CAR put up 99 points (12 behind 1st place WAS). Both teams have crumbled in the face of adversity. TOR rolled over and showed their bellies to FLA in Game 7 at home losing 6-1 in a truly embarrassing result. At least the ‘Canes didn’t get embarrassed at home.. oh wait. CAR was outscored 10-2 in the first 2 home games of their series vs. FLA. Yikes.
Hey at least Brind’Amour made some line adjustments (checks notes)… in the back half of the 3rd period of Game 2 while already down by 5 goals. To be fair that’s more than TOR HC Craig Berube did? Here’s my prediction: The ‘Canes will be diving all over the ice after Brind’Amour spends the next 2 days complaining to everyone that will listen how the refs are letting FLA get away with murder on the ice. I will say that there is one category that Brind’Amour is among the league’s very best – he’s right up there with Jon Cooper when it comes to crying to the refs.
Maybe the Florida Panthers are just too good and built to dominate in the playoffs? Seth Jones looks like he did when he was one of the best young defensemen in the league (that’s CBJ Jones, not CHI Jones). Matthew Tkachuk is starting to heat up and Sam Bennett is now tied with DAL Mikko Rantanen for the most goals in the playoffs. Every single line is contributing for FLA and they’re getting defensive scoring. And let’s not forget about the OG Rat King: Brad Marchand is playing 3rd line minutes and is absolutely thriving (and keep your head up Gostisbehere cause the Panthers sure have not forgotten about this).
So was this blog a chance to trash the ‘Canes and the ‘Leafs? Absolutely and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Bottom line is both teams are regular season heroes with overrated head coaches and have soft as puppy shit leaders that aren’t built for the postseason. Yeah I guess that paragraph would have sufficed for the whole blog, but I enjoyed it much more dragging it out.
Panthers in 4 and they’re winning the Cup no matter who they face in the Finals.
You can read more about Brownie in his bio or follow him on:
Twitter: @abrow28
Instagram: @a_brow28
Bluesky: @abrow28.bsky.social
The Morning Skate 
the Canes have won a Cup since 1967. So no.
LikeLike