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Wednesday, November 17, 1999
'Canes know how Sens feel
RALEIGH, N.C. -- They are, like the Senators, trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The Carolina Hurricanes are learning to live without free-agent centre Keith Primeau because the reality is, he's not here and if you listen to the cries from his camp, he won't be back again.
"We haven't had to address it with the players because they don't even talk about it," said Carolina GM Jim Rutherford. "They know what they have to do whether he's here or not and I think they've done a pretty good job of focusing on playing the games."
The Hurricanes would much rather be above .500 than sitting at that mark going into tonight's game against the Senators. But after starting the season with seven on the road, they've survived the test well.
Led by veteran centre Ron Francis and wingers Sami Kapanen and Bates Battaglia, the Canes have been able to stay in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference and nobody is complaining.
That's why Ottawa coach Jacques Martin is stressing to his players that they have to be prepared as the Senators make their debut at the newly-built Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena tonight.
"We haven't always had a great record against them -- especially on the road and maybe going into that new building is going to help us to change the way we've played," said Martin. "You look at that team and they've got some pretty good talent. They don't have their best player in Keith Primeau, like we don't have our best player in Alexei Yashin, but they've got guys doing the job."
UNION MEETING: The players had a meeting with officials from the NHLPA after landing here last night. It's an annual session to explain pensions and other various issues involving the players. Union head Bob Goodenow didn't attend, but the NHLPA officials did meet with Hurricanes earlier in the day.
LALIME THE MAN: Patrick Lalime will get the start tonight against the Canes. He has only played one career game against them, while with the Penguins. It's expected Ron Tugnutt will face San Jose tomorrow at home.
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