Now THIS is Exciting... Major Hurricane Update

Now, this is exciting after the Hurricanes' big Game 1 win in the Global Series in Helsinki, Finland. Sebastian Aho's homecoming was that of legend. He absolutely lit it up on the ice, on the score sheet, played a great game. Thank It was a fantastic afternoon, had by all, and it was really worth the watch. Aho now jumps into the scoring lead for the Hurricanes, but more on that later. Welcome to Hurricanes Digest. you. I'm Jeff Testanero. I invite you all to like, share, comment, and subscribe. Click that subscribe button. And the push to 26 is heating up after yesterday's live watch along of The game in Helsinki, I thank all of you who joined me. I thank all of you who, um, Motar, I see you. I see you, bro. Yeah, um, by the way, anybody that stuck around to the end with me, I was right about the final score, 4-1 Hurricanes. Just saying, and I'm sorry I didn't answer the question of what's in the cup. You all lose. It was a... It was a monster energy. I live on those things. My cardiologist is not too happy with me, but it is what it is. So thank you again for joining me over there. Also a reminder, we're over on our socials. We're over on X at Canes Digest. Click follow over there for everything that ends up over there as well. A homecoming, two goals, and another Hurricanes victory. Sebastian Aho. Delivered huge in Finland, scoring twice as Carolina defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-1, I called it, in Helsinki. The setting made it memorable. The result made it meaningful. Valalahti also scored two more points for the Hurricanes team, continuing its outstanding start. Aho finished with two goals, including the eventual game winner. He scored on the power play in the first period, then added another in the third. Two different finishes, both helping Carolina take control of that afternoon. His second came at 11-41 in the third period. Aho worked, you know, a give-and-go with Miller and finished with a one-timer against Grubauer. That pushed Carolina's advantage to 4-0, putting the Hurricanes... Firmly in command of that game. The first goal had established. The Cushion, much earlier, after Ehlers opened the scoring, Aho converted on the power play to make it two. Zippo, Seattle, eventually scored once, making Aho's first finish the goal that stands as the game winner. For a player returning to compete in front of family, in front of friends, Finnish supporters, That was quite a performance, man. He just, he was so intense. I kept saying it in the live feed. So intense. So hot right now. Hansel, so hot right now. Aho came home carrying a strong start to the season. He gave the crowd another example of why he has become so important and the face of the Carolina Hurricanes. Walt Ruff's post-game report captured the wider contribution. Aho scored twice. Ehlers added a goal and an assist. Miller and Logan Stankoven. Each had two assists. Brandon Bussy earned the win in net, completing a successful opening game in Finland. I raise this question to you. Anybody that watched the session on HBO or haven't and need to go back and do so, Brandon Bussy looks a lot like Cousin Greg from the show. I'm just saying. Aho now has 12 goals, 16 assists for 28 points through 20 games. That is a... 1.4 points per game pace with consistent production as both a scorer and a creator. And those two goals change the order at the top of Carolina's goal scoring list. His point streak is now three games. That run includes seven points, two against the Islanders, three against Chicago, and now two more against the Kraken. The homecoming performance extended a productive stretch that began before the Hurricanes boarded their flight. You know, it's a huge streak. Here's the distinction. Aho already led Carolina in total points with 12. He now moves ahead of Stankoven's 11 to take the team lead in that category as well. Carolina's leading point producer is now its leading goal scorer. The contributions have come, you know, in different forms. Two assists against New York, a goal and two assists against Chicago, and then two in Helsinki. Across those three games, Aho has continued finding ways to help the offense, whether finishing the play, creating the play, and doing whatever Aho does, his magic on the ice. That gives a little more context to this whole thing. The Finland setting added emotion and attention. The production continued. The work Aho already is doing with another multi-point performance, helping Carolina secure that win. Through 20 games, his totals give the Hurricanes a dependable offensive foundation. 12 goals, 28 points. The man's on fire. The man's awesome, and he deserves everything he gets. So humble, too. I don't know why. I'd be a bear. I'd be like, I'm the greatest of all time. Erect a statue of me in Raleigh. Tallest statue there. I don't know. Power does weird things to people. You know, even Aho, though, acknowledged. Feeling the occasion, you know, actually, he said, actually, a little nervous before the game, he said, afterwards, playing an NHL game in your home country brings a different layer to what you have to do. It just, it's just, I can't imagine the nerves, him and all the Finnish players were going through, but Sebastian Aho. Making a case, I'm not going to say it, but he's making a case. There was also a remarkable connection to his career. Aho scored his first NHL goal on November 12, 2016 against Grubauer and the Washington Capitals. Exactly 10 years later, he scored twice against the same goaltender, this time in Finland. Rod Brendamore recognized what the performance meant. To be able to come home here and play in front of the crowd and have a great game, I have to agree. I have to agree. That was the opportunity in front of Aho, and he delivered a night his supporters could 100% celebrate. Behind the offense, Bussey handled his assignment well. Seattle generated only 13 shots, and Carolina's goaltender stopped 12 of them. He carried a shutout deep into the third period before Freddie Gaudreau put the Kraken on the board. 12 saves on 13 shots gives Bussey a .923 save percentage for that game. Carolina limited the workload in front of him, but Bussey helped make sure Seattle could not turn its opportunities into a sustained comeback. You know, the result brought both. Parts of the occasion together, Aho had his two goal homecoming, his teammates supplied support across the lineup, and the Hurricanes left the ice with the victory they had traveled all the way to Helsinki to earn. Carolina improves to 15 wins, three losses, and two overtime losses, 32 points through 20 games. That strong position reflects contributions throughout the roster with Aho's production Continuing to play a major part. The Hurricanes now have won three straight. One against the Fish Sticks, one against the Blackhawks, and one against the Kraken. They responded to the Nashville loss with consecutive victories, carrying their momentum across the Atlantic and into the Global Series. Against Seattle. Again, I appreciated all of you who jumped into the chat, who jumped onto our live watch-along and watched the game with me. We had a great time. I'm We talked a lot. going I felt like we were sitting in the same room. I felt like we knew each other forever. Friends are made. to stop But I appreciate all of you. Close to, I believe it was 4,000 viewers checked in at one point. the A lot of you stayed with me throughout the entire game. recording I do apologize. We were on a 20-minute, 20-minute, 20-second delay. But thank you for staying. now. And as I promised, I'm a man of my word. Or one called me yesterday. Just saying. We're going to read some comments today. I like doing this with you guys. And you guys are always great. Somebody did criticize my math at one point. Over on the Hornets channel. But I'm not a mathematician. This was about trading people. Especially Carrier over to Philly. Why would the Canes shake up what's working? Yeah. If you follow me deeper into the video. I agree with you. I know that they're going to offload Nikitian. They're going to offload Nikitian. I'm telling you that immediately. If it's not this season, he won't be with us after this season. I think they're going to shop him. I understand Valmacki needed to play and start alongside his former Coyote teammate, Gossespare, in Helsinki. Geeky as f***ing hell. Jusso is a Finnish player and he needs to play, but they're going to offload him. Whether they go get a young hot shot from a really bad team like the Flyers is another question, but I agree. Why would they shake up what's working? Just keep, you know, Velmacki in the lineup. That's me. This is a bit of a long one. I'm going to squeeze in some wool. They're getting the band back together. Stupid deal. No way. You know, let's see. Stupid deal. No way. Carolina has been awesome. All of these fools passed on Nikitian and KK, and I'm glad Nikitian is a star. He's only going to get a bigger, and I hope his arbitration makes him happy or maybe even a satisfying contract. That's not even any reason for Nikitian's name to be floating around anymore. Yes, it is. They're going to ******* trade him. Oops, sorry, they're going to trade him. He signed in... You know, he signed and awaiting a new contract, yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. They're going to trade him. They're going to trade him. It doesn't, I've seen a lot of, you know, things between him and Rod on the ice. They don't, Rod doesn't even want to look at him. Tulsky got him signed, and it is what it is. But they're going to trade him. No reason for him to be named in every trade rumor anymore. They're going to trade him. It's going to happen. I'm calling it now. I'm telling you now. They're going to trade Alex Ovechkin I'm sorry. I know it makes you sad. It makes you a little sad, but it's going to happen. That's what happened. Um, Global Series Game 2 is tomorrow, 1 p.m. Eastern, over on NHL Network. Not a lot of people get it, but if you get it, watch the game. It's going to be a good time. Unfortunately, we can't do a live watch-along for that one, but we will set up more. That was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun with you guys. All right, guys, so. Yeah, if anything else comes down, I'll be the first to let you know. Until then, for Hurricanes Digest, I'm Jeff Testanero. Let's go, Canes.