Jekyll or Hyde?

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!!

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)...

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...

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...

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