I thought it might be good to see what everyone is thinking about the "new look" Canes. My take:

I like that the defense has gotten a whole lot bigger, even at the expense of guys like Hackman. However, when you have a big defense, you have to expect that they are going to punish opposing forwards. I still am not seeing that on a regular basis. Our guys seem to still be getting beat to the puck, and do not regularly lay enough meaningful hits to keep opposing players hearing footsteps. One can only hope that this gargantuan group can work on their foot speed, and toughness, and start becoming "hard to play against" I think the changes on the blue line are good, and should pay dividends down the line.

This one comes down to the coaches, but when will we see a proper defensive system implemented? Regular 40+ shots against games do nothing but embarrass our goaltenders. We simply can't keep expecting them to see this much rubber game in and game out without predictable results. The boys are still running around in our end a lot of the time, and there seems to be a never ending cascade of goals scored by opposition forwards that don't have a Hurricane within 10 feet of them. I always though that this was one of the major downfalls of the DB coached team. I find it funny that coach Maxwell said after last night's game that you win most games if you score 7 goals. He should have also said that you don't win many games when you allow 60 shots on goal. Bravo to the goaltenders, they are both very good, and I think with less average shots on goal, they both could be, deservedly, very highly rated.

It looks like the offence is starting to show some life under Anholt. It seems that the guys have a little extra jump most games, and it looks like he is allowing the offence to be just that. The forecheck is getting better, and is causing more turnovers and goals. Some guys, like Estephan for example, are really starting to come around, and show the qualities that made them high draft picks. His line with Wong and Burke, are really starting to shine. The scoring looks(?) like it might be spreading around a little, and the team is starting to have 4, 5, 6 goal games more regularly.

The team looks better, generally, and I think with a little time under their belts, they could be a playoff team. With a little more real good scouting and drafting, this team could be back on the path to respectability.