Concerned Canes voted no to playing the Rangers

Anthony Scultore Updated: Jan 29, 2022

Former Ranger Nick Kypreos is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes were the two teams that opposed moving forward on the NHL’s 24 Team Playoff Format. While many teams had their issues, like Pittsburgh, they still voted yes.

The two @NHL teams that voted against @NHLPA 24 team format were playoff teams. @Canes and @TBLightning https://t.co/bizAbf6mMR
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) May 23, 2020

Apparently the Lightning voted against it because they felt it was unfair that the bottom 8 would be playing a more competitive series to start.

#tblightning NHLPA rep Alex Killorn was on Zoom call today. Said there could be "somewhat of a disadvantage" of having a bye in 24-team playoff format – facing a team who went through playoff series vs TB doing exhibitions. But no scenario satisfies everyone, have to roll with it
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) May 21, 2020

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While there is no official reasoning as to why Carolina voted against it, the fact that the Rangers went 4-0 and scored 17 goals to the Canes 9 has to be part of the reason. Let’s face it, that’s not who they wanted to open up against. Artemi Panarin lit them up for 3 goals and 9 points with Mika Zibanejad scoring 4 times in just 3 games. The Rangers top center also added three helpers.