Blogroll please...

As I become more and more fixated (natch, obsessed) with actually updating and maintaining this blog on a more regular basis, I've also been trying to tinker with the look and layout as best as my feeble skills allow.

TO that end, I spent a ridiculous amount of time updating the blogrolls (over there on the right) this evening with some of my favorite places to read about the Canes and Hockey in general.

Check them out if you are so inclined.

Now I've got to get to bed.

-m

Ol' Roy Out of The Outhouse

Roy Williams seems to be out of the shitter with Kansas fans...so to speak...or, literally.

From an AP news story today:

The large sketch of the former Kansas basketball coach was removed from the men's room of the Downtown Barbershop on Monday where it had hung as a symbol of fan anger since he departed for North Carolina in 2003.

Now "Ol' Roy" is back where he used to be, prominently displayed among the hundreds of sketches, photographs and memorabilia that make the landmark little shop near the campus a shrine to Jayhawks athletics. Instead of facing the urinal in the back of the building, the man who coached the Jayhawks to nine conference titles is facing customers out front..."The hatchet is buried," owner Jon Amyx said. "I think most people would tell you that now"...Amyx surveyed customers and ended Williams' exile to "the Roy Room," now just the men's room.

Now if Ol' Roy can just bring all those Tarheel fans in off the ledge after his Final Four fiasco(s).

Full story HERE.

NHL on Sean Avery Being Sean Avery

There are a lot of words one can use to describe Sean Avery of the NY Rangers.

Let's see...a few that come to mind...

gritty
hard working
instigator
thorn in the side
douchebag
assclown

But even by Avery standards, his performance on Sunday against the Devils was considered by the suits and hats at NHL HQ to be across the line...thus, we now have the Sean Avery Rule. According to an edict handed down from on high (or somewhere near Toronto), (Sir) Colin Campbell, grand poobah of NHL Crimes and Misdemeanors (natch, Senior Executive Vice President and Director of League Operations...yadda yadda yadda), the league has sprung into action to counter this shameful blight on the image of the NHL:

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

Thanks Colin. But while we have you, anything you want to add about violent hits to the head, or excessive boarding that leads to injury? ... Colin? ... Hello?...Ok, I guess we've lost Colin.

While I have often expressed concern over the NHL "making up the rules as they go along", I have to applaud them in this case. Sean Avery definitely deserves to have an unsportsmanlike conduct rule named after him.

Don't get me wrong, the guy is a heck of a player (and has possibly the single greatest head shot on any team's roster), who plays with an edge and is incredibly effective for his team. Since he arrived from the LA Kings in a trade last year, the Rangers are 50-20-6 with Avery in the line-up and 9-13-3 in games that he's missed. It's just too bad that he crosses the line between effective instigator and clownish asshat so often. There are a lot of guys in the league that I love to hate, but would love to have on my team. I would not want Sean Avery on my team (or at least that's my position from my current perch of sactimony!).

I'll let the legendary Don Cherry sum it up for me:

I've known this kid since he was about 16 years old," Cherry told Toronto radio station The FAN 590. "Once a jerk, always a jerk. You can't blame the referee, because . he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Could you believe what you were seeing? I've never seen anything like that and I've been in every league that's ever existed."

Gleason named to Team USA

Hurricanes defenceman Tim Gleason, after posting the best overall season of his career thus far, has been added to the Team USA roster for the IIHF World Championships this summer. Kudos to Timmy!

Tampa Bay's head coach John Tortorella will be behind the bench for Team USA, and you can see other additions to the roster here.

Team USA will play a pre-tournament exhibition against Sweden in Portland, ME on April 27th before heading to Halifax, NS for their tourney opener against Latvia. The U.S. will also face Slovenia (5/4) and tournament host Canada (5/6) in the preliminary round.

Eight other Hurricanes have been named to play for their national teams at the World Championships this year:

Eric Staal (F, Canada)
Cam Ward (G, Canada)
Ray Whitney (F, Canada)
Denis Seidenberg (D, Germany)
Niclas Wallin (D, Sweden)
Tuomo Ruutu (F/C, Finland)
Daniel Manzato (G, Switzerland)



-m

A Bitter Pill...

Panthers 4
Canes 3

Man, that was a tough one.

(Maybe) I'll have a lot more to say on this later, but right now it's just gut wrenching. Have to say I had a bad feeling coming into this one, knowing that the Panthers would love nothing more than to spoil the Canes' season on RBC Center ice.

I'll be watching the Caps/Panthers game tonight, but have to admit I don't have much hope for a miracle. And to be honest, the Canes went 1-3 over their last 4 with the division and the playoffs on the line, when in retrospect one more win would have iced it. The Caps have won 6 straight playing catch-up. At this point, as much as it pains me to say it, the Caps deserve it, and I just don't see them choking this one away.
(not that I wouldn't take a backdoor into the playoffs, but it just would not be as sweet)

Shit.

I'm very proud of this team over all, but just very disappointed on this rainy April Saturday.

-m

Just Win Baby

After 81 games, it all comes down to this. Again.

If the Canes can pull off a win tonight against the Kitty Cats at the RBC Center, the Southeast division is theirs.

Following an inspired bounce-back performance on Wednesday against Tampa Bay, bouyed by an inspiring performances from Chad LaRose (first career hat trick) and Eric Staal (who scored on the first shift of the game), the Hurricanes have their destiny in their own hands.

Washington held serve last night with a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay and, despite falling behind 1-0 just 30 seconds into the game, show no real signs of going gently into that good night (against Florida on Saturday).

Tonight's game figures to be a tough one. One would suspect that nothing would make another playoff-less campaign from the Panthers a little more palatable than knocking the Canes off their perch at the top of the Southeast. The Panthers have not beaten the Canes in Raleigh since December...of 2002!!!...and the kitties always seem to play with a chip on their shoulder against the Canes...or is that an inferiority complex??

Man, I really wish I could be there.

Here's hoping that the Caniacs are in full throat tonight and that the team comes out with a killer instinct from the start. Put away the Panthers early, and don't give them any reason to fight to the end. Perhaps easier said than done. I feel like my nerves are shot already. And we haven't even gotten into the playoofs yet. Geez.

GO Canes!

-m

Move On

As far as I’m concerned, we need to move on, we’ve got a game tomorrow night, two games left in the season at home, we need to play well and we need to win ‘em both. -Erik Cole (post-game, Washington 4 - Carolina 1)

I could not have summed it up better myself.

The Cane's situation is simple...win two straight games on home ice and you are in the playoffs. One opportunity has been wasted. Two more await.

Tuesday night was not the Hurricanes finest hour, but despite those looking to jump off a ledge this morning, it wasn't the end of the world either.

The Caps out-skated, out-hustled, out-hit, out-shot (by a ridiculous margin of 39-22) and basically outplayed the Canes in a 4-1 win on Tuesday night in DC. It was a win that brought the Caps into a points tie (90) with the Hurricanes at the top of the Southeast division with 2 games left to play. Carolina holds the tie-breakers of total wins and overall record head-to-head.

Both teams finish the season with two home games, against the same teams - Tampa and Florida - with Washington having the slight advantage of getting the 'Ning and Panthers on the back-end of back to backs. The Canes get the 'Ning at home tonight, on the back end of a back to back.

It's really simple at this point. If the Canes beat the Lightning and Panthers at home, they are in the playoffs as the Southeast Division champs and will secure the third seed in the East. If they lose either game, and Washington wins their matchup, the Caps are division champs. Both Washington and Carolina are still in the running for a playoff spot (currently 1 point behind 8th place Boston), but to be honest I don't even want to think about that.

The Canes win two and they are in. If they don't they need help, and that's not an enviable position to be in. You work to have the puck on your stick to control your destiny, and the Canes have that. Now they just have to go out and take care of business at home against two teams who are out of the playoffs.

Notes from last night:

- The Caps took control from the start, dominated the game for the most part. The first 7-8 minutes werea blitzkreig, and only Cam Ward's stellar play kept the Canes in the game.

- Washington's first two goals - from Matt Cooke and Brooks Laich respectively - were both probably something the Canes would like to have another crack at. On Cooke's tally Ward gave up a juicy rebound off of a Mike Green blast from the point which fell right at Cooke's feet between the circles. And Laich scored on nifty forehand-to-backhand move in front of the crease that seemed to hypnotize both Ward and defenseman Tim Gleason.

-Cristobol Huet made a stunning save on a Scott Walker short-handed breakaway in the 2nd that would have tied the score at 2, and probably changed the entire complexion of the game. Instead, Washington scored later in the same power play (a 4 minute minor to Trevor Letowski for high sticking) to essentially ice the game.

-Much was made on the radio call-in shows last night and in the blogosphere this morning about the officiating in last night's game, and some sort of perceived conspiracy theories about the NHL wanting the Caps in the playoffs over the Canes.
To this end I would like to make a few points:

1) The officiating did not lose the game for the Canes last night. They were beaten by a team that played better and worked harder.

2) NHL officiating, on the whole, is indeed atrocious, but is usually atrocious both ways. My big beef with NHL officiating is that it is so inconsistent from game to game, period to period, shift to shift. Sometimes I could swear they are just making things up as they go along.

3) That said, the way a game is being played by the teams on the ice has a lot to do with how a game is being called...i.e. the Caps were contorling play for most of the game last night, setting the tempo and putting the Canes on the defensive. This naturally leads to the aggressive team getting the benefit of the calls. When the Canes are pressing the action, controlling the flow of the game I've seen them get the benefit of calls on many occasions.

4) Referees don't usually decide games, players on the ice do. Last night the Canes got rattled, started worrying about the refs and the calls instead of focusing on controlling the game on the ice. They were outplayed. This is why they lost.

5) Of curse the NHL would love to see the Caps/Ovechkin in the playoffs! Duh. But to somehow infer that they would actually, specifically, cheat the Canes to get them there is a bit out there. Just reaks of homer fan insecurity to me. Do you think the Canes would have ever met Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Finals if the league operated this way? And even if they had, don't you think the fix would have been in for more tradition laden Oilers in such a situation?

One other note on Alex Ovechkin and some perceived notion that he gets the star treatment...OF COURSE HE DOES...he is a star...stars get preferential treatment in every sports league known to man...Does he sometime cross the line from hard nosed and gritty to "dirty"?...ABSOLUTELY...but I would argue it is his willingness, as a player of exceptional skill, to even approach that line that makes him the world class hockey player that he is...and a joy to watch as long as it's not against your team...should he get called for leaving his feet on checks, or brings his elbow up on a check along the boards?...ABSOLUTELY...but until the pansies in the striped shirts do something about it, there's no deterrent...the only deterrent I see is some goon getting sick of it all and taking a serious run at Ovie...then the NHL can think about it while one of their superstars sits on the shelf for a month or so...that would suck...because I would love to have a guy who plays as hard and with as much skill as Ovechkin on my team any day...


Canes vs Tampa tonight.

Let's Go Canes!

And It All Comes Down To This...(Sort Of)

Canes vs Capitals.

The Canes can clinch the Southeast Division, and the third overall seed in the East with a win tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

Who would have thunk it?...back when the Canes were sailing through October and early November, and the Capitals could not get out of their own way, that the Southeast division would come down to this, the 80th game of the 82 game schedule. But such it is.

Washington's rise since the sacking of Glen Hanlon and the promotion of longtime minor league coach Bruce Boudreau has been well documented, but is nonetheless amazing. The team has gelled around the spectacular play of Alexander Ovechkin (he would get my vote for league MVP hands down - if I had a vote of course) a stellar cast of young players, most of whom spent time with Boudreau at Hersey in the AHL, and a smattering of veterans. Trade deadline deals for the likes of Sergei Federov, Cristobal Huet and Matt Cooke added some much needed experience and grit to help put them over the top. Federov brings a championship pedigree to the team and has developed into a dependable two way player late in his career, after being known as one of the most proficient offensive players in the league for over a decade. He also serves as a wise mentor to fellow Russian phenoms Ovechkin and Alexander Semen. Huet has been stellar since arriving from Montreal, and has all but supplanted longtime Capitals mainstay Olle Kolzig between the pipes. Cooke has provided depth and toughness on the forward line. Youngsters Mike Green on defense, and rookie center Nicklas Backstrom have had breakout years as well for the Caps, who have won 12 of their last 16 games, including a 5-1 record on their recently completed 6 game road trip, to put themselves into playoff contention.

The Canes have also been playing great hockey since the All-Star break. Despite an incredible rash of injuries, with the likes of Rod Brind'Amour, Justin Williams, Chad LaRose, Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney and David Tanabe missing from the lineup for months at a time. Whitney and Williams are both likely to return to the lineup tonight (a simply amazing feat for Williams, who returns from an ACL injury that most thought would have him sidelined well into a playoff run, if he returned this season at all!), and LaRose made his comeback from a broken leg last week in Atlanta.

The Canes have maintained their lead in the Southeast division with a stellar run of hockey since the All Star break, with Eric Staal leading the way. Since winning the MVP at the All Star game, Staal has stepped up his play in Brind A'Mour's absence, and taken the leadership of the team on his shoulder. His play over the last two months is rivaled by only Ovechkin's throughout the league. Also contributing to the Canes success have been some incredibly shrewd moves by Canes GM Jim Rutherford. On January 8th he snagged Sergei Samsonov off re-entry waivers from Chicago. Samsonov had been languishing in near obscurity with the Blackhawks, his once great promise assumed by many to have been wasted. Since joining the Canes Samsonov has flourished, scoring 13 goals, and tallying 21 assists to revitalize his career. Rutherford also pulled off a deal with Ottawa a week ahead of the trade deadline to bring in Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves. Corvo has been a hit on the Carolina blue line, providing much needed offensive punch, especially on the power play. Eaves has been injured, but has contributed when healthy, and looks to be a good pick up for the future. At the trade deadline, Rutherford also pulled the trigger on a deal with the Blackhawks to acquire Tuomo Ruutu, whose aggressive and hard hitting style of play immediately made him a fan favorite, and who has shown his offensive skills over the last few games. The Canes gave up some productive and very popular players in these deals - Mike Commodore, Corey Stillman, Andrew Ladd - all veterans of the Cup run in 2006, but all of the moves seem to have worked to perfection so far.

And one cannot forget the contribution of the River Rats. AHL call ups Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank, Tim Conboy and Joe Jensen (also acquired in a minor league deal with Pittsburgh earlier in the season) have all made major contributions over the last few months. Not to mention the likes of Casey Boer, Brandon Nolan, Joey Mormina and Michael Leighton, all of whom came up at one point or another this season and acquitted themselves nicely.

It's been an amazing season full of ups and downs. But the Canes have been nothing if not tough and resilient. Tonight in Washington they can lock down their third Southeast Division crown in 4 years (ok, 5 if you count the lockout). And even should they lose, there is still a chance that they could make the playoffs - a regulation loss would leave them tied with Washington with two games to play, and they do hold the tie-breaker. Still, the way things were looking when Brind A'mour went down in a heap against Pittsburgh, I'm amazed they are still in this position at all. I thought it was all over.

Win or lose tonight I could not be more proud of my team.

That said, let's go take care of business and kick some Caps ass!

GO CANES!!

-m