Game On...

Opening night...what a feeling.

The Big ATM was packed to the rafters (where your's truly's seats were) and the Caniacs were stoked.

Banner raising ceremony drug out a bit, but I suppose these things usually do...I mean, when you are introducing everyone from the assistant to the assistant equipment manager and all your pro scouts, right up to Staal, Cole and Brind'Amour, well it's gonna take a little time. Karmanos got a nice ovation, Rutherford too. Place went nuts for Laviolette. But the biggest cheers of the night definitely came for Cole and Brind'Amour. To be expected. I was not in full playoff throat so I just enjoyed the spectacle. It was nicely done, not too over the top, not excruciatingly boring...though you could tell the players were getting antsy towards the end. I thought Commodore was going to turn and check Whitney into the boards, just to hit someone.

Well, it's done. That's it. Finished. Closure. Last year is over. Let's get it on...

Game Notes:

-The Canes came out early firing on all cylinders offensively, seemed as if the ice was tilted towards the Buffalo goal for most of the first period. Canes were obviously fired up and feeding off the adrenaline rush of the pre-game ceremony, and Buffalo might have been caught on their heels a little to start things off. As things settled down a bit, both teams started to really skate well. The first period was some exciting hockey to watch. But despite some good chances (Cole hit the post on a beautiful quick-wrister from point blank range), the Cane's could not crack Ryan Miller, who had a great night. At one point I glaced at the shot totals and it was 11-1 in favor of Carolina. Then a few moments later a puck deflected off of two or three players in front of the net and snuck past Ward. 1-0 Buffalo. 1 goal on two shots. Not a bad ratio.

- Both teams were a little flat in the second period as the penalties started to pile up. Eric Staal tied the score on a breakaway, after a beautiful long pass from Ray Whitney. Cam Ward actually was announced as the second assist on the play. As Ward cleared the puck from behind the net, Whitney picked it up near the blue-line and found Staal breaking free on MIller.

- The penalty kill units for both teams were strong, each killing off chunks of 5 on 3 time until Eric Cole snuck one past Miller late in the second period with the Sabres down two skaters. The goal came at the end of a long stretch of 5 on 3 for the Canes (they had almost 3 minutes of two man advantage in a 5 minute stretch of the period) and the roar from the crowd seemed to be as much a cry of relief as anything.

- Chris Drury, who always seems to be in the right place at the right time, tied the score for the Sabres on a nifty deflection past Ward.

- The third period was grinder with both teams skating hard but not generating many scoring chances. The Canes seemed to tire a bit perhaps, which might be expected under the circumstances - high emotions early, a tough, physical, high-paced game throughout. It had the feeling of playoff hockey in the spring time already. These two teams are obviously very evenly matched and share similar styles of play. If all goes to plan, they should be seeing a lot of each other again next spring. But that's a long way away.

- Both goalies played exceptionally well. Miller in particular, was stellar early in the game, withstanding the Cane's initial charge/burst of energy, and remained steady throughout. Ward seemed to take a bit longer to get into the flow, largely because he was not facing shots early, but was huge in the third and in the overtime. From my vantage point there was not a lot he could do on either of Buffalo's goals. By my completely unofficial count the Canes hit the post 4 times.

- Briere's goal in the shootout was a thing of beauty, while none of the Hurricane's shots on Miller had much of a chance. Wondering how much we are gonna be missing my boy Matt Cullen in the shootouts this year. For all of his skill Staal really seems to struggle in shoot-outs and on penalty shots.

- The new guys for the Canes (Gleason, Bellanger, Walker, Letowski) looked solid. Gleason looked especially good. Was really impressed with his play. He's a big kid who doesn't mind banging in the corners or along the boards. Looks good on both the power play and the penalty kill. Seems to have a nice shot from the point. Logged a lot of ice time, I have not seen the official numbers, but he had to have around 25 minutes. I was impressed.

- A lot of the chattter on the post game radio call-in seemed to be all about slamming David Tanabe. Not sure where that comes from or why. Tanabe did not have a great game, sure, but he was not blatantly horrendous either. But then again, I was not obsessed with watching his every move on the ice as some seemed to be. From where I sat, he just looked like a guy who was a little bit tight, trying to hard to make a big play or a big hit, which threw him just a little bit off his game. Maybe a little jittery on his return "home". Hopefully, he will settle down now that this first game is under his belt. We'll see. Definitely seems to have lost some of his speed after the knee surgeries, but still a fluid skater.

- Definitely a different feeling walking out of the RBC Center on Monday night that is was last time around. But I don't think that, no matter what happens, I'll ever have an experience at a sporting event as amazing as Game 7 against Edmonton. That was truly special. But it's over now. The banners have been raised. The Cup goes back to Toronto (ok, I think it will stick around for one more game). Time to turn the page. Time to start writing the book all over again. Chapter by chapter. Night by night.

Hockey is back and I could not be happier.

Game on indeed!

-m