Prospects Gameday: Hurricanes vs. Blues

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Drop the puck!
The NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City gets underway today with a 3:30 p.m. match-up featuring the Carolina Hurricanes and St. Louis Blues.
"I love this tournament," said Mike Vellucci, head coach of the prospects team and the Charlotte Checkers. "You get a lot of opportunity to see the young guys and see how they improved over the summer. We had them in for development camp, and now we get a chance to see them against their peers and see where they stack up."

Thursday was already going to be an early day for the Hurricanes, with an 8:30 a.m. morning skate on the docket. The day unexpectedly began even earlier when a small kitchen fire at the team's hotel forced a 4 a.m. evacuation. The Hurricanes then opted for a 10 a.m. lakeside stretch instead of the morning skate.
"We are looking forward to getting it started,"

this morning. "Now this will show us how our prospects will handle a little adversity."

With such limited preparation time - Thursday's practice marked the first and only time this group skated together - it will be intriguing to see how the team meshes and plays as a unit.
"Make sure you know everyone on the team and come to the game prepared," forward Martin Necas said.
"Jump in," defenseman Jake Bean said. "Don't test the waters. Go right in."
"The key is probably going to be to get a couple saves early on. The jitters are going since everyone hasn't been physical all year," Vellucci said on Thursday. "If we can pot one early and get a goal quick, you start building momentum. My talk to them is about building it shift by shift."
As noted in
Thursday's tournament preview
, the Hurricanes are loaded with offensive firepower. The top line features first-round picks Necas and Andrei Svechnikov skating alongside Janne Kuokkanen. The second line boasts talent that played the entirety of the 2017-18 season in the AHL: Aleksi Saarela, Nicolas Roy and Julien Gauthier.
Morgan Geekie, who scored 17 goals in 14 playoff games with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) last season, centers the team's third line. The fourth line is comprised of tournament invitees, including David Levin, who was born in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Jake Bean and Michael Fora are the Canes' first line of defense, and Jeremy Helvig will tend the net.
"These guys are so good. They'll figure it out pretty quick," Bean said. "I think once the ball gets rolling we'll all be on the same page."
The Canes' tournament-opening game will be available to stream live on Hurricanes.com and through the
FOX Sports app
, which will have live streaming coverage of all NHL Prospect Tournament games plus Hurricanes hockey in the 2018-19 season. We'll also be rinkside at Centre Ice Arena to bring you live game updates this afternoon and throughout the tournament.
Hurricanes Lineup
Kuokkanen-Necas-Svechnikov
Saarela-Roy-Gauthier
Henman-Geekie-Mattheos
Grondin-Ralph-Levin
Bean-Fora
De Jong-Eliot
Schlichting-Calvas
Helvig
Culina
Scratches: Riley Bruce, Matthew Struthers, Cliff Pu (injury)