If you are a Hurricanes fan, you would probably like to forget this past week. This has been one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong, and things start to pile on. Forget about results for a second, because the on ice performance has not been memorable so far this season. There are several story lines that are coming together all at the same time.

So far this season, Canes head coach Bill Peters has been hesitant to mix things up. While the Canes have been struggling to establish themselves in the Metropolitan Division, their farm team the Charlotte Checkers have been off to a blazing hot start. Starting the season off 6-3 and winning their last 5 games, has had some fans calling for Peters to bring in some fresh bodies. While shaking up line combinations, Peters and general manager Ron Francis have yet to dip into the talent pool down in Charlotte, insisting they have the pieces that the Canes needed already. His hand may now have been forced.

[NEWS] #Canes place Justin Faulk on injured reserve and assign forward Phil Di Giuseppe to @CheckersHockey. Info: https://t.co/ogXUv4Kj0s

— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) November 11, 2016

Hurricanes two-time all-star defenseman Justin Faulk, got tangled up behind his own net in Saturdays 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Francis has placed him on the Injured Reserve list retroactive to November 7. This is a big loss for the Hurricanes, as Faulk not only eats up a lot of minutes on the back end, but also quarterbacks one of the Canes powerplay units. Faulk has been said to be week to week with an upper body injury

If losing your star defenseman is not enough, Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this week. He had missed the last few games after playing well to start the season and earning a spot on the powerplay. In a statement Bickell released, he said “during the past few weeks, it felt like something wasn’t right.” I am sure everyone in the Hurricanes, and NHL, family is keeping Bickell in their thoughts. Bickell was traded to the Hurricanes this off season from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Several other moves were made this week. Francis made a decision to call up Checkers forwards Brock McGinn and Derek Ryan. Both players have experience in the Hurricanes line up in previous seasons and should inject some energy up front. Ryan has started off the season down in Charlotte with five goals and eight assists, and should give Peters some much needed offense. McGinn is a player who can play in multiple roles. He has the ability to play with a goal scoring line, or with the fourth line.

When a week like this one comes along, you can feel miserable about it. Or you can look forward, and look for something good to grasp onto. I am choosing to do the latter, and Canes fans should too. One silver lining about the Justin Faulk injury, is that someone will now need to step up into the number one defensive role. Watch for Jaccob Slavin to get even more responsibility on the back end. After an outstanding rookie year, Slavin has started this season looking like a steady veteran. He has been a life line for the Hurricanes so far this season while everything else has seemed lackluster. With the exception of one game, Slavin has had over 20:00 of TOI in every game this season. Slavin has been a multi-faceted machine for the Canes. He has the ability to play shut down defense against the opponents top line, and then turn right around and use his skating ability to move the puck up the ice and get into the offensive zone. Slavin has had a CF% of 55.1 so far this season, a product of Peters puck possession based system.

Look for the Hurricanes to put this very bad week behind them, and try to turn this season around. The Hurricanes will play their next four games at home and need to start making up ground. I will also be looking for Slavin to step up and take this team in the direction it needs to go. The Canes need to right the ship starting tonight against the 8-3-1 Capitals, on a day where Hurricanes fans will be holding a fundraiser pregame tailgate for Tony Price who is currently fighting Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

Please join us and lots of others as #CaniacsUnite to help one of our own. Even if you can't be there, please share! https://t.co/g4JLxhZxmX

— Section 328 (@Section_328) November 10, 2016

Look for the Canes to come out with a great amount of passion tonight against the Caps in honor of Tony.