"Hei Pelataan! That's Finnish for "Game On!" and seems apropos to sound the start of a hockey season unlike any other for the Carolina Hurricanes. It's a season that begins today in Helsinki, Finland, in the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere. The Hurricanes face the Minnesota Wild at Hartwall Arena and play the Wild again Friday in their first "home" game of the year. The Hurricanes played a preseason exhibition game Monday in St. Petersburg, Russia, before moving on to Finland. They will host the NHL All-Star Game in January and hope to end the season in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Part of the team is up for sale. The lineup is younger, the payroll lower. "Last year we were one of the most experienced and oldest teams and now we may be the youngest," forward Jussi Jokinen says. "It's totally different." But in a season of change, of passports and visas, of events large and small, one thing remains the same: Eric Staal and Cam Ward are the bellwethers of the Hurricanes, a link to the past and future of the franchise. "They are our best players," general manager Jim Rutherford says. "They are guys who can make a difference in any given game, in any given year. That's what we expect of them." The Hurricanes once depended so much on Ron Francis. Then it was Francis and Rod Brind'Amour. Now, it's Staal and Ward, front and center, in the franchise's continuum of stars. Francis, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was the Hurricanes captain before passing the "C" to Brind'Amour. It was Brind'Amour whose grit and leadership helped Carolina win the 2006 Stanley Cup, and it was Brind'Amour who last season passed the "C" on to Staal. "To be as young as he is, Eric has accomplished a lot in his young career, yet he's very humble and very down-to-earth." says Francis, the Canes' associate head coach and director of player personnel. "He shows strong character in a lot of the decisions he makes." http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/07/725819/star-power.html
