The past seven years have been trying for Carolina Hurricanes fans. The team has not reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2009. However, after several key offseason moves, the team has created an atmosphere of excitement as the new season approaches.

The combination of a young core in Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and Jaccob Slavin on defense, the addition of 21-year-old forward Teuvo Teravainen,the expected NHL promotion of Finnish prospect Sebastian Aho and Bill Peters’ third year as head coach, as well as his possession-heavy system, has fans excited and optimistic about the upcoming season.

That excitement is reflected by the fact that team President Don Waddell told The News & Observer July 19 that new season ticket sales are up 40 percent from last year, with overall ticket sales up 60 percent. In addition, Waddell reported a season ticket renewal rate of 90.15 percent, also up from last season.

So why all this excitement and optimism? For that answer one need look no further than Hurricanes super fans Mike Flanagan and Derek Roessler. Flanagan has been a season ticket holder since day one at PNC Arena, and Roessler since 2001. The two sit in section 328, the undisputed loudest section in PNC Arena. They also run their own website of Hurricanes hockey coverage, and produce a podcast called Cheaters Never Win that has featured many esteemed Hurricanes guests, a must-listen for any Hurricanes fan.

On reasons to be excited for the upcoming season:

“It’s good to have a coach that we trust and a general manager that we trust who isn’t trying to put Band-Aids on things,” Roessler said. “I think that’s the biggest reason for my excitement, coupled with the talented youth that we have on defense and new voices that we have in the locker room. Having new voices step up and lead this team, I think there’s a lot of reasons for optimism. [General manager] Ron Francis laying out his game plan and sticking to it for two years, and letting us know that, ‘Hey, now we can start to be competitive’ is really helpful. We want some playoff hockey, and we’re starting to think it’s not unreasonable to think that we might get there.”

On how this season feels different than past ones:

“What feels different is it feels like there’s a leadership change on this team,” Flanagan said. “The tenured seven-year captain of this club is no longer with the club. There were a lot of changes made in the off-season, I think for the positive. This club continues to get younger. We have a coach that we can trust. I think everyone is enjoying what Ron Francis has done from a front office perspective. We saw what a group of young kids with no expectations did last year. I think what’s exciting me the most is to see what these young kids can now do with a higher level of expectation.”

On Flanagan’s and Roessler’s expectations for the team this season:

“I think the Carolina Hurricanes absolutely make the playoffs this season,” Flanagan said. “We saw a 15-point jump (in the standings) from year one to year two under Coach Bill Peters. A similar jump is going to put us in that six/seven spot in the East and I absolutely think that’s where we’re going to go. I think there’s a few teams in the East out there who have fallen and faltered. There’s enough space in the Eastern Conference that the Canes will be able to slip in, pending that our guys who are supposed to be able to score can score and that none of the guys that are going to be counted on for that scoring punch get injured for any length of time during the season.”

“I think it’ll be that we score more goals, get slightly better goaltending and we’ll also be helped out by some of the teams in our division not being as good,” Roessler added.

On the Hurricanes’ potential to make big moves:

“What has me most excited for this season is flexibility,” Flanagan said. “We have had $15 million worth of expiring contracts for Eric Staal and Cam Ward the past couple years. We come into this season knowing that we’re going to be on the lower end of the salary cap, but knowing that if this team performs and we have a shot, we’re not going to be hamstrung by big contracts. We’re going to have the availability to maybe go out there and go get a couple of pieces.”

For the Carolina Hurricanes, there are plenty of reasons to be excited for the upcoming season. Fans of the team feel that Francis has done a great job building a team for the long haul, and that something truly special is just around the corner.