Insider: Hurricanes are slowing, weakening by the day

Give credit, at least, for managing to stay on message.

You know that can't be easy these days for the plummeting Carolina Hurricanes. Not in the midst of a 10-game losing streak that has them bringing up the rear in the league's overall standings. And certainly not after being in the Eastern Conference finals only a few months ago.

'We still have some real high expectations,' says Matt Cullen, who has just three goals in 14 games. (Getty Images)

Just five weeks into the season, things have already turned pretty bleak for the Hurricanes. Their best player, Eric Staal, is on the shelf and had struggled before he went down, and their franchise goalie, Cam Ward, has been mediocre at best. But the real problem is that collectively the Hurricanes haven't come close to playing like the contenders many expected them to be.

Instead, they've looked old, slow and generally overmatched this season. Interestingly, it's after starting the schedule presumably fresher and healthier than in the last few years thanks to a short training camp and limited exhibition schedule.

"We still have some real high expectations," said forward Matt Cullen. "But I think we were taken so off guard by the way we started and didn't get it done, that the disappointment creeped in real early.

"So as opposed to figuring it out and just playing some real good hockey, it's been like, what's going on?"

No one has any real answer, but what should be most disconcerting for Carolina is all this is happening with much the same lineup the organization took pains to keep together after its impressive run.

The Hurricanes became one of the league's sharpest teams after bringing back coach Paul Maurice last December and eliminated two top seeds before running out of gas against Pittsburgh in the playoffs. But far from building on that momentum, the Hurricanes are now threatening to play themselves out of the playoff picture by Thanksgiving.

Yet from the top down, no one shows even the slightest inclination to veer from the official party line. The general manager says he still believes in this team, the coach argues that it's the kind of bad stretch most teams go through, and the players, well, some will concede the team's confidence is a bit fragile lately, but all will throw around catch phrases like "we're better than our record says," or "there's still a long way to go," or "we've been through it before," though unconvincingly and seemingly by rote.

"Obviously our game is not where it should be, that's no secret," captain Rod Brind'Amour said. "But it's a matter of executing and everyone playing a tad better and more consistently.

"It's not something that we can say in a week or two we'll be back, it could take us all year to even get a chance to get back [to the playoffs], so we have to approach it that way."

It may be the only way and the logical one given the Hurricanes' strong finish last season -- even if the circumstances are very different now. Last season, Carolina never fell below the .500 mark or as far below the playoff cutoff line as they are now thanks to their early struggles. Now the Hurricanes are losing sight of the pack, have the league's worst offense and a system that everyone involved insists can be effective even if it isn't right now.

"It's the difference between confidence and I think at times acceptance of the style of game and how hard it is to play that game on a nightly basis," said Maurice.

Especially when the players are a year older, which may not seem like much until you consider that this season's schedule is being compressed to accommodate the Olympics and 12 Hurricanes are at least 30, six are at least 32 and four are at least 36. The upshot so far is that Carolina has tended to get off to strong starts in games this season, but the 'Canes have faded late and have been outscored 36-19 over the final two periods.

"Maybe we have too many veterans," said GM Jim Rutherford. "Sometimes that can be good through certain stages and sometimes it can be good to have that young energy in there."

Problem is there's not much room for new blood right now in the Hurricanes lineup.

Carolina might have started the inevitable transition after last season, but instead kept much of the team together, including a half dozen members of its 2006 Stanley Cup-winning team, several of whom are among the 11 Hurricanes who will become unrestricted free agents after the season. The plan was to keep the best young prospects down on the farm for another year while the veteran group was given one more shot at winning. So far the strategy looks flawed,

And Rutherford doesn't have many options for changes in the NHL's salary-capped world even if he was ready to concede he may have miscalculated.

"I can't really say that until I see how this team ends," Rutherford said. "If this team ends up being a real good team by the end of the year, at least half of those free agents will be brought back. A lot of those guys I really like and I think are still good players.

"Clearly there will be some younger guys who make this team next year, but it doesn't have to be a clean sweep."

Or maybe it does.