Well that wasn't horrible hockey...

Going into my Thanksgiving break, I was not expecting to see anywhere near good hockey. The Canes were coming off of a 4-0 Montreal loss that was by all accounts absolutely horrendous. Paul Maurice's hot seat was positively scalding and it seemed as though the Canes had hit the hardest rock at the bottom.

Now that I'm two games in... well, the hockey I saw wasn't horrible. I won't go so far to say that it was good, but it wasn't terrible.

That being said, I still think Mo should go. Both games that I saw (Friday's 1-0 loss to Buffalo and today's 3-2 win over Toronto) consisted of some of the most boring hockey I've ever seen. There's nothing exciting about this hockey team, nothing spectacular. The offense is, at best, lackluster - consider that there were very few decent chances against Buffalo and that one of tonight's goals was a fluke, not to mention Toronto played bad hockey of their own.

Maurice said after the Buffalo game that "That was the best all-around team game that we've played this year" - if that was the best game this year, then I am certainly glad to have not seen any Canes hockey since opening weekend. I find it appalling that the best game of the year (so far, hopefully) can have the Canes score zero goals and look pretty pathetic on offense. Yes, they did battle a bit more and played defense - something they couldn't do previously - but that does not make them a good team. I saw a very mediocre team on the ice these past two games.

And that's why I still think Maurice should go. I don't see this team getting any better under his reign - leading up to these past two games most of his quotes consisted of not knowing what was wrong, not knowing how to motivate the team... that's not the voice of someone I want leading my team. I suppose there might be some burgeoning optimism for him as coach after these games that didn't completely suck - but this team is going to have to rattle off about a six game win streak for me to feel anything other than doubt about this season.

Not everything is doom and gloom, however. Jeff Skinner still looks amazing - although he does seem to get beat up around the boards a lot. Tuomo Ruutu impressed me with his fire. And... well, that's all I can think of right now. But it's a start. I guess.

Tomorrow is another game, this time in Philly. We'll see if this 'better' play continues and if it can save Maurice's job.