The Carolina Hurricanes and shootouts have, historically, not mixed well.
Over the past three seasons, the 'Canes are 4-11 in the controversial tiebreaking skills competition, having been outscored 10-18.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings are a more respectable 16-17 over the same time span, having outscored opponents 31-30. New Hurricanes coach Bill Peters hails from that background, and he will certainly need to overhaul his new team's shootout tactics soon.
At his introductory press conference last month, Peters didn't name shootouts as one of his three focus areas for improvement, but he easily could have.
Peters discussed shootouts at a Saturday Q&A session with fans, noting that one of the next items on his agenda would be to gather career shootout success rates for each 'Canes player.
He also said that most coaches are too rigid with their shootout selections, expressing a willingness to change the cast of three shooters frequently and consider defensemen for selection as well.
Peters will find, for the most part, very little to work with.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Carolina Hurricanes Slowly Recognizing Importance of Shootouts
July 27th, 2014 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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