Up To The Rafters

UAF Nanook Hockey Open 2009-2010 (HD - full, final version)

2010-01-28T12:47:00.001-05:00

Not sure what to take from this video (from University of Alaska hockey) other than the fact that polar bears REALLY like to blow stuff up and are hell bent on DESTROYING mother earth...be afraid...very very afraid.

(Thanks to Die By The Blade for pointing to this link)

The Changing Of The Guard

2010-01-22T12:13:00.001-05:00

pretty hilarious.
video courtesy of BLODGE SALMING:

http://www.blogesalming.com/2010/01/start-of-new-era-in-carolina.html

Pavel Datsyuk shootout goal 1/17/10

2010-01-20T14:50:00.001-05:00

Oh my...

Completely Sick

2009-12-07T02:11:00.001-05:00

Team Building

2009-12-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

Hey Keith Ballard....What the F@#K were you thinking?
Idiot move of the century.

-m

Something to be thankful for...

2009-11-26T22:33:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday to the National Hockey League.

92 years young.

It was 92 years ago today that the NHL broke off from the old NHA.

Nice story and video on NHL.com here.

Gobble. Gobble.

-m

Ridiculous Goal from Steven Stamkos

2009-11-20T18:38:00.001-05:00

Uh...yeah...that will work

The Glass is not always forgiving...

2009-11-18T13:35:00.001-05:00

Celebration...FAIL!

Drop The Puck!

2009-10-01T18:16:00.002-04:00

Well, it's almost here. Less than an hour to go on the east coast and hockey kicks off for real.
Wait, have they already played some (NHL) games in Europe? I'm not even sure. Can never keep up with those things. But either way, tonight's the night, for reals.

It's been a long summer. Lot's of (off ice) action on the Hurricanes front (maybe I'll post an off-season review at some point). Lots happening across the league; some of it good, some of it not so much. I've been reading hockey blogs like a madman. Like a junkie searching for a fix. Haven't been posting much (obviously), but I've probably followed other blogs over the summer more than I ever have. Tonight, I'll settle down in front of the TV, and enjoy the action. I don't think I've ever looked forward to a season starting more than I do this year. But nothing will compare to tomorrow night at the RBC. I've got the whole day off, so there's definitely some serious tail gating in my immediate future.

Let's get this thing started. Montreal vs Toronto or Washington vs Boston? Which one do I watch and which one do I record? Hmmm...what a great dilemma to have!

Welcome back HOCKEY!

-m

Ruuuuuutuuuuuuu!

2009-07-23T16:33:00.004-04:00

The news the Caniacs everywhere had all been waiting and hoping for came from the Carolina Hurricanes early this morning - Tuomo Ruutu has resigned with the Canes, inking a 3 year deal worth $11.4 million.

Ruutu, a Restricted Free Agent, had filed for salary arbitration earlier this summer, and had a hearing date set for July 30th. While both parties had emphasized all along that they hoped to avoid going all the way through to arbitration, little movement had been seen in the last few weeks. In the end the two sides agreed to a 3 year deal with salary increases for each season - Ruutu will be paid $3 million in 2009/2010, $4 million the following season and $4.4 million in 2011/2012.

In a statement released by the team, GM Jim Rutherford had this to say:

“We are very happy to have Tuomo under contract on a long-term deal and to avoid arbitration. He is still quite young at 26, and is one of the cornerstones of our team moving forward.”

Javier Serna over at Canes Now managed to track down Ruutu at his family's summer cottage in southern Finland via mobile phone (evidently, not the easiest thing to do) to get the player's take on his new contract:

“I definitely like the deal, I’m glad it’s not going to arbitration. I really wanted to stay in Carolina.”

Ruutu is coming off season in which he set career highs in goals (26), assists (28) and points (54). He also led the Hurricanes in hits with 228. But the winger thinks his future could/should be even brighter:

“I hope those numbers will go up. I don’t think I’ve reached my peak yet. That’s why I try to work out every day. I’m 26 [years old] and I still think I can get better.”

The Canes are banking on Ruutu continuing to improve as well:

“I would expect for him to be somewhere between that 25- and 35-goal range with this contract,” said Rutherford. “He’s certainly in the age where’s he’s coming into his prime.”

In the end both sides essentially got what they wanted in the deal. The Cames locked up one of their most important pieces for the next 3 years and Ruutu got the security he was looking for, in a place that he had come to love.

Wit this signing the 2009/2010 version of the Carolina Hurricanes is falling into place. Rutherford has managed to retain virtually all of the pieces he targeted, and has added some key free agent depth, toughness and versatility. There's still talk from the GM of adding another top-4 defenseman via either free agency or trade, and with Ruutu locked up the Canes front office can turn all of their attention to that final detail. The coming days and weeks still promise to be interesting, but I'm already chomping at the bit for training camp and the first puck drop of the new season.

-m

2009-07-15T19:16:00.003-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARRY!

Can't believe the guys over at Barry Melrose Rocks did not have something special for us on this momentous occasion.

-m

Length of Contract Is Sticking Point for Ruutu

2009-07-15T03:14:00.005-04:00

(photo: CarolinaHurricanes.com)

Interesting article over at Tracking The Storm on Tuesday regarding the ongoing negotiations between the Canes and forward Tuomo Ruutu.

It appears that the main thing the two sides are haggling about at the moment is the length of the contract Ruutu is willing to sign. The Canes want to sign him to a multi-year (3) deal while the player and his agent are angling for a one year contract, so that they will be able to test the market as an UFA after next season.

Here's what Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford had to say about the situation as it stands right now:

“Really I think what’s happening here is trying to decide if it’s a one-year contract and letting him go out as a UFA the following year or a longer-term contract. We really like Tuomo, we’d like him to stay here and we’d like to do this long-term.”

Interesting conundrum. While I understand Ruutu's desire for a possible larger pay day after next season, it could be risky to sign a one year deal - suppose there's an injury (which has been an issue at times in his career), or he does not put up quite the numbers he did this season. At that point the security of a long term contract might look pretty good in hindsight. Plus there's the real possibility that the salary cap could be reduced significantly next year, and there might not be as much $$$ being thrown around on the open market. A lot of the major market (big money) teams are likely to have some serious juggling to do when it comes to the cap heading into 2010/2011.

As of now, Ruutu's arbitration hearing is set for July 30th, and I would expect that neither side particularly wants to go through the process of a hearing, so something should be done by then either way.

Whether it's a one year contract or something longer term, I certainly hope that Ruutu is on the ice in a Canes sweater next season...and possibly for many seasons to come.

-m

Canes Sign Free Agent Tom Kostopoulos

2009-07-15T01:49:00.005-04:00

(photo: Phillip MacCallum/Getty)

Ok. This one was a surprise.

The Carolina Hurricanes announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had signed free agent forward Tom Kostospoulos to a 3 year, $2.75 million contract. Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford had this to say about the signing:

“Tom is a character player who adds grit to our lineup. He is a strong penalty killer and plays a high-energy game that will fit our team’s style of play.”

Kostopoulos is 30 years old and has played 7 seasons in the NHL, the last two with the Montreal Canadiens. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft (7th round - 204th overall), and suited up with the Penguins in parts of 3 seasons. He then moved on to the the Los Angeles Kings for two years before ending up in Montreal.

Kostopoulos tallied 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) for the Canadiens in 2008/2009, and was also 2nd on the team in penalty minutes (106) and hits (167), appearing in 78 games. He played in all 4 Hab playoff games last season, tallying 1 assist. For his career, Kostopoulos has tallied 105 points (40 goals, 65 assists) and 468 penalty minutes in 367 regular season games. He has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 16 career playoff games.

Kostopoulos is known as a gritty player, who is strong along the boards, has good speed, loves to get physical and is a solid and responsible 2-way player. He definitely fits the bill for the Canes getting bigger, stronger and perhaps a bit meaner.

This is probably a good signing based on talent, but the perplexing part for me is that all we have heard about over the last couple of weeks is how the Canes are in the market for a veteran, physical presence on DEFENCE. Instead we just added $2.75 million to the budget, on the 4th foward line.

One can look at this as an upgrade in size and physicality from Ryan Bayda. But I cannot help but wonder what it might mean in regards to how negotiations are going with Tuomo Ruutu. Perhaps there's absolutely no correlation whatsoever. But with this signing the Canes have around $47 million allotted, from what has been rumored to be a cash budget of around $50 million. Supposing we sign Ruutu for somewhere around $3 million - that obviously doesn't leave much room for bringing in a quality top 4-6 defenceman, without busting the proposed budget. Of course the rumored buyout of Frank Kaberle's contract could free up a little bit of $$$ for a possible defensive signing.

The other obvious possibility would be a trade for a top 4 defencemen. One speculative scenario here could involve packaging something - maybe Babchuk and Patrick Eaves - for a defenceman who is already under contract with another team. (I would hate to lose Eaves)

Or, if things bog down with Ruutu, and a long term/multi-year deal cannot be reached, perhaps the Canes look at moving him rather than facing the possibility of losing him to unrestricted free agency. I have to admit that - a trade or losing him to free agency - makes me shudder to think. I really, really want to keep Ruutu.

There's obviously a few more chips to fall into place before this is all over with. The wheels are turning, and it's always fun to watch and speculate without having any real idea of what is going on behind the scenes.

One thing that is certain as we stand right now, the Canes have 4 pretty impressive forward lines (on paper) to work with. Lots of grit, savvy and speed, as well as some fairly deep scoring potential. Would be fun to watch, but I'm not sure the patchwork defense would be all that amusing behind them. Unless the young defencemen in Albany are ready to contribute big minutes right out of the gate (doubtful).

It also appears that the Canes might be leaning towards giving their young forwards (Sutter, Boychuk, Bowman, et al) a full season together in the AHL , or at least a significant part of the season . Which would be a great luxury to have. (The River Rats are looking like a monster next year as it stands right now).

Lots more to come I'm sure.

At least the off-season has not been boring so far.

-m

HURRICANES PROSPECT AND CONDITIONING CAMP

2009-07-15T00:48:00.006-04:00

Carolina Hurricanes 2009 1st Round Draft Choice - Phillipe Paradis (photo: www.sbuisson.com)

The Carolina Hurricanes will hold their annual Conditioning Camp for young prospects this week at the Rec Zone (912 W. Hodges St) in Raleigh. The camp kicks off tomorrow, Wednesday, July 15th and runs through Saturday, July 18th. On-ice sessions at the Rec Zone start at 4:45pm and are open to the public.

10 prospects will be attending this year, including 2009 1st round draft pick Phillipe Paradis.
Bubba over at Canes Country does a great job (as per usual) of previewing the camp and offering some background on each of the players. Here's a list of this year's attendees:

Phillipe Paradis - F/LW - 2009 1st round pick (27th overall)
Zac Dalphe - F/RW - 2008 2nd round pick (45th overall)
Brian Dumoulin - D - 2009 2nd round pick (51st overall)
Matt Kennedy - F/RW - 2009 5th round choice (131st overall)
Matt Pistilli - F/RW - 2009 free agent signee
Mike Murphy - G - 2008 6th round choice (165th overall)
Kai Kantola - F/C - non-roster collegiate invitee - Bowling Green (grew up in Raleigh, NC)
Beau Schmitz - D - free agent try out
Scott Pitt - F - collegiate invitee - Mercyhurst College
Michael McKenzie - F - free agent tryout (son of TSN analyst Bob McKenzie)

Hopefully I'll be able to make it over on Thursday afternoon. I've never been able to make it to one of these camps, but have always wanted to. Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon.
If I'm able to make it, you can be sure I'll be all geeked out to blog about it.

BTW, the Hurricanes will also have their 2nd Annual Summer Fan Fest on Friday evening at the RBC Center. Live music, inflatables, interactive games, free giveaways, mascots, guest speakers from the Hurricanes, discounted concessions and a classic Canes game on the jumbotron. Should be fun for the entire family. Admission and parking are free. Things kick off at 6pm in the RBC Center parking lot.

-m

Canes Free Agency (So Far)

2009-07-14T01:06:00.004-04:00

photo: Michael Ryan, Carolina Hurricanes (by Tammy Biondi, About.com)

Heading into Free Agent Frenzy, I don't think anyone thought the Hurricanes would be big time players. Canes GM Jim Rutherford was focused on keeping as much of his core in tact as possible following a great second half of the season and a completely unexpected playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Rutherford tried the same strategy after the Stanley Cup run of 2005/2006. Let's hope the results turn out a little bit better this time around.

So far Rutherford has mostly achieved his goal with the resigning of UFA's Chad LaRose and Erik Cole, as well as RFA and playoff hero Jussi Jokinen.

The big question mark still hanging in the air over the triangle involves the status of RFA Tuomo Ruutu, who has received a qualifying offer from the Canes and, in turn, filed for arbitration. Now we all wait and see, fingers crossed, hoping that both sides can iron out a deal sooner rather that later (arbitration hearing are set to start around July 24th).

UFA Denis Seidenberg (as I commented on earlier today) appeared to be out the door, looking for more money than the Canes could possibly offer. But those negotiations seem to have started up again in the last couple of days.

RFA Anton Babchuk got a qualifying offer from the Canes, and was none too impressed by it.
Reportedly the Canes offered him a one year deal at essentially the same salary he made last season. Babchuk apparently thinks he deserves a raise (and he is probably right based on the season he had in 2008/2009), and perhaps a multiple year deal, but since he is not eligible for arbitration (due to spending the 2007/2008 season in Russia while still under contract to the Canes), the Canes did not feel compelled to offer him much. Both Rutherford and the Babchuk camp have taken hard line stances, and there do not appear to have been any qualifying offers from other teams. The Canes really hold all the cards here, as Babs really only has two options - play for the Canes under their current offer or take another year in Russia. Although, Rutherford reportedly gave the Babchuk camp the go ahead to dig around for trade offers if they are so inclined. However this thing shakes out, bringing Babchuk back into the fold will likely involve some give and take from both sides, not to mention a nice meal of crow.

Ryan Bayda is also an UFA, and both parties seem content for Bayda to seek opportunities elsewhere. Not much room in the Canes budget for a depth forward, and Ryan has earned a shot at a decent pay day somewhere.

The rest of the Canes free agents moves so far have mostly been two-way deals to improve their depth at Albany and to add some insurance for call-ups if needed by the big club. Although an impressive training camp could lead some NHL time for a few of these guys. Here's a quick run down of those deals:

Jay Harrison (UFA) - D - 26 y/o - 1 year, 2 way deal: Harrison's signing is a depth move on the blue line. Harrison was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2001 draft and has spent most of his professional career (minus a brief sojourn in the Swiss Elite League in 2008/2009) as a depth player in the Maple Leafs' system (including 2 years under current Canes coach Paul Maurice). He has played a total of 20 NHL games and 376 AHL tilts. He will have an opportunity to compete for a roster spot in training camp, along with some of the young defensemen the Canes already have in Albany. Harrison will make $500,000 at the NHL level and $125,000 in the AHL, with $175,000 guaranteed.

Steve Goertzen (UFA) - F - 25 y/o - 1 year, 2 way deal: Goertzen adds some depth at forward and will get the chance to compete for a fourth line spot in training camp. A more likely scenario is his spending a good chunk of the season in Albany as depth for call ups. Goertzen was originally drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 7th round of the 2002 draft. He split last season between the Phoenix Coyotes and their AHL affiliate in San Antonio. He has played in 62 career NHL games. Ironically enough, Goertzen scored his first NHL goal on Feb 7th 2009 against the Carolina Hurricanes (a 7-2 Canes victory). Goertzen will make $500,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 in the AHL.

Michael Ryan (RFA) - F - 29 y/o - 1 year/2 way deal: Ryan was signed as a free agent in October of 2008, made 18 appearances with the NHL club, and played 40 games in Albany. Ryan led the River Rats in goals (25) last season, despite playing in less than half their games. A valuable depth guy, he spent the last two months of the season with the big club providing depth/insurance as a gritty two-way forward. Ryan has played in 83 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes, scoring 15 points - 7 goals and 8 assists. Ryan's new deal pays him $500,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the AHL, with $150,000 guaranteed.

Patrick Dwyer (RFA) - F - 25 y/o - 2 year/2 way deal: Dwyer made his NHL debut with the Canes in 2008/2009 playing in 13 games, including two playoff games. Like Michael Ryan, Dwyer provided solid depth, with gritty passionate play during 3 different call-ups from Albany.
Dwyer was originally signed as a free agent by the Hurricanes in July 2006. He was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 4th round (116th overall) of the 2002 draft. Dwyer's new 2 year contract will pay him $500,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the AHL.

Casey Boer (RFA) - D - 23 y/o - 1 year/2 way deal: Borer is widely considered one of the Canes best young defensive prospects, having spent the last two seasons with the Albany River Rats, but also enjoying some success during several NHL call-ups (1 goal, 2 assists in 14 NHL games). Unfortunately, he has suffered two significant injuries in the last two years. First, he blew out his knee near the end of the 2007/2008 season, then, after rehabbing and returning to form for 2008/2009 Borer was seriously injured (broken vertebrate) in the River Rats bus crash in February. Prognosis is good for a full recovery, but we will have to wait and see. Borer gets $500,000 at the NHL level and $60,000 in the AHL, with $65,000 guaranteed.

Justin Peters (RFA) - G - 22 y/o = 1 year/2 way deal: drafted by the Hurricanes in the 2nd round (38th overall) of the 2004 draft, Peters was once considered a possible "goal tender of the future". Now with the emergence of Cam Ward as a cornerstone of the NHL club, and Mike Murphy making lots of noise in juniors, Peters' future is a bit cloudy. He has been solid, but not spectacular thus far in his AHL career, and even managed to dress 4 games as a backup for the Canes when Ward was out with a groin injury last year. If he puts together a good year in Albany, and manages to hold off the hard charging Murphy, he could be in line for a back up job in Carolina if/when Michael Leighton moves on, or he could end up as trade bait at some point. Peters gets $500,000 at the NHL level and $60,000 in the AHL with $65,000 guaranteed.

Chris Terry - F - 20 y/o - 3 year/entry level: Terry was drafted by the Hurricanes in the fifth round (137th overall) of the 2007 NHL draft. The young forward finished the 2008/2009 season as the second leading scorer in the Ontario Hockey League. Terry scored 94 points (39 goals, 55 assists) as captain for the Plymouth Whalers (the junior team owned by Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos). In four OHL seasons with the Whalers Terry notched 289 points (114 goals and 175 assists), played in two All Star Games and was part of the OHL Championship team in 2007. Terry's entry level deal will pay him $60,000 AHL/$500,000 NHL in the first year, and $65,000 AHL/$550,000 NHL in the second and third years. He also received a $225,000 signing bonus.

WORK TO DO: Moving forward, the Canes will have to sort out the details of a new deal with Tuomo Ruutu and then see what they have left over to possibly spend on a free agent defenseman (or two). Rutherford's plan all along was to wait and see what kind of deals could be made with whoever is still around in August. There's also the possibility of the team buying out the last year of Frank Kaberle's contract in order to free up some extra $$$. There's always the chance that Seidenberg and/or Babchuk could return to the fold if the price is right. But those could still be long shots at this point.

-m

Seidenberg Back In The Picture?

2009-07-13T14:50:00.008-04:00

(photo from nhl.com/hurricanes)

Well, we are two weeks in to the free agent signing period and most of the big deals have been completed. Now teams will be looking to fill holes and upgrade as best they can. While the economic crisis has not kept some teams from throwing around big money for "superstar" caliber players, there appears to have been a significant impact on solid middle of the road guys who were looking for significant raises on the open market.

One of those players who was looking for a pay hike was Hurricanes D-man Denis Seidenberg. Leading up to the free agency deadline, Canes GM Jim Rutherford seemed pretty sure that Seids would be lost on the open market, and seemed to have turned the page:

"Based on my conversation with his agent, and where they think he's at, he's a long way out of our reach"

This came from a story on Canes Now, posted just before the NHL Draft in late June.

(where have we heard this sort of rhetoric from Rutherford before...hmmmm?)

Well, it seems that the situation might have changed a bit over the last 3 weeks. Chip Alexander/Canes Now is reporting today that the Canes reopened discussions with Seidenberg's agent J.P. Barry over the weekend. Chip got this quote from Rutherford:

"We do have interest in Dennis... We had a conversation with J.P. on Friday and that door is open again....When we first backed away from Dennis, it had nothing to do with Dennis. It was with his initial request. We could not go to that level. He's been out there as a free agent and able to talk to teams, and now we're talking again."

My guess is that no one else on the market was offering anything near what Seids and Barry were looking for either, and suddenly a top 4 or 6 spot on the Canes blue line for a decent price does not seem all that bad.

Seidenberg is 28 years old, just coming into his prime as a quality D-Man, and had by far the best season of his career in 2008/2009. He set career marks in games played (70) and points (30 - 5G/25A). He was also top 20 in the league (17th/120) in blocked shots, and ranked third on the team in ice time (22:19 per game).

Seids can also have a bit of a nasty streak at times and is not hesitant in throwing his body around a bit if need be. While not particularly big or fleet of foot, 2008/2009 saw him make huge strides in his own zone. He still finished the season at a -9 overall, and was a -5 in the playoffs, most of that seeming to come against the Penquins in the Conference finals where he looked particualrly tired and/or slow (not unlike the rest of the Canes blue line).

The downside to his game over his career with the Canes has been his tendency to spend an awful lot of time on the injured list. Foot and ankle problems seemingly being the biggest bugaboo. He only played in 52 and 40 games respectively in his previous two seasons. But 2008/2009 was relatively injury free and the increased ice-time, along with the development and increased confidence in his game that comes with that, seemed to have brought out his best.

I would probably rate Denis as a borderline top 4 guy, but a solid top 6 defenseman. He made $1.2 million per season on his last contract and if the Canes could get him for a slight raise (say $1.5-$1.75 million?) on a one year contract (where he can prove that his injury-prone days are behind him - which is probably what is hurting his value on the open market), it would seem like a good deal for both sides.

For the right price I, for one, would welcome him back.

BTW, Bubba over at Canes Country posted a nice breakdown today on some of the remaining UFA defensemen left on the open market.

In today's Canes Now post Rutherford continued to claim that the Hurricanes are still looking at/for that "veteran defensemen" he has been alluding to for the last few weeks. I'm thinking that it has been more of a concept than any actualy player(s) so far. But what the hell do I know?

Rutherford also mentioned the distinct possibility of buying out the remainder of Frank Kaberle's contract to free up some room in the budget:

"It's not that we think Frank can't play anymore, but it would free up some cash and allow us to change the defense the way we want to and give it more of a physical aspect."

-m

The Check Is In The Mail...

2009-07-06T14:21:00.005-04:00

...along with the RFA Qualifying Offers.

In case you missed it over the not so eventful July 4th weekend, the Chicago Blackhawks front office spent most of the holiday wiping a significant amount of egg off their collective faces, as well as praying to the hockey gods that their snafu did not cost them about 1/3 of their roster.

After making quite a splash in the free agent market - signing the likes of Marion Hossa, John Madden, and Tomas Kopecky - the Blackhawks added to a young and incredibly talented core to emerge as an early favorite from the West for a Stanley Cup run (this after making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals this past season).

Well the glow was diminished a little bit when TSN reported on Friday that it seemed that there had been some sort of mix up in the mail room that resulted in the Hawks 6 RFAs not receiving their qualifying offers from the team by the July 1st deadline. It seems that the NHL offices and NHLPA received the relevant paperwork on time, but neither the players nor their agents had yet to receive anything.

The players involved were: Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Aaron Johnson and Troy Brouwer. Versteeg and Barker are probably the most valuable assets on this list, but all 6 are contributers to the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks countered that the offer had been "postmarked" (I suppose we've all used that one a time or two) by June 29th, and that perhaps the Canada Day holiday (July 1st) had interfered with the players/agents receiving their offers.

An innocent blunder? Perhaps. But the trick is, that the CBA states that if RFAs do not receive qualifying offers by the July 1st deadline, they in effect become UFAs and are free to negotiate/sign with any team on the open market. It also states (as common sense would seem to support) that U.S. and/or Canadian Mail should not be relied upon for the delivery of said paperwork, preferring that teams use express courier or fax, wherein delivery and receipt can be verified. Duh.

For the record, such an event is not without precedent as the NJ Devils committed just such an error in 1999/2000 in regards to the RFA offer sheets for John Madden (irony, anyone?) and Brain Rafalski. Both were declared free agents and ended up resigning with the Devils, but at a price significantly higher than they would have gotten under their original offer sheets. And this was pre-salary cap, so the Devils could spend freely to resign them (to the tune of $18 million).

The NHL launched an official investigation on Saturday, and then announced on Sunday that, as far as they are concerned, all is well and there will be no punishment or reprimand from the league. The ball is now in the court of the NHLPA. Few in the hockey world expect the Hawks to get hammered on this, but obviously it is not without precedent.

Earlier today their were reports that Eager, Brouwer and Fraser had already signed their offer sheets and would be back with the Hawks next season. Still no word on Versteeg or Barker, who by the way would probably be most likely to benefit from the open market. Nor from the NHLPA as to whether they will file any grievances on behalf of any of the players.

Sure, it's probably all mountains being made out of mole-hills, but it sure made for some interesting blog fodder on an otherwise slow news weekend.

Check out some of the schadenfreude here (the comments sections are particularly entertaining):

From The Rink

Second City Hockey

Hawk Talk

Tom Benjamin

-m

Ruutu Files for Arbitration

2009-07-06T12:58:00.006-04:00

According to TSN, 20 players chose to file for salary arbitration with their current teams by last night's deadline. Among those, not surprisingly, was Carolina Hurricanes winger Tuomo Ruutu.

Ruutu recieved a qualifying offer from the team as a Restricted Free Agent, and the move for the player to file for arbitration is a natural development in the process at this point. Arbitration hearings will take place sometime around the end of July (not sure if the exact date(s) has been set), and teams and their players will continue to negotiate between now and then. Historically, deals are reached before any actual arbitration hearing. As a point of reference, Chad LaRose filed for arbitration last season, but ended up signing with the team a week or so before any hearing took place. Of the 15 players in the NHL who filed for arbitration in the summer of 2008, only 2 went all the way through to arbitration. In general, arbitration hearings can turn into pretty contentious affairs, so both players and management usually try to avoid them at all cost.

If teams wish to take a player to arbitration, they must file before 5pm today (July 6th).
(This is not an issue for the Hurricanes.)

Bubba has a good recap of the Ruutu situation, as it stands right now, over at Canes Country.

I'm hoping they are able to get creative within their budget and lock Tuomo up for a long term (3-4 years) deal. But that's still to be determined. If not, a one year deal is likely, at a slight raise, and Ruutu becomes a UFA next summer. Based on his numbers and performance, Ruutu definitely deserves a raise. Fingers crossed that the team and the player can reach an agreement that is seen as fair by both.

If you want to see the full list of players filing for arbitration and some background on the process check out James Mirtle's post over at From The Rink.

-m

What a difference a day makes...

2009-07-03T01:07:00.003-04:00

So, Wednesday night I come home from work exhausted, and log online to find out that the Canes had managed to work out a contract with Erik Cole, but that the prospects for a new deal with Chad LaRose seemed to be going south fast.

Canes' GM Jim Rutherford had spoken with Chip Alexander over at Canes Now on Wednesday evening and stated bluntly that it was "time to move on"..."It's not going to happen". Evidently the Canes were talking with another free agent about joining the Canes Wednesday night, so Rutherford gave LaRose's agent a courtesy call:

I informed (Patrick Morris, LaRose's agent) that we had another deal we were working on, that I was giving him a courtesy call. He said he would run everything by Chad and call back in an hour. I waited but they never called back. Obviously they have a deal somewhere else. So we're working on signing another free agent. It's time to move on.

Sounded pretty ominous. So I went to bed torn...relieved that we were able to resign Cole at a decent price, but bummed that things seemed to have spun down the drain with LaRose. I wasn't too confident that things could turn around from that point.

All through the day on Thursday I kept one eye on the TSN Free Agent Tracker, curious to see where LaRose's name might pop up, or who this mystery free agent that Rutherford referred to Wednesday evening might be.

Nothing. A slow day all around for the most part as far as new signings, and absolutely nothing from the Hurricanes.

I left around 3:30, and headed off for what turned out to be a real shitty evening at work.
Come home and decide to check in for my hockey fix before heading off to bed. And whadda ya know:

Carolina Signs Chad LaRose For Two Years - Rioting In Street Ensues.

WOO HOO!

Of course, Bubba sums it up as well as I could ever hope to.

So, 3 down, one to go as far as keeping the core intact. Jokinen, Cole and LaRose are staying at home. Now to just wait and see how the details sort out with Ruutu. Heard Jim Rutherford on 99 The Fan this afternoon saying that moving forward, the Canes will just have to wait to hear back from Ruutu as to whether he will accept their qualifying offer, or opt for arbitration. Either way he seemed confident that something would be worked out for next season at the very least. Still to be seen if any kind of long term deal can be reached beyond 2009/2010. If not, Ruutu would become an UFA next summer (and we get to go through all of this again).

Rutherford also mentioned that with Seidenberg (definintely) and Babchuk (most likely) gone, the team would now turn their attention using their projected salary numbers in trying to find a top 4 defenseman in free agency to take their slot(s) in the budget. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

But I'll worry about that another day.
For tonight (at least) I should sleep well.

BTW, check out LaRose, from Thusday afternoon, moments after resigning, on the radio with Scott Jackson and Mike Maniscalco from 99.9 The Fan.

Dude sounds ecstatic. I cannot imagine a more genuine or enthusiastic ambassador for the Canes and the NHL in general that Chad LaRose.

-m

Welcome Back...Again

2009-07-02T02:19:00.004-04:00

Erik Cole decided to dip his toe into the free agent pool, take a look around the market and see what might be out there for him. Well it seems the water was a bit on the chilly side and he decided that the comforts of home were a bit too much to pass up.

After a few hours on the open market, Cole returned to the Carolina Hurricanes, signing a 2 year deal totaling $5.8 million with the team who drafted him (3rd round/1998), and with whom he has spent all but a few months of his 7 year NHL career. The new deal will pay $2.8 million in 2009/2010 and $3 million in 2010/2011. This represents roughly a 25% pay cut from his previous contract with the Canes, that paid out at $4 million per season.

Cole was traded from Carolina to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2008 (in exchange for defenseman Joni Pitkanen), but returned to the Hurricanes in February of 2009 in a three team deal that sent forward Justin Williams from the Canes to the Los Angeles Kings. In 17 games with the Hurricanes to finish the season, Cole had 15 points (2 goals/15 assists), and provided a spark that helped the Canes surge to a 12-3-2 finish and their first playoff appearance in 3 years.

Once considered one of the most feared power forwards in the NHL, with a lethal combination of speed, size and physicality Cole had his best season during the Cane's Stanley Cup season of 2005/2006. He tallied 59 points (30 goals/29 assists) in just 60 games. Unfortunately, Cole missed the last 22 games of that season after suffering a broken vertabre in his neck after a blindsided hit into the boards from Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik (booo!). Cole made a dramatic return to the ice for the last two games of the Stanley Cup finals against Edmonton, and skated the Cup around the RBC Center with his teammates. In the offseason following the Stanley Cup run Cole signed a new 3 yr contract with the Hurricanes at $4 millon per season. Unfortunately, since his injury, Cole's production has slowly but steadily dropped off - 61 points (29G/32A) in 2006/2007 (71 games), 51 points (22G/29A) in 2007/2008 (73 games), 42 points (18G/24A) in 2008/2009 (80 games).

Heading into free agency, it seemed 50/50 at best that Cole would return to the Canes. It was obvious that GM Jim Rutherford wanted to resign him, but the question remained whether or not Cole would be willing to accept the pay cut that Rutherford and the Canes were sure to require. Over the last weeks and days speculation and rumor had centered around Cole and fellow UFA Chad LaRose, and which of the two the Canes could afford and should push to resign. Rutherford repeatly stated that he wanted to get both back in the fold - assuming that could work out the price.

After signing Cole this afternoon, Rutherford had this to say (from Canes Now):

Erik clearly had an instant impact on our team when he returned to Carolina in March...He has been an important piece for our franchise for a long time and we are pleased that he has decided to remain at home in Raleigh.

Today, Cole is back with the Canes and LaRose appears to be out the door for greener pastures.

Welcome home Erik. Again.

-m

Hossa To Chicago

2009-07-01T15:03:00.004-04:00

Lots of action already today in the first few hours of free agency, and I'm sure I'll post a recap later tonight, but perhaps the biggest signing so far, at least in my opinion, is Marian Hossa to the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm envisioning a line of Hossa, Kane and Toews and I'm glad the Blackhawks are in the West. Hossa was considered one of, if not the, most sought after forwards in free agency.

Hossa emerged from this past season as a bit of a goat as he left Pittsburgh to sign with the Red Wings for less money and what he viewed as a better chance at a Cup. Of course that turned to egg on his face when the Pens came back to beat the Red Wings in 7, and Hossa was left to watch from the sidelines again as his former teammates lifted the Cup. To add insult to injury Hossa virtually disappeared in the finals, after scoring only 6 goals in the entire playoffs. Now he is off to Chicago and one of the best up and coming young teams in the league.

TSN is reporting that it is a 12 year deal averaging out at $5.2 per season. The deal is incredibly front loaded, with Hossa taking in about $52.3 over the first 8 years and only $3.5 million over the final 4. Which I guess make sense as Hossa will be 38 yrs old as he heads into the last 4 years of the deal. Not sure where this leaves Chicago in regards to the cap, but they've definitely been spending freely over the last two years after over a decade as being percieved as one of the cheapest teams in the league.

The Blackhawks also signed one of Hossa's Detroit teammates today, inking defenseman Tomas K0pecky to a 2 year deal at $1.2 million per.

-m

ULTIMATE FRANCHISE: Canes #2

2009-07-01T14:42:00.005-04:00

So I had ESPN on in the background as I was obsessively following the free agency live blogging on TSN and Canes Country (someone take this computer away from me now before I hurt myself), and Sportscenter was running this bit about ESPN The Magazine's annual Ultimate Franchises fan poll.

Wait a minute...What did he just say?

Under the category "fan experience" the Carolina Hurricanes come in at #1 out of 122 professional sports franchises? Sweet. I gotta check out this list.

So I go online, and though navigating the whole list is a bit wonky, I find that the Canes are ranked #2 over all in this year's survey. Wow! That's a move up from #17 last year. We are second only to the LA Angels of Anaheim. If my math is correct, that makes the Canes the #1 ranked franchise in the NHL. Other NHL teams in the top 10 - Detroit Red Wings at #4 and Washington Capitals at #6. The survey criteria includes affordability, quality of coaching, fan relations, commitment of ownership, stadium or arena experience, team success and "bang for the buck." So there.

#122 on the list? You guessed it...the LA Clippers.

Normally I could not care less what ESPN says, especially when it comes to their coverage of hockey in general (all kudos to Barry Melrose, who I respect a lot, and appreciate the 3-5 minutes of air time he gets once or twice a week during the season), or more specifically their coverage (natch) of the Hurricanes, but this fan vote in The Magazine makes me proud.

Of course we all know that the Canes are #1, but to see this sort of national recognition, well, it leaves me a bit...flumoxed??

Go Canes!

You can read the full survey recap on the Canes HERE.

Have fun searching for your favorite team(s).

I'll probably spend a few hours geeking out over this once I'm through with geeking out over free agency. Heck I might even have to buy a copy of the magazine. Yikes!

-m

Door Left Open For Cole; LaRose and Babchuck, not-so-much...

2009-07-01T13:40:00.005-04:00

Canes Now is reporting that Erik Cole's foray into the free agent pool might be short lived. Canes GM Jim Rutherford said today that, while there are no guarantees at this point, Cole might be back with the Canes:

Erik is working hard to work with us...He'll still go into free agency but has said he will not stay out there long if he does not see a big deal he can get...I don't think we're far apart with Erik. We've had several good conversations in the last 24 hours in Erik's case. I see his point of view. He's willing to take a pay cut but wants to see if there's a big deal out there. There's not the same frustration with Erik.

[NOTE: Is it just me, or does Rutherford stating this publicly, in the media, severely hamper Cole's ability to get a "big deal" out there? If he is saying that Cole has admitted he is willing to take a pay cut in Carolina, does that not temper the amount of money another team would be willing to offer? Wiley public negotiating for sure, but I know if I was Cole's agent I would not be too happy right about now. ]

That last line, referencing "frustration", seems squarely directed at the LaRose camp. As is this little nugget:

I'd like to sign both, Rutherford said. My position has changed. I only have so much (money) to do it. If we can do it within those numbers, we'll do it.

I've got to wonder if there might be some sort of lingering animosity left over between LaRose (or his agent) and the club after last year's drawn out negotiations and arbitration?

There also seems to be a significant snag in negotiations with RFA defenseman Anton Babchuck. The Canes offered Babs a qualifying offer of $1 million, the same salary he made last season. But apparently the 25 year old Babchuck is not interested, wants a raise and could return to Russia (again) . Sigh. I was really impressed with Anton's development this year, his playoff performance not-withstanding, and for whatever reason he's always been a favorite of mine. So much potential there. He's still a young guy and I would love to see him continue to develop under the all seeing Eye. But the guy definitely seems to be high maintenance.

Hell, the Canes actually gave him a break in accepting him back into the fold and providing him with the opportunity to play quality minutes, after he skulked off to Russia two years ago. Now, here we go again. I got to wonder if this is the kid, or if he is just getting bad advice from his agent. He has already screwed up his arbitration status by leaving for a year. Sure he might be worth a bit more than $1 million a year, but signing this offer now allows him to PROVE that again next season, continue to develop at the NHL level, and to make even more money down the line. I don't see how returning to the KHL (again), helps him at all in the long run, except in theshort term pocket-book of course. Just seems a little short sighted as a negotiating ploy.

Rutherford did not seem to have much patience as he summed it up this way:

We have an issue with Babchuk.

Ok.

Now, any word on Ruutu?

-m

Deadline Deals

2009-07-01T12:18:00.003-04:00

Catching up with a few of the big moves that went down in advance of the free agency deadline:

Sedin Twins Stay In Vancouver: This one was starting to look bleak for the Cannucks as rumors were swirling that the twins (Daniel and Henrik) were looking for contracts in the 10+ year range at around $6-8 million per. As it turns out, they got their $6million per, but for only 5 years. Got to see this as a win-win. Hard to imagine the Sedins anywhere other than Vancouver, and the Cannucks did not have to completely mortgage their future. Now Vancouver turns their eyes (and hearts) towards Luongo.

Bouwmeester Signs With Calgary: A lot of eyebrows were raised when Calgary may a deal at the draft sending Jordan Leopold and a 3rd round pick to Florida in exchange for the rights to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester. A big gamble that paid off for the Flames when the much coveted 25 year old defenseman inked a deal yesterday for $6.68 million over 5 years. Calgary now has, on paper, one of the most impressive D-corps in the game with Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr patroling the blueline in front of Miika Kiprosoff. Now it will be interesting to see if they are able to keep all three, or whether one of them become trade bait. Also will be interesting to see who they have left at forward once the dust settles. Iginla can't score every goal.

Scott Gomez to Montreal: Habs GM Bob Gainey came into the free agency period with enviable cap room available looking to retool the Canadiens who seem to have stagnated a bit after posting the best record in the East just two seasons ago. Well, he apparently thinks Scott Gomez is the answer as his top line center as he just took a sizable chunk out of his cap space with Gomez' $7.35 million per year salary through 2013/2014. The reactions to this so far have been all over the place, with some Habs fans screaming that Gainey got hoodwinked by the Rangers' Glen Sather, with others praising the bold and proactive move. Time will tell. Gomez has a huge contract and has not lived up to expectations on Broadway (coming off his worst point production of his career), but does bring playmaking skills and Stanley Cup experience. The deal consisted of Gomez, winger Tom Pyatt and defenceman Mike Busto going to the Habs in exchange for Christopher Higgins and three defensemen (including the Candiens 2007 1st round draft pick Ryan McDonaugh). Higgins was a popular and gritty performer in Montreal, but was hampered by injuries for much of '08/'09.

Pronger To Philly: This one is old news but thought I would comment on it anyway as it is a big one. Probably the biggest deal coming out of the NHL draft and definitely the biggest on Day 1.
Chris Pronger is a guy you love to hate - would love to have him on my team, but boy to I hate him on another. And the guy always seems to have a chip on his shoulder when playing against the Canes. Pronger is a former member of the franchise, having been the #2 overall pick in the 1993 draft by the Hartford Whalers. The Whale traded Pronger to the St Louis Blues, for Brendan Shanahan, two years later. The one (or in this case 2) that got away? Pronger has spent most of his career in the West, meaning the Canes only faced him once or twice a year. Now they get to face him 4-6 times a year in Philly. The Flyers paid a high price in this deal, essentially mortgaging their future in a grab for Cup glory in the short run. Anaheim sent Pronger and forward Ryan Dingle to the Flyers in exchange for Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, two first round picks and a conditional third round pick. Holy crap, that's a high price to pay. Don't get me wrong, Pronger is a great player, a hall-of-famer, but he is also a free agent at the end of 2009/2010. The Flyers could very well have just given up 3 first round picks (Sbisa was Philly's #1 pick in 2008, and is highly regarded) for a one year rental. Not to mention that the Ducks get Lupul back into the fold (he was their #1 pick in 2002, #7 overall). If the Flyers win the Cup, it will all be worth it of course. Time will tell. Bold move either way.

-m

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

2009-07-01T11:59:00.003-04:00

12:01pm.
Let the free agent feeding frenzy begin.

Always interesting to watch the carnage as frantic GMs try to buy a Cup, which is always easier said than done. I wonder to what extent the $$$'s being thrown around this year will be affected by the looming issue of a shrinking salary cap. Should affect the length of big money deals at the very least, one would think. But its tough to say that any of this ever makes much financial sense.

The Cane's have an MO of staying out of the fray earlier on, waiting for the dust to settle and not overpaying until the market evens itself out. Can be frustrating as hell sometimes for a fan, but probably makes sense with the budgets we are usually working with.

Will be interesting to see if Rutherford is a little bit more aggressive this year after failing to lock up Cole or LaRose.

Follow along with live blogging:

TSN

CANES COUNTRY

-m

Heatley for Mayor of Ottawa?

2009-07-01T00:40:00.005-04:00

Well, it looked like Ottawa GM Brian Murray had pulled a rabbit out of his hat and traded disgruntled forward (natch, prima donna?) Dany Heatley to the Edmonton Oilers for three players ( Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid) just before the free agency deadline - and just hours before a $4 million roster bonus clause kicked in on Heatley's contract.

But not so fast.

Demanding a trade and then invoking your no trade clause. That's classic!

I'm guessing that Dany Heatley is the most popular guy in Ottawa right about now.

-m

Jokinen Drops Bubba A Line from Finland

2009-07-01T00:27:00.005-04:00

I was ecstatic to hear the news that the Canes had reached a contract ahead of the deadline with RFA Jussi Jokinen. The Juice was solid from the time he joined the team in early February, selflessly pitching in whatever role whereever he was needed. And of course he became a fan favorite and local legend with his exploits in the playoffs.

Well, his status as a fan favorite probably spiked even higher when he took time out of his summer activities back home in Finland to respond to an email from Bubba over at Canes Country:

I am VERY excited to be returning to Carolina for the next two years.. It's been very nice seeing and hanging out with family and friends here in Finland. I started my summer training program last week. I noticed that the Canes drafted two defensemen from Finland this past weekend. They are pretty young and I do not know much about them, though.

I hope all Canes fans are having a great summer!

Best Regards,

Jussi Jokinen

The dude just seems like a down to earth all-around good guy.
Excited to have him back in the fold for at least 2 more seasons.

Kudos to Bubba for yet another scoop!

-m

The clock strikes midnight

2009-06-30T23:53:00.005-04:00

As I type this the clock is passing across midnight in the Eastern time zone and June gives way to July. The deadline for teams to negotiate exclusively with their unrestricted free agents has officially passed, and since there has been no news out of Hurricanes HQ or from various media outlets (good job staying on top of this one N&O - natch), one can only assume that Chad LaRose and Erik Cole are now officially free agents, free to field offers from any NHL club.

And according to a post on the Canes website earlier on Tuesday, GM Jim Rutherford is not keen on taking part in any bidding wars for either Cole or LaRose:

“If they go into tomorrow [July 1st] then they’re obviously making the choice to go somewhere else...We’ve given our best offer within our budget to try to keep them, and at this point it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

Sure this might just be tough talk, taking a bargaining position through the media, and in general being a hardass, but it does not sound promising.

I would love to keep both guys, but feel stronger about keeping LaRose. He is definitely due a pay raise based on his performance this past season, but I wonder how much money is out there for him on the open market - or at least how much MORE money than the Canes are offering. LaRose is such a valuable player to this team on and off the ice, it could be a blow to lose him. And to be honest, seeing as how he had really found his niche and even exceeded expectations on this team, he might be hard pressed to find a good fit elsewhere. My guess at a fair price would be around $1.5-2million per season. And even that might be a little steep unless it is a short term deal.

Cole was making $4million per year on his current contract with the team, and based on performance over the last few years I'm sure he will have to take a pay cut no matter where he ends up. I'm guessing anything more than $2.5-3 million would be significantly overpaying for the production he provides at this point in his career. I remember when he signed the contract for $4 million per 4 or 5 years ago, some folks thought the Canes were getting a discount. But with the way things turned out in the long run (injuries, inconsistency), he was probably overpaid. If he ends up in another sweater next season I would be bummed, but not distraught.

It also appears that UFA Ryan Bayda will be on the market, and not back with the team. The Canes offered him a two-way deal (after having him on a one-way this season), but I don't really blame him for trying to keep a one-way deal elsewhere.

Man I hope I wake up tomorrow morning to read about some sort of last minute deal for LaRose, or that Rutherford does not just slam the door shut on principle.

-m

Pride

2009-05-15T02:42:00.002-04:00

Game 7

Canes 3
Bruins 2 OT

What an incredible game. Amazing effort from both teams.

Man, I am spent. Cannot even imagine what the Canes and Bruins' players must be feeling right about now. What a great game. After that stinker of a game 7 in DC Wednesday night, this one lived up to the billing and then some.

It really astounds (and perhaps disturbs) me sometimes how much I invest emotionally in this team. On nights like tonight it all seems worth it.

I haven't written anything in this space in a while. And I'm going to try to spin a bunch of hyperbole here now. The one thing I will say:

I am so incredibly proud of my hockey team tonight.

About half way through the overtime I found myself thinking "win or lose, I cannot be disappointed in the effort tonight." Both teams left it all on the ice.

And Scotty Walker. What an amazing story that is. One for the ages for sure.

Hat's off to Cam Ward, Sergei Samsonov, Ray Whitney, Dennis Seidenberg, Joni Pitkanen, et al. A complete team effort.

Perhaps I'll write more later, but for now I'll just say, this is why I love hockey.
What an amazing game it is.

Half way to the promise land.

Bring on the Pens.

LET'S GO CANES!

-m

Canes vs Avalanche

2009-02-22T14:26:00.007-05:00

The Hurricanes will try to keep things rolling with an afternoon matinee against Colorado today. Coming off 2 solid wins over the Islanders and Lightning, this afternoon's match up promises to be more of a challenge.

STREAKS: Colorado enters the RBC Center on a 3 game win streak with victories over Red Wings, Senators and Capitals. This streak of success comes on the heels of a 4 game losing streak for the 'Lanche. Both the Canes and the Avalanche have had up and down seasons, with both clubs struggling to develop any sort of consistency. The Avalanche enter today's game having gone 5-5 in their last 10 and 9-11 in their last 20 outings. The Canes are 6-4 in their last 10 and 10-10 in their last 20.

STANDINGS: The Canes currently sit in the 9th place slot in the Eastern Conference with 65 points (30-25-5), while the Avalanche currently occupy the cellar in the Western Conference with 57 points (28-30-1). The Canes currently sit 3 points out of a playoff slot, while the Lanche is 6 points out, but have 6 teams ahead of them.

TEAM LEADERS: Ryan Smyth leads the Avalanche in points (49) while Milan Hejduk leads in goals with 21. Ray Whitney leads the Canes with 49 points overall, while Eric Staal leads the team with 27 goals.

INJURIES: Colorado has been decimated by injuries this season. Stars Joe Sakic, Paul Stasny and John-Michael Liles have all missed significant time with a variety of ailments. Phillipe Dupuis and David Jones are currently listed as day-to-day. The Canes are currently without the services of Justin Williams, Scott Walker and Joni Pitkanen, though Pitkanen could return to the ice this afternoon.

Let's go Canes!

-m

Just what the doctor ordered?

2009-02-21T15:06:00.003-05:00

Let's just say you are an NHL franchise just outside of the playoff picture having just lost 3 very important games at home by a combined score of 15-2. Your confidence is reeling and you have suddenly lost any sort of identity as a team. What might be the subscription to cure your ills?

How about back-to-back games against the Islanders and Lightning?
Yeah, that seems to be the ticket.

Having come off a 6-2 pasting of the Islanders on Long Island Thursday night, the Hurricanes followed up with a 4-1 win over the hapless Tampa Bay Lightning Friday night in front of what could have only been a anxious crowd at the RBC Center.

The Canes played a solid game overall, but did have some obvious trouble moving the puck out of their own zone at times. This team seems to pull the string a bit on way too many passes on home ices - cross ice passes to defensemen who apparently aren't even looking at the play, a lot of pucks in skates and turnovers at the blueline. BUt on this night, after some shaky moments that were enough to make this Caniac cringe, the home team was able to put the game away in the third period and continue to climb in the Eastern Conference points race.

Joe Corvo iced the game in the third with two goals 39 seconds apart, to give the Canes a 4-1 lead. Both goals came with the Canes enjoying a 5-on-3 powerplay.

Eric Staal got the scoring started mid way through the first period with his 27th goal of the season. It was Staal's 4th goal in his last 4 games, but his first on home ice since January 29th, which just so happened to be the game winner in a 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay.

The Lightning only managed to generate one shot on goal in the first period. But they did get a tying marker early in the second when Vaclav Prospal found the back of the net to make the score 1-1, and the RBC Center grew tense once again.

But what turned out to be the game winning goal came from former Lightning Jussi Jokinen at 14:30 of the second. The tally was Jokinen's first goal for the Hurricanes after being acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay on Feb 7th. Rod Brind'Amour forced a turnover deep in the Lightning zone and was credited with an assist on the game winning goal, his first point since Jan 27th.

Corvo's two goals in the third then put the game out of reach.

Tampa Bay managed only 13 shots on goal for the entire game, and their star forwards Martin St. Louis and Vinnie Lecavalier were kept off the score sheet entirely.

Sergei Samsonov picked up two assists, giving him 5 helpers in his last two games.

Ray Whitney also scored two assists for the Hurricanes.

Next up is what promises to be a sterner test against the Colorado Avalanche at 3pm on Sunday at the RBC Center. Colorado will come into town on a 3 game winning streak, including a 4-1 victory over the Capitals on Friday night in DC.

-m

Jekyll or Hyde?

2009-02-20T18:05:00.005-05:00

Hockey Night in Carolina: Hurricanes vs Tampa Bay

Most of Caniac Nation is probably wondering which Hurricanes team will show up at the RBC Center tonight:

The team that has won its last 4 road games by an aggregate score of 20-7?

Or the team that has lost it's last 3 homes games (in front of sellout crowds) by a combined score of 15-2?

Tonight's game is the back end of a back-to-back, with the Canes winning 6-2 over the Islanders on the road last night. Tampa Bay is also coming off a game last night - losing at home 3-2 to New Jersey in a shootout. The Canes are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Lightning are 2-8 in their last 10. The Canes have won 5 straight over the 'Ning, including all 4 meetings this season (all 4 by a single goal). The Canes are also 8-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

The Canes's Jekyll and Hyde act over the last few weeks has been frustrating at best. Road wins over San Jose, Phoenix, Buffalo and NY Islanders have featured a physical, aggressive forecheck along with a solid defense from the goalie out. The three home loses (Florida, Columbus and Boston) have been marked by stretches of inconsistent or even passive offensive effort and a defense that wilts under the pressure of other teams' forecheck and puck possession.

Let's hope the Canes can turn their fortunes around on home ice tonight against a team that is currently 13 points behind them in the Eastern Conference standings. The Canes are battling for a playoff berth (currently 3 points out of 8th place) while the Lightning are once again jockeying for a top draft pick.

This is game 2 in a 6 game stretch against 5 teams who are currently out of the playoff picture and one against Buffalo, one of the teams Carolina is dueling with for a final playoff spot. This is the time for the Canes to go on the sort of multiple game winning streak that has eluded them thus far this season. 8-10 points out of these 6 games is probably essential of the Canes are to be a factor in March & April, where the schedule get tougher. This stretch against non-playoff teams also coincides with a stretch where Florida is facing off against division leaders. The time to make up points is now.

Bottom line, if this team is to have a serious shot at the playoffs that need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat, they have to play winning hockey at home, and they will need to steal a few points somewhere along the way. It's a game to game journey where every night and every point is at a premium.

The rest of the season starts tonight.
So that makes this the biggest game of the season so far.

Go Canes!

-m

Canes Rally to Tank the Sharks!!

2009-02-06T02:07:00.007-05:00

Coming off a heart-wrenching loss to Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Hurricanes faced a stern test Thursday night at the Shark Tank in San Jose. Captain Rod Brind A'mour was back in Raleigh with a "lower body injury", rumored to be a groin. Jakub Petruzalek got the call up from Albany for his 1st NHL game. Michael Leighton got the start in goal for the first time in 17 games (a bit of a surprise move if you ask me). The Sharks were in a foul mood coming off a rare home loss. Not exactly the recipe for success if you are a Hurricanes fan.

But the Canes played a gritty hard nosed road game, keeping things simple and coming away with an unlikely 4-3 shoot out win over one of the NHL's top teams. The Canes came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 in the second period, and played the entire third period without Eric Staal ("lower body injury") to force overtime. After a scoreless five minutes of overtime, Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov tallied for the Hurricanes while Michael Leighton stopped 2 of 3 from the Sharks. A tremendous win for the Canes, picking up 2 points to stay just one point behind the Florida Panthers for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference.

The Sharks led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Ryane Clowe at the 12:33 mark.
It was a hard fought first period from both teams as the Sharks came out strong, and the Hurricanes tried to keep things simple and clamp down on defense. Leighton was challenged early but stood his ground well, showing little rust from more than month of bench time. The Canes seemed to get their legs around the 10 minute mark of the first, and even though they trailed heading into the first intermission, the men in the white sweaters had to feel good about their overall effort.

San Jose grabbed the momentum early in the second on a goal by Alexi Semenov at the 3:10 mark. It was Semenov's first goal in 46 games - deflecting off Anton Babchuk at the top of the circle and catching Leighton leaning the wrong way. Things did not look too good for the road team at this point. But Matt Cullen got the scoring started on a penalty shot 5 minutes into the period to give the Cane's life. Marc-Edouard Vlasic extended Sharks' lead to 3-1 with a power play goal less than 3 minutes later. Still the Canes would not go away. At the 14:50 mark of the second, Sergei Samsonov found the back of the net off of a great hustle play and beautiful feed from Petruzalek to make it a game again heading into the third. The assist was Petruzalek's first NHL point.

Both teams played it pretty close to the vest early in the third, with the Canes shuffling lines to make up for the loss of Staal. Seven and half minutes into the third Matt Cullen struck again, this time with a dazzling feed to Ray Whitney. Whitney tied the score with his 17th goal of the season.

From there both teams had chances, with Sharks' goalie Evgeni Nabakov making at least 3 stellar saves and the Canes defense playing strong in front of Leighton with several key blocked shots, helping keep the high powered San Jose offense off the board in the period.

Overall a gritty, hard fought team win. One that was sorely needed after the point given away in Vancouver. On this night the Cane's secured that point and then were able to steal a 2nd point in the shootout. Now they head into Phoenix on Saturday night against a Coyotes team that has lost 5 straight and will have the opportunity to salvage a key road trip that got off to a brutal start. The team showed character and drive to step up and take two points from a team the caliber of the Sharks. Let's hope that Staal's injury is not serious (John Forsland commented during the broadcast that Staal wanted to come out for the third, but the team sat him as a precaution) and the Hurricanes can harness a little momentum and bring it back home to Carolina.

-m

this and that (catching up)...

2009-01-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

Obviously it's been an eventful first half (almost) of the season for the Hurricanes and their fans. Some good, some bad, and some ugly. Here are few comments off the top of my head in catch up mode...

1) Doldrums...the Canes got off to a decent start this season, sitting atop the southest division standing for nearly a month before the November doldrums returned.
By late October the Canes seemingly returned to the uninspired inconsistent play that cost them dearly in 2007/2008. Soon the Caps had caught the Canes and left them in their rearview mirrors...leaving GM Jim Rutherford to pull the trigger on a coaching change that, to be honest, seemed inevitable before the season even started...

2) The surprise move...I was not at all surprised that coach Peter Laviolette was fired after a lackluster start to the season...the writing was on the wall for that one all the way back to the way things ended last season...I was sad to see Lavi go, but not surprised, and grudgingly admitted at the time that SOMETHING had to be done...but the re-hire of the once banished Paul Maurice took me (and presumably most of the hockey) world off guard...SAY WHAT??? Though I have to admit, I've been impressed with the turnaround in attitude and effort that Coach Mo has been able to foster so far.

3) Change begets change...I suppose the jury will be out on the coaching change until the season is over, but I have to admit that so far I have liked what I've seen from the Maurice Era Mach II...the team has played with grit, tenacity and defensive accountability...all things that were, for whatever reason, lacking under Laviolette. The power play continues to struggle and the team is definitely not lighting up the scoreboard...but both of those things were true under Lavi...the difference over the last month has been a team that plays hard over 60 minutes, does not beat itself on most nights, and gives their goaltender chances to steal games from time to time. 2-1 wins might not be as pretty as 5-4, but I'll take the wins for now.

4) Have I Become A Curse?...up until the 3-2 win over the Canadians on Dec 16th, I was 0 for 5 at games I attended this year. Let's hope that the partial season ticket package that I cannot really afford (BTW) sees more wins in the new year.

5) Where Did You Go Rod Brind A'mour?...to say that "The Captain" has struggled this season is an understatement. The two time Selke Award winner is last in the league in +/- and seems a shell of his former self. It's been more than a little depressing to watch. Sure, Roddy is coming off a serious injury, and seemingly is still a ways from being 100%, but he still racks up major ice time and it's difficult to watch at times. Turnovers, key faceoff losses, defensive miscues and a lack of any sort of physical play or speed have left many fans wailing for decreased ice time and (god forbid) a stripping of the "C". I wouldn't go that far, but I don't really have any answers. My boy Cullen has been playing really well of late, and might warrant some time on the second line. Brandon Sutter and the fourth line also seem to warrant some more ice time, perhaps at the captain's expense. Roddy's play has picked up a bit of late, but it's still nowhere near where he once was. Here's hoping that he finds some semblance of his old form in the new year.

6) The Return Of The Real Eric Staal...after getting off to a slow start...perhaps due to an injury that was never really reported???...the "future captain" has been a beast over the last few weeks. Back to his old form of playing with passion on both ends of the ice, and seemingly gelling with his new linemates, here's hoping that Staal continues to play like an all star in 2009. No matter what other players are doing, or what other factors are involved, this team cannot win without Staal playing at the top of his game on a consistent basis. He is "The Franchise", no and in the future.

7) The Death of Lord Stanley's Blog...RIP...just before the season started the folks over at the N&O announced that Canes beatwriter and blogmaster Luke DeCock had been promoted to columnist and that long time ACC writer Chip Alexander would be taking over the duties as hockey writer. Chip got off to a rough start with the Caniac Nation when his first post to Lord Stanley's Blog referenced how much more he knew about basketball than most Caniacs. I'm sure it was meant in good natured fun, but hockey fans who have had a chip on their shoulder about playing second fiddle to college basketball in the sports pages did not take kindly to the remark. I decided to hold off on passing any judgement. It obviously would be a whole new world for Mr Alexander, and Luke has developed over time into a respected and admired voice in the hockey world. Not easy shoes to fill, but I wanted to give the guy a chance. And who knows, Chip Alexander might still one day develop into a decent hockey writer, but the report card has to be a failing grade across the board at the half way point of his first season. Lord Stanley's blog has become nothing more than a posting board for press releases from the Canes, and Chip had done little to involve himself in the discussion and build credibility. It's really sad. Recently the N&O announced that they were changing the name of the blog to CANES NOW, which is just humorously ironic in that there is rarely anything on the blog that could even be considered "news" to anyone who reads any other Canes or NHL blog/website. Over the last month or so the natives on LSB have grown a bit restless and the whole thing has devolved into a cacophony of negative comments about the team or the coverage thereof. Sigh. Here's hoping that Chip or someone finds their stride at the N&O in the new year and at least improves their coverage of the Canes. If not, a valuable resources for fans will be reduced to irrelevance.

(That said, I would be remiss if I did not commend Bubba and Corey over at Cane's Country who have become an invaluable resource for Canes news and coverage. At least it's the first place I go each day. Great work guys! What does it say that a non-professional blog manages to scoop the area's major daily paper on Canes coveraqe? Kudos. Keep up the great work!)

Canes vs Thrashers tonight!!

Go Canes!

-m

new year's resolutions...

2009-01-03T13:34:00.003-05:00

I only made one real resolution this new years...and that was to start updating this blog more frequently. I've never been real good at keeping resolutions...but we'll see.

I've been away for a while. Half a season in fact. And what an eventful half a season it has been - both for the Canes and for yours truly. I could offer up a whole slew of reasons that I have been unable or unwilling to write but it all really boils down to two things - apathy and exhaustion.

Apathy because the Canes have not done an awful lot to inspire me...though things have been better of late. And exhaustion due to the fact that I've been working two and three jobs, just trying to make ends meet after I had the brilliant forsight to leave my previous job just as the economy went into the tank.

Whatever. Excuses excuses.

But the truth is, I realise that I've missed posting here. Missed the distraction and the release. Missed the feeling of being a part of something (Caniac Nation Network), and missed whatever interaction large or small that I've had with other Canes fans over the last couple of years as a result of this blog.

So, I'm back. And it feels good tog et started again.
We'll see how it goes.

Let's go Canes.

-m

Catching up...

2008-08-13T13:51:00.002-04:00

Well, I decided to take a week off from the blog and it turned into a month...go figure.

Fortunately not a whole lot going on in the meantime. Here's some late summer house cleaning as we get ready to head into training camp. September cannot get here fast enough.

*****************************

Jeff O'Neal invited to camp. Former Hurricane Jeff O'Neal, who "retired" at the end of the '06/07 season after two somewhat lackluster campaigns in Toronto, has been offered an invitation to attend the Canes training camp. At the moment, no contract has been offered, but conventional wisdom is that if O'Neal shows flashes of his once immense potential, he could be offered a two-way contract between Carolina and Albany. Always a lightning rod during his previous stint with Carolina/Hartford (as demonstrated by the comments section over at Lord Stanley's Blog), O'Neal always had immense talent coupled with sometimes questionable work habits. He was Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford's first ever first round draft pick (Hartford Whalers - 1994) and currently ranks third in franchise history in points (416), fourth in games played (673) and goals (198) and fifth in fifth in assists (218). He posted 41 goals for the Hurricanes in 2000-2001, a number that has been topped only once since (Eric Staal - 45 - 2005/2006). O'Neal was traded to the Maple Leafs in August 2005, not long after the death of his brother - a traumatic event that led Jeff to consider retiring back then. His two seasons with the Maple Leafs were largely uninspiring. During his Hurricanes tenure, O'Neal seemed to enjoy the local nightlife a bit more than he did practice, leading to several run-ins with then head coach Paul Maurice (who, ironically, was also his coach in Toronto). But Jeff was a always talented player, whose apparent battles with a few personal demons sometimes affected his performance on the ice (or so the story goes). All in all this seems like a no-lose situation for the Canes. They invite him to camp without a contract and see if his skills are still there, and his head is in the right place. If so, they sign him for depth. If not, no harm done, and you've done right by giving a former player a shot.

***************************************

- Lord Stanley's All-Time Hurricanes. All summer Luke DeCock of the News & Observer has been opening up the discussion every Monday on his Lord Stanley's Blog to topics suggested by readers. It has been incredibly successful based on the number of contributions/comments. Recently the topic was selecting an All-Hurricanes team based on the franchise's history in NC (all-time great Whalers were excluded). Here's what the readers came up with:

First Team:

C Ron Francis
LW Sami Kapanen
RW Erik Cole
D Glen Wesley
D Aaron Ward
G Arturs Irbe

Second Team:

C Rod Brind'Amour
LW Ray Whitney
RW Jeff O'Neill
D Sean Hill
D Bret Hedican
G Cam Ward

Honorable Mention: Kevin Dineen, Martin Gelinas, Sergei Samsonov, Ray Sheppard, Eric Staal, Niclas Wallin, Justin Williams

Pretty tough crowd putting Eric Staal on the honorable mention (though obviously Francis and Brind A'mour are tough competition if you are selecting by position) and Cam Ward on the second team with a Con Smythe (but I guess if you go by overall career so far, Irbe is more solid than Ward, who is still growing into an everyday goal tender). Overall I think the second team could definitely give the first team a run for it's money. This week's debate/topic is "What Made You A Fan", so join in if you are so inspired.

***********************************************

Ron Francis NHL Insider Interview. Ronnie Franchise recently did a Q&A with NHL.com that, while not featuring any breaking news or saucy tidbits, was an interesting read nonetheless. Two things that relate to the Hurricanes immediate past, present and future:

NHL.com: It’s been two straight seasons now that the Hurricanes have missed the playoffs. What has to change this season for the team to get back?

RF: “I think there is so much parity in the League now and it’s so tough to get from October to April and accomplish what you want to do. We got off to a tremendous start last year and we struggled through November, December and half of January. That is ultimately what cost us, but along the way we also lost Rod Brind’Amour, Justin Williams, Chad LaRose, Matt Cullen and numerous other guys. We used 40 different guys on the roster last year and it came down to losing the last game of the season to miss the playoffs. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup and anything short of that is not successful. We feel we got better on the blue line, where we needed to get better. And, we have enough firepower up front to score goals and our goaltending is good. At least on paper we’re comfortable where we’re at.”

NHL.com: People want to know if Brandon Sutter is going to make the team. Do you think he will?

RF: “I think he can do it. Whether he does or not, we’ll have to see that at training camp. He is an exceptionally smart player. His hockey sense is tremendous and he’s played at some pretty high levels at the World Junior Championship and in the Canada-Russia series last year, which was pretty unique. He stepped into Albany after his junior season was done and looked like he had been there all year. He worked hard to put some muscle on. He’s up in the 180s. We think he’s big enough. He’s gotten strong enough. We think he’s ready.”

-m

WINTER CLASSIC 2009

2008-07-18T00:33:00.008-04:00

With today's unveiling of the complete 2008/2009 league schedules, the NHL made official what had been reported unofficially for a few weeks now - the 2009 NHL Winter Classic will take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago on January 1st. Two original 6 teams, Chicago and Detroit, will take part.

Coming off one of their better seasons in years, with a talented young nucleus of players and some eye opening free agent signings - Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet, for example - fortunes are looking up for the Blackhawk faithful. Many of the early prognosticators look for the Hawks to contend in the Central Division this year. The awarding of the Winter Classic seems to be the icing on the cake in an eventful offseason for Blackhawks fans.

Long time rivals, the Blackhawks and the Red Wings have played 701 times in their storied histories, more than any other two teams in the NHL.

2008's inaugural Winter Classic was met with some skepticism when it was first announced, but turned out to be a ratings and PR bonanza. The Buffalo Sabres (natch, Banana Slugs) and Pittsburgh Penguins (natch, Chosen Ones) played to a shootout in the snow in front of a record crowd of over 71,000 fans at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, with the NHL's golden boy Sidney Crosby scoring the game winner for Pittsburgh. Afterwards, the reviews were raves as skeptical media members who attended or (more likely) watched the game on TV, suddenly forgot their complaints about the folly of the NHL trying to stage such an event on the Hallowed Day of big college football bowl games (seemingly these same folks forgot that the silly BCS bowl system has led to most "big" college bowl games - with the exception of the Rose Bowl, which by law has to be referred to as "the grandaddy of them all - being moved away from New Year's Day). The NHL had seemingly scored a coup, despite itself. And besides, those snowflakes looked pretty on TV.

Anytime you commit to playing a hockey game outdoors south of the U.S./Canadian border, your biggest concern is the weather and how well the ice will hold up (don't look for this game to be held at Carter Findley Stadium or in Phoenix anytime soon). In Buffalo, the ice held up relatively well, but the snow became a bit of a problem. But all in all things went well. Chicago in January promises average temperatures between 18 and 32 degrees (fahrenheit), which if it holds true, should be just about perfect for the ice. Of course, there's always the chance of snow, but the more likely to have a possible adverse effect on the conditions in Chicago are the winds howling off of Lake Michigan. But that's part of what makes these sort of things fun - for the fans at least.

Wrigley Field is a bit more intimate ("the friendly confines") at around 40,000 seats, than Ralph Wilson Stadium, but obviously has a bit more character and history than most NFL stadiums. Overall I think this is a good choice. I know I will be watching.

Most of all, I'm very glad that this tradition is continuing as I think it's a fun thing to do for the fans, both those who attend the game and those watching from the warmth of their homes while nursing a hangover. If this Winter Classic concept was originally Gary Bettman's idea (which I somehow doubt), it has to be the best one he has had in his reign as commissioner - not that there's a lot of competition. Let's just hope they don't try to cash in on a good thing and start scheduling a whole slate of these games every season. Sometimes novelty is a good thing.

NOTES:

- Bettman, ever the (slimy?) politician, tried to make nice with the folks in NYC who had also been bidding to host the game at either Yankee Stadium or The Meadowlands. He was quick to "acknowledge the interest and efforts of the New York Yankees and the City of New York throughout the NHL Winter Classic 2009 site selection process. We look forward to continuing discussions regarding the possibility of a future Winter Classic game at the new Yankee Stadium." Thanks Gary. Now what about that All Star Game you promised to the Hurricanes? Gary? Hello. Gary? You still there?

- Brian Campbell of the Blackhawks will be playing in his second straight Winter Classic having taken the ice for Buffalo on New Years Day 2008. Maybe if the Rangers want to host the 2010 Classic they should look at a trade deadline deal. Campbell gave a thumbs up to NHL.com in regards to taking part in last January's festivities:

"The city was all wrapped up in it. It was, 'How do you get tickets?' 'What are you doing to get prepared?' 'What's your tailgate going to be like?' It was mayhem, a lot of fun, and something you take a lot of pride in."

"I was on the ice for a goal against (21 seconds into the game) because my defensive partner tried to pass it and there was too much snow on the ice and it wasn't going anywhere. I personally did not like the game at that point. Then I scored and the game was the best thing ever."

-m

NHL/CANES announce 2008/2009 Schedule

2008-07-17T17:48:00.004-04:00

The NHL officially released its 2008/2007 schedule this afternoon. The Canes open the season on Oct 10th, 2008 at home against the Florida Panthers. For the full story and a downloadable PDF of the schedule you can check out the Hurricanes' Website.

Quick Initial Observations/Comments:

- The Canes get to kick off the season against the team that essentially assured that they would stay home from playoffs last season. The Florida Panthers' won in Carolina and then lost in DC the following evening sealing the Canes' fate on the last weekend of the regular season. The Carolina/Florida division rivalry has had a lot of spark over the last few years, even though the Canes have dominated for the most part in the W-L column, especially at home. Unfortunately, Cane hater and all around cry baby Olli Jokinen has been traded away to Phoenix, but there still should be some juice between these two teams. This game will see the return to Raleigh of former Cane Cory Stillman, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent this summer.

- 14 back-to-backs on the schedule, which seems a bit more manageable that in seasons past. But the Canes get their first one right out the gate as they open the season with Florida and then quickly hop on a plane for a game at new-look Tampa Bay on Saturday 10/11/08.

- The Canes will get to test their meddle early as the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings visit the RBC Center on 10/13/08. Immediately after that, the Canes head out of town for 6 straight road games - their traditional early season road trip to make way for the State Fair. This year's opponents on the swing: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, NY Islanders, Montreal and St. Louis. A tough trip for sure, with lots of frequent flyer miles. Should provide a stern early test. Supposedly this is the annual trip where the team "really comes together as a unit" (or at least that's what John Forsland and Tripp Tracy tell me every year).

- Canes fans will not have to wait long to see Erik Cole back on the RBC Center ice as the Edmonton Oilers pay a visit to Raleigh on November 1st for a 3pm Saturday Matinee. Something tells me that might be a sellout, and I'm sure Cole will receive a warm welcome.

- The first match up between the Hurricanes and last year's SE Division Champion Washington Capitals will come on the road 11/6/08. The Caps then travel to Raleigh the very next week for a tilt on 11/12/08. The final regular season match up between the two will come on March 21st, in Raleigh.

- Personally, I always look forward to the Philadelphia Flyers coming to town, and this year the two teams first meet on 11/26 in Raleigh. The teams then clash in Philadelphia two days later (11/28) with the Thanksgiving Holiday sandwiched in between. In fact, all 4 games between the Canes and Flyers this season occur over a two week span.

- FIVE Sunday home games for the Canes in November (Toronto, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Nashville and Anaheim).

- The Canes will be hosting their annual New Year's Eve game, with division rivals Atlanta Thrashers providing the opposition this season.

- The Buffalo Banana Slugs do not show up on the Canes' home schedule until February 26th, and then return for the final home game of the regular season on April 9th. The Canes end the season on the road with a 4/13 tilt against the NJ Devils. I would recommend that the Canes not put themselves in a position to have to win a game against Martin Brodeur on the road in order to make the playoffs. If memory serves, the last time we finished our home schedule with Buffalo, the Canes went on to win the Cup. I'm just sayin'.

- Looking at the stretch run: 5 of Carolina's first 7 games in March are on the road, but they finish out the season with 8 of 11 at home. In an interesting twist, of the Hurricanes final 34 games, after the All-Star Break (Jan 25th), only 10 are against the Southeast Division, and only 2 of the last 10 games are against Southeast foes. This is probably in large part due to the NHL adjusting it's schedule and reducing inter-divisional games from 8 to 6 in order to make room for additional games against the opposing conference. It's interesting in that should the Canes be in a tight divisional race down the stretch, they will have to do a lot of scoreboard watching and not count on head-to-head 2 (or 4) point games.

- As part of the new expanded Eastern Conference vs Western Conference play this season, the NHL assigned each team 3 "wildcards" from the opposing conference. A team plays it's "wildcard" opponents twice in a home and home series. The Canes' wildcard opponents for 2008/2009 are Anaheim, Phoenix and St. Louis. That's a pretty boring slate if you ask me, but then again, no one asked me. The Canes will play one game against every other team in the Western Conference, 4 games against each Eastern Conference (non-divisional) team and 6 games against each divisional rival.

I'm sure I'll come up with more useless anecdotes and comments regarding the schedule once I've had a chance to absorb it a bit more. I've become just that much of a geek. Until again...

-m

Catching Up With The Kids...

2008-07-11T01:25:00.006-04:00

A few of the Hurricanes young prospects have been in Raleigh over the last few days taking part in what has become an annual right of passage - Pete Friesen's Prospect Conditioning Camp. Participants this year include prized prospects Brandon Sutter and Jamie McBain as well as this year's draft picks including Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe, and Samuel Morneau. Newly signed back-up goalie Micheal Leighton has been taking part as well.

Luke DeCock has been providing updates over on Lord Stanley's Blog, including a short interview today (Thursday) with Jamie McBain.

I'm hoping to be able to make it over to the Rec Zone tomorrow (Friday) to catch some of the on ice "action". Meanwhile Bubba over at Canes Country is rubbing elbows with the real media types and scoring a Q&A with Brandon Sutter. He will be unstoppable if he ever learns how to operate a video camera. The always entertaining WufPirate over at Carolina On Ice was also on hand to check on the kids and give his take on the proceedings.

Also of note in the offseason updates department, Tim Conboy, recent recipient of a new 2 year contract, has a Q&A over on the Albany River Rats website. Some of my favorite nuggets:

You told me earlier, and you’re not the only one to say it, that the Hurricanes have really treated you well and it is the only place you want to be. How come so many people say great things about the ‘Canes organization and how they treat their players?

Top to bottom, you look at the organization and it’s everything you want. A class organization. The general manager, the coaching staff, the equipment staff, everything from top to bottom, you just couldn’t ask for anything better. They got a great thing working right now; they’re doing the right things.

You made your debut with the Canes last year and it seemed like you became an instant fan favorite as well. Were you at all surprised at how quickly the fan base really seemed to take to you?

Yeah, it was crazy. I think the first fight I had against Scott Parker they were playing that old trucker song “You Got a Great Big Convoy”. (Laughs) I remember hearing that and thinking ‘Wow that was fast, I can’t believe they even knew that song was out already.’ It was definitely surprising to see that many people cheering for me every night, it was nice.

Obviously, you’re where you want to be which is in the NHL. And to play in such a great atmosphere at the RBC Center, is that the pinnacle of what a hockey player dreams about?

Yeah, it’s unbelievable. Going out there, you throw the littlest body check--it doesn’t even have to be a big check, you can just be rubbing out a guy--and the place goes nuts. It’s a pretty intense atmosphere to be in and something I think every kid dreams of when they step on the ice for the first time.

Does the big crowd add to your play? You have always been a pretty fiery, energetic guy. Does that just fuel your passion and hunger?

Definitely. You hear the roar of the crowd and it just puts a fire in your belly. You want to go out there and do something so they get loud again.

The other part of your first stint with Carolina was playing as a forward. Do you think that really makes a difference in your appeal to the team because of your versatility of being able to play both forward and defense?

You know I was telling everybody I probably don’t even need to use a stick out there, so just stick me wherever and I’ll just try to run guys over. (Laughs) But no, it was fun playing forward; it’s something I’ve gotten to do a little bit before in my pro career. I’m glad they trust me enough to think I’m able to go back and forth like that. I just think it’s a great asset for me to have.

If you so desire, you can also check out Offseason Q&As with Casey Boerer and Michael Leighton as well.

LaRose Is Back In The Fold

2008-07-11T00:45:00.004-04:00

I've been away from my computer for the last few days, but I was happy to read in yesterday's News & Observer that the Canes have come to terms on a new 1 year contract with sparkplug forward Chad LaRose.

LaRose was a restricted free agent, who just last week had filed for arbitration. The Canes had originally offered a qualifying offer of $550,000, but the contract signed on Wednesday was for one year at $875,000. There had been some concern amongst Canes fans (myself included) that the team would not be able to resign LaRose under their current budget restrictions. Rumor had it that the LaRose camp was seeking 3rd line money, while the Canes do not project him above a 4th line forward in the upcoming season. Adding to the concern was the fact that with their recent trades and free agent signings, the Canes were already (and still are) well above their projected salary budget of $45 million. But with LaRose now securely back in the fold for at least one more season, the Canes can look to trim that budget a bit, most likely through a trade on defense.

LaRose, 26, is coming off his most productive campaign in 3 NHL level seasons with the Hurricanes. Known primarily as an energy guy and penalty killer for most of his NHL career, a rash of injuries to the Hurricanes forward corps resulted in LaRose playing on the second and third lines for the first time in his career. He responded t the additional ice time by posting NHL and career highs in goals (11) and total points (23)*, even though he himself was limited to 57 games due to an injury of his own (a broken leg) 3/4 of the way through the season. LaRose came back from what many thought could be a season ending injury in just 4 weeks, and was strong down the stretch for the Canes, notching his first NHL career hat-trick (and the game winning goal) on April 2nd against Tampa Bay.

A prolific scorer in juniors (he once notched a 117 point season in just 67 games for Plymouth in 2002-2003) and in the minors, LaRose has never found a prolific or consistent scoring touch on the NHL level, but he has more than made up for it with hard work, character, energy and grit, making him a definite fan favorite and an asset in the Canes' locker room.

Hopefully LaRose's offensive game will continue to develop, although with the glut of forwards on the Carolina roster heading into 2008/2009 it will be difficult to see him cracking the top 3 lines. Most likely the Canes will rely on him for his energy, grit and defensive skills on the 4th line and the penalty kill, barring significant injury in their top 9 forwards. Still, LaRose is a fighter and will surely make anyone ahead of him on the depth chart fight for their minutes on the ice. And having him as insurance in the depth department is a great thing.

Overall a good signing for the Canes, both from an on-ice perspective and from a PR perspective. Having already lost one fan favorite in Erik Cole, some Caniacs would have gotten pretty restless losing LaRose as well.

-m

* Interesting Note: LaRose has notched exactly 12 assists in each of his 3 seasons with the Hurricanes. His goal totals in those 3 seasons have increased from 1 (2005/2006) to 6 (2006/2007) to 12 (2007/2008).

Seidenberg Signs, LaRose Files for Arbitration

2008-07-07T13:07:00.006-04:00

With the big splashes via free agency and trades likely done, the Hurricanes announced a little bit of house keeping over the weekend.

Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg has signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Canes for next season. Seidenberg made $850,000 last season for the Canes, and as a RFA was tendered a qualifying offer of $935,000 late last month. With Siedenberg's signing, the Canes now have 8 defensemen under contract at the NHL level for next season (Joni Pikanen, Joe Korvo, Tim Gleason, Frank Kaberle, Niclas Wallin, Josef Malichar, Anton Babchuck and Seidenberg). So we should still be looking for at least one of those players to be moved via trade to dump some salary (the Canes are now around $2.5 to $3 million over their proposed salary cap of $45-46 million). The most likely trade possibilities are Frank Kaberle ($2.2 million) and, yes, Seidenberg. It's quite possible that the Canes signing him to a contract makes him more attractive in a trade, as teams now know exactly what they would be getting in salary (as opposed to trading for and then having to negotiate with an unsigned RFA).

That leaves only Chad LaRose unsigned amongst the Cane's RFAs. As expected, LaRose was one of 15 NHL players to file for arbitration on Friday (Seidenberg did not file, which led to speculation that a deal was near). The Canes qualified LaRose at $550,000, a $50,000 raise over last season. The sticking point in negotiations with LaRose is RUMORED (obviously none of us knows for sure) to be that he is asking for 3rd line money, but the Hurricanes, with their abundance of forwards under contract - and with Brandon Sutter waiting in the wings and likely to get a real shot of making the team at some point next season - still see LaRose as a 4th line player. They've already signed Ryan Bayda and Wade Brookbank as depth guys. GM Jim Rutherford, in commenting on the LaRose negotiations had this to say last week:

"I don't think his (contract) number is out of line with what he's done. His number is out of line with where we're going to use him on our team."

I love Chad LaRose, but I tend to agree with Rutherford on this one. He is not worth 3rd line money to this team. With the exception of a few spurts last season the guy has been chronically unable to put the puck in the net on the NHL level. He brings great grit, energy, hustle and fire to the ice night in and night out, and is solid on the penalty kill - all of which are qualities you want in a fourth line checking forward. But they are not worth $1 million (plus) 3rd line money. I'm sorry. Which is why LaRose is not likely to get anything more than 4th line money in arbitration anyway, as arbitration hearings tend to focus purely on numbers, not intangibles. My (completely uneducated) guess is that he will be slotted somewhere between the $550,000 the Canes have offered and around $700,000 (on the high end). Of course none of us knows the actual numbers that have been bandied about between the Canes and LaRose. We will all just have to wait and see.

The NHL's arbitration hearings are scheduled to take place this year from July 20th - August 4th. Teams and players can continue to negotiate up until a hearing takes place.

Back to the situation on defense. Personally, I hope the Canes keep Seidenberg. He's still a relatively young player (26) who is still coming into his own as a defenseman. When healthy (and that has been a big IF) he has shown signs of being a solid depth guy on the blueline, not a top line D-man, but a solid, physical presence who can skate deceptively well, has a decent shot and shows toughness. Sure, there can be lapses, but I tend to think that these come from rust and not being on the ice consistently. The more he plays, the better he seems to be. His best years are still ahead of him. The same cannot necessarily be said for Kaberle, who seems like he would be the most marketable trade option. I've got nothing against Frankie, but with the current corp of defensemen it just seems like he is the odd man out. Both Corvo and Pitkanen are younger and (perhaps at this point) more skilled as puck moving offensive defensemen. Kaberle, when healthy, still has a lot to offer a team looking for a savvy veteran who can provide offense from the blue line. On the Hurricanes, at this point, he is redundant.

Of course, Nic Wallin would also be on the list of trade possibilities, but we all know that the "Secret Weapon" has that not-so-secret NTC which he has exercised before and one can only assume he would do so again.

Stay tuned...

-m

The Guy You Love To Hate, Now in Big D

2008-07-04T14:32:00.005-04:00

Not sure why this is suddenly becoming a NY Rangers sub-blog today, but the interesting moves just keep coming. The Rangers are definitely wheeling and dealing, in a attempt to remake their team with moves both upfront and on the blueline.

One of those moves sees the guy we all love to hate, Sean Avery, signing a free agent deal with the Dallas Stars. Mr Nasty will get $15.5 millon over 4 years in Dallas. Not bad for a guy who notched 33 points in 57 games. Granted, the Rangers were much better with him on the ice than there were without.

Thankfully (??) this means that we as Canes fans won't see as much of Avery. But isn't it always more fun to have opposing players that you love to hate?

-m

Ottawa Might Be Interested in Kaberle?

2008-07-04T13:34:00.006-04:00

Luke @ LSB points to an article in the Ottawa Sun today, intimating that the Sens might be interested in Carolina's Frankie Kaberle.

It's all just speculation at this point, but the Sens have been decimated on the blue line and with all the big money free agent signings of defensemen and trades over the last few days, most of the "big names" are gone, and for more $$$ than the Sens were willing to pay. The Sun speculates that Kaberle and Vancouver's Kevin Bieska could be targets in Ottawa. The Cannucks reportedly want RFA Antoine Vermette in exchange for Bieksa, who is slotted to make $3.5 million per over the next 3 seasons. Kaberle is under contract to Carolina at $2.2 million per for the next 2 seasons.

With their trades and free agent signings over the last 3 days (Joni Pitkanen, Anton Babchuck, Josef Melichar), the Hurricanes now have 7 defensemen under contract for next season, with Dennis Siedenberg waiting in the wings as an RFA. It seems apparent that the Canes will try to move at least one of those defensemen via trade to bring their salary cap down into the $45-46 million range. Most speculation trends towards Kaberle, Nic Wallin or Dennis Seidenberg being dangled as possible trade bait. Wallin has a NTC, which he has exercised in the past.

Of the three defensemen rumored to be on the block, I think Kaberle makes the sense to move. His salary, based on the silly money that has been thrown around so far, now seems reasonably affordable. If he can get back to being healthy he offers a lot as a puck moving defenseman who can score on the powerplay. The Canes have gotten younger at his position, so he has become obsolete on this team, but I would guess there are plenty of teams out there still looking for puck moving defensemen. There always are. When healthy Frankie has been solid as a Cane, and who could ever forget his integral role during the Cup run and game winning goal in game 7 against Edmonton? The last 2 seasons have been marred by nagging injuries, which have obviously affected his play and decimated his confidence. Now, with Corvo and Pitkanen on board, there just doesn't seem to be a slot for him on this team at the moment. Perhaps it would be the best thing for both parties for Kaberle to get a fresh start elsewhere, and the Cane to pick up some depth or draft picks.

I'm hoping that we can keep Seidenberg. He has been steady when healthy and given the chance to play. Not outstanding, but solid as a depth guy on defense. Those are good guys to have around at the right price.

Stay tuned.

-m

Jagr Signs with Russian Super League

2008-07-04T12:14:00.004-04:00

Jaromir Jagr parted ways with the NY Rangers on Thursday after 3 years in the Big Apple, signing a contract with Omsk Vanguard of the Russian Super League according to reports on the Russian team's website.

No financial details of the deal have been officially announced, but according to media reports Jagr stands to make a cool $35 million over 2 years, with an option for a third. Sounds like that might cover his moving expenses.

Jagr played for Omsk during the 2005 NHL lockout and became a fan favorite for the Hawks.

Jagr had a down year, by his standards, in 2007/2008 scoring only 71 points while adjusting to new line mates after the Rangers lost center Michael Nylander to free agency last summer. He never seemed to mesh with his new centermen - being paired first with Scott Gomez, then Chris Drury and finally Brandon Dubinsky. Had Jagr scored 84 points or more, his contract would have automatically been renewed. Instead the Rangers, who have spent freely in the free agent market (Surprise!!) thus far, acquiring the likes of Wade Redden (D), Dmitri Kalinin (D) and Markus Naslund (F), had informed Jagr that he was no longer part of their future plans.

Jagr led New York to three straight playoff births in his tenure with the Rangers, after the team had missed the post-season 7 straight years prior to his arrival. In 18 NHL seasons Jagr played in 1273 regular season games and notched 1599 points (646 goals, 943 assists). In the playoffs he appeared 169 games and scored 181 points (77 goals and 104 assists). He played in 9 All-Star game, earned 5 Art Ross Trophies (NHL scoring leader), 3 Lester B. Pearson Awards (MVP - as voted on by players) and was named the league MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy - awarded by writers) in 1999.

The NY POST has some quotes from Jagr concerning the move:

"I'm disappointed that I'm not going to be in New York, but I've always believed in my life that things happen for a reason, and that's how I look at this. Coming to the Rangers was great for me, and I owe Glen thanks for making the trade with Washington to bring me here.

"I can't say I regret anything that happened here. We didn't win the Stanley Cup, but there's a lot of luck that goes into that, too, even if you have a great team. Well, I guess I regret that I didn't get 84 points this season. If that had happened, I'd still be here."

"With the contracts for Scotty, Dru and Hank [Henrik Lundqvist], and then signing [Wade] Redden, they have almost $30M in four players, so there wasn't enough for me after that. The Rangers wanted to get better on defense and they spent a lot of money on Redden.

"That's OK. That's what they thought would make them a better team. If I did a better job with Scotty or Dru, it might be different."

"People think that it's better to have a lot of choices, but sometimes having one choice is best because you can't make the wrong one. I don't know what I'm going to do now, but I'll make that choice when it's time.

"I want to thank Glen and Tom and the Rangers. I want to thank all the people who supported me. Being in New York was special."

And then there was this zinger:

"And I also want to say to the people like Mike Milbury who made their living by criticizing me all the time, that they can kiss my [butt]."

Stay classy San Diego.

Having Jagr leave for Europe means the end to one of my all time favorite crowd chants to float around the upper deck of the RBC Center:

"Who ate all the pie? Who ate all the pie? Jaromir Jagr you fat bastard you ate all the pie!!"

-m

A few Rangers Blogs:

My Blueshirt Heaven
Hockey Bird
Hockey Rodent
Ranger Land
Blueshirt Bulletin
5-Hole
The Dark Ranger

Canes Sign Pitkanen, Melichar

2008-07-02T13:32:00.007-04:00

Well, that didn't take long.

For all those ready to jump off ledges all over the Triangle, wondering why JR would trade their favorite player for an unsigned RESTRICTED Free agent, well, you can rest a little easier. There will be no long, drawn out negotiations and/or offer sheets from other teams.

Luke at over at the N&O announced today that the Canes have signed defenseman Joni Pitkanen to a 3 year deal worth $12 million. Thankfully, this deal was wrapped up in a hurry. The 24 year old Finn was acquired on Tuesday in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers, who picked up long time fan favorite Erik Cole. Cole was due $4 million for the last year of his contract and Pitkanen has bascially moved into that salary slot - $3.5 million in 2008/2009, $4 million in 2009/2010, and $4.5 million in the last year of the deal. This makes Pitkanen the highest paid Canes defenseman but quite a large margin. Joe Corvo is second on that list at $2.5 million.

JR obviously believes in this kid, and thinks he can blossom into the player he has always been projected to be. Let's hope he's right. JR has made some moves in the past that seemed questionable at the time, but they seem to work out for him more often than not. This decision could be a defining one.

But the Canes did not stop there, and moved to shore up their blue line even more by announcing another signing today. Josef Melichar has signed on to a one year contract at $1 million. Melichar played in 310 NHL games with the Pittsbugh Penguins from 2000/2001 through 2006/2007. He spent last season in Europe playing for Linkoping of the Swedish Elite League. Known as a defensive defenseman, the 6'2", 220 lb Czech has 7 goals and 33 assists in his NHL career. JR had this to say about the 29 year old Melchair:

Josef is a big, strong and experienced defensive defenseman who will be a shut-down player for us...

Melichar's signing makes 3 defensemen added to the roster in the last 48 hours.
So you've got to give Rutherford and company some credit. They said that they needed and would be targeting defensive help (obviously), and they went out and got it.
Now only time will tell if they made the right moves.

The payroll now stands at around $46.7 million for 2008/2009, which is slightly above the Cane's projected budget of $45-46 million. There are currently 7 (Corvo, Pitkanen, Gleason, Kaberle, Wallin, Babchuk, Melichar) defensemen under contract to the Hurricanes at the NHL level, with Dennis Siedenburg waiting in the wings as a restricted free agent who has been given a qualifying offer. Don't be surprised to see a salary-dump trade soon involving one or more of these defensemen (Kaberle? Wallin? Seidenberg?).

Stay tuned.

-m

More Moves on a Busy Day...

2008-07-01T14:37:00.004-04:00

And we're likely just getting started...

Luke has announced over on Lord Stanley's Blog that the Canes have re-upped Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank and Tim Conboy. All three were part of the mid-season call-ups from Albany that helped the injury plagued Hurricanes stay in the playoff race all the way to the last weekend of the season.

Bayda was a key ingredient to the Canes' late season surge, teaming with Scott Walker and Keith Aucoin (also a call-up from Albany) to form perhaps the Canes' most consistent line, bringing energy, speed and effort every nite. The line's efforts were not always reflected on the scoreboard, but they set the tone for the rest of the team night in and night out. Bayda finished the season having appeared in 31 games, tallying 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists). His new deal is a one year contract worth $475,000.

Brookbank also signed a one year, $475,000 deal today. He was brought up from Albany in mid-December to serve as the team's "nuclear weapon" on the bench. His role was pretty simple, stand up for teammates and drop the gloves whenever necessary. He notched 76 penalty minutes in 32 games for the Canes last season.

Conboy was signed to a two year deal that will be two-way in 2008-2009 ($475,000 NHL/ $100,000 AHL) and NHL-only in 2009-2010 ($500,000). Last season was Conboy's first in the Canes' organization, and he made his NHL debut against Colorado on Jan. 12th. Conboy quickly became a fan favorite with his grit, hard work and willingness to scrap, hit and drop the gloves (60 PIM in just 19 games) despite his somewhat diminutive stature. He skated as both a forward and defenseman, chipping in with 6 assists, and providing valuable backup on a injury-depleted Canes' roster.

-m

Cole to Edmonton; Babchuck Re-signed

2008-07-01T13:14:00.008-04:00

Cannot say that it comes as a surprise, nor can I say that I am completely against it, but it was still a bit of a bummer to learn that Erik Cole was traded today to the Edmonton Oilers, straight up, for defenseman Joni Pitkanen.

Cole was entering into the last year of a contract that is due to pay him $4million this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2008-2009. This made him an obvious trade commodity, and his name had been mentioned in trade rumors as far back as the 2007 draft, and again at the trading deadline last season. Still, I'll be bummed to see him go.

Here's wishing Erik and his family nothing but the best. UTTR will be keeping tabs and pulling hard for you in Edmonton.

Pitkanen is a 24 year old (offensive) defenseman who will hopefully add some scoring punch to the blue line, especially on the power-play. The terms "potential" and "upside" have been thrown around a lot regarding Pitkanen who was the 4th overall pick (Philadelphia) in the 2002 NHL draft, but he is now going to his third team in 5 seasons. Having not really lived up to the hype so far, his 2007-2008 season was marred by several nagging injuries (knee, hip). He appeared in 63 games for the Oilers, notching 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists). His best season in Philadelphia was 2005-2006, scoring 46 points (13 goals, 33 assists) in only 58 games. He was on the sidelines for 21 straight games that season with a torn abdominal muscle.

It seems that Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford has been high on Pitkanen for a while, as it was rumor that the Canes were in the running to acquire his services last summer as well. Pitkanen is currently a Restricted Free Agent.

I completely understand the necessity to trade a forward to get what we need on defense, and I completely understand that our most "marketable" assets at forward included Cole, Justin Williams and perhaps Ray Whitney and/or Tuomo Ruutu. I'm just a little bit skeptical that a Cole for Pitkanen is straight up fair value for the Hurricanes. I just have not been all that impressed with Pitkanen on the ice (forget the numbers) in the few times I've been able to watch him closely. But of course, its not my job to evaluate talent, and it's only a hobby at best to second guess. Pitkanen is young and has skills. Let's hope he puts it all together in a Canes uniform (Sergei Samsonov, anyone?). If not he is going to have a hard time living up to a trade that sent one of Carolina's most popular players away. Fans can tend to be a little impatient in such situations.

................................

Also in the news, the Hurricanes have announced that the have re-signed/agreed to terms with defenseman Anton Babchuck, who was with the team for two seasons before playing last year in his native Russis (Superliga - Avangard Omsk). Babchuck was embroiled in a bit of controversy when he initially refused to report when the Hurricanes assigned him to the minors (Albany), mid way though the 2006-2007 season. He eventually did report and play out the season with the River Rats, and from most accounts was not a bad apple. But the public spat with the front office was a bit, shall we say, messy.

Babchuck then left to play a season in Russia's top league, where he was fifth amongst defensemen in scoring with 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) in 57 games played. So far in his NHL career Babchuck has scored 26 points and racked up 54 penalty minutes in 96 games with the Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks (drafted in 1st round - 21st overall - 2002). The new contract is for one season and will pay Babchuck $1million.

-m

Glen Wesley Announces His Retirement

2008-06-06T00:23:00.005-04:00

After spending most of my day away from modern conveniences such as internet access, radio or TV, I decided to sit down late tonight and check in on Lord Stanley's Blog to see what was what. Maybe I missed another signing, or some news from the organizational meetings taking place over in Raleigh-wood. Boy Howdy!

After 20 years in the NHL, and 13 with the Carolina Hurricanes, Glen Wesley has decided to call it a career. I cannot say that this announcement was completely unexpected, but it was still bittersweet. Wesley was/is a classy guy. A quiet warrior and leader on the ice and a gentleman off it. He will be missed, but I certainly do not begrudge him his the right to end his career on his own terms.

Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford announced that though his playing days may be over, Wesley will be staying with the team in a new front office position created just for him - Director Of Defensive Development. This is both a classy and SMART move by the organization. Classy in that they are keeping one of their long tenured and most respected players involved with the team after their playing days are over (see Ron Francis as well), and smart in that not many folks could claim better expertise on how to get the most out of your talents as a defenseman in the NHL than Glen Wesley. He already has the respect and admiration of the youngsters on the Cane's blueline, especially Tim Gleason who has always been quick to point out the influence of Wesley's leadership and counsel in his development over the last two seasons.

Rutherford also announced that Wesley's number 2 will be the second Canes' jersey to be raised Up To The Rafters next season. A well deserved and hard earned honor. As a fan, you could always count on one thing when it came to Glen Wesley - that he was going to give you everything he had every time he stepped onto the ice. It may sound cliched, but that's really all you can ask of any player.

Congratulations to Glen Wesley on a stellar career. UTTR wishes you and your family nothing but the best for the future. We will miss seeing you on the ice, but are looking forward to having you as a "neighbor" for hopefully a long long time.

NOTES:
-Wesley finished his career in 6th place on the all time games played (1497) list amongst NHL defensemen.
-Wesley was the last remaining player who was on the Canes' roster from their inaugural season in North Carolina.
-Wesley played in 4 Stanley Cup Finals, 2 with the Hurricanes and 2 with the Boston Bruins.
-Drafted third overall in the 1987 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins, Wesley made the NHL straight out of juniors and was named to the All-Rookie team in 1987 with 37 points (7g, 30 assists)and a +/- rating of +21. He was also named to the the All Star game in 1989 and was considered one of the up and coming offensive defensemen in the league.
-Wesley was traded from the Bruins to the Hartford Whalers in 1994 in exchange for 3 draft picks, one of which ironically turned out to be Sergei Samsonov (1997).
-Once with the Whalers, Wesley was asked to be a number one, shut-down defenseman, and in the selfless way that would come to signify his career, he gave up his personal offensive numbers (which had been quite impressive up to that point) for the good of the team.
-Wesley's 913 games played for the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise is second only to Ron Francis in team history, and his 728 games in a Hurricanes jersey are the most by any player.

There are a couple of nice stories up on the Canes' website regarding Wesley's retirement (which is where I culled a lot of this notes/statistics). You can check them out HERE and HERE.

-m

(photo: schultzimages.com)

Former Cane Sami Kapanen Announces Retirement

2008-06-05T00:14:00.009-04:00

The Phildelphia Flyers announced on Wednesday that former Hurricane Sami Kapanen has decided to retire after 12 seasons in the NHL at age 34.

Kapanen was drafted by the Hartford Whalers in the fourth round of the 1995 NHL Draft. He played 8 seasons with Hartford/Carolina before being traded to the Flyers in February of 2003 in a deal that sent Pavel Brendl and Bruno St. Jacques to the Hurricanes.

Kapanen was best known for his speed on the wing and his gritty play despite his somewhat diminutive size. A fan favorite in both Carolina and Philadelphia, Sami registered career totals of: 189 goals and 269 assists for 458 points and 175 penalty minutes in 831 regular season games. He posted 35 points (13G,22A) and 22 penalty minutes in 87 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.

I always loved Sami, and was amazed over the last few years at how much he had rounded out his game, especially on defense. His role with the Flyers of late had been mainly as a fourth line checker and penalty killer. Surely he had more left in the tank, but look for Kapanen to finish out his pro career in Finland. He is part owner of the KalPa Kuopio club in his hometown of Vantaa, and will likely play for them next season.

UTTR wishes you all the best Sami!

Check out the full story from the N&O HERE.

-m

Canes Ink Eaves To a New Deal

2008-06-04T23:48:00.009-04:00

In the first of what is likely to be a series of announcements over the next few weeks leading up to the July 1st free agency deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes announced on Wednesday that they have inked forward Patrick Eaves, a restricted free agent acquired from Ottawa in February, to a new 3 year deal. Eaves, 24, will get $4.2 million over the life of the contract - $1.1 million in 2008-09, $1.4 million in 2009-10 and $1.7 million in 2010-11.

Eaves, who spent most of 2008 battling shoulder and neck injuries, was acquired along with defenseman Joe Corvo in the Feb 11th trade that sent Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore to the Senators. He missed a grand total of 42 games to injury in 2007-2008, and notched a goal and 4 assists in 11 games for the Hurricanes after the trade. To my eyes he showed flashes of speed and grit in his limited action for the Canes that could definitely prove valuable in the long haul.

Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford has this to say about today's signing:

Patrick is an important part of our forward corps going forward. He just turned 24 years old and already has a 20-goal season under his belt. He battled through some injuries this past season, but we are looking forward to having him back and healthy this fall.

Eaves underwent shoulder surgery on March 28th.

You can read the full story HERE.

-m

The Inevitable

2008-06-04T23:25:00.005-04:00

Well, it has finally come to pass.

The Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup Champions again, proving that not much has changed post-lockout afterall. (Just kidding, but with next year's league salary cap creeping towards $60 million...). Once again, Hockey Town is the center of the NHL universe. And I have to admit, they definitely deserve it.

The Penguins gave the desperate last second comeback one more try, but came up just short, as Marian Hossa's lunging stab at a rebound trickled just parallel to the goal line as time expired. Pittsburgh took advantage of a power play with under 2:00 minutes to play (so much for the refs swallowing their whistles, eh) to pull within one. But as it turns out Henik Zetterberg's shot that trickled slow-mo like through the legs of Marc-Andre Fluery's legs early in the third turned out to be the game winner. Zetterberg got the Con Smythe, as much for his stellar defense as his offense, even though he tallied more playoff points than any Red Wing in history. And that's saying something.

All in all it was a game effort by the Pens, but the Wings were obviously the better team. Exceptionally skilled both offensively and defensively and exceptionally deep as well. They once again dominated the third period, managing to escape the last second heroics this time around. It was not as dominating as their Game 6 win over Dallas on road ice in the conference finals, but it was impressive nonetheless. Once again the only thing standing between the Wings and a blowout was Fluery, who seems to have taken giant steps towards the greatness that has been expected of him for so long.

An exciting series over all, and I hope a lot of people got to see it. Guess we can take a look at the overall TV numbers tomorrow or Friday. Either way I think the NHL got the showcase they were looking for. And I don't think there's much doubt that the Pens, with their core of ridiculously young stars (Fluery is long in the tooth with this bunch and he's only 24), will be a force for years to come in the East.

I'm a little sad to see the year come to a close, and am already looking forward to September. Until then I guess we can have fun with all the speculation and craziness of the off season and free agency to come.

Man, I love this game.

Go Canes!

-m

For The Love Of The Game...

2008-06-03T00:54:00.003-04:00

I was not born and raised a hockey fan. Far from it. I was raised on baseball and college hoops on Tobacco Road.

Youth hockey did not exist for me. And if it had, I nor the adults at the Eden Boy's Club, would not have known what to do with it (I remember being taught soccer by a coach who was reading out of a book at practice). It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I was first exposed to hockey and when I officially "became a fan". I vaguely remember the Montreal Canadians from the mid-seventies, and perhaps a little more clearly the Islanders run of 4 straight Cups in the late 70's (for some reason I cannot quite pinpoint now, I pulled against them every time). Then there was the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid, where I vividly remember me and my Dad (who was never a hockey fan at all and now only holds a passing interest) cheering loudly in our living room as Al Michaels asked "Do you believe in miracles?" Yes! Perhaps that was the moment.

Or perhaps it came when some kids named Messier and Gretzky from a Canadian oil town finally vanquished the Isles and started an amazing dynastic run of their own? I remember that those Oilers teams were the first that I followed regularly and it was through them that I became a "fan". I also pulled for the Rangers because they were the hard-luck kids (similar to my beloved Red Sox), and because they were the Islander's rivals (again, I'm not sure what it was that turned me off about the Isles - maybe their brutish physical play, or just their run of dominance that turned me towards the underdogs). In college I would attend minor league games in Greensboro and Raleigh but did not have a team of "my own". But my fan hood grew and when Peter Karmanos came calling from Connecticut, I felt bad for the fans in Hartford, but ecstatic that I would finally have a team to call my own.

But through it all something was happening that was almost imperceptible. I was falling in love with the game. It was starting to tug at my allegiances that had always fallen solidly with baseball and basketball.

Today, I would have to say that I am a hockey fan above all else. When the Red Sox won the World Series, especially coming from behind to beat the Yankees in historic fashion it was an amazing feeling. But it was more a feeling of deliverance and relief. Like a weight being lifted. When they did it again last year it was almost like ho-hum. I was happy, but I was no longer emotionally invested. And in neither case did it come close to the feeling of Game 7 of the 2006 finals and watching Rod Brind A'mour lift that Cup above his head and jump around like a little kid.

I no longer get (as) upset when the Yankees beat the Red Sox or Duke loses to UNC. But the Hurricanes missing the playoffs can send me into a funk that lasts for weeks. I know it doesn't make any sense. But I know that it makes me a hockey fan. First and foremost.

And as a hockey fan tonight's EPIC Game 5 between the Red Wings and Penguins was absolutely amazing. I don't have a rooting interest. I'm not pulling for or against either team. I just want to see good hockey on TV for a little while longer. And it does not get much better than this.

I don't think anyone expected Pittsburgh to win this game. As talented as they are, Detroit has just been too good this playoff season. But the Pens jumped out to a two goal lead and suddenly things got interesting again. However, by the third period, the Wings were absolutely dominating the play and the Pens' lead quickly disappeared. The Cup was in the house and I fully expected it to be skated around the ice by the guys in Red. But then we were all reminded of how truly great this game can be.
It was a joy to watch - the skill, the stamina, the determination, the desperation.
And in the end the sheer jubilation of a Penguins team that after 5 1/2 periods of elimination hockey will live to fight at least one more day.

I'm sure the game will be analyzed and lionized by folks far more eloquent than I.
But all I know is that it's after 1am and I'm jubilant and exhausted. And I did not even have a dog in this fight. I can only imagine what the fans in Detroit and Pittsburgh are feeling.

And that's why we love this game.

-m

Dance Dance Dance

2008-05-21T22:25:00.002-04:00

As all of the free world probably knows by now, Kristi Yamaguchi took home the title Tuesday night on Dancing With The Stars. The N&O has a story here. Apparently she garnered the most points through the competition in the history of the show. Congrats to Kristi. Though I have to admit I did not see a minute of the show.

Also of note, a few days ago the N&O ran a story about how Mr. and Mrs. Yamaguchi were making plans to put down roots in California in the not so distant future. Hmmm...guess that's something to mull over as Brett returns to Raleigh to have a sit down with JR...natch, pack up his belongings?

Whatever Brett decides to do, UTTR wishes him nothing but the best.
He's earned it. We just like to kid...

-m

Off Season Game Plan

2008-05-21T11:33:00.005-04:00

Well I'm back from my temporary sabbatical, which ended up lasting a lot longer than I expected. Turns out looking for a job, a little bit of travel and attending weddings took up a bit longer than I expected. But hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things quickly.

Was psyched to see that the (manufactured?) melodrama over Coach Peter Laviolette's job status seems to have been settled, for now at least. I found Jim Rutherford's comment - "This became a bigger issue than it needed to be" - somewhat amusing as it was JR's bristly refusal to give any thing resembling even a lukewarm endorsement of Laviolette that led to all the speculation in the first place.

Also today, over on TSN.com, Scott Cullen has posted his "Off Season Game Plan" for the Hurricanes. I had been waiting on this, since I had enjoyed Cullen's prognosis for other teams in the league so far. Have to say that I think he got things right for the most part, but it would be hard not to know what the Canes need most (defense, defense) assuming an even passing glance at their shortcomings last season. Erik Cole and Justing Williams are still offered up as possible trade bait for a top line defenseman, which is not surprising I guess, but I really hope it does not come to that in either case. There are also some free agent options listed. Check it out. Perhaps I'll offer up some of my own, completely uninformed, opinions on this stuff soon. I know you will be on the edge of your seats for that!

-martin

Ol' Roy Out of The Outhouse

2008-04-15T11:26:00.005-04:00

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

2008-04-15T11:03:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-15T09:59:00.008-04:00

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...

2008-04-05T14:13:00.004-04:00

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

2008-04-04T17:25:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-02T14:32:00.006-04:00

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)

2008-04-01T18:02:00.008-04:00

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

FAVRE to retire...

2008-03-04T13:30:00.006-05:00

Dude I'm serious...no really, it's all over the news...why would I make this up?...I'm not even a NFL fan...dude, why are you crying?...

Well, it seems like it's official...and he means it this time...Brett Favre is hanging up his cleats/spurs once and for all after 17 seasons in the NFL. And it only took what, 5 or 6 offseasons of suspense? The official reason given for why Favre decided this was the year to pull the plug? He's "tired". Good enough for me. I would imagine he is a little sore as well. And I'm not trying to be a smartass. He's earned the right to go out on his own terms.

You can pretty much count on SportsCenter being unwatchable tonight unless you happen to hail from Wisconsin. Of course, SportsCenter is pretty much unwatchable in the first place. On his radio show this morning Dan Patrick (who is no longer affiliated with ESPN) was taking calls and reading emails from distraught Cheese-Heads who had to "pull their cars over and burst into tears when they heard the news". Egads.

Yahoo sports has coverage here.

While Deadspin will have "more about this later". I can hardly wait.

Of course, I get most of my football news from The Guardian (UK), and you can find their coverage here.

John Madden is now expected to announce his retirement from broadcasting sometime within the next few days. At which point he will perform hara-kiri with a turkey leg.

Seriously though, today marks the end of an amazing career. Favre will go down as one of the all-time greats for sure. A supreme competitor, fearless, with a cannon for an arm and one of the most durable players of all time at his position. Perhaps the last of the wild-west gunslingers in the NFL. He, and his wildly entertaining brand of football, will be missed by fans and foes a like. Multiple MVPs and a Superbowl ring assure that a late summer trip to Canton, OH will be on his itinerary in the not too distant future.

Let the Aaron Rodgers era begin in Green Bay!!

-m

Hey Boston...

2008-03-04T12:49:00.003-05:00

Thanks for nothing...and by nothing, I mean NOTHING.

Capitals 10
Bruins 2

How's that save percentage looking now Tim Thomas?

Even before watching last night's debacle, I was wondering to myself how the Bruins, who the Canes managed to dominate this season even when they were playing at their worst, could have possibly won 6 straight games and climbed as high as 6th place in the Eastern Conference? Had they been playing in the AHL for two weeks? That's all I can figure after Monday's debacle.

All props to the Capitals for absolutely pummeling an opponent who obviously had no interest in playing the game on Monday. And they did not even have to break a sweat to do so.

If there is any justice, the hockey gods will reward the Bruins for their lack of passion and lack of effort with a 10 or 12 game losing streak.

I'm not sure if this game can be used as an accurate gauge of how much the Capitals have improved with their trade deadline acquisitions, but they looked pretty darn impressive to me...at least we know they can find the net early and often when there's no defense to oppose them.

-m

...and the kitchen sink

2008-03-03T23:09:00.004-05:00

Random thoughts on a spring-like Monday:

- The Tampa papers are awash with stories on the Canes diving to get penalties on Saturday night. What is it about Florida and sore losers? The bottom line from the rafters: Did the Cane's get the benefit of the doubt on a few calls? Sure. But when you are dominating the game the way the Canes were in the 2nd and 3rd periods, you are going to get the benefit of some calls. The Lightning were out-skated, out-hit and out-worked for the majority of the game. I noticed the difference in penalty calls, and was looking for a few make-up calls in the 3rd to even things out. But the fact of the matter is, the 'Ning did nothing in the 3rd to warrant a call. They basically rolled over like a team playing out the string. Big surprise. And now they want to whine about it. Whatever. When they are on their game, no one gets the benefit of calls more than St Louis and Levcavalier. They just didn't do anything on Saturday to deserve it.

- I've been really impressed with the contributions of the newcomers over the last few weeks. Has there been a better waiver wire claim in recent history than Sergei Samsonov? The River Rats have been amazing. Corvo, Ruutu and Eaves all got on the score sheet Saturday night. The energy and edge have been fun to watch. Let's hope they can all sustain it on the road.

= I'm bummed that I was unable to buy playoff tickets this year, but since I don't have a job at the moment, I was unable to make the commitment. Thankfully my regular season ticket plan was paid for before I became a "man of leisure". Unfortunately, my bank account is quickly approaching "unemployed". Here's hoping I'll be able to buy some playoff tickets a la carte when the time comes.

- There was a little speculation on Lord Stanley's Blog today regarding Ray Whitney's injury and status. Apparently a rumor was going around that Raymond had been to see a specialist regarding a possible infection in his leg. Coach Laviolette discarded these rumors, but would only say that Whitney was day-to-day (then again, aren't we all?).

- If Whitney is unavailable in Atlanta on Wednesday, the lineup is likely to remain as it was on Saturday night. I liked the pairing of Ruutu with Staal and Cole, and Patrick Eaves seems to be getting more and more comfortable with every game, playing on a line with Samsonov and Cullen. I was a little surprised with the defensive pairing of Corvo and Kaberle. Seemed a bit odd, to me at least, to pair up your two most offensive defensemen, outside of the power play. Especially when you are working with the minimum six man rotation. But once again Laviolette proves himself smarter than me. Go figure.

- Eric Staal has continued to improve his all around game. He's really stepped up in all phases since Brind A'Mour went down. Saturday he was rewarded with a three point night (1 goal, two assists). It was nice to see, but even when he has not shown up on the scoresheet, his effort has been there consistently of late and it really has seemed to rub off on his teammates. This guy is going to be wearing the "C" someday for this team, and it's nice to see him growing into the role.

- Since his arrival, Sergei Samsonov is tied with Eric Staal for total points on the team with 21. He matched Staal's three point effort on Saturday against the Lightning, with 2 goals and an assist of his own.

-m

Ladd Breaks Out

2008-02-13T14:03:00.006-05:00

Reshuffled and promoted to a new line with Rod Brind'Amour and Sergei Samsonov (arguably Carolina's TOP line this season) after the departure of Cory Stillman, Andrew Ladd paid immediate dividends on Tuesday night in Boston, scoring two first period goals. It was a much needed quick start for the Canes, helping to quickly exorcise the demons from Saturday night's debacle in New Jersey.

Sergei Samsonov gave the Canes a 3-0 lead in the second period, continuing his amazing revival. Things got interesting late in the third when light scoring fourth line forward Shawn Thornton scored twice for the Bruins in less than 30 seconds. But the Canes were able to hold on in the end, earning a much needed two points and moving past the Washington Capitols for first place in the Southeast...for now.

Full Coverage HERE.

The Canes ended their last major road trip of the season at 2-3 over 5 games, which was probably not what they were hoping for but was much better than the 1-4 mark they were staring at when they arrived in Boston. They also clinched the season series with Boston (3-1), which could come in handy should the Cane's fail to capture the Southeast Division - Boston currently occupies the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, 1 point a head of the Hurricanes overall.

Joe Corvo made his Canes debut on the blue line, paired with Glen Wesley for most of the night, he logged 19:03 of ice time, was -1 in +/-, but did notch one secondary assist on Samsonov's game winning goal. Corvo also got time with the first team power play unit, manning the point with Eric Staal, but the Canes were 0-2 on the power play for the night. Overall it was an up and down performance for Corvo, who did seem to get more and more comfortable on the ice as the game wore on. His overall skill as a skater and his powerful shot from the point were evident on several occasions. Obviously it will probably take some practice and game time with his new teammates for things to gell completely.

The Canes also received a high energy effort, especially on the forecheck from the third line of Scott Walker, Keith Aucoin and the recently recalled Ryan Bayda.

Ray Whitney moved up to the "top" line with Eric Staal and Erik Cole.

Newcomer Patrick Eaves was a scratch with a bad shoulder.

-m

photo: Raleigh News & Observer

Sampson Unable to Put Down that Phone...

2008-02-13T13:50:00.005-05:00

Indiana head men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson has been cited by the NCAA for acting "contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct"... AGAIN!

NCAA REPORT DETAILS VIOLATIONS AT INDIANA

How stupid can Kelvin Sampson really be?

Hey, Bobby Knight is available. I hear he runs a clean program.

-UTTR

Montreal 3 Carolina 2 (OT)

2007-10-04T01:20:00.001-04:00

The loss of sharpshooting defenseman Sheldon Souray to free agency was supposed to take some of the bite out of the Montreal Canadians' power play this year. The Habs led the league in power play offense last year, but had struggled throughout the pre-season, and many thought that a precipitous drop off in PP production was in the cards for this season. Tell that to Saku Koivu. The Habs' veteran captain scored two of his teams 3 power play goals, the 2nd coming just 1:05 into overtime, clinching a 3-2 win for Montreal.

Not exactly the start that the Hurricanes and their fans had in mind for the home opener of their 10th anniversary season in NC. The Cane's have now lost 5 straight season openers.

The Canes spent way too much time in the penalty box, especially in the third period, and the straw that broke the camel's back was Niclas Wallin's cross checking penalty at 0:46 of the overtime. Up 4 on 3, the Canadians did not take long to seal the win.

Early on it was the Canadians who were keeping their penalty box full, taking 7 penalties in the first 24 minutes of the game. And the Canes took advantage quickly with Erik Cole's deflection of a Eric Stall shot just 3:30 into the first on their first power play opportunity.

The Canes looked good on the power play overall, moving the puck well and peppering Cristobal Huet through the first period and a half of play. But despite controlling the play through most of the first 30 minutes, they just could not get the puck into the net - clanging at least two posts and missing 3 wide open nets. But the Canes were not without their power play woes as they were unable to convert 5 on 3 advantages late in the first and early in the second period. Those penalty kills were probably the turning point for the Canadians as they tightened up their defense, cut down on their penalties and Huet found his groove. It was now time for the Canes to start their own parade to the penalty box, losing all the momentum and confidence they had built on offense.

After spending much of the third period on the penalty kill, the Canes found a bit of rhythm late, and Brett Hedican tied the game on a slapshot from the left point off a nifty drop pass from Justin Williams at 12:48. But it was not to be in overtime.

Overall, not a horrible game from the Canes. They skated well most of the game, Cam Ward was stellar in goal, and the power play looked much better than it had for most of last year. But it was not the result that the Canes or a raucous opening night crowd was looking for. Too many mistakes and too much time in the penalty box led to some inconsistency that will need to be addressed.

But we will take the point and come back Friday looking for 2 more against the Penguins.

It just good to be talking/typing about hockey again.

-m

Hockey Night In Carolina (Canes vs Canadians)

2007-10-03T15:42:00.001-04:00

Game On!

At long last it's here. Opening night. And nothing could speak more to the fact that I have become a 100%-all-in hockey fan than the fact that the MLB playoffs start tonight as well, with my Red Sox playing at the virtually the same time as the Canes, and I could care less. Not even close. Give me hockey. I did not even bother to set the DVR to tape the baseball game. All I can say is that 5 years ago this would have been considered blasphemy in my house. But I have crossed over. Good luck to the Red Sox, whose fortunes I used to live and die with. And I'm sure I'll tune in to the playoffs whenever I can. But what once would have been must-see TV, is now filed under "I'll check the highlights when I get home". Bring on the Canes! Opening night, here I come.

Spent the bulk of my lunch hour stocking the cooler for the tailgate. Spott and I are going to try to sneak out of the office around 5:30 (note: our days usually end around 7pm) to enjoy some chill time in the RBC parking lot before the game.

Montreal is in town for opening night, and while I'm not sure if you would call the Canadians one of the Canes biggest rivalries (that would have to go to the likes of New Jersey, Buffalo or maybe Atlanta or Florida, I would suppose), the two teams have staged some epic playoff battles and quite a few high spirited regular season tussles over the years. However, the Montreal team that takes to the ice tonight won't be all that familiar, as the Canadians have had quite a bit of turnover in the last few years, and a "youth movement" is underway with the Habs. Their core is solid with youngsters like Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins, Michael Ryder and Andrea Markov, and they are still led by one of the most inspirational and gritty performers in the game - their captain, Saku Korviu - along with veterans Alex Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec (who always seems to bring his best against the Canes). The incredibly talented but easy to hate Sheldon Souray is gone, replaced by Roman Hamrlik who, according to some "was not allowed to showcase his offensive skills in Calgary". We'll see. He's got a lot of offense to replace in Souray. The scouting report points to a lack of offensive depth and experience and a three headed monster in goal - where there is talent but, again, a lot of youth and inconsistency. The "veteran" Cristobal Huet will reportedly get the start in goal tonight.

The Cane's are coming off a productive pre-season, and are for the most part healthy. While one cannot put a ton of stock in a 4-1-1 pre-season record, it's a lot better than 1-1-4. The Canes hope to regain their scoring depth on the forward lines with the return of Matt Cullen and the acquisition of Jeff Hamilton. If all goes to plan, we should be able to run 3 solid lines at teams, much like we did in 2006, hopefully maintaining consistent pressure throughout the game that will pay big dividends late.
The defensive corp has skill and experience, but not a lot of proven depth, so staying healthy on the back line is key. Goalies Cam Ward and John Grahame both had outstanding pre-season campaigns with Ward being especially impressive. Cam had an up and down year in 2006-07, his first full season as the starter, and needs to find consistency between the pipes to solidify himself as the #1 netminder that everyone needs, wants and expects him to be. Let's hope that his stellar pre-season camp (0.77 GAA and .971 save percentage) serves as a springboard to a hot start.

The Canes were abysmal on the powerplay last year, and did not really show much in the preseason either. Let's hope for marked improvement there with the additions of Cullen and Hamilton on the point as well as a healthy Frank Kaberle.

Last year the Canes struggled out of the gate with a serious case of Stanley Cup hangover. Everyone is hoping for a quick start this year. All that starts tonight.

NOTES:

- Tonight marks the start of the Cane's 10th anniversary season. On the flip side, the Canadians will be starting their 98th season tonight, 90th in the NHL.
- Erik Cole has got to be licking his chops to see the Habs on the ice. In 23 regular season and playoff games against Montreal, Cole has 16 goals and 24 points.
- Roman Hamrlik with lace up his skates for the 1000th time in the NHL tonight.
- The Canes are 2-4-3 in home openers in their 10 years in NC.
- Since joining the NHL in 1917, the Canadians have gone 47-26-15-1 in their season openers.
- Hmmmm...the Hurricanes are the only team in the NHL not to have their home opener televised on their regional TV affiliate.

Ok. The time is nigh. Can't wait for the Canes to take the ice. The long road begins tonight. Bring it on.

Go Canes!

-m

Friday Night Fights

2007-09-29T13:08:00.001-04:00

Cane's KO Blue Jackets in 9th round....

My first ever pre-season game was. at the the very least, entertaining. Holy cow. I have not seen hockey like that since I used to frequent minor league games in Greensboro back in the early to mid 90's. I don't think I've seen an NHL game with that many fights this side of Colorado vs Detroit in the late 90s. It was crazy. Who knew that the Canes and the BJs were such bitter enemies? Guess it was a good last minute decision to take a sneak peak at the Cane's before Wednesday's season opener.

And what do you know, WE WON A SHOOTOUT!!
Of course it took a while...9 rounds...and an amazing performance from Cam Ward...before Andrew Ladd netted the winner over the shoulder of Columbus goalie Pascal LeClair, who was also stellar in the shootout.

The game was a bit disjointed and sluggish as a result of all the extra curriculars, but it was good to see the Cane's, who have often garnered the reputation of being a bit soft, stand up for themselves and each other. No one backed down, that's for sure. There had to be at least a half-dozen major altercations in the game, and each of those seemed to involve at least 2 or 3 skirmishes going on at once. And even when they weren't fighting, things were chippy throughout. My unoffical count had at least 8 fighting majors between the two teams, and at least two 10 minute game-misconducts. At one point the Cane's penalty box was so full that Cory Stillman had to sit on the floor. Game officials - Paul Devorski and Stephane Auger - lost control of this one early and never got it back. It even went so far that both teams were sent off to their respective lockerooms at the end of the second period with 22.6 seconds still left to play, in an efforts to cool down the tempers. For a moment I thought they had completely canceled the game.

As a result of all the penalties, the two teams had a hard time getting into any sort of flow offensively, and the Canes looked a bit sluggish on the backend of a home and home. Cam Ward was stellar throughout making 41 saves on 42 shots through regulation and overtime, and then 9 straight in the shootout. Eric Cole notched the regulation goal for the Canes (his 4th of the preseason) on a mid-air deflection in front of the goal off of a Mike Commodore blast from the point. Other than that goal, the Canes' were stymied on several good scoring chances by the steady play of LeClair, who faced less that half the number of shots as Ward, but made some big saves when needed.

Carolina's penalty kill got a lot of practice on this night, and was stellar, at one point killing off a full 2 minutes of 5on3.
I couldn't help but notice Eric Staal pulling an awful lot of PK time, including some big time while down 2 men, taking on the role normally filled by Justin Williams. Not sure if this was just some pre-season experimentation, or a portent of things to come, but either way Staal aquitted himself well.

The power play on the otherhand, was dismal overall, and all reports indicate that such has been the case throughout the pre-season. Which is not a good omen. A pathetic power play cost the Cane's dearly last season.

Not sure how much stock to put into anything from pre-season...no matter what the sport...but the Canes played well this year overall - sporting a 4-1-1 record, their best since moving to Carolina 10 years ago - and hopefully this gritty win over Columbus will provide a springboard into a good start to the regular season. The Canes also deveoloped quite a bit of depth this pre-season, especially with the young guys on defense - Babin, Borer, Carson - who, though they all went back down to Albany on Friday, will add a little bit of security should injuries force any call ups. Ryan Bayda has also made the opening-day roster, apparently giving Trevor Letowski a run for his money in competition for the last forward slot once Chad LaRose returns from injury. And top draft pick Brandon Sutter got a nice long look during camp, and some great exposure to what it will take for him to make it with the big boys.

The season opener is just around the corner. Wednesday cannot get here soon enough.
Let's get it on!

Firday night's game was entertaining, in a Slapshot sort of way, and there was a good sized crowd on hand, which is encouraging. The folks at the RBC Center were obviously working the kinks out. One note to the Canes: if you are going to charge full price for tickets in pre-season, you should at least provide full staffing at the RBC. WHAT A JOKE. Less than half the concession stands were open, and the ones that were faced ridiculously long lines and agonizingly slow service. Lukewarm beer and cold food. Not fun. But oh yeah, I forgot...Im the sucker for paying full price for a pre-season game.

-m

MATT'S BACK! And so are we....

2007-09-29T13:02:00.001-04:00

At least now my "Cullen #8" jersey is no longer obsolete, and maybe I won't have to explain to bandwagon jumpers who Cullen is/was while standing in line for a beer (not that there are likely to be many bandwagon jumpers after last season).

Welcome back Matt!

We defintely missed you.

And welcome back UTTR! ... if I do say so myself...we're pumped for opening night and looking forward to a bounceback season for the Canes!

-m

AT LAST - The Return Of Hockey!!

2007-05-28T22:16:00.001-04:00

At long last, the time is nigh. The Stanley Cup Finals have arrived.
I'm not sure why the NHL decided that it would be a good idea to have a 5 day break between the end of the conference finals and the beginning of the finals. Just what the sport needs, eh, to drop out of the sports cycle for a week. Brilliant!!
All I know is that I have been in total withdrawal. Going from hockey every night for a month and a half to having to resort to actually watching the NBA playoffs. Thank God Lord Stanley is here to save me from that.

Seeing as how my prediction at the beginning of the playoffs of a Buffalo-Vancouver final was not even close, I'm not sure if I should even hazzard a prediction on the Finals. But, I'm thinking it will be Anaheim in 6. I'll be pulling for the Senators, but in goal, Anaheim seems to have a sizeable advantage, despite Ray Emery playing well throughout the playoffs. Anaheim is so tough on the blue line with Pronger, Niedameyer and crew, and so physical up front. Ottawa's big line (Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza) could have a tough time breaking through, and I just don't see enough scoring depth for the Sens. But I've been proven wrong on that throughout the playoffs so far. Hard for me to dislike or pull against either of these teams going in, but I'll be rooting for the Sens for my friend Jeremy. Let's just hope for a good series.

TIme to crank up the DVR and get things rolling. One more series of hockey.
Bittersweet as a Canes fan, as someone else will be raising the Cup.
But as a hockey fan, there's just nothing like the Stanley Cup Finals.

Let's get it on!!

-m

Scheduling Is Everything

2007-05-15T09:25:00.000-04:00

You are forgiven if you did not even know that the National LaCrosse League existed.

And you are not alone.

But on Sunday, The Rochester NIghthawks were crowned champions of the NLL with a 13-11 win over the Arziona Sting. It might have been hard to forgive the scheduling co-ordinators at Blue Cross Arena had the Nighthwaks succombed to the desert heat in Tucson. You see, Rochester was supposed to host the championship game, but due to a scheduling conflict they were forced to play the game on their opponents home turf. Seems that officials in Rochester were so confident in their teams playoff chances that they scheduled the Ringling Bros Circus instead of the chapionship game.

Read more about it at DEADSPIN.

Complete local coverage from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

Hey Buffalo fans, at least up state NY has one championship to cherish.

-m

Where Did You go Buffalo?

2007-05-14T22:45:00.001-04:00

Please keep all sharp objects and firearms away from Buffalo Sabres fans tonight.

Boy. That had to be pretty disheartening.

Ryan Miller gave the Sabres the type of stellar goaltending performance that a team with its back against the wall needs. Unfortunately, he seems to be the only Sabre who bothered to show up as the Ottawa Senators took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Ouch.

I'm not sure what happened to the Sabres team that I watched with awe for most of regular season, but they appear to have turned into the...ummm...Ottawa Senators, in the playoffs. I had the Sabres and Cannucks in the finals. Obviously I'm an idiot.

Ryan Miller was stellar. Ottawa could have easily won this game 4 or 5 - 0 if not for Miller's heroics. Ottawa's lone goal was a complete fluke on a bounce of the boards, but when your goaltender only allows one goal in a playoff game, you are not supposed to lose. Buffalo's offense was abysmal, but take nothing away from Ottawa. They have probably been the most impressive team over all in these playoffs and they have managed to take the Sabres completely out of their game.

Game Notes:

- 15 shots on goal from a Buffalo team that is built on offensive pressure? Only 5 shots in the third period?
- 0 for 18 on the power play for a team that boasted SEVEN 20 goal scorers in the regular season? Some folks on the Buffalo blogs were asking, perhaps in an effort to laugh to keep from crying, if the Sabres had the option of declining the penalties. (Believe me, as a Canes fan, I know how they feel).
- Buffalo managed only one shot on goal on 6 power plays.
- The Senators are now a NHL best 11-2 on the playloffs this season and have won 6 straight games.
- Ray Emery had 15 saves, while his defense came up with 13 blocks. It was Emery's third shutout of the playoffs. Ottawa's team defense was astounding. As exciting as the likes of Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza, Comry, and Vermette can be on the offensive end, it's guys named Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Andrej Mezaros, Anton Volchenkov, Tom Preissing, Joseph Korvos and Christoph Shubert who have been the unsung heros in this series.
- Daniel Alfredsson notched his 9th goal and leads the playoffs in scoring. He has now scored in 5 straight post-season games.
- As stated before, Miller was stout in net for the Sabres, stopping 31 of 32 shots, with several spectacular saves. He was awarded the third star of the game for his efforts.
- Dmitri Kalinin might be public ememy #1 in Buffalo right about now. He was abysmal on defense, looking completely lost and overmatched for most of the game. Even the studio guys on Versus were killing him. Scott Norwood, meet Dmitri Kalinin...
- As badly as Kalinin played at least he did manage one shot on goal...that matches the totals of Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Thomas Vanek...COMBINED. Ouch.
- Hats off the the oft-maligned Maxim Afinogenov, who was the only Sabre not named Ryan Miller who bothered to bring his A-game tonight.
-Three stars: Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa), Wade Redden (Ottawa), Ryan Miller (Buffalo)

As bad as things look at the moment, all is not completely lost for the Sabres, but it does not look good for the fans in upstate NY. Two teams in NHL history have come back from 0-3 deficits in the Stanley Cup playoffs (Toronto in 1942 and NY Islanders in 1975) . And as a life long Red Sox fan, I can attest to the fact that nothing is impossible. But it usually seems that way. The road back will be long, and the odds are against you but the cliches ring true...all the Sabres can do at this point is win the next game they play. Take it from Terry Francona, they don't need to worry about winning 4 straight, right now they just need to win the next game, and take it from there.

As a Cane's fan, I do not have a dog in this fight, but unlike a lot of my bretheren, I am not pulling against the Sabres in this series. I just want to see a good series. And for anything approaching that, Buffalo will have to play a lot better than they did tonight in Ottawa.

-m

COULD VERSUS SUCK ANY MORE????

2007-04-23T23:09:00.001-04:00

Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick!!

Could the NHL please get on a REAL NETWORK? PLEASE!!!

Could Time Warner Cable suck anymore?

I just started my DVR which was set to record tonight's game at 10pm, which was the start time listed on Versus in my digital cable guide, only to find out that the game started at 9pm and I had missed the first period.

Ughhh. I'm an idiot.

But how hard would it be to get your schedules straight guys, for peopel who - you know - really want to watch the game?
Jeez.

Dallas is up 1-0.
Turco has a 151:53 scoreless streak going.
7 shots for Vancouver in the first period.
9 for the Stars. Maybe I didn't miss much?

And Henrik Sedin just took a bad penalty.

-m

Game 7 - Vancouver vs Dallas - Let's get it on!

2007-04-23T22:44:00.001-04:00

What better to pull UTTR out of hibernation than a playoff game 7?

Yes, I've been AWOL for a while now, as the Hurricanes' season died with a whimper, and I was left speechless for most of the last few weeks/months of the season. But I suppose every new endeavor has it's fits and starts. Why should my feeble attempt at blogging be any different. Sometimes, life just gets in the way, but I guess I should be glad I have a life away from my hockey obsessions. We move on. That which doesn't wipe us out competely, just makes us stronger. Or something.

I've slowly come to terms with the bitter pill that was the Canes limping down the stretch to add their names to an infamous short list of defending champions to miss out on the playoffs. But hey, at least I can take solace in the fact that a couple of those teams on the short list - Montreal and New Jersey - moved on from disappointment to do some pretty special things. I guy has to have a dream, right? And hey, guess what, we WON THE F#@KING STANLEY CUP!! So there.

Surprisingly perhaps, having my favorite team hitting the charity golf circuit and secondary international competitions early has not seemed to dampen my appetite for playoff hockey. And one can just ask the lady UTTR for confirmation...I have not stopped watching. I'm still obsessed. And there has been some exciting stuff already this year as the first round comes to a close...San Jose, Anaheim and Buffalo have looked strong...New Jersey and Ottawa have looked steady...the Rangers were so quick to dispatch the Thrashers, who did not put up much of a fight, that I'm not sure how they looked...Detriot pulled a Jeckel & Hyde act, home and away, against a scrappy (and at times down right dirty) Calgary club...kudos to the Islanders who actually managed to make the Buffalo series feel closer than 4-1, even thought they were completely outmatched...I'm sure we will be seeing plenty more of Sid the Kid and his Penguin extrordinares in the years to come...just getting their feet wet, probably a little ahead of schedule even.

And then there's the epic struggle of offensive ineptitude that has been Dallas v Vancouver...are these goalies this good (maybe) or are both of these teams just completely inept offensively (perhaps) or are both teams playing incredible defensive hockey (there you go)? Tonight we find out who moves on in the first game 7 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let's hope it's not the last. The DVR is cranking as I sit down to watch sans commericals...wonder how late I will be up?

Going into the playoffs I had Buffalo and Vancouver as my picks for the finals.

Wonder what that will look like in a few hours?

-martin

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

2007-02-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

The Carolina Hurricanes, in what was probably the most important game of a starcrossed year so far, carried a 1-0 lead into the third period tonight, after a tight checking, evenly matched 40 minutes of hockey. Carolina came into the game having won 5 of 7. The Thrashers came in having lost 4 straight and 6 of 10. The Canes' record so far this year when carrying a lead into the third period? 21-0. Carolina was the only team in the NHL yet to lose a game when leading after 2. The keyword in that last sentence - WAS.

The two teams fought hard for every inch of ice through two periods, with Rod Brind'Amour's second period goal (his 3rd in the last 2 games) staking the Cane's to a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, Carolina played tonight's third period much like they have played the first period all to often this season. The result - a frustrating, crushing defeat.

Atlanta 3
Carolina 1

A few things that made my stomach churn about tonight's game, and that also seem to serve as a microcosm of the Cane's season so far:

1) Special Teams win tight games. The Cane's were 0-4 on the power play, including a pivotal 43 seconds of 5 on 3 in the third period when they could have salted the game away. To top it all off, they gave up a flukey short handed goal that gave Atlanta life in the third.

2) You've got to want it - and I'm talking to you in particular Eric Staal. On the Thrashers first goal, goalie Johan Hedberg cleared the puck out of his own zone with the Thrashers shorthanded. Marian Hossa skated hard to follow the puck into the Canes zone while Staal just seemed meander back from his position on the point, watching Hossa skate by him. Hossa corraled the puck in the corner and since Staal was still not on him, and showed no real interest in checking him at all, Marian simply through the puck at the net along the goaline. The puck somehow found a hole between Ward's pad and the crease, bouncing off his right skate and his stick. Just like that the game was tied. I watched the replay several times, and Staal's lack of effort was simply disgusting. It was a fluke goal that Ward probably stops 99 times out of a hundred, but the fact of the matter is that Hossa should have never have gotten the shot off. At the very least Staal should have been there on the check, and probably should've beaten him to the puck in the first place. A lazy, lazy play. And truth be told I probably would not have noticed if it were the first time Staal had seemed to be dogging it on this night. Not the sort of effort you need from your "star" in a big game. "The biggest game of the year".

3) Lazy passes in the neutral zone - Ray Whitney played hard all night and had a beautiful assist to Rod Brind'Amour on the Cane's only goal, but his lazy pass in the neutral zone during a Thrashers line change (what!?! - get the puck deep, don't try to get fancy!) led to Ilya Kovalchuk's wide open breakaway for the Thrasher's game winning goal.

4) Weak defense along the board - Denis Seidenberg, playing his first game in several weeks, gave away the puck not once, but twice behind his own goal, and then was beaten in front of the net By Eric Boulton (all on one play!) for the Thrasher's final goal in the final minutes. Boulton has two goals this season, both coming against Carolina, and both on plays where Carolina defensemen should have been given assists. The Cane's defense seemed to wilt a bit in the third. This despite dressing 8 defensemen for the game.

5) Cam Ward played well enought to win for most of the game, yet that effort is wasted once again. Hossa's goal was a complete fluke (and as stated before, would have never even gotten to the net with a little hustle from Staal), and Ward basically had no chance on Kovalchuk's breakaway. The third goal came on Siedenberg's giveaway to Boulton right in front of the net. Ward made several amazing saves, including 3 on one on short-handed breakaway early in the third to preserve the Cane's lead.

6) Erik Cole was a late scratch, missing his 4th out of the last 5 games. Cory Stillman remains on the shelf as well.

I'm trying to stay optimistic, but this one is tough to handle. The inconsistency is disappointing. Especially considering the stakes. This was a 4 point game. This is one we needed.

The Cane's now hold on to the 8th spot in the east by just 1 point over Toronto and the Islanders. They fall to 4 points of out of the top spot in the Southeast division, with Atlanta and Tampa Bay tied at the top. Tampa Bay hold the tie breaker at the moment with one more win.

As it has been all season long...One step forward, two steps back.

I'm trying to keep hope a live, but the frustration level is rising.
Nonetheless, I'll be up in the rafters for the Philly game on Thursday.
Let's go Canes. (Please?)

-m

The Canes storm into the "Mecca of Hockey"

2007-01-09T22:59:00.000-05:00

Hey Hey whadda ya say? I'm baaaack....

Wow. That was quite a layoff. Not that anyone was likely to notice that I was gone. Still, over a full month between posts. Kind of got away from me there. Work has been crazy. Work is still crazy. The Holidays were crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to settle into a routine and write more frequently. We'll see. But enough about me. On with the hockey.

- To say that the Hurricanes have been up and down since I last logged in would be an understatement. A brutal west coast swing, followed a hot streak where they won 5 out of 6, leading into possibly their worst stretch of hockey since beofre the strike. But after tonight's 4-1 victory over Toronto on the road, perhaps things are on the upswing again. One can only hope.

- Coach Laviolette continued tonight in Tornoto with the line combinations that he tinkered with coming into the Islanders game last weekend. Cole was out with the Brind A'mour/Whitney line, and Staal was out with Williams and Stillman. The shake up of the lines seems to be working well over the last two games: Whitney has 4 points, and Staal, Williams and Cole all have 2 goals.

- Eric Staal scored a powerplay goal tonight, his second straight game with a goal after a brutal 9 game goal drought. He seems to be playing with energy and enthuisasm again. Very good sign.

- Scott Walker and Eric Belanger also scored goals for the Canes tonight against the Leafs, providing some much needed scoring punch from the third line. The final tally of the night was Justin Williams' empty netter with less than 30 seconds to play, his 21st of the season (tops on the team).

- Cam Ward was stellar in goal (again!) recording 29 saves and single-handedly keeping the Canes in the game through a lopsided first period that saw the Leafs dominate play. Carolina was able to rebound and take control in the second, scoring two goals and generally having their way with the Leafs over the final two periods. Their cause was helped by a Toronto parade to the penalty box in the second and third. Starting late in the first period, Toronto was whistled on 4 consecutive penalties before the Canes gave up their first power-play of the night. The Canes were called for 2 penalties in the game while Toronto sent players to the box 6 times.

- Dennis Seidenberg had a solid debut with the Canes, after what was an eventful couple of days since the Kevin Adams trade. Seidenberg logged just over 20 minutes in ice time for the injury depleted Canes defensive corp, getting a look on both the power play and the penalty kill. He finished the game at a +1, logging the 4th most ice time amongst 6 healthy defenders. Seidenberg arrived in Toronto just after 7am on Tuesday. After learning of the trade while in Nahsville on a road trip with the Coyotes, he had to catch a flight back to Phoenix, grab his passport and one would assume a change of clothes, and then jump on a red eye to Toronto.

- Kevin Adams has long been a favorite of UTTR, and while the trade did not come as a complete suprise, it was still a little bit of a bummer. Few (if any) players have played any harder, or left more of themselves on the ice, for the Hurricanes over the last few years, and Adams was a great ambassador for the the game and for the Canes in the community as well. He will be missed, but the need for something to be done to shore up the depeted blue line was pressing. Adams' ice time had dwindled this year and with a log jam of young players at the forward position both here in Raleigh, as well as down on the farm in Albany, it did not appear that more ice time was on the way, even as Kevin battled back from a wrist injury. I'm sure it was not an easy move for Rutherford and the Canes, but it was a prudent move. Here's wishing Kevin nothing but the best in Phoenix, and hope to see back in Raleigh again in the future (the Stanley Cup finals? haha).

- Got to love the mid-season Free Preview of the NHL Center Ice package. I went ahead and gave myself an early birthday present, and signed up for the second half of the season today. Had to clear it with the lady first, but she has come to accept my complete hockey geek-ness and I think she even finds it a little charming. I told her that the Canes were not on FSN for over a week and I just could not go that long without a hockey fix. And what could be better than watching the Canadians blitz past the Thrashers, with all the commentary in French. I have no idea what they are talking about, but it's pretty amusing. I also have no idea what penalty Koivu just got sent off for but whatever it is, it sounds a lot worse in French.

- The Canes should thank there lucky stars that so far this season, whenever they have gone into the tank, the Thrashers have been unable to pull away in the Southeast. After tonight the Canes are 6 points out with 7 straight games coming up against division foes. 5 of those 7 are at home including one against Atlanta. Time to make a statement and perhaps take back control of the division heading into the all-star break. Let's get it on!

- Man it's good to be back.

TSN recap of the Carolina/Toronto game HERE.

TSN recap of the Atlanta/Montreal game HERE.

-martin

photo courtesy of Getty Images and TSN.

Everybody Loves Raymond

2006-12-02T13:11:00.001-05:00

Nice little story/profile on Ray Whitney in the News & Observer today.

Check it out HERE.

-m

Own The Period

2006-12-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

Up and down week for the Hurricanes...and for your's truly (but that's another story completly)...

Got to check in on the Ottawa game online from work, and from the sound of it FSN made a good choice in not televising this stinker. Quick start for the Canes on an Andrew Ladd goal, and a stinker from there on out. Would be tempting and convienent to just file this one away as an "off day", if not for the other stinkers the Canes had posted in two of the previous 3 games. Since rallying to tie the Thrashers for the top spot in the East, the Canes went 1-3 and played some of their worst hockey of the season. Needless to say, I was bumming, with Montreal looming on the horizon.

Thursday's game against the Canadians at the RBC Center was quickly shaping up to be a "must win", if there could be such a thing in late November. The Canes were reeling, falling 5 points behind the Thrashers and seemingly skating in quicksand for the past week - 10days. The Canadians on the other hand came in having won 4 of 5 and having played some of the most consistent hockey in the NHL. Montreal blanked the Canes 4-0 earlier in the season on RBC ice, and the Canes had yet to beat a team in 2006 that they had elimated in their spring run to the Stanley Cup.

The atmosphere at the Big ATM was less than "rockin" as a sparse and damp crowd settled into their seats. The mood in the arena was less excitement and more anxiety and frustration. Here are my notes from the game:

- Both teams skated well in the first period. Hard hitting. You can tell these two teams can get a bit chippy with one another. Michael Ryder put the Habs on the board first, about midway through the period, and seemed to take a good bit of air out of the room. Folks seemed to settle back in their seats with a "here we go again" vibe.

- Cane's struck back with around 6 minutes left in the period as Erik Cole scored a charging gritty goal, knocking in his own rebound in a scrum in front of the net. For whatever reason, Colesey owns the Canadians. He would score a second goal on this night (later in the second period), and seems to play like a man possessed when he sees that Habs sweater across the ice. Overall this was probably the best game I've seen Cole play so far this season. Hard charging, agressive, physical...a threat whenever he was on the ice ... scoring goals, setting up teammates, drawing penalties....when Cole is on his game its a joy to watch.

- After Cole gave the Canes a 2-1 lead in the second, Montreal rallied to tie the score on a goal by Tomas Plekanec a few minutes before intermission.

- Third Period. OWN THE PERIOD. That was the Canes mantra last year where the third period was their own personal playground. After wearing down their oppenents for 40 minutes, the Canes would put the pedal to the metal in the third as defensemen and goaltenders wilted under the pressure. Not so much so far this season. Until Thursday night...

- Rock You Like A Hurricane. The team skated loose, skated fast and applied pressure throughout, peppering Montreal goal tender Cristobol Huet with over 20 shots. Huet's heroics in goal and some bad bounces were the only the things that keep this one from being a blowout. Now this was Hurricanes hockey, fast and relentless. The guys seemed to take Peter Laviolette's pre-game advice, "Skate hard, but remember to have fun", to heart in the third, and it was a joy to see.

- Justin Williams scored the game-winner in the third, and Eric Belanger scored again less than a minute later for insurance. It was good to see Belanger get a goal as his line (with Trevor Letowski and Andrew Ladd) were probably the Canes best line on this night from an effort and energy standpoint.

- The Canes got 48 shots on goal for the game, their highest total of the season, almost half of those coming in the third period.

- Cam Ward was solid in net after a three game layoff. He made 25 saves, and made some spectacular stops, especially in the second period. I'm sure he would like to have Plekanec's second period goal back, but overall a very solid performance. He had the best seat in the house for most of the 3rd period as he simply sat back and watched all the action at the other end of the ice. My unofficial count had him going over 12 minutes of the third without facing a shot.

- For most of two periods on Thursday, the Canes mirrored their season so far, there was some inspired play, some gritty play and some excellent scoring opportunities that slipped away...off a post, a key deflection, two wide open nets that could not be found...while at times they looked slow, lost and befuddled....the Canes would win a battle on the boards only to turn the puck over on a weak pass in their own zone...they would charge hard down the ice with a purpose, only to lose the puck and find themselves down 3 on 2 going the other way...they played well in spurts and awful in others, a lack of consistency that has plagued them all season...

- I turned to Stef at one point and comment that the Canes looked tired, and slow - not necessarily physically tired, but mentally tired, like their bodies just weren't in synch with what their heads were telling the to do. I wondered out loud of the mental toll of defending a Cup - the grind of the playoff coupled with a short offseason and then a regular season where everyone has a target on you - might be more significant than any physical toll. Even if you work to get your body back in shape and ready to go, the mind and the psyche are perhaps more fragile and more difficult to keep sharp. Let's hope this big win over Montreal (not just the win, but the way they won it in the third period) can re-engergize the team and launch them forward as they get ready for a big west coast road trip next week.

- A perfect example of this "tired" play seemed to be evidedent in from an unexpected source on this night. Rod Brind'Amour. After having taken a few practices off during the week , reportedly to "rest" (completely unheard of for the work-a-holic), Brind A'mour looked a step slow and at times hopelessly lost on the ice Thursday night. Nobody gets his body in better shape than Rod Brind A'mour, and he is having a terrific season so far, his best offensive season in over 5 years, practically carrying the Canes on his shoulders at times, but I could not help but wonder if the grind might be having its toll. Heck at times on Thursday, it looked as if he was having trouble staying up on his skates. But to his credit he did gut it out and picked up an assist on Justin WIlliams game winning goal. Perhaps I'm just overreacting, and I certainly hope that there is not an injury that we are not being told about. Brind A'mour is the heart and soul of this team, and I would never question his effort or work ethic. He just seemed noticiably out of synch on Thursday. Let's hope it's just a blip on the radar screen.

-m

Gobble Gobble

2006-11-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to one and all!

-m

Oi Vey!

2006-11-22T23:47:00.003-05:00

Islanders 4 - Canes 2
(and it wasn't even that close)

Well, that was not what we needed.

If the Cane's were "lazy" Tuesday night against the Rangers, they were down right PATHETIC on Wednesday against the Islanders. If this were a character test, everyone - with the notable exception of John Grahame - failed miserably.

One would have hoped for a bounce back effort; for a bit more energy, a bit more grit, a bit more fire than was on display at Madison Sqaure Garden on Tuesday night. But on this night, the mausoleum on Long Island (otherwise known as the Nassau County Coliseum) was the perfect setting as the Hurricanes played as if they were on their way to a funeral all night. I'm not sure what I can say. It was frustrating to watch. The Canes were so sluggish and sloppy with the puck that they seemed to play in their own zone all night. It was as if they were down a man on the power play all night. Turnovers. Getting beat time after time to the puck in the neutral zone. Sloppy passes. And seemingly losing every battle along the boards for most of the night. I had thought that it could not get much worse than the Ranger's game. I WAS WRONG.

According to the TSN Game Re-Cap Carolina coach Peter Laviolette took an extra long time to emerge from his office to meet with the press after the game. Needless to say, he was none too happy:

''John Grahame was great. He kept us in the game. I don't think anybody (else) played well. This is unacceptable. This was a terrible game. After last night, I thought we would show more fight.''

You and me both Peter.

John Grahame was indeed stellar. 44 saves on 47 shots (the official shot tally for NY was 48, but their last goal was an empty netter from the blue line). Many of those saves were from point blank range, from Islanders left wide open and unchecked in the front of the net. Without Grahame single handedly keeping them in the game for more than two periods, the score could have easily been 10-2, or worse. The Canes were outshot 20 to 1 in the first period. That 1 was a slapshot from Kevin Adams from 30 feet away with under 2 minutes to play. Carolina managed 15 shots for the entire game.
Scott Walker and Trevor Letowski notched essentially meaningless goals in the final minutes.

Laviolette became visibly more and more incensed with his team's lackluster play as the game wore on. He seemed especially miffed at the efforts of his "star" players as Eric Cole, Ray Whitney and Eric Staal saw their minutes diminish signifcantly in the third period.

Less than a week ago, the Canes seemed to have hit their stride, playing their best hockey of the year. Over the last 48 hours they have played without a doubt their worst hockey of the year, and if they don't right the ship soon this could get real ugly.

Not much time to recover or mope around. The Canes have an off day tomorrow in Boston and then a 12noon puck drop on Friday against the Bruins. I'm not sure if even Peter Laviolette would cancel an off day on Thanksgiving for one of those brutal soul-crushing-attitude-adjustment practice sessions. But from what I've seen the last two nights, I sure wouldn't blame him.

- Atlanta notched a win tonight 4-2 over the Capitals, ending the Thrashers 4 game losing skid, and sending them back to the top of the Southeast division. The game turned into a slugfest near the end, with over 162 penalty minutes being assessed in the last 62 seconds of the third. Look for some suspensions to come out of this fracas.

- David Tanabe and Andrew Hutchinson were healthy scratches for tonights game.

-m

Dud

2006-11-22T18:45:00.001-05:00

I'm baaaack....

Long time between posts. Work has been crazy of late. Life in general has been busy. Severely cutting into blogging time. Will have to get back into the habit.

The Canes went on quite a little run there, climbing all the way back into a first place tie with the Thrashers. Got to check out 3 games in person at the RBC Center, all wins. Our seats this year are indeed "up in the rafters", but it's all good. For the Pittsburgh game a couple of weeks ago, I shelled out the big bucks ($85) for the primo seat - center ice, section 119, downstairs...best seats I've ever had...I was literally straddling the center-ice line...and well worth it...a great game, a Canes win.

Back to the present...last night's game against the Rangers was a big fat DUD. Painful to watch. The Canes were flat, got out skated, out hit, out shot and out hustled. Everything that had went right over the past few weeks and a 6-1-1 streak, definitely went wrong in Madison Square Garden. Doh! If it were not for some spectacular goaltending, and Jagr inexplicably blowing a 2-on-none breakaway, the final score could have, and probably should have been a lot worse than 4-0 Rangers. Laviolette described it after the game as a "lazy" effort. And I think that is putting it mildly.

Well, it's back to the ice in about 30minutes on the Island. Perhaps the quick turnaround will work in our favor. No time to stew over a dismal performance. Will be interesting to see how the Canes respond. I think the biggest challenge the Canes will face all year is maintaining their intensity and fightring off complacency. They came out a bit complacent at the beginning of the year and dug themselves a whole. After fighting and clawing to dig themselves out of that hole, regaining the top of the Southeast division and second place in the Eastern Conference, they came out flat and complacent again against the Rangers. Wake up call? One can only hope. This 3 games in 4 days stretch in NY and Boston is a real test of their mettle.

Let's see how they respond tonight on Long Island.

Go Canes.

-m

Now That's What I'm Talkin' 'Bout

2006-10-17T11:06:00.001-04:00

I think this is what you would call "putting it all together" - defense, offense, power play, penalty kill, goaltending - as the Carolina Hurricanes played by far their most complete game of the season in dismantling the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum Monday night. The only disappointment in the final score (5-1 in favor of the good guys), was that Cam Ward barely missed grabbing the first regular season shut out of his career by about 90 seconds. But it was still a night of firsts for at least one of the Canes. Justin Williams broke out of his early season scoring slump, in a big way, with his first NHL hat trick (his first 3 goals of the season) in route to a 4 point night.

The Canes came out and skated the full 90 minutes with grit, intensity and flare, taking out their second division opponent in their third straight road win. Rod Brind'Amour had his first goal of the season to go along with two assists, while Eric Belanger also added a goal (his second of the year) to complete the rout. Brind'Amour finished with 3 points, Eric Staal and Ray Whitney chipped in with 2 assists each, while Erik Cole, Scott Walker and Anton Babchuk also added helpers as the Hurricanes reached the .500 mark for the first time this season. Cam Ward was stellar in goal as he continued his recent hot streak, getting the nod in goal over former Lightning netminder John Grahame who many thought might get the start against his former team. Ward stopped 33 of 34 shots and was simply spectacular at times, stoning Tampa stars Martin St. Louis (7 times) and Brad Richards (at least twice) with amazing stops from point blank range. As was the case with Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk on Friday night, I doubt St. Louis had a restful night's sleep last night with images of Ward in the crease still lingering. The win and its 2 points moved the Canes into a tie with Florida for second place in the Southeast Division with 7 points on the young season, only 2 points off the pace currently being set by the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Canes will return to Raleigh for a couple of days of homecooking before heading back out on the road for what is sure to be another high intensity confrontation with the Buffalo Sabres Friday night (The Cane's and Sabres went to a shootout in the season opener in Raleigh). This promises to be one early season clash that you won't want to miss.

NOTES:

- Defensemen Brett Hedican and Glen Wesley each missed their second straight game with nagging injuries, but the remining defensive corp of Niclas Wallin, Mike Commodore, Tim Gleason, David Tanabe, Anton Babchuk and Andrew Hutchinson held strong and played one of the Canes most cohesive defensive games of the young season. Niclas Wallin led the Canes in ice time with nearly 25 minutes (24:49, 31 shifts).

- The Hurricanes dominated the face-off circle taking 37 of 58 draws overall (64%) and 14 of 20 in the defensive zone,

- Carolina's 3 goals in the second period were the first given up by Tampa Bay in the middle frame all year.

- Ryan Bayda and Keith Aucoin, called up from Albany to replace injured forwards Trevor Letowski and Andrew Ladd, both got their feet wet in their first NHL game of the season. Bayda logged 8:05 of ice time on 10 shifts, while Aucoin saw 5:49 of action on 7 shifts.

-Along with everything else that seems to be starting to click for the Canes, they went 3 for 8 on the power play Monday night; while their penalty kill was solid in holding the Lightning scoreless on their 5 power play opportunities.

- Turning Points: Tampa coach John Tortorella, perhaps sensing Lightning blood in the water, used his only timeout just 2:29 into the second period to try to fire up his team and put a halt to a Carolina offensive onslaught that had the Lightning on their heels seemingly as soon as they stepped out of the locker room. The result - Justin William's first goal of the season just 52 seconds later. Conversely, Cane's coach Peter Laviolette used his timeout 17:11 into the second with 3 seconds left of a 5 on 3 power play. The Canes scored their second power play goal of the evening (Justin Williams again) just 11 seconds later for a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.

-According to the game announcers on VERSUS, Monday's game marked the first ever NHL meeting of two American-born coaches who had both won a Stanley Cup.

- Full Game Coverage:

THE NEWS & OBSERVER
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
TSN

-martin

Lucky 13!! - Ray Whitney

2006-10-14T02:12:00.001-04:00

Whew! Exhale.
Now that's a relief.

A Ray Whitney wrist shot on a bouncing puck as time expired gave the Carolina Hurricanes their first victory of the season in Atlanta on Friday night, and a collective sigh of relief could be heard all across the triangle.

Everyone was starting to get a little tense. Myself included. And while this one win does not right all that has been going wrong for the Canes early on, it does get that cliched monkey off their backs. Hopefully they will now be able relax a little and just play the hockey they are capable of playing. Pittsburgh will be a stern test tomorrow (Saturday) night. But everyone should sleep a little easier now that the first one is out of the way. At least that late night flight to Pittsburgh on the team plane will be a little less tense.

The Canes came out of the gate tonight playing inpsired hockey. Coach Peter Laviollette shook up his forward lines, as promised, hoping to mspark some offense, and after taking a 3-0 into the lockeroom after the first period, it seemd liker a brilliant coaching move. The new line pairings were: Walker/Staal/Williams; C. Adams/Brind'Amour/Cole; Ladd/Belanger/Whitney with Kevin Adams and Chad LaRose playing mix and match for the fourth line. The first period was a thing of beauty with the Canes skating aggressively and, for the most part, taking the play directly at the Thrashers. The new line combinations worked beautifully, especially Adams/Brind'Amour/Cole combination, with Craig Adams notching two goals, and Brind'Amour picking up 2 assists. The offense kept it simple - skate hard, shoot the puck, crash the net. Both of Adams' goals came as he picked up juicy rebounds around the net to beat Atlanta's Kerri Lehtonen (who until tonight's first period had been almost unbeatable in the Thrasher's first four games) from both sides of the net. The rebounds came courtesy of slapshots from Erik Cole and Niclas Wallin. Eric Staal closed out the first period in style with a goal as time expired. Staal was set free on a breakaway seconds after Cane's goalie Cam Ward had stoned Thrasher's supa-star Ilya Kovalchuk 's breakaway at the other end. Mike Commodore collected the rebound behind the net and sent it around the boards, with Staal collecting the puck near center ice and breaking free on Lehtonen as the clock ticked down to zero. Staal found the back of the net with a wrist shot with 1.5 second left in the period. 3-0 Canes.

The second period did not get off to a good start for the Canes as the Thrashers came out and made it clear early on that they would not go gentle into that good night. Canes forward Andrew Ladd did not return from the lockeroom after the first intermission, and it was quickly learned that he was out for the rest of the game with the ubiquitous "upper body" injury. The Thrashers were agressive, and defintely took the play to the Canes early in the period. The Canes held their own thanks largely to Cam Ward, who was electrifying all night, and who stood strong for the Canes as their offense sputtered a bit. The Thrashers finally broke through, in a big way, 14 minutes into the 2nd, as Jon Sim scored two gritty goals in the span of 20 seconds. The first goal came in the midst of mayhem in front of the net, as the puck bounced off of two Thrashers and over the net before Sim was able to get his stick on it in the crease, just sneaking the puck behind a sprawling Ward. Officals had to go to the replay to confirm the goal but the call stood (as it should have). Sim was back at it again before the crowd could even watch the replay and get the offical scoring. The Thrashers won the center-ice faceoff sending the puck deep into the Canes zone. Sim cut to the front of the goal as Vyacheslav Kozlov gave him a beautiful feed from behind the net. Sim manged to squeeze the puck between the legs of Cane's defensemen Tim Gleason and between Ward'a pads. Boom-Bang-Boom. Canes 3 - Thrashers 2 at the end of the second period.

As high as the Canes must of felt heading into the locker room at the first intermission, they must have been a bit shaken as they came back on the ice for the 3rd period. And it showed, as the Thrashers came out like a buzzsaw and continued to pressure and attack hoping to take advantage of what had to be the Canes' shakey confidence. The first 5 minutes of the third were a blitzkreig on the Cane's net as Atlanta got off 8 shots and controlled to flow of the game with a relentless forecheck that kept the puck in the Cane's zone shift after shift. Once again, if not for the heroics of Cam Ward, the Canes would have been in deep trouble. Momentum shifted a bit when the Thrasher's 2nd period hero Jon Sim took a goalie interference penalty 9 minutes in. The Canes did not score on the ensuing powerplay, but they did seemto find their legs and managed to keep the puck in the Thrasher's zone for several great scoring chances. Even back at 5 on 5 the Canes seemed to be back up on their skates, playing aggressively instead of playing not to lose. Both teams skated well for the next 5 or 6 minutes, matching check for check, with both goalies making some spectacular stops. Ward stood especially tall against Kovalchuk, who is sure to have nightmares tonight about the Canes netminder. Breakways, point blank slap shots, beautiful one on one moves, it did not matter as Ward stoned the talented Russian star time and time again. Kovalchuk got off 10 shots in the game, but is still scoreless for the season.

With both teams shifting momentum back and forth in the 3rd period, but with nothing tangible to show for it, something had to give one way or another. The first crack came at the Cane's expense. Bobby Holik played a nifty give and go at the blue line with Scott Mellanby. Holik got by Tim Gleason and skated in on Cam Ward as David Tanabe rushed in to protect his goalie. Holik lost control of the puck briefly, but it bounced off of Tanabe's skate, right back onto Holik's stick as he deftly put a wrist shot against the grain and past Ward who was shifting with the flow of the play. 14:39 into the third the Thrashers had come all the way back. With just over 5 minutes to play it looked like a game had started out so impressively for the Cane's was slipping out of their grasp, and heading to overtime.

Both teams had a few more chances in the closing minutes, but nothing materialized until Whitney's heroics took center stage. With less than 10 seconds left before overtime and a disappointing split of two points that the Canes badly needed, Rod Brind'Amour came onto the ice for a faceoff deep in the Thrasher's zone. Whitney set up at the point, hoping to be in position for a last second blast should Brind'Amour win the draw. Eric Staal was in position to crash the net for a deflection or possible rebound. But (surprizingly) Brind'Amour did not win the draw, and the faceoff bounced towards Staal in front of the net. Staal tried a quick shot, that popped up high over the back of the net. A hustling Staal managed to get to the bouncing puck behind the net, and his only option at that point was to flip the puck back towards the crease and hope for the best. The best on this night was in the form of Ray Whitney, sweeping in from the point to corral the bouncing puck directly in front of the net just in time to flip a wrist shot delicately past a lunging Lehtonen as time expired. 4-3 Hurricanes. Game. Set. Match, Exhale.

A win is a win. The Canes played inspired hockey at times, but after jumping out to an early lead they allowed the Thrashers back into the game by allowing Atlanta to control play for much for the second and third periods, where the Canes seemed to play a bit nervous at times. Hopefully, getting this first one under their belt will propell the Canes towards palying the aggressive but smart hockey that we all know they are capable of. First test comes quickly in Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

NOTES: Cam Ward had 31 saves, many of them spectacular, and Kerri Lehtonen (equally spectacular at times) had 29 in a battle of two of the NHL's most talented young goaltenders...Rod Brind'Amour broke out in a big way scoring his first 3 points of the season on 3 assists...Eric Staal scored his first goal since opening night against Buffalo, and Erik Cole picked up his first point (an assist) since opening night as well..Mike Commodore continues to rack up the penalty minutes with 3 trips to the box tonight for 6 minutes. I just wish he were taking good pnealties more often than stupid ones...newcomers Eric Belanger and Scott Walker continued to impress with strong forechecking and agressive skating...Ray Whitney, who wears jersey #13, scored the game winning goal on Friday the 13th...spooky!...Trevor Letowski and Anton Babchuk were healthy scratches for the Canes.

-martin

Searching for Consistency

2006-10-12T01:21:00.001-04:00

I'm not going to panic. I'm not. Not yet. But I think every Caniac out there has reason to be concerned.

The Hurricanes fell to 0-3-1 tonight with a 6-3 loss to the Panthers in Sunrise, FL.

Ollie Jokinen and Gary Roberts scored two goals a piece, with Stephen Weiss and Martin Gelinas (still my favorite player in the league) chipping in as well. Alex Auld continued his strong play in goal for the Panthers with 32 saves, some of them nothing short of brilliant, and with Todd (the thug) Bertuzzi chipping in with 2 assists that trade with Vancouver is looking better all the time. Both of Jokinen's goals looked bad for the Canes with his first coming short handed after he stole the puck in the Canes' zone and just abused Eric Staahl, and the second on a bascially uncontested blast from the blue line that somehow mystified goalie John Grahame.

The Canes got goals from Scott Walker, Eric Belanger and Andrew Hutchinson, who scored on the power play in the third period to make things interesting...for a little while at least. John Grahame had a less than stellar debut in goal, the low point probably coming with Jokinen's blast from the blue line.

The Canes skated pretty well in the third period and tried to make things interesting. But in the end, it was too little to late.

Coach Peter Laviolette saw it this way: "I thought there were some people that gave good skating efforts, but again I'd have to say they skated probably better than we did, and it's a skating game right now. We need to get better."

That's the thing that concerns me most about the Cane's sluggish early start, they seem to be getting outskated every single night. There might be stretches of good skating, but it's not nearly as consistent as it needs to be. This is not a team that can win unless they are skating well. It is a team built for speed and aggressiveness, just like last year, when they outworked their opponents on a consistent basis, win or lose. I suppose it's natural to have a Stanley Cup hangover - their best players through the first week of the season have been Belanger, Walker, Litowski and Gleason, none of whom were around for last year's magical run - but they had better snap out of it soon and learn what it feels like to win again. Otherwise, losing can become a hard habit to break. The Southeast Division has seemingly improved from top to bottom. The Canes cannot afford to fall too far behind too early, or it could be a long uphill climb of a season.

There were a few signs of progress tonight, but overall it was in no way a big step forward. The defense was sloppy at times.
Rob Brind A'mour and Justin Williams continue to be invisible, offensively and defensively, and the Cole/Whitney/Staal line has produced no offense since the opener against Buffalo. When your best, and at times, only offensive threat is your 3rd line, you might be in for trouble.

The defense seems to mirror the offense, playing well in spurts but then making a foolish turnover or taking a silly penalty.

I'm not as concerned about the power play and some seem to be. Sure the Canes are only 3-for-27 on the season, and there is plenty of room for improvement, but that's better than or at least comparable to where they were at this point last year. My biggest concern is 5 on 5. That's where we are getting beat. That is where we are getting out skated, out hustled and out worked. And that is where the Canes made their hay last season.

It may be cliche, the Canes are going to be a marked team all year. They will get everyone's top effort every night out. They have to match that intensity. They have to rediscover that hunger, before it's too late.

I'm not ready to panic. I still believe. I'm just hoping things start to click sooner rather than later.

-m

What a difference a day makes...

2006-10-06T14:58:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday night in Toronto, Martin Gerber made his debut in net for the Ottawa Senators and looked like a future Vezina Trophy winner in a 4 - 1 victory over the Maple Leafs. Only a Mats Sundin penalty shot, that barely trickled across the goal line prevented an opening night shut out.

Move forward 24 hours and the script was flipped. Gerber on Thursday looked more like the shell shocked goalie, pulled mercifully from the shooting gallery in game 2 of last year's playoffs. On this night it was Ray Emery (instead of Cam Ward) who was brought in to stop the bleeding - 5 goals on 24 shots - after the second period. Emery gave up one goal in the third, while on the other end of the ice Andrew Raycroft, as shaky in Wednesday's game as Gerber was strong, got the shut out with 34 saves in goal for Toronto. Final score 6-0.

First win in Toronto for former Hurricane's/Whaler's head coach Paul Maurice, who still looks like he would get carded ordering a drink in a bar. Former Hurricane fan favorite and all around swell guy, Bates Battalgia, also pitched in for the Leafs, scoring his first goal of the season in the third. Battaglia spent all of last season in the minors, playing for the Toronto Marlies under his former coach Maurice. Both moved up the big club this year.

Chad Kilger got the Leafs started early with a short handed goal about half way through the first period. Kilger added a second goal later, to join Darcy Tucker (2), Alex Ponikarovsky and Battaglia on the score sheet. Kyle Westwood had 4 assists (a career high) and Mats Sudin added 2 helpers for the Leafs.

TSN GAME RECAP - here.

-m

Game On...

2006-10-05T11:11:00.001-04:00

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

Up To The Rafters

UAF Nanook Hockey Open 2009-2010 (HD - full, final version)

The Changing Of The Guard

Pavel Datsyuk shootout goal 1/17/10

Completely Sick

Team Building

Something to be thankful for...

Ridiculous Goal from Steven Stamkos

The Glass is not always forgiving...

Drop The Puck!

Ruuuuuutuuuuuuu!

Length of Contract Is Sticking Point for Ruutu

Canes Sign Free Agent Tom Kostopoulos

HURRICANES PROSPECT AND CONDITIONING CAMP

Canes Free Agency (So Far)

Seidenberg Back In The Picture?

The Check Is In The Mail...

Ruutu Files for Arbitration

What a difference a day makes...

Welcome Back...Again

Hossa To Chicago

ULTIMATE FRANCHISE: Canes #2

Door Left Open For Cole; LaRose and Babchuck, not-so-much...

Deadline Deals

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Heatley for Mayor of Ottawa?

Jokinen Drops Bubba A Line from Finland

The clock strikes midnight

Pride

Canes vs Avalanche

Just what the doctor ordered?

Jekyll or Hyde?

Canes Rally to Tank the Sharks!!

this and that (catching up)...

new year's resolutions...

Catching up...

WINTER CLASSIC 2009

NHL/CANES announce 2008/2009 Schedule

Catching Up With The Kids...

LaRose Is Back In The Fold

Seidenberg Signs, LaRose Files for Arbitration

The Guy You Love To Hate, Now in Big D

Ottawa Might Be Interested in Kaberle?

Jagr Signs with Russian Super League

Canes Sign Pitkanen, Melichar

More Moves on a Busy Day...

Cole to Edmonton; Babchuck Re-signed

Glen Wesley Announces His Retirement

Former Cane Sami Kapanen Announces Retirement

Canes Ink Eaves To a New Deal

The Inevitable

For The Love Of The Game...

Dance Dance Dance

Off Season Game Plan

Blogroll please...

Ol' Roy Out of The Outhouse

NHL on Sean Avery Being Sean Avery

Gleason named to Team USA

A Bitter Pill...

Just Win Baby

Move On

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

FAVRE to retire...

Hey Boston...

...and the kitchen sink

Ladd Breaks Out

Sampson Unable to Put Down that Phone...

Montreal 3 Carolina 2 (OT)

Hockey Night In Carolina (Canes vs Canadians)

Friday Night Fights

MATT'S BACK! And so are we....

AT LAST - The Return Of Hockey!!

Scheduling Is Everything

Where Did You go Buffalo?

COULD VERSUS SUCK ANY MORE????

Game 7 - Vancouver vs Dallas - Let's get it on!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The Canes storm into the "Mecca of Hockey"

Everybody Loves Raymond

Own The Period