As the Carolina Hurricanes head to South Florida, there are two ways to look at tonight’s game.
On one side of the coin, Carolina exceeded expectations this season. This is the franchise’s sixth conference finals appearance, good for the 13th best in league history. The Canes have more conference final appearances than 20 other teams.
With core players locked up on great deals and plenty of cap space and assets, the future is bright for the Hurricanes. The core and young players are getting valuable experience against a great team deep in the playoffs.
But that is not how sports work.