The Life and Times of a Caniac

Analyzing Apathy

2012-01-19T15:44:00.000-05:00

Well, hello everyone. Despite what the lack of posts on this blog may lead you to believe, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth.

And, I hate to say it, but I wouldn't expect many posts upcoming for a while. The reason? Well, there's a lot that goes into it.

I had previously thought that the reason I didn't post as much was purely time related. The season always starts up right when school starts up, and since I've been getting into higher level courses I have little free time. But my addiction to Flash games always spoke against that, and I didn't post at all over winter break when I literally had nothing to do.

So what's the reason why I don't really post anymore? Is it because I don't spend time with computers anymore? Ha. No. My laptop is up and running when I am and only goes to sleep when I do. It is still on my to-do list to give this blog a nice template redo sometime in the near future.

Is it because I don't like to write anymore? The multiple drafts of stories and novels on my harddrive are proof against that. And to be honest, blogging is a lot easier to do than actually write (something about fully developed thoughts not being needed).

Is it because I don't like sports anymore? Heck no. ESPN is often the channel on my TV and I devour hockey facts like the Cookie Monster at the Chips Ahoy factory. No, I'm still a sports fanatic, and that will likely never change.

So what is it? Why does posting here not matter as much to me as it once did?

The only reason I can come up with is that I just don't care about this team anymore. No, not that I don't like the Hurricanes - I would have to throw out half of my wardrobe if that were to happen - I just don't care about these 2011-2012 Hurricanes.

But, you say, you've continually posted through horrible seasons before. You kept blogging through 14 game losing streaks and the misery that came with it. They don't even have Paul Maurice anymore and they're playing entertaining hockey again - why now?

And to that, good reader, I must say that I'm not really sure, but I think it's because there's absolutely no hope for this season. Win or lose, the Canes are going nowhere. And, unlike previous seasons, this isn't a new thing. Being a pathetic hockey team is old hat. What's new to post? Oh we have a horrible power play and penalty kill. Done before. Our captain has the worst plus/minus in the league. Yeah, that's nothing new. The only thing new and fresh about this season was Jeff Skinner, and he ended up getting injured.

There are a lot of players I like on this team. Jeff Skinner is one, Tuomo Ruutu another. Gleason and LaRose, of course. And I really do think that Kirk Mueller has things going in the right direction. But as a whole, this team is not inspiring enough to write about.

So what now? I'm not going away. Maybe after this I'll start posting regularly because I want to prove that I still love doing this. I'll definitely post about any trades or anything important like that. But I wouldn't expect much as a reader for a while.

You can, of course, always follow me on Twitter, as I never forget to update that.

I finally like what I'm seeing

2011-12-16T00:06:00.000-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness. Best hockey of the season tonight.

I've been able to see two games so far under the Muller regime, and I have to say I love it. The hockey I saw was absolutely amazing. It was entertaining, it actually used our offensive talents, it's creating a chemistry within the team that I hadn't seen up to this point.

Love love love love love it!

Tonight's game was great. The Canes beat the Canucks 4-3 - and the Canucks are no slouch of a team this season. Drayson Bowman had two goals and the offense overall seemed to be clicking and getting legitimate chances. Cam Ward was amazing. Finally I see the Ward that Caniacs have come to expect - making the tough saves to keep his team in the game.

Everything would appear to be coming together for this team system-wise. Finally! If only this had happened before the Canes were deep into a 'rebuilding season'.

Unfortunately, everything isn't coming together on the injury front. Both Joni Pitkanen and Jeff Skinner are out with concussions - I'm very disappointed, as I always love to see Skinner do his work on the ice. I really hope that they both come back soon. There seems to be a rash of concussions in the league recently, especially those which put players out for long periods of time.

I'm still in awe about tonight's play though. For the first time in a very long while I felt excited watching this team play. I've definitely missed this look from my favorite team.

A new coach!

2011-11-29T22:30:00.001-05:00

Finally!

Yesterday the Canes fired Paul Maurice, a decision that was greeted with much joy from this sector of the Caniac Nation - and that was without knowing the coach that was hired. Later in the day, the Canes announced that they had given the head coaching position to Kirk Muller, a former Montreal Canadiens assistant who Rutherford plucked from behind the bench of the AHL Milwaukee Admirals.

Everything I have read about Muller sounds very optimistic - he seems like he'll bring the fresh outlook that the Canes need behind the bench. This sounds like a great signing - although anything that wasn't some kind of Rutherford retread would probably sound like a great signing at this point. Muller doesn't have any NHL head coaching experience, but all reports were that some team would have picked him up soon.

Compare this enthusiasm to my reaction to the previous coaching change. This one is so much better!

I am still surprised that the Canes didn't move Jeff Daniels up from Charlotte to coach the big club - but they apparently didn't want to shake up the good thing he's got going in Charlotte. Which I can kind of understand, but I would not be surprised to see him getting interviewed by teams soon - he's had a good amount of success in Charlotte.

Muller's first game behind the bench was tonight, and was it a 3-1 loss to Florida. But honestly? Don't care. Just the fact that Maurice is no longer behind the bench is success enough for me.

...Not really. I would like to watch some playoffs with my own team in them this year. But I think this is one step to making that become a reality. Or at least not a total pipe dream.

Well that wasn't horrible hockey...

2011-11-20T23:41:00.000-05:00

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.

A frustrating month of hockey

2011-11-08T14:09:00.000-05:00

Hmm... it's been almost a month. I suppose I should write something about this team.

Overall, the Canes are 5-6-3 with 13 points - enough to gain them 11th in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the Southeast. This is slightly worse than last year around this time, where the Canes were 7-7-0 and 10th in the East. Oh boy.

I haven't been keeping up with the team as much as normal... but what I've been able to listen to and read about on the internet does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Eric Staal, our wonderful captain, is taking after the last captain in that he has the worst plus/minus in the league at -16. (Out of all the things to take after Brind'Amour in, he chooses the plus/minus...) He also only has 5 points through 14 games and hasn't gotten a point in the last five, which is not necessarily the rate that we want our star player to be producing at.

Another alarming trend for the Canes is that they seem to not have enough fire in the game (specifically the last two losses).

"I don't have an explanation for it, but we did not have the fire in order to win that game," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "And that's the bottom line. Whether it's your passing, your hitting, whatever it is."

The above quote was taken from the recap from the Washington loss on Friday. The part that is concerning to me is the "I don't have an explanation for it" section - he's the coach, he ought to have a reason for why the team plays like crap. Granted, this is coming from someone who was hoping the Canes would completely tank so that Maurice was fired - but it really really frustrates me to be reading these sorts of quotes. Because what happened after the Washington game? The Canes turned around and lost to Dallas in a game that wasn't even really a game after going down early. You would expect to see some change, but apparently that's too much to ask.

I go back to a game two weeks ago, where the Canes lost in a shootout to the Ottawa Senators. The led the Senators in shots the first period, and I actually had a warm and fuzzy feeling about the team. They then allowed Ottawa to score two goals in the second and the team generally plays like crap from there on until five minutes left in the the third when Ruutu scored a fluke goal. I don't think I've ever been so frustrated at a game I wasn't watching. Listening to Chuck K call this game was like listening to every poor game from last season. The Canes can't score and only play at tops 20 minutes of good hockey, hoping that a last minute drive will pull them out of a hole.

Because this team seems like the exact same team as last year, with some cast changes. They're frustratingly inconsistent and seem to be going nowhere. I don't see anything changing, which is not good as the present is not looking particularly positive. I really really hope they get rid of Maurice - I hate to see anyone out of a job, but I really don't see what option the team has. Nothing is different. Nothing is exciting. Nothing is making me want to turn off Pandora and listen to the Canes while I work. I know that waiting for me is a team with a lack of passion, at least until the third period when it could be too late.

So, yeah, that's my bitter monthly update.

Opening Weekend Recap

2011-10-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

Hockey is finally here, which is great because it means the start of a brand new season, where fans all across the league can forget about the past and look forward to the future and a clean slate.

Or, if you're a Canes fan, you can be horribly reminded of exactly what kept you out of the playoffs last season. Namely the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the snot out of us in our own building.

Yep, it was the same old same old in Raleigh on Friday night, when the Canes lost 5-1 to the Lightning.

The good things:

- Tailgating is amazing, and Friday provided a great day for it. Warm temperatures, sunny skies, and absolutely delicious food on the grill. It was definitely nice to be back and tailgating before the game.

- Jeff Skinner is so awesome. He pretty much created the entire scoring play of the game by himself. He is the shining light among darkness when I think about this game and our chances for the season.

The bad things:

- Eric Staal played like crap. He didn't seem to really be pressing for the puck at all, ever.

- Jussi Jokinen took a stupid penalty that gave Tampa a goal. Unsportsmanlike conduct is always stupid, but shooting the puck at the ref is several kinds of stupid.

- The Canes appeared to give up after Tampa got their third goal. Actually, overall, this game did not have the effort I'd have liked to see from a team that was supposedly still fuming about being knocked out of the playoffs.

Luckily (I suppose), the Opening Night game was not the only one that the Canes played this weekend. They also played last night against the C[r]apitals, losing in overtime 4-3.

The Canes looked a lot better in this one, showing a lot of fire in parts. Eric Staal, for one, picked up his game significantly, scoring the first two goals for the Canes. I'm really glad the Canes were able to play so closely with Washington, as Washington is supposed to be one of the better teams in the East this year. That being said, stupid penalties did the Canes in again, the game winner coming off of a power play goal.

So what do I think of these new 2011-2012 Canes? They look a lot like last year's Canes. Which isn't ideal. During the Washington broadcast I caught Tripp Tracy saying something along the lines of "that's the Cardiac Canes again". And honestly, I don't think that's a good thing. Is a little bit of consistency too much to ask? Apparently so.

So, yeah, I guess Opening Night didn't really put me in an optimistic mood for the Canes this season. But that's to be expected, when the first hockey you see of a team is the same kind of hockey that was a let down last season.

Hockey is almost here!

2011-10-01T00:07:00.001-04:00

Less than a week until Opening Night!

I, for one, am really looking forward to the start of this season, if only because I'll actually be able to attend the Canes Opening Night game for the first time in two years.

Am I looking forward to this season's Canes? Eh... maybe. I've read a lot of team preview type things over the past month or so and they all seem to say the same thing - that the Canes didn't add much to their roster and defense still looks to be a weak point.

For example, a quote lifted from NHL.com's preview:

Kaberle was the only defenseman that Carolina picked up in the offseason and defense is not his strongest suit.

Yeah... that really doesn't invoke a lot of confidence in me. Especially considering how Kaberle didn't play the best in the playoffs for the Bruins.

But let's look at what we have so far this preseason. The roster was recently chopped to 24, with a surprise (at least for me) in Zach Boychuk being sent to Charlotte. Admittedly, I haven't been able to catch much of the Canes preseason games/practices (I mean, really, it is football season), but I would have hoped that Boychuk would have had enough to stay with the big team - I really have liked what I've seen from him.

As for the actual preseason games and whatnot... the Canes have the spectacular record of 1-4. Which doesn't look good, but it is the preseason, and there's a reason I favor football over preseason hockey. Namely, the preseason doesn't really matter when comes to playing in games that actually matter.

Although, an interesting thought I just had... if the Canes start out horribly, will they get rid of Paul Maurice? Maybe starting out poorly wouldn't be too bad... but, actually, please, for the love of everything good, let's not have another 14 game losing streak. That was horrendous.

Really, I just hope the Canes are consistent this year. If you're going to be bad, be horrible. Get a good draft pick. If you're going to be good, have a solid place in the top 6 of the Eastern Conference. I really do not want to have to deal with another year of mediocrity that ends with disappointment when the Canes let a playoff spot slip through their fingers. That has happened far too much and it's getting kind of annoying.

Regular season starts next Friday, so all the speculation will end then. Let's play some hockey!

Remembering Joe Vasicek

2011-09-07T19:54:00.001-04:00

Today was a horrible day for hockey. Early this morning a plane carrying the KHL Locomotiv team crashed, killing 43 on board. A selection of former NHL players were on board, including former Cane Josef Vasicek.

If you look at the archives of this blog (please don't, my writing was horrendous in high school), you'll probably find a lot of posts bemoaning his play as a Cane. But that neglects the person himself. Because when I heard the news this morning, and I thought about his time as a Cane I didn't think about the ice. I thought about the one season ticket holder event I went to, where I clearly remember my dad asking him about his knee rehab. I remember his big smile and how he softly answered that everything was well - a personalized response, despite the fact that he had probably been asked the same thing a hundred times already that night. A small moment for sure, but one that seems to sum up his personality. A much better remembrance is written here.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those on the plane. Hopefully happier times are ahead for the members of the global hockey family.

Goodbye again Erik

2011-07-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

And so the Erik Cole era ends in North Carolina.

Cole signed with the Montreal Canadiens today for a four year contract at $4.5 mil per year. Considering the length of the contract, it's probably unlikely that the best power forward evah! will be back with the Canes.

Now, this isn't the first time that Cole has left the Canes, but I doubt that Rutherford will trade for him again - the contract is a little unwieldy, and I'm not surprised that the Canes weren't willing to shell out that much.

I seem to be taking the loss of my favorite player a bit better than I did last time. Yeah, last time, when I was a crazy psychotic high schooler, I got all upset and did crazy stuff like change the background of the blog to black. Oh, you all can see I've changed the background again? Guess I turned into a crazy psychotic college student...

Anyways, I wish Erik the best in Montreal - he always played extremely well in their arena, so hopefully that trend will continue - as long as he's not playing the Canes, that is.

Beyond that, the Canes were relatively active today, signing four free agents. They resigned Jiri Tlusty to a one year, minimum amount contract. They signed center Tim Brent, previously of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to a two-year contract. They signed Brian Boucher, rescuing him from Philadelphia goalie hell, to a two year contract for just under a million per. And, finally, they signed Alexei Ponikarovsky to a one year contract for $1.5 mil.

I like Tlusty's contract, if he doesn't pan out, the Canes didn't lose much in the process - maybe he will finally come into his own. I don't know much about Tim Brent, but he sounds like he could be a good fourth-liner with penalty killing ability. Brian Boucher will hopefully be a consistent backup to take some of the obnoxious load that the Canes always put on Cam Ward. And Ponikarovsky seems like a good winger addition. I also can't wait to hear Chuck Kaiton to say that name.

In the article on the Canes site summarizing the day, it sounds like the Canes still want to add another winger to replace Cole's loss (and a big loss that is, considering how he played last season and his chemistry with Eric Staal), but that the Canes are probably going to wait for a trade to make that happen. That probably means that the rest of the immediate summer will be rather uneventful, unless said trade occurs.

All in all, not too bad of a signing day... except of course for the gaping hole left in my heart for Erik Cole. No, I'm not being overdramatic at all.

An active week for the Canes

2011-06-29T20:42:00.000-04:00

Quite a bit has happened over the last week and a half - and it doesn't look like the news is going to slow down anytime soon, so let's get caught up, shall we?

The amazingly wonderful Jeff Skinner won the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. I heard the Awards ceremony was pretty horrible to watch, so I'm glad I wasn't quite that bored this year to suffer through it. But I am very happy for Skinner - us Caniacs knew how awesome he was this season, so it's nice to see him get some credit from the rest of the league as well.

The 2011-2012 schedule was released. I'm excited because I'll get to see the Opening Night game for the first time in a few years.

I think I'll take this opportunity to mention the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets move. In short, not a fan. I like the South. I like hockey. I get really really really tired of people cracking jokes about hockey not belonging in the South. So I feel for Atlanta because their fans got screwed and nobody really seems to care. I'll always remember the Thrashers playoff games I was able to attend back in 07 - definitely a lot of fun.

From a scheduling standpoint, the city change completely throws a wrench into the NHL's regional divisions, meaning the Canes and the rest of the Southeast are going to have to make huge trips to Winnipeg multiple times throughout the season. There are rumors that the NHL plans to rearrange the league after this season, which will make a lot of sense. Hopefully the current rivalries are preserved, but I guess we'll see what happens with that later.

The day after the schedule was released, the Canes selected Ryan Murphy with the 12th pick of the Draft. Apparently he's a steal at number 12, but I certainly wouldn't know. His stats show that he could be an offensive powerhouse on the d-line... but he's also a 5'11" d-man. Rutherford, apparently, dislikes drafting size. It worked out with Skinner last year, hopefully it will do the same this year.

Finally, the first day of free agency is approaching, and the Canes are wrapping up some of their players before they hit the market. The two notable signings are Joni Pitkanen at $4.5 million over three years and Chad LaRose for $1.5 and $1.9 mil for two years.

I like the Pitkanen signing - I do like him on the blueline and I think the contract is the going rate for defenseman. I don't think the Canes would have been able to get anyone much better for the same price through free agency, so I like the deal. Of course I like the Chad LaRose deal, and it seems like the right amount for him as well - hopefully he can rebound from this less than stellar past season.

The fact that Erik Cole has not yet been signed is very concerning for this Caniac. I would have thought that he would have struck a deal by now - in my last post it seemed like negotiations were coming along well... apparently not? I hope he and the Canes will still be able to work it out.

Whatever happens with that, we'll find out in a few days. I'll definitely update with what occurs during free agent signing day!

Hockey is over. Sadness ensues.

2011-06-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

So the 2010-2011 season is over. Complete. And not the premature "over" that us Caniacs experienced in April - despite our team's failings, there was at least hockey to be seen. Not anymore - no more hockey games until October.

Congrats, I suppose, to the Boston Bruins and their fans. I was cheering them on throughout the playoffs, and it's nice to see them win. I would make some sort of crack about how I'm glad that Canada doesn't have the Cup for another year... but after seeing the riots in Vancouver, I'm beginning to think war might occur if they don't get one soon.

On the home front, there's actually been some Canes news since I last posted. The biggest news is the shuffling of the front office and who's behind the bench. Ron Francis is back at a desk, Tom Rowe is a scout, Brind'Amour is an assistant and newcomer Dave Lewis is also an assistant. Rather unfortunately, we're still stuck with Paul Maurice as head coach for another year. I'm thrilled, and by thrilled I mean that I really hope they don't re-up his contract. I am also sick of my team doing mediocre, so I would like them to do better this year. Just, maybe better because of Jeff Skinner or something and not because of the coach.

Players-wise, apparently contract negotiations have been going on. Today an article was put out on the Canes site about possibly trading for some people because it's not looking positive for Jokinen or Pitkanen returning. Chad LaRose and Erik Cole might be looking to test the market. If both of them go... man, there goes both of my favorite players.

For which I say to Jim Rutherford: Please Please Please Please Please SIGN ERIK COLE!!!! I honestly don't think I could stand him going to some horridly cold non-North Carolina place again. Hopefully he and the team can work something out.

And that's it for now I guess. I'll keep up with whatever little news trickles in this summer.

Not a happy ending

2011-04-23T23:55:00.000-04:00

I guess it's about time I recap the end of the season?

The first round of the NHL playoffs is well under way, two teams having already been eliminated. The Canes are the lucky ones who get an even worse disgrace - not making the playoffs at all.

At the time of my last post the Canes needed to win both games to secure a place in the postseason. They did what was necessary in the game against Atlanta, stomping on the Thrashers 6-1.

Then came the Tampa Bay game. The Canes were required to win due to the Rangers winning earlier in the day. All they needed was a win.

They lost 6-2. And not just lost, they completely tanked, allowing Tampa to get a 4-0 lead to start off the game.

You might think I'm a pretty lame blogger for not posting about this until two weeks after the fact. But, honestly, I really couldn't bring myself to write about it unti now - I'm getting mad even as I think about it.

It's unfathomable to me how a team can lose under pressure so regularly. All they needed to do was win. And they didn't even play a close game. Barely put up a fight. I'm not sure how many teams could lose all the "must-wins" that the Canes had and still be in the playoff race in the last game of the season, but the cards continued to fall in the Canes favor - and they still managed to blow it.

I'm really frustrated with this team. I'm sick of missing the playoffs, sick of having to choose among other teams to hoist the greatest silver trophy in the world (Cheering for the Bruins, by the way). The Canes can't play consistently enough to get anything out of their seasons - they can't win enough to get into the playoffs and they can't lose enough to get a good draft pick.

I suppose I should say all sorts of good and moderately cheerful things about how it was great to see the young team grow and we have a good future, blah blah blah. But I'm not feeling it. I'm going to be bitter about this ending for a while. Because, really, if you're going to raise my hopes and get me to believe in you, at least do me the courtesy of trying to win.

Anyways, the playoffs are actually pretty entertaining. I've been paying attention to the Boston-Montreal one the most because it seems to have the most interesting storyline - man, those fans hate each other. And I'm seeing parallels in the Bruins' two game comeback to our own two game comeback against Montreal in 2006, and who doesn't like being reminded of that?

Unfortunately, I'm hitting that lovely stage of the semester called finals (this post is a break from me panicking about the end of the year), so I'm not sure how much I'll be posting. Maybe once I calm down a bit more I'll put up more analysis on the Canes. I will try and put up something, even something non-Canes related because, really, NHL playoff time is the best time of the year, and there are so many good games going on.

Erik Cole season stats: 26 goals, 26 assists

Chad LaRose season stats: 16 goals, 15 assists

The Canes are zombies. In a good way.

2011-04-08T16:44:00.000-04:00

The Canes are apparently like the undead of the hockey world this season. Just when you think they're gone, they come back craving your brains. Brains meaning playoffs, in this extended metaphor.

So, last post it pretty much seemed that the Canes didn't have a snowball's chance in a furnace on the equator if they didn't win against Buffalo. They lost 2-1 in OT. So, therefore, it should pretty much be over, right?

Nope. Guess again. Turns out, by freak circumstances including the Hurricanes shutting out Detroit (Crazy, right?) and the Rangers laying an egg in their game against the Thrashers, the Canes now control their own destiny.

HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?! WHY MUST THERE BE SO MUCH DRAMA?!

Essentially, if the Canes win out (but not in shootouts!) they're in, due to the fact that they have a tiebreaker in the season series over the Rangers. Other, more complicated, scenarios are listed here, but for simplicity's sake I like the first one.

Now there's not much else you can say here. If the Canes want to be in the playoffs, they'll win. If they don't, they'll lose. Simple as that. Yes, somehow the 82 game season boils down to these last two games. Either the Canes find a way to victory and an extended postseason or they don't. Period. End of story.

Do they deserve it? Questionable, considering their repeated inconsistent play. But now is the time to prove that they won't crumble under pressure and that they do deserve a shot in the postseason.

Two games. Atlanta tonight, Tampa Bay tomorrow. Two wins? We'll just have to see. Maybe this team isn't quite dead yet.

The life of a bubble team...

2011-04-02T23:15:00.000-04:00

This team just can't make up it's mind, can it?

Last post I was talking about how crappy the Canes were looking, and how I didn't really think that the playoffs were possible. Right now they're ONE POINT behind the Rangers who are in eighth, and two behind Buffalo, all three teams with four games left to play. And OBTW, the Canes play Buffalo tomorrow.

And, they actually seem to be playing pretty well. I was able to watch part of the Washington game this Tuesday and the Canes definitely had a bit more pep in their skate than they had previously. Not to mention - they've gone 6-1 in their past seven games.

The question, of course being, is this a case of too little too late? It's nice, I suppose, that the Hurricanes aren't giving up on their season and sitting back - but I can't help that feel that play like this would have helped had they started it a week or two earlier. The chance is still there for a playoff spot, but the fact still remains that the Canes are on the outside looking in and have to both play amazingly and get help from some of the other teams. (Check out Sports Club Stats for a nice breakdown of the percentages.)

Obviously the game tomorrow against Buffalo is key. All of the remaining games are must-wins, but it would seem that the Sabres game is the must-win of the must-wins. If they can't win this one, well, they probably don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyways - a playoff team needs to be able to deliver under pressure, after all.

Is it too much to ask to not be on the bubble one year? Like, just decide that you're going to tank or win at the beginning of the season and stick with it. This is far too much uncertainty at the end of the season for my liking.

Season ends in four games... at the end of this week we'll see if the Canes are going to play more games than that.

(By the way, check out Erik cole's statline from the past seven games below. Dude is en fuego. Much to this Caniac's delight, of course.)

Erik Cole stats (18th): 1 goal
(22nd): 1 assist
(25th): 2 goals
(26th): 1 goal
(30th): 1 assist
(1st): 1 goal
On the season: 24 goals, 26 assists

Chad LaRose stats (22nd): 2 goals
On the season: 15 goals, 13 assists

The playoff forecast is not looking too sunny...

2011-03-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

Well, the Canes have tanked, haven't they?

Currently they're 9th in the East, two points behind Buffalo with one more game played. 3-4-1 since I last posted, they're not looking too hot.

I was on spring break last week, enabling me to catch a few of the games, both in person and on the television. Let me say, they don't look good. Honestly, they don't look like a playoff team. I'm not sure they have the 60 minutes of passionate play that is required of them each game night. They definitely don't look like a team playing with the season on the line. I was fairly optimistic that the Canes would get into the playoffs, but after seeing them play, I feel like it's a pipe dream.

I mean, really. What playoff-caliber team goes 0-for-28 on the powerplay? The Columbus game was some of the most depressing hockey I've seen in a very long time. 0-for-9 in that one, with long two man advantages. Playoff teams do not do that. Period. End of story. The Canes have had chances, but it seems they want to blow them and miss the playoffs again.

Granted, while the prospects are looking slimmer with every loss, the Hurricanes still do have hope to get into the playoffs. They did beat Buffalo twice in the past three weeks - gaining them precious points on a rival for a playoff spot. But, honestly, with the way this team is looking, I think it'll be a first round exit if they do manage to make it in. This is coming from me, the perpetual optimist - that's how bad of an impression this team left on me last week.

But, I don't want to be too much of a Negative Nancy, so to lighten the mood this clip describes exactly how I feel about the playoffs:

Obviously the Canes have to win most of their remaining 11 games to make it in. It's gut-check time, to use a cliché, and all we can do as Caniacs is wait and see what happens.

Erik Cole stats (1st): 1 assist
(4th): 1 assist
(9th): 1 goal
(12th): 1 assist
On the season: 19 goals, 24 assists

Chad LaRose stats (3rd): 1 goal
(15th): 1 assist
On the season: 13 goals, 13 assists
(16th): 1 goal

A Handy Guide to Dealing With Non-Sports Fans

2011-03-04T20:45:00.000-05:00

So I don't do anything like this normally, but I wrote a little guide about dealing with non-sports fans for the univeristy radio station sports show blog, and I figured I'd cross-post a snippet of it here.

The most frustrating thing in the entire world is to be a sports fan trapped among non-sports fans.

Imagine this scenario: You happen to be with your guy friend, discussing the difficulties of beginning a courtship. You make a quick remark about making sure your friend doesn’t send the lucky lady a picture of himself in Crocs.

Aaaaannnnnddddd cue blank stare.

You then begin to explain the whole Brett Favre sexting controversy, only to have your friend respond:
"Wait, is that the guy who plays for the Packers?"

You then hastily change the subject, trying to resist the urge to crawl into the nearest corner and weep.

Welcome to my life.

Rarely does a day goes by without some sort of sports reference creating an awkward space in a conversation, or a blank stare at the latest news from the trade deadline. It's tough, because generally my friends are really fun intelligent people - they just happen to not like sports.

Using my vast experience dealing with the unenlightened, I've created a handy-dandy guide to dealing with the three most common types of the non-sports fan.

Want to read more? Of course you do. Check out the full post here. Or get the link from my Twitter. I'm not picky.

Trade deadline recap

2011-02-28T23:36:00.000-05:00

Well, the NHL trade deadline has come and gone. Not too exciting this season - most of the trades had occurred before today, and there weren't too many superstars being tossed about as in previous years.

Canes-wise, Rutherford continues his mantra of "reduce, reuse, recyle" by bringing back Cory Stillman from the Florida Panthers for Ryan Carter and a fifth round pick. I mean, I guess there are worse former Canes that could come back into the fold. Stillman did manage to score a goal in his first game back with the team, and the Canes didn't really give much up for him, so I guess there's not too much that can go wrong with this trade.

Today the Canes picked up Bryan Allen from the Panthers (I think Florida traded away their whole team over this past week - seriously, there was barely a trade they weren't involved in) for Sergei Samsonov. I think it's a good move, giving some more support on the back end and hopefully giving Samsonov a location where he can be a little more consistent and get more playing time.

Since my last post, the Canes have gone 2-2-1, giving them an overall record of 29-25-9 which is good enough for 8th in the East and 3rd in the Southeast. So, yes, they're just barely squeaking in the playoffs at this point, two points above Buffalo in 9th.

It seems like this team is playing mediocre right now. They have good games (beating Pittsburgh) and bad games, and they often have to have comebacks or let the opposing team get back into the game. Not the most confident of play going into the playoffs. Just the fact that they had a chance to steal 7th place from the Rangers in their game on Tuesday and they failed doesn't give me too much of a warm and fuzzy feeling.

But who knows, with this team, it seems that as long as they can get into the playoffs they'll have a decent shot. This week presents another close to a must win game, in Thursday's game against Buffalo. A victory over them could go a long way to securing that playoff spot.

Erik Cole stats (18th): 1 goal
(22nd): 2 assists
(25th): 1 goal, 1 assist

Chad LaRose stats (18th): 1 goal
(26th): 1 assist

Rather delayed recap

2011-02-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should start off this post with a sincere apology for not writing about the Hurricanes over the past few weeks. Truth be told, I have had a crap-ton of schoolwork (not just a ton, mind you, a crap-ton) and I honestly haven't paid too much attention to the team.

Let's start with the most recent news. First of all, tonight is Rod Brind'Amour Night, where his number is being raised to the rafters before the Flyers game. In fact, it's probably occurring as I type this. Kind of a bummer that I'm not present for the night, as I had seen both Wesley's and Francis' numbers go up, but unfortunately school schedules don't revolve around hockey.

Also occurring today is the Canes making trades with the San Jose Sharks. They first received defenseman Derek Joslin for future considerations, then traded Ian White for the Sharks' 2012 second round pick.

Looking at what we got, Joslin is a young defenseman who has appeared in a few NHL games over the past three seasons. Rutherford sounds pretty confident that he'll be battling for ice time, so hopefully Joslin will pan out as a good defenseman for the future.

As for what we sent to the Sharks, I honestly barely noticed Ian White when I was able to see a game. Granted, for a defenseman that might mean you're doing your job because that means I'm not noticing your glaring mistakes. But I don't think the Canes lost a key asset in the trade, which is always a good thing.

So, the playoff stretch. The Canes currently have a record of 27-23-8, good enough for 62 points and eighth place in the East and third in the Southeast. The past three weeks they've gone 2-4-2, which isn't that hot, but they've definitely been helped by a tanking Atlanta team. What worries me are the losses to teams like the Maple Leafs and Devils (twice!) - we definitely should be beating them around this time of the season.

What's awesome? Erik Cole. Check out the statline at the bottom of the post and this video of the game-winning OT goal against Atlanta. Certainly makes this Caniac happy to see her favorite player playing well.

The trade deadline is February 28th this year, which seems really early. Perhaps it was just the Olympics pushing everything back that makes me say that. Anyways, I will not profess to have any clue about what the Canes will do. I wouldn't imagine that they'd be sellers in 8th place, but with the Ian White trade occurring today it will be interesting to see if anything does happen - getting rid of his contract does open up some room for the Canes to make a move.

So, to recap, the Canes are in a much better place than they were earlier in the season, which is to say that they're finally holding steady in a playoff spot. As long as they can keep that up, well, not too much else matters.

Erik Cole stats (Feb 1st): 2 assists
(Feb 5th): 1 goal
(Feb 12th): 1 goal, 1 assist
(Feb 13th): 1 goal
On the season: 16 goals, 18 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Feb 10th): 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 11 assists

ALL-STAR GAME!!!!

2011-02-04T20:38:00.000-05:00

I always tell my dad, generally while eating a plate of waffles at 11:30am after staying up to three the previous night, that college kids operate on a different schedule than the rest of the world. This apparently applies to blog posts as well. When other places have wrapped up their All-Star recaps and gone on to that thing called the "regular season", here I am with still the whole weekend to go over.

Well, hopefully the wait will be worth it? Here we go...

First off, it was AWESOME! In fact, I might just stop typing right now and leave it at that. There is seriously not one thing that I can think of that hit a sour note throughout the entire weekend.

One of the biggest reasons for that? The new format. I think the fantasy draft aspect got rid of a lot of the stale hockey aspect of years past. It seemed to give the players something to play for more than just the Conference they happen to play in - they had to prove that they deserved to be taken at the slot they were, or why they should have been taken higher (I laugh at Phil Kessel being taken last - but the dude got a car out of it? Um, can I be picked last?). I mean, they were actually playing defense (or as close to defense as you'll get in an All-Star Game) in the third period - because neither team wanted to be the ones that were picked to lose.

Below I've posted a slideshow thing of all my pictures (well, the good ones at least) from the weekend. And, yes, I did manage to get a picture of Ovechkin's stick shattering from the upper level.

Let's see, what else was awesome about the weekend? The NHL Fan Fair was spectacular - tons of fun going around to each of the booths and trying your hand at various hockey skill games. I believe I registered a 27 mph slapshot - watch yourself Zdeno Chara, I'm gunning for you!

The Skills Competition was great as well. In fact, it might have beat out the actual All-Star game on the awesomeness scale. I mean, how can you compete with seeing Chara beat his own hardest shot record?

It was really cool to see the best of the best compete against each other. It's pretty hard to believe that some of these guys are so talented - Sedin in the accuracy competition, anyone? I mean, the guy was like a sniper, methodically knocking out those targets.

The only thing I disagreed with was Ovechkin winning the breakaway competition. Honestly, it didn't really live up to my expectations - almost none of the guys could actually get the puck in the net while doing all the fancy work. And, I don't care, that's what really matters when it comes down to it.

While the Skills Competition may have been the more exciting part of the weekend, the All-Star Game itself wasn't without it's charms. First, the opening ceremony of sorts featuring Rod Brind'Amour and Ron Francis was amazingly well done. The game was definitely exciting, with Team Staal gaining and losing a four goal lead, and of course I loved the offensive skill that abounded on each side of the ice.

And what about Ovechkin throwing his stick at Duchene for the penalty shot? Ovechkin may be annoying, but you can't deny that at some points he is an entertaining character.

The only annoying point was the amount of passes these guys were taking - it seemed sometimes like they didn't want to take a shot and get a goal.

Wait, did I say the only annoying point? No, it was also annoying that Jeff Skinner didn't score and that Team Staal lost. I find it to be a shame that Staal's team couldn't manage to win in such a friendly venue for them.

Honestly, this was one of my favorite hockey events that I've attended in a while. I thought the atmosphere was great and that the game was entertaining. Now, if only Raleigh could host it every year...

Quick Canes weekly recap

2011-01-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

A quick briefing on the Canes finishing out the month of January before we go into ultimate All-Star mode here.

Over the past two weeks the Canes went 3-3, leaving them at 25-19-6 on the season. Still 9th in the Conference and 4th in the Southeast. Still one point behind Atlanta for the last playoff spot. No, I did not copy and paste this from the last weekly recap, things just haven't changed much standings-wise.

Things have changed since my All-Star preview. There's been a lot of people dropping out because of injuries and whatnot, Sidney Crosby being one of the offenders. But bad luck for some is good luck for Jeff Skinner and Jamie McBain - Skinner was bumped up from the rookie only team to the regular All-Stars, and Jamie McBain was added to the rookie squad. The Canes are definitely well represented now - and I think I might change my team allegiances from "Team Staal" to "Team Skinner".

The All-Star festivities begin tomorrow! I cannot wait!

Erik Cole stats (24th): 1 goal
(26th): 2 assists
On the season: 13 goals, 15 assists

Chad LaRose stats (18th): 1 goal
(20th): 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 10 assists

All-Star Game Preview!

2011-01-22T15:14:00.000-05:00

The All-Star Game in Raleigh is next week! It's hard to believe that after waiting so long for it, it's finally almost here!

I suppose the first thing that needs to be addressed is the All-Star format this year. This is the first year with the new "Fantasy Draft" where two All-Star captains will pick à la grade school who is on their team. When the format was first announced, I wasn't overly impressed with it, but as we get closer to next weekend I must say I'm getting excited. The Canes own Eric Staal and the Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom will be the captains (with Patrick Kane and Martin St. Louis as the alternate captains for Team Lidstrom and Ryan Kesler and Mike Green as the alternates for Team Staal), and there are a lot of ways that this draft could play out. Will Staal go with kin and pick his brother? Will either player favor teammates above other players?

And, of course, the question that I can't wait to be answered - who will be Mr. Irrelevant? Having been picked close to the bottom of quite a few gym class drafts, I'll take a sort of morbid pleasure in watching the greatest of the great squirm as they hope that they're not the last one.

The toughest question to answer is who should we, as fans, cheer for? I suppose since Staal is one of the captains I will end up cheering for his team. (Also, I always by default choose red over blue - even though in this case I think the blue jerseys look more stylish than the red ones.) However, I think I'll relish the opportunity to cheer if someone like Dustin Byfuglien scores - something I could never do when he plays for Atlanta - no matter what captain's team he is on.

The roster that the captains have to pick from is pretty stacked as well. There's always grumblings about who was/wasn't picked, but let's just gloss over that. From a Canes perspective, I'm not surprised to see the tandem of Staal and Cam Ward picked, because both have been the better players on the team this year. (Minus Jeff Skinner, of course, but he was nominated to the rookie squad). I'm a little surprised that Cam did make the cut, as there are a few goalies that probably have a little better numbers and have looked a little better - but I suppose that this is when having the game in Raleigh helps out a lot.

Of course, the game itself is not the only thing going on that weekend. The Skills Competition occurs on Saturday, and I am really excited to see this as well. Specifically the "Breakaway Challenge" - because who knows what kind of moves Ovechkin is going to pull this year? The twelve rookies named to the squad will participate in the skills segment, and I'm also really curious to see how the Jeff Skinner will do - I'm betting that he's better than some of the "real" All-Stars.

And, yeah, there's this other thing going on during the All-Star weekend. The Guardian Project. If you somehow haven't heard of this (don't worry, it probably just means you don't read as many hockey blogs and/or satire as me), well, I'm sorry to have to be the one to explain it to you. Apparently the NHL teamed up with Stan Lee and created a superhero for each of the NHL teams. Which kind of maybe sounds cool to the half of me that's still stuck as a middle schooler, but to the skeptical adult side it just sounds lame. Because hockey is cool as it is... why exactly do we need superheroes to bring across the awesomeness?

Anyways, the Canes one looks like this and gains points from me for having "the calculating mind of an intellectual". And also not looking like he's carrying around a Big Wheel, like the Red Wing one. But the whole project loses major cool points for not having a woman superhero. Girls can kick ass and like hockey too, ya know...

Guardian Project aside, I am really excited for next weekend. Finally the Caniac Nation is showcased as a host, and I can not wait to see the game and experience the fun atmosphere that I know will be present.

Canes are looking good

2011-01-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday the Canes defeated the Thrashers 4-3 in overtime, Erik Cole scoring the most excellent game winner. The above picture is from his second game star nomination - needless to say, this Caniac was rather excited to see her favorite player play an excellent game.

Honestly, though, the Canes should never have allowed Atlanta to get back into the game - up two goals at 3-1 and they just seemed to let off the gas pedal in the second and third periods. And then the game goes into overtime, which gives a division rival a point... but Erik Cole scored, so I guess that makes it all better.

Then on Tuesday the Hurricanes beat the Flames 6-5 in a shootout. The good news is, again, that the Canes got two points, but the bad news is that they allowed the Flames to score three straight goals to tie up the game.

The Canes then lost to the Sabres 3-2 on Thursday, breaking their eight game point streak. Yeah, that stretched back to December.

To finish up the week, the Canes won against the Southeast-leading Lightning 6-4. This was a really fun game to watch - definitely a lot of offense. There were memorable goals on both sides - Chad LaRose coming out of the box to score a power play breakaway goal stands out for the Canes. For the Lightning, well, that Stamkos kid made the Canes look silly, skating straight up the ice and scoring an easy goal.

So this leaves the Canes at 22-16-6, decidedly over .500 with 50 points, good enough for fourth in the Southeast and ninth in the Conference. So, yeah, still no playoff spot, but we have three games in hand on Atlanta and we're only one point behind them in the eighth spot - so the gap has closed and I would say that the Canes are firmly in the playoff race. Providing, of course, that they continue to play as well as they have.

So now that I'm back at school and my period of being able to view games is over, I think I'll give a list of my collected observations over the winter break.

- Jeff Skinner is amazing. Period. End of story.
- Erik Cole also looks really good. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fangirl. He looks almost back to his 05-06 form - he's driving the net, creating chances and scoring.
- The Canes have serious issues with momentum. They seem to decide to play one and a half periods during a game. This means they start out great and allow the other team to get back in the game after being dominated, or the Canes play like crap in the first two periods and then storm back to victory in the third. Granted, I've become used to this after watching this team for so many years, but it does become frustrating to watch this team go into a defensive shell after they get a two goal lead.
- The call-ups from Charlotte (Dalpe, Boychuk) looked really good. Finally, we have a farm system with useful players!
- The NHL really should consult with me before scheduling games during football season. Missed my half of my team's bowl game and half of the NFL games this past week.

Overall, I'm feeling optimistic for the second half of the season. It seems like things are beginning to click for this team and they're beating teams they need to. This next week will be a test for the Canes, as they play Boston, the Rangers, and Pittsburgh - all teams currently above them in the playoff standings. The points streak has gotten them in the position to compete, now they need to continue their success.

Also, expect an All-Star Game related post sometime soon. In other words, no, I didn't gloss over the fact that Staal and Ward were named our All-Stars this week.

Erik Cole stats (Sunday): 1 goal
(Tuesday): 1 goal
(Saturday): 3 assists
On the season: 12 goals, 13 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Tuesday): 1 assist
(Saturday): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 9 assists

Canes continue points streak

2011-01-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

The Canes managed to get points in each of their three games this week, but I wasn't too impressed with their play in any of the games.

It started with a 4-3 overtime loss against the Panthers. The Canes came out incredibly flat in the first period, and it was a testament to Cam Ward that Florida didn't manage to score more than one goal. The second period wasn't much better, and Carolina only began to look good when they were down by two goals. That being said, it was rather depressing when Bryan Allen scored in overtime, putting to rest any sort of comeback idea.

The next game was also an overtime loss, this time losing by a tally of 2-1 to the New York Rangers. This was one of those games where, despite watching it in its entirety, I don't remember a thing about it. (Except, of course, yelling angrily at my television whenever Sean Avery touched the puck). So I'll gloss over this and go on to the next game.

The Hurricanes managed to win the next game, beating Florida 5-3. Yet again the Canes came out flat and allowed Florida to get out to a quick 2-0 lead. Luckily, Jeff Skinner is on the roster, and he scored the next two in the second to get the Canes back into it. A lot has been said about Skinner, and as far as I can tell, he deserves all the accolades. At times you think that he could be the only person on the ice and still manage to beat five opponents and the goaltender - and make it look easy to boot! Not only can he score, but his assist on Cole's goal later in the game was an absolute beauty of a pass.

So this stretch of games leaves the Canes with 44 points, which at this point is good enough for 9th in the East and 4th in the division - 5 points behind Montreal for the last playoff spot, but with two games in hand. Our record is 19-15-6 - finally above .500! And, yes, I furiously just knocked on some wood after that statement. The Canes have fixed themselves a nice little points streak, but I think they could definitely look better. They struggled early in both games against the Panthers, who are not exactly leading the league. While it is wonderful that they can flip a switch and get themselves back in a game, the question remains as to why the switch wasn't "on" to begin with.

This next week has games against Atlanta and Tampa, two divisional rivals who always give us problems - okay, what divisional rival doesn't? - and Buffalo and Calgary. Hopefully the Hurricanes will continue to get points out of these games - although I would prefer that they do it in a slightly more convincing fashion.

Erik Cole stats (Monday): 2 assists
(Friday): 2 goals
On the season: 10 goals, 10 assists

Canes are looking great against bad teams

2011-01-02T12:37:00.000-05:00

It looks like the Canes are looking a little streaky at this point in the season. A four game win streak, followed by a three game losing streak, and now we're in the midst of stringing three wins together.

Win #1 came Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. The Canes really didn't look that spectacular in this one, trading goals with the Leafs in the first period. Which wouldn't be too bad except, come on, it's the Leafs. The News and Observer had an interesting article about Rutherford actually going down to talk to the team during the second intermission - somehow I suspect that "come on, it's the Leafs" was an extremely tame version of what was being said.

Perhaps the talk from the GM will have lasting impressions on the season - a convincing win came in the next game, 4-0 over the Ottawa Senators. This is the second blowout this season against the Sens, however, this time the opposing team was not coming off of an emotional day. No, I'm not entirely sure why Ottawa was so lame this time around - although Brian Elliott in goal looked absolutely horrendous. Or perhaps the Canes just looked really good? Either way, Cam Ward earned his second shutout of the season.

Win #3 came as a 6-3 win against the lowly New Jersey Devils. The Canes came out on fire in the first period, opening up with a quick 4-0 lead. Zac Dalpe earned his first NHL goal in the period, although Martin Brodeur had already been pulled by that point. Let's just say that Brodeur looked nothing like he used to in net.

After the marvelous first period, the Canes came out slow and sloppy in the second, only notching five shots on net. Their play probably would have been an issue in any other game - but it's pretty hard to play worse than the Devils this year, and the Canes recovered well in the third period.

So the Canes have fixed themselves a nice three game win streak... against teams that are 10th, 13th, and 15th in the Eastern Conference. Which is good, as it signals that the Canes are beating the teams that they should - and besides the Toronto game, they're beating the teams quite handily. Their upcoming schedule for this week isn't quite as easy - two games against the Panthers, who aren't that great but seem to give the Canes trouble, and one against the Rangers who are currently 6th in the East. Hopefully the Canes can continue their win streak and gain the four points that would put them tentatively in the playoffs.

Erik Cole stats (29th): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 8 assists

Chad LaRose stats (1st): 2 assists
On the season: 6 goals, 8 assists

Canes can't power back after penalties

2010-12-27T12:23:00.000-05:00

Things haven't quite gone the Canes way the past two games.

Back before the Christmas break the Hurricanes lost 3-2 to Montreal, and last night they lost by the same score to the C[r]apitals. Both were games that the Canes could have won, and both featured questionable calls by the referees.

For the Montreal game, things were looking up when Erik Cole scored the second Canes goal of the night to put the team ahead by one. Then, nine seconds later, he hit Jaroslav Spacek from behind which earned a five-minute major boarding penalty - the Canadiens scored two goals on that powerplay and never looked back. I'm not entirely sure that the hit deserved a major penalty, but certainly the hit and the call cost the Canes the game.

For the Washington game, the questionable call came in the first period. Tim Gleason received a five minute major for charging and a game misconduct after a clean hit on Mathieu Perreault. It looked pretty rough in real time, but the replay obviously shows Gleason hitting with the shoulder pad, not the elbow... and definitely not charging across the ice for the hit. Looks like the refs were penalizing the amount of blood on the ice from Perreault's broken nose, not the actual play.

The penalty didn't have quite the obvious effect on the game that Cole's did, although I'm sure the Canes would have loved to have Gleason's services later in the game. My peeve for the game was the lackluster effort given in the last few minutes of the game - the Canes were only down by one and had ample opportunity to try for a goal, but it just didn't seem like they had the necessary jump in their step.

So, for those of you keeping track, yep, these two losses do mean that the Canes are back at .500 on the season, 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 34 points. This three game losing streak essentially negates whatever had been gained by the four game winning streak, and the Canes are back where they started.

For me this is frustrating, because the past few games are the first good look I've had at the Canes this season - actually viewing them in action - and I have to say that they're not that bad of a team. They do have the talent to score, but apparently just can't get it done. They're light years ahead of how they looked last season... but if that only means a .500 record, how much better is that? It certainly isn't enough to gain them a playoffs spot, and if they can't make the playoffs, how different is that from last season?

Upcoming this week are back-to-back games in Toronto and Ottawa, then home against the Devils New Year's Day. Hopefully these are all easily beatable teams - if they're not, I will be doubting how serious a playoffs berth can be. However, beating the other bottom dwellers could signify the beginnings of a nice win streak - but hopefully my optimistic side isn't betraying me too much.

Erik Cole stats (23rd): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 8 assists

Chad LaRose stats (23rd): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 6 assists

Things are looking up... or at least above .500

2010-12-20T23:15:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks were pretty kind to the Canes - in the six games since my last post, Carolina went 4-1-1. Yes, that means that finally the Canes have had a win streak and managed to get above .500 on the season.

Let's recap:

- Canes lost to the Stars 2-1 in a shootout. No one scored in the SO for the Canes.

- In their next game the Canes were finally victorious in the shootout, winning 2-1 over the Blues. Jussi Jokinen scored the only goal in the shootout.

- Canes won 4-3 over the Panthers in a come-from-behind victory. They had gone down three goals early in the game - Ward was pulled from goal after letting two goals in the first two minutes. But, for probably the first time this season, they didn't give up and they powered back for the victory in regulation.

- The Canes also came from behind the next night, winning 3-2 in a shootout over the Atlanta Thrashers. Cam Ward was a complete beast in this one, stopping 45 shots on the night.

I actually watched the game against the Ducks (finals are over, haha!), and I think that the 4-2 win was entertaining enough to earn its own bulleted section of the post. So, my observations:

- The end of the game was INSANE. Yeah, that's the only word that even begins to describe what happened. Three successive penalties called against the Canes resulting in a full two minute six-on-three that the Canes had to kill off. Yes, that's six-on-three due to the fact that Anaheim pulled their goalie. First time in a long time that I've been on the edge of my seat to watch any sort of hockey that the Canes have played. Cam Ward was absolutely stellar to keep the Ducks from scoring more than one.

- Speaking of Ward, he looked amazing. AMAZING. If he can keep up this kind of play, the Canes definitely have a chance for the playoffs. He is a top-notch goalie and he definitely showed all of his skill in this game.

- As for the penalties called to put Cam Ward in the position to have to make those saves... Joe Corvo pretty much lost his mind going after Corey Perry (although he deserved it, but let's just say that Corvo has to be a little less blatant in roughing next time if he doesn't want to get called). Brandon Sutter I guess closed his hand on the puck - debatable, but I'll give the ref credit. Eric Staal's crosscheck, however, was nonexistent. Definitely absurd that the refs should call something like that when a team is already down two men. Talk about trying to decide the game.

- I loved that Corvo went after Perry after he scored the empty netter. Not so happy that Perry started something because his team lost, but I'm glad that Corvo stuck up for himself and didn't just take the crap.

- Eric Staal had a natural hat trick. Yeah, kind of an afterthought after the excitement at the end. But his first goal particularly was a beauty - Staal just took the puck straight up the side during a powerplay - a very pretty goal, although I'm sure the nonexistent Anaheim defense would think otherwise.

So, with this win, the Canes had a four game win streak. That ended pretty ignominiously with a 5-1 loss to the Lightning tonight. Let's just say I'm not crying that this one wasn't televised.

So where does this leave the Canes? They currently have a 15-13-4 record and 34 points on the year, good enough for 9th in the East and 4th in the Southeast. So, if you're keeping track, same as it was last post. The good news, or at least, what could be good news in the future - the C[r]apitals no longer have a stranglehold on the division. Thanks to their recent struggles, they are actually third in the Southeast. In our position it probably doesn't mean much - we're eight points behind them - but hopefully the Canes will continue to win and take advantage of our rival's poor play.

Upcoming this week is Montreal, who is leading their division, and the aforementioned C[r]apitals. I'm hoping for a continuation of the good play of the past two weeks - hey, the Penguins recently went on a twelve game tear, why can't the Canes do the same?

Erik Cole Stats (Dec 15th): 1 goal
(Dec 18th): 1 assist
(Tonight): 1 assist
On the season: 6 goals, 8 assists

Special Double Issue!

2010-12-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

I didn't do a weekly recap last week NOT because I was lazy, but because I wanted to provide my loyal readers with a special double issue - twice the amount of information packed into one week!

(Don't you hate when print magazines pull that crap? I do. But I wouldn't be too optimistic that the next post will be next week - unfortunately college has these things called exams...)

So, let's enter the time machine and recap what's happened since the day before Thanksgiving:

- Canes lost to the C[r]apitals 3-2, despite coming back and scoring two goals in the third period to tie it up.

- Canes won 3-0 over Boston. They looked pretty awesome, which was surprising, as the Canes have generally looked like crap when they play against teams that are above us in the standings this season. Cam Ward also walked away with his first shutout of the year. All three goals came on the power play, which was remarkable because at the time Boston had the best penalty kill in the league.

- Canes lost to the C[r]apitals 3-2, despite coming back. And, no, I didn't get lazy and just copy the first bullet - this game the Canes lost in a shootout. Canes haven't been looking too good in shootouts of late - almost no goals scored in them. I'm hoping this isn't like two seasons ago where the Canes had an abysmal time in the shootouts. I'm too lazy to look up the exact facts, but I believe Rod Brind'Amour had the only shootout goal for about three-quarters of the season. Isn't it sad that I'm just hoping that this season isn't as bad as previous ones?

- Canes then lost 4-1 to the Stars, a game where I just kind of shook my head listening to Chuck Kaiton described the rapid succession of goals for Dallas early in the second period.

- Canes won in OT over Colorado 2-1, the winning goal being scored by Brandon Sutter.

- Finally, the Canes lost 5-2 against the Predators last night. Depressing fact: Cam Ward has not won a game against Nashville in his career.

So where does this leave the Canes? They're currently 4th in the Southeast and 9th in the Conference with 25 points. However, they're not really that close to the 8th place Thrashers who have 31 points, and their record is decidedly mediocre at one game under .500. Pretty much, if you were to look up "meh" in the dictionary, the definition would certainly reference this team. They play decently, but most of the time not amazing - but they're definitely not anywhere near as poor as last season. Really, I think they need to go on some sort of win streak, just to get them over the hump of being a .500 team.

Will it happen this week? They play Dallas again and the Blues after a long five day break. I wouldn't be surprised if we continue our crappy play against them, but hopefully the Canes will win over the Blues. So, nope, I'm not predicting anything remarkable this week.

Erik Cole stats (Nov 28th): 1 goal
On the season: 5 goals, 6 assists

Shootouts galore!

2010-11-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

I think I must be some sort of shootout magnet. Three out of four of the games I have managed to watch this season have gone to a shootout - I suppose I must apologize to those who dislike the practice, expect December and January to have a lot of shootouts if current trends continue.

But let's rewind to Wednesday, when the Canes made a trade. They acquired Ian White and Brett Sutter from Calgary for Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk, Sutter being waived the next day to be sent to Albany. (For those wondering, Sutter is current Cane Brandon Sutter's cousin). Having seen him in action, I can say that White is a smallish defenseman who looks to be pretty solid in the defensive zone - he stepped in pretty well in a pairing with Joni Pitkanen both Friday and Saturday.

I'd say, from this early vantage point, that it's a good trade for the Canes. White seems like a good defenseman, who would certainly be an upgrade from Anton Babchuk's flightiness (I'm not too sad to see him and his seasons in Russia go, although his slapshot might be missed.) Kostopoulos is a good character guy, but not a core part of the Canes team. And I won't miss struggling to spell his name while blogging.

Also on Wednesday the Canes won 7-1 over the Ottawa Senators. Generally a win of this goal differential would be something I'd celebrate, but it doesn't seem right to be cheerful, as the Senators had attended the funeral of the assistant coach's daughter earlier that day.

So let's move on to the two games I was able to view, one on the television, and one in person. The former was a 5-4 shootout loss to the Penguins. I thought the Canes played extremely well in this game, constantly battling back from being down a goal. They really played up to the Penguins level, which I was certainly not expecting, having seen the boxscores from the previous week. They also got a point in the standings, in spite of the refs (and the War Room in Toronto), who showed that they could use a new contact and hearing aid prescription. A goal in the third period was allowed for the Pens where the whistle was clearly blown before the puck crossed the goal line. Luckily, the Canes were able to come back once again so that the call didn't cost them the entire game.

The next shootout loss was last night against the Predators. Where the Pittsburgh game was offensively powered and fun to watch, the Nashville one was defensively driven and kind of a snoozefest.

Interestingly, the same three shooters were chosen for both shootouts - Jeff Skinner, Jussi Jokinen, and Patrick O'Sullivan. Skinner and Jokinen I understand, but I just do not understand the choice of O'Sullivan. Granted, he didn't get to show his stuff in the shootout against Pittsburgh, but I wasn't impressed last night. I somehow get the feeling that Paul Maurice keeps writing down "8" thinking Matt Cullen's on the bench, and then is somewhat disappointed when he realizes it's a different guy in the jersey.

Anyways... a more successful week for the Canes than the previous, I'd say. I was very impressed with the play against Pittsburgh - definitely gives me hope for playing well in other close games this season. Currently the Canes are 9th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 20 points - movin' on up. Up next for the Canes are the C[r]aptials on Wednesday and the Bruins on Friday - not easy matchups in any sense. Hopefully they can play like they did this past Friday and maybe get a win out of one of them.

And my final thought for this post: Make sure you're voting for the All-Star Game! I'm officially on the Paul Bissonnette bandwagon!

Erik Cole stats (Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 4 goals, 6 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Wednesday): 2 goals, 2 assists
On the season: 6 goals, 6 assists

Weekly Recap: Let's just pretend those last two didn't happen

2010-11-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

I'd be concerned if we lost by a significant margin to Edmonton, and the other two are toss-ups - hopefully we'll go 2-1 this week.

That was my hopeful prediction last week. The good news? We didn't lose to Edmonton, instead steamrolling them 7-1. The bad news? We got steamrolled by the two other teams we played - 8-1 by the Flyers on Thursday and 7-2 by the Canadiens on Saturday.

This is just depressing. Hooray, we can beat the second-worst team in the league. But, apparently, we can't hold a candle to anything close to the top of the standings. The Canes didn't just lose, they were demolished. The comparisons to last season are already forming in my head.

So let's talk about something else, why don't we? This past week the NHL released their new All-Star game format, which will debut in Raleigh. Essentially, instead of having East and West teams, or even North America/The World teams, the teams will be picked by two players sometime before the Game. Think high school gym floor hockey when you were picked second to last because you were both a girl and unpopular despite your superior knowledge of the game. Yeah, they're doing that in the pros.

Not entirely sure I like the concept - I hope it's pulled off well if only for the fact that this is the game that's being played in Raleigh. The best positive I can draw from the situation is that, with no conference-based teams, we don't have to worry about the NHL implementing a MLB-style All-Star Game where home field advantage is giving to the winning league. But it does nothing for for cheering on geographical rivalries. I mean, how do you decide who to cheer for? Motley group of All-Stars #1 or motley group of All-Stars #2? Probably whichever team @BizNasty2point0 is on. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, just click the link and find the awesomeness. And follow me on Twitter while you're at it.)

Back to the Canes. They currently have 16 points, placing them 4th in the Southeast and 11th in the East. They play Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and Nashville this week. They're getting Patrick O'Sullivan back from healthy-scratchness, and they picked up some random dude (Troy Bodie) off of waivers from Anaheim today. Not sure if either of those will help, but something has got to start the turnaround for the Canes this week.

Erik Cole stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 4 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
(Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 4 goals, 4 assists

Weekly Recap: So-so week for the Canes

2010-11-08T20:02:00.001-05:00

This past week was somewhat of an up-and-down week for the Canes. Let's review it, eh?

They started out the week with a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia, then rebounded with a blowout of the Islanders at home. Then came a home-and-home series, which the Canes split, losing the away game and then winning the second night at home.

The good news is that the Canes were able to break out of that brief goal-less funk at home by scoring 7 against the Islanders, and also notching 3 against Florida. The bad news? Well, two things stick out at me - one is that the Canes let the Panthers put 50 shots on them in the Friday night game. That's the Florida Panthers, who, while not quite as horrendous as their Carolina counterparts this season (football reference), still should not be allowed to show that sort of offensive output against the Canes. I mean, David Booth and Marty Reasoner are their top points scorers... and we let them put seven goals on us.

The other topic in the not-so-good category would be the team faceoff percentage. Last week the Canes site did a piece on it, and, well, let me show you the screenshot I just grabbed from NHL.com: (click image for better version)

Yeah, those numbers. They're not good.

That's two of our solid centers at the very bottom of the league in faceoffs. The above linked article mentions things like slow starts and people playing center who aren't used to it. Perhaps valid reasons, but this is something that needs to improve. Perhaps bring in Rod Brind'Amour, a beast at faceoffs, to teach something to these guys? I would hope that someone has thought of this, considering he works for the organization and all.

So, this past week was what I would call an overall "neutral" week. 2-2 over the four games, bringing the season record also to .500 at 7-7-0. That places the Canes at 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 14 points - an overall change of nothing from last week standings-wise. Not too bad, but I would like to see the Canes get above .500. This week they play Edmonton, Philly and Montreal, meaning one bottom-dweller and two teams who are currently leading their divisions. I'd be concerned if we lost by a significant margin to Edmonton, and the other two are toss-ups - hopefully we'll go 2-1 this week.

Oh, I almost forgot, this past Saturday was Erik Cole's birthday - turned 32 and had an assist that day! The Canes site has a nice article on his and Samsonov's good starts this season. I know I'm definitely liking the return of the Cole of old!

Erik Cole stats (Friday): 1 goal
(Saturday): 1 assist
On the season: 3 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Wednesday): 2 assists
On the season: 2 goals, 4 assists

Weekly Recap - Canes apparently can't score at home

2010-11-01T17:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the end of the first month of hockey (perhaps the only good thing of fall, in my opinion - temperatures really shouldn't ever go below 70). October has left the Canes at an even .500, 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast Division with ten points. In other words, leaps and bounds above last year (do you sense a theme this year?), but overall not spectacular.

This past week we saw the Canes first two games at the RBC Center, and, uh, let's just say that it may not be a bad thing that tonight's game is on the road against Philadelphia. Goose eggs were lain in both the opener against the C[r]apitals and Saturday's game against the Penguins.

Perhaps the Washington game wasn't as bad as the 3-0 score would allow you to believe - I was able to view it thanks to living in C[r]apital country. The first goal was kind of a fluke, Cam Ward being run over outside the crease (and, yes, unfortunately he was outside of the crease, resulting in no goalie interference). Niklas Backstrom put Washington up by two just over midway into the third and then sealed the game with an empty net goal. Michal Neuvirth also looked really good for being Washington's fourth goalie or some similar absurd number.

However, while the game was closer than the score would indicate, I didn't really see anything to write home about from a Canes' perspective. Jeff Skinner continues to impress, but not much else really stood out. Pretty lackluster for a home opener performance, to be honest.

Speaking of Jeff Skinner, he really broke out in Friday's game against the Rangers. Skinner scored two goals and had an assist on Erik Cole's game winner. He seems to be a player that whenever he's on the ice he does something noticeably beneficial to the team (Granted, I've watched all of two games, but the point still remains that this guy looks to be a beast).

Finally, to wrap up the week, the Canes lost by another 3-0 tally at home to Pittsburgh. Let's just say that our current 0-2 home record is not really thrilling this Caniac right now. Yes, it is extremely early in the season, but I, and I think most of the Caniac Nation, would prefer the Canes to not become a road-only team. Especially when I think back to the season we won the Cup - let's just say that the 31-8-2 home record definitely helped. But I think that might be reading way too far into things.

But attempts to improve the home record (or, heck, score a goal at home) will have to wait until Wednesday against the Islanders. Tonight the Canes face Philly away - a Daniel Briere-less Flyers team as Briere was suspended three games for cross-checking an Islanders players straight in the mouth. Look at the YouTube video if you, like me, love to dislike Briere (and Carcillo as well). Hopefully the Canes can stay away from any Flyers thuggery and continue with their good away record.

Erik Cole stats (Thursday): 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 2 goals, 4 assists

Western Roadtrip Recap

2010-10-24T14:09:00.001-04:00

So, the Canes finished up their yearly October roadtrip last night, and I saw or listened to exactly none of them, so let's just do a brief recap.

The obvious stat after this period of time is the record. Currently the Canes have a 4-3 record, which isn't really that great... until you consider that last season the Canes got their fourth win 21 games into the season. From that perspective, the Canes are absolutely amazing this season. Also, considering that the Canes opened up overseas and then went straight into the Western Conference road trip, traveling something like 15,000 miles, I think that their record is spectacular.

Going back through the games, the Canes lost to Ottawa, lost pretty badly to the Canucks, won against the Sharks, lost to the Kings, and finally won last night over the Coyotes in OT.

Obviously, the bright parts are the wins against the Sharks and Coyotes, although the Sharks have not started out as great as last season, having not won a game at home yet. But even the losses don't look too alarming to me - the LA game sounded close and I'm not surprised that the Canes lost to the Cup-favorite Canucks. Perhaps the game against Ottawa should be a win, but, again, I'm just happy that the Canes weren't blown out. Last year definitely does put a perspective on losses.

The best news to me is the distribution of scoring. So often last year, our offensive production (and therefore wins) depended on a few people being able to score *cough*Staal*cough*. This year, we seem to be more well-rounded in the scoring department, only two people on the roster having not notched a point. This is especially shown in the San Jose game, where eleven different Canes got on the scoreboard. A specific player to commend (beyond my two favorites whose stats are at the bottom of the post) would be Eric Staal, who after a slow start in Helsinki, has stepped it up, with 6 points in 5 games. I do think it is a good sign for our season that he is currently at the top of our leaderboard in points.

But just because the road trip is over, doesn't mean that it gets any easier for the Canes. The home opener this Wednesday is against the C[r]apitals, who are never easy to beat, then they must play the Rangers and then the Penguins in a back-to-back. If the Canes can play with Washington and Pittsburgh, then I think we might actually have a worthwhile team this year. If not, well, I'm not pinning the whole season on two games - I just won't be as blindly optimistic.

Erik Cole stats (Oct 14th): 1 assist
(Oct 19th): 1 goal
(Oct 20th): 1 assist
On the season: 1 goal, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Oct 19th): 1 goal, 2 assists
(Oct 20th): 1 goal
On the season: 2 goals, 2 assists

Good start in Finland!

2010-10-09T23:26:00.000-04:00

Well, we're 2-0 after two games in Helsinki! Which already means that this season is better than last season - is the cure for a bad start to play two games overseas? Not for the Wild, haha.

But, let's continue.

I was not able to view the Thursday game, which the Canes won by a tally of 4-3. But, viewing was not necessary to tell that Brandon Sutter had a great game, scoring two goals in the season debut. Babchuk and Jokinen scored the other goals for the game.

I was lucky enough to be able to see the Friday game, which the Canes won in a shootout 2-1. My thoughts:

- Minnesota came out with a jump in their step, as evidenced by their early goal. They controlled most of the first period, and were out for blood - several scrums after the whistle and a fight by Tom Kostopoulos.

- The Wild lost their step in the final two periods, which ultimately benefited the Canes. The Canes had something like six straight minutes (a double high-sticking minor and a minor called after that) on the penalty kill in the second period that the Wild squandered. Had Minnesota been able to connect, that could have been deadly for Carolina.

- Cam Ward is the man, at times holding the team's collective head above water. Without him, the Canes would have easily lost the game.

- Jeff Skinner is the real deal. Not only did he score the only shootout goal (and look pretty sweet while doing it), he was an integral part of the play that led to the Canes' regulation goal scored by Tuomo Ruutu.

So, overall, I think it was a successful overseas venture for the Canes. Hopefully the jet-lag won't kill them too much as they come back to the States - after a game against the Senators, they head out West to face the Canucks and Sharks, teams who are both expected to do very well this year. Major test to start off the season? I'd say so. Although, if these two games are any indication, if Cam Ward continues to play well, we definitely will have a good chance at winning.

Erik Cole stats (Thursday): 1 assist

Hockey is back!

2010-10-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

Great news, everyone! The hockey season starts TOMORROW! The Canes are facing off against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland.

But, if you were lucky enough to watch it, some overseas hockey has already occurred. The Canes took on the KHL team SKA St. Petersburg, losing 5-3 in their final preseason game.

My thoughts? Absolutely amazingly awesome. Probably because I was watching Canes hockey after several long months without it (The withdrawal symptoms were getting pretty tough, man). Also, what equated to a 11:30 EST start time made for a very nice lunch break - although, again, since it was the first hockey I've seen since June (even longer than that for Canes hockey) I probably would have been this excited if the game was played at 4 o'clock in the morning.

So I was a little caught up in the "first hockey of the season" moment to actually notice a lot about the game itself. It also probably didn't help that the announcing was in Russian and whenever I switched tabs to tweet, SKA seemed to score. But from what I could tell:

- Defense didn't look great on a few goals. Par for the course.
- Jeff Skinner is the man, looking excellent on the goal that he scored. And, yes, like everyone else I couldn't believe they drafted this dude. I'd supply a link to that particular opinion but I'm feeling a little lazy right now. But, obviously Skinner is proving everyone who was skeptical wrong with goals like that. (Will the Canes keep him? Another story entirely.)
- Yup, the Russians were going after players knees. Pretty blatant knee-to-knee contact on Eric Staal. Not good, but you know what I liked about this episode? Our players stood up for Staal, both Jay Harrison and Tim Gleason. Oftentimes it seems like people take shots at our star players and there's never any repercussion. Hopefully this represents a new mindset in our team.

I wasn't disappointed in this game at all. There seemed to be a lot of jump in our team, definitely opposite to some of the horrible games we suffered through last year. A little tough to get a good read off of our season-readiness due to the fact that we weren't playing an NHL team (although it did have a few NHL castoffs - Alexei Yashin and Evgeni Nabokov to name a few), and also because Eric Staal won't get yanked from a normal game for safety reasons.

And if I may digress from the Canes for a brief point: I hate how this game got no publicity in the US. It seemed as if the Russian media was spinning it as a Russia against USA game, why weren't we doing the same? Yes, many of the Canes players are not from the USA, or even North America, but I would think that after the success of the Olympic games any correlation between nationalities would be played up a bit. Of course, it probably doesn't help that it's a preseason game, but I would still have expected a tad more hype. Then again, maybe I'm watching too much morbidly-detailed NFL coverage (Breaking news! Brett Favre may or may not be coming back next year!).

Back to the Canes: Are we season ready? Well, we better be - our first game is set to have the puck drop tomorrow at high noon EST, kicking off both our season and the NHL season. Hockey is back!

A brief season preview

2010-09-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

So, Monday was the FIRST PRESEASON GAME, which, of course, was music to my severely hockey-deprived ears. I eagerly turned on the game once I got back from dinner, so very glad to hear Chuck Kaiton's voice coming from the speakers.

Then I heard the score, which at that point was 3-0 in favor of the Panthers with seven minutes left in the first period. Yes, the Canes went down by three goals less than a period into the new season, all three goals being scored in under two minutes. Needless to say, the radio was turned off.

Granted, it was just the first preseason game. But, let's face it, this is not necessarily what I wanted to see as a Canes fan coming off that horrendous season last year. Luckily the Canes won their next game (Erik Cole got an empty net goal) against the Predators 3-0. They played the Preds again tonight, this time losing by a score of 2-1.

Looking good so far? Well, having not watched these games I can't tell you much, but Patrick O'Sullivan looks like he's making a good case for himself, 2 goals and 1 assist in the 3 games played. The Canes signed him to a two-way contract last Friday. For those keeping track, yes, he is the one who was briefly Canes property in the three-way trade to get Erik Cole back two seasons ago. And, yes, that's pretty much all I know about him, other than a vague idea that he hasn't had the best of seasons of late.

The Canes also signed their first round pick from this year's draft, Jeff Skinner, earlier this week.

And so, now that we're all caught up, this brings me to what will be classified as the season preview. Last season I had the highest of hopes before the season began, only to have them crash and burn shortly after. So, this season, enter skepticism.

We're a young team. I'm not confident that anything will work. Goaltending will hopefully go well, as long as Cam manages to make the saves he ought to. Hopefully the defense won't have more holes than Swiss cheese (for the record, I'm still skeptical of relying on Anton Babchuk). Our offense will hopefully produce and hopefully whatever young guys make the team will be a breath of fresh air. Hopefully Eric Staal takes the captaincy and leads our team to victory. Or something like that.

Do you notice all the "hopefully"s? Yeah, I'm not certain about any of this. In truth, I don't see much different in this squad versus what was on the ice last year. Yes, there are differences, but there definitely wasn't a huge signing or trade over the offseason that I can point to and say "That, that event right there. That's the change that's going to make us a playoff team." Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but not being bad doesn't automatically qualify it as good.

So, we'll see. We're 1-2 in the preseason, but who cares about the preseason? Or at the very least, who cares about games where 1/3 of the roster will actually be playing night-in and night-out? Perhaps the next few games, with more of our permanent faces, will be more telling of our game-readiness, but I think that's doubtful too. Last year we went 2-2 in the preseason, and that was definitely not an indicator of our season in October.

Final offseason update (?)

2010-09-15T20:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I figured I ought to post before it goes an entire month without hearing from me. Luckily, the offseason is almost complete and I shall switch into true hockey mode. It helps, of course, that my college football team has already tanked, so the only distraction from the coolest sport on earth will be that pesky thing called "school".

Anyways, this week the Canes named Rod Brind'Amour Director of Forwards Development, finally finding him the position that they had guaranteed him when he retired earlier this summer. Definitely a good fit, I'm sure that he'll try to instill some of his famous work ethic in our younger forwards. I'm also really glad that he stayed with the organization - for he did have a long and significant stay with the Canes.

And it seems to be fitting to wrap up the summer with what is hopefully the conclusion to the Ilya Kovalchuk debacle. I believe the last time I posted, the NHL rejected his contract. Well, they accepted a new one, and added a section to the CBA to prevent teams from creating similar contracts. Now, the league has fined the New Jersey Devils $3 million and two draft picks - their third round pick in the upcoming draft and a first round pick sometime in the next four drafts. A pretty steep penalty which shows that the league is serious about protecting its salary cap.

But, if the Devils win the Stanley Cup sometime in Kovalchuk's tenure, I'm sure they'll think it's all worth it.

So that's the end of the offseason, or close enough - there's only 6 days until the Canes play their first preseason game! Promise, promise, promise that I will pick up the posting frequency!

Man, it's boring around here

2010-08-17T14:07:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted... primarily because there has been absolutely nothing interesting going on.

But to make it up to my loyal readers, here's a picture of an astronaut raising the Stanley Cup:

See, it's an away jersey because it's on the moon! Get it?

This is the reason you should not let me get near image editing software of any kind.

Anyways, I suppose some things have gone on, just nothing that is even remotely Canes related. Kovalchuk's contract was rejected by the NHL, but that story has dragged on far past its fifteen minutes in the spotlight (more like a three hour epic movie), so I'm pretty much uninterested. Other than that debacle, not much has gone on in the league, making for a pretty boring summer all around.

And, unfortunately, summer for myself is ending (although the offseason will continue to drag on) with a trip to college tomorrow. What does this mean for this blog? Well, I'm not entirely sure. Last year I attempted to post continual game recaps as I always did, but I think I fell short a little bit in that. This year I'm thinking maybe a weekly recap with the occasional post when something major happens. The goal is to give relatively timely updates and maybe increase the quality of said updates. But the season is still far away, so I'll see how that plan shapes up when it gets here...

And I'll definitely try and post more hockey and/or space themed clip art. Because that's looking awesome up there...

Canes reveal red logo

2010-07-26T17:47:00.004-04:00

Canes news of the day is the revealing of the 2011 All Star Game logo.

And, uh, there's a lot of red.

Artist's rendering of Canes All-Star Logo

But other than that it looks fine, I think. It's not groundbreaking, but it's not too horrendous that I won't consider buying some memoribilia with it on there.

Also newsworthy today is the NHLPA filing a grievance protesting the NHL's rejection of the Kovalchuk contract. From here, the deal goes into arbitration, with the results being the contract being legit or Kovalchuk being a free agent again.

Only problem? They have to decide on a arbitrator. Which, of course, will drag out this saga even longer. Although I'm not complaining too much, as it does add some spice into this rather droll offseason.

Updates whenever something interesting happens, per normal.

There goes the hopes for a Kovalchuk-free summer...

2010-07-21T20:16:00.000-04:00

Soooooo, I take back that last post about Kovalchuk. Not because I said something that I now disagree with, just that the NHL rejected the 17-year monstrosity last night.

The reasoning behind the NHL's rejection is that the last few years at $500,000 were only tagged on to lower the overall cap hit on the contract - that no one really expects Kovalchuk to play into his forties.

Which, I think, is kind of obvious to all of us. But, why was Kovalchuk's contract rejected but Marian Hossa's of last year accepted? My theory is that the NHL wanted to nip these sorts of contracts in the bud before they become standard. That, and they really dislike the number seventeen.

Of course, none of that makes sense. Which is what will make what happens after this all the more interesting. Will the Devils submit a better, more realistic contract? Will the NHLPA file a grievance? Will Kovalchuk make it to the market again? All I can say is that summer just got a lot more interesting...

Kovalchuk finally signs

2010-07-20T14:54:00.000-04:00

Finally, it has happened!

Ilya Kovalchuck, the biggest-name free agent on the market this year, has finally signed with a team.

And, man, this contract is a doozy. 17 years, $102 million to stay with the New Jersey Devils. This is another one of those "front-loaded contract" deals, where the player only ends up making league minimum for the last few years of the contract. Kovalchuk will be 44 years old when this contract expires.

It's hard to say how I feel about this. I think signing players for such a long time is almost always a stupid idea due to the prominence of injuries in the NHL. And, somehow, Kovalchuk's name doesn't readily come to mind when I think of players in the league I am certain will be consistent for almost two decades in the future. I mean, the guy's only won one playoff game.

I guess I think that, while Kovalchuk is a good player, he doesn't seem like the superstar that I think deserves the money-loaded long contracts (i.e. Sid Crosby or AO).

But, who knows, maybe he'll live up to his contract, now that he's not playing in Atlanta.

As for the Canes, they convinced Riley Nash to give a big "screw you" to Edmonton and forgo his playing career at Cornell to join the big leagues. (And to be honest, I wouldn't want to live in a place that cold either). The Canes also signed Brett Carson to a two-way deal, meaning that all the small parts are getting aligned for this next season.

Kovalchuk's signing will likely create some movement in the free agent market, and although the Canes are highly, highly unlikely to do anything, at least the summer won't be so boring for so long.

Canes update

2010-07-16T15:56:00.000-04:00

The Canes had a few news worthy items yesterday to break up the largely dull offseason.

They signed defenseman Bryan Rodney to a two-way one year contract and goalie Justin Pogge to a two-way one year contract as well. Both signings obviously solidify the depth of the organization.

The big news, however, was the announcement that the Canes would retire Rod Brind'Amour's jersey on February 18th against Philadelphia. A very nice honor for a guy who was a core part of our team for so many years. As with Glen Wesley, it is against a team that he also played with in his career.

Although, let me just say, that if the Canes continue on this current jersey retiring clip, they won't have many numbers left in the rotation. Not knocking Brind'Amour, just sayin'.

That's been pretty much it for this offseason so far. If you take a look at the sidebar, I switched some things up. Nothing big, just mild changes and rearranging of information. Will eventually get around to adding blogs to the blogroll, but, like Ilya Kovalchuk, I'm taking things slow this offseason.

Corvo comes back to the Canes

2010-07-07T16:01:00.003-04:00

So the Canes actually did something in the free agent market today (amazing, I know). They signed Joe Corvo to a 2 year contract worth $2 million this year and $2.5 the next.

I think it's a good signing. Corvo is a good defenseman and has played solidly with the Canes. It's not an exorbitant salary, like we've seen with other defensemen this offseason, but I think it's a fair one. I also feel a lot better about the Canes blueline now - I wasn't enthralled with the prospect of McBain and Harrison in our top six to start the season. Now I think the Canes are a bit more secure defensively, and will be more prepared if injuries happen.

I doubt the Canes will do too much else this offseason as they are close to their self-imposed cap... but you never know. Updates, as always, will be here.

UPDATE 5:27 PM: The Canes also announced that they have agreed to two-way contracts with Nicholas Blanchard and Casey Borer.

And, the Canes site also has a nice take on the Corvo signing - sounds like Corvo took a "hometown discount" to stay with the Canes. But I find the most interesting blurb to be the following:

Rutherford said that the signing of Corvo does not mean that he’ll stop talking to defensemen Brett Carson and Alexandre Picard about a return to the team, but that negotiations with those two will be the extent of his free-agent hunting for the time being due to his preference to let young forwards battle for spots in training camp.

Sounds like that's the end of anything interesting for our Caniac summer.

Well, that was anticlimactic

2010-07-02T13:01:00.000-04:00

Well, the opening of free agency has passed, and really, it doesn't seem like the blockbuster year some were making it out to be. Of course, my view is slightly skewed as the Canes did next to nothing, so perhaps that's why it seems so boring.

However, the Canes didn't do nothing, they signed Anton Babchuk to a one year $1.4 million deal. It seems like a little much money-wise to me for a guy who has left the team twice to go to Russia and at times is streaky. But, I suppose it's based on his potential, which hopefully he'll live up to. (I'm not sad that he's bringing his slapshot back to the US, that's for sure).

The other news with the Canes is who has left the fold. Matt Cullen (although he wasn't playing with the team at the end of the season) signed with the Wild for a 3-year $10.5 million deal. Ray Whitney, to no surprise, left as well, Phoenix signing him to a 2-year deal that should pay about $3 million dollars per. Both are slightly overpriced in my opinon, Cullen because he doesn't seem like he would produce the numbers for that sort of money and Whitney because, while he has had some excellent seasons recently, is getting up there in age. (For reference, his 58 point season last season was the lowest for him since '05-'06.)

Around the league the story was a high asking price for goaltenders and defensemen. My favorite laughable contract of the day was Derek Boogaard's 4 year deal with the Rangers that will pay him $1.65 million per. This is a guy whose last goal was in the '05-'06 season. Hey, I guess from that point of view, Anton Babchuk is a steal!

Goodbye Brind'Amour

2010-06-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

Rod Brind'Amour has announced his retirement today.

From an on-the-ice only perspective, I'm glad to hear that he has retired. His play wasn't the same in the past two years and he wouldn't help the Canes get any younger.

From a nostalgic perspective, I feel a bit sad. Rod was the captain that led the Canes to the Stanley Cup, and for many years he was one of the main faces of the franchise. (One of the most recognizable faces as well...) He was a good two-way player who was clutch in the faceoff circle and known for his workouts off the ice. It's always a bummer to see the career of someone so integral to a team come to an end.

It seems, though, like this was the best way Rod could go out. He isn't forced to part ways with the Canes and seek out a contract with a different team. He repeated several times during his press conference how he loves the area and the people in it - retiring now allows him to remain with the organization where he can still be a part of the Canes "family".

So today is a melancholy sort of day for Caniacs - but I think that the future will be much better for it.

Buyouts?

2010-06-28T17:00:00.000-04:00

Buyouts are an interesting concept to me. The fact that you're essentially paying people to not play seems somewhat counterintuitive - but can be very useful when dealing with poor play and large contracts. And, in the Canes case, trying to keep close to their self-imposed low salary cap.

The two names that have been bandied about when it comes to buyouts this year are Rod Brind'Amour, our ex-captain, and Sergei Samsonov. As sad as it is to say, I think that both should be bought out, although perhaps Brind'Amour deserves it more.

Samsonov didn't have that great of a year, certainly not on par with the previous one, and he never really seemed to be a deciding factor in most of the games. He might, however, just be a victim of the Canes trying to get younger and cheaper and unfortunately for Sergei, he is neither.

Brind'Amour, well, let's just say that his play has tailed off from his Selke-winning years. Two years ago, his plus-minus was absolutely horrible, and this past season he followed it up with a worse plus-minus and barely produced point-wise. He was moved to the fourth-line, he spent games in the press box, the captaincy was taken away from him. I understand that it's hard to retire... but I'm not sure that much is left in the tank.

That being said, I do not envy Rutherford for having to make this decision. Brind'Amour has been an integral part of this Canes team for many years and I don't think that a buyout is the way anyone wants this relationship to end. But, I also shudder to think of another year of Brind'Amour playing the way he did last season.

The final decision is Rutherford's and he has until the 30th to buyout either (or both) players. I wouldn't be surprised if either event occurs.

****
A quick blog note: Over the next few weeks I might be moving things around here. Nothing drastic, but just a heads up that if the blog looks like someone threw up HTML I probably just messed something up. If you come back in a few hours and it still looks the same... well, maybe you should stop using IE and switch to a better browser.

An active draft for the Canes

2010-06-27T19:01:00.003-04:00

Well, let's go over this crazy draft, hm?

First off, my selected pick for the Canes, Nino Niederreiter, was taken at 5th by the Islanders, so that was unfortunately not in the cards. Several top defensemen were still on the boards when the Canes picked at 7th, including the touted Cam Fowler, but the Canes went slightly off the grid and picked Jeff Skinner.

Skinner is known for scoring goals, which is always good, but his 5'-10" 190 lb frame makes me think that Rutherford is really, really adverse to getting forwards over six foot for his team. His skating is meh, which is odd because he used to be a figure skater.

Yes, the Canes drafted an ex-figure skater. Needless to say this factoid didn't go over well initially (He picked a short figure skater over a defenseman?! Defense, Rutherford, we need defense!).

But the defense issue was put to rest on Day 2 of the draft, where the Canes drafted 5 defensemen out of their 7 picks. They also traded for a defenseman, Bobby Sanguinetti, sending some picks to the Rangers.

Also gained in trades were forwards Riley Nash from the Oilers and Jonathan Matsumoto from the Flyers.

So it was a busy day in the Draft for the Canes. My first impression is that the plethora of defensemen is an excellent thing for the farm system, and Rutherford seems to generally get value out of trades, so hopefully these will pan out.

As always, time will tell who won and lost in this Draft. A more pertinent issue is the upcoming free agency date - July 1st. No real spectacular updates on that front, but I expect that to change quickly as the week progresses. I do believe the last day for contract buyouts is this Wednesday...

Draft Day 2010

2010-06-25T12:23:00.004-04:00

Today is draft day!

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Canes have the 7th overall pick in tonight's draft. It looks like they're pretty content with staying at that spot, so I doubt they'll move up at all.

The Canes site has been previewing the prospects likely to be on the board when the Canes draft, and I have picked out my choice if I was the one making the picks tonight.

Nino Niederreiter. No, I don't know how to pronounce the name, but comparisons to ERIK COLE will definitely get my attention and approval. Apparently he plays a physical game and scored 60 goals in 65 games with his junior team - a power forward for sure. Please, Rutherford, draft this guy. You can always use a power forward.

Anyways, the Canes site also has what amounts to a summary of what's going on with the team. To do a summary of a summary, they might trade some of their later picks for another first rounder, but it would have to be a significant player to do that. Ray Whitney, sadly, seems to ready to part with the team, but Rutherford is still keeping the door open. Justin Peters looks to be the backup goalie and any buyouts will occur after the draft.

Making a splash around the league, the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks traded Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and a prospect to the Thrashers for a first and second rounder, Marty Reasoner, a prospect, and another forward. Which means that the Canes will have to regularly face Byfuglien's presence in front of the net - likely not a fun situation.

Draft starts at 7 tonight!

Lots of hockey stuff today

2010-06-22T16:14:00.005-04:00

Well, today has certainly been a hockey-news-riffic day, especially considering it's before the draft and free agency.

To begin with, the NHL released the 2010-2011 schedule today, which holds some irregularities for the Canes. First, the Canes are opening the season in Helsinki, Finland against the Wild. Before this they will play six preseason games, one of which includes the KHL St. Peterburg team. Because of this overseas start, which is followed by a brief Western Conference road trip, the Canes' home opener is not until the 27th of October, which is really abnormally late.

Second, the Canes do not have a New Year's Eve home game for the first time in... forever? I honestly can't remember the last year in which this did not occur. However, the Canes do play on New Year's Day, which will make a nice doubleheader of sorts after watching the C[r]apitals-Pens Winter Classic earlier in the day.

Third, of course, is the All-Star Game, which isn't technically on the Canes schedule, but will be totally awesome nonetheless, and is possibly the thing I am looking forward to the most about this upcoming season.

To finish up with the Canes-specific news, they signed Jerome Samson today to a two-way contract. Which I think is good, as he played well when he had his brief stint with the Canes, and had the fourth most points in the AHL this past season. Not to mention, his name sounds awesome when spoken aloud.

A big move in the Southeast today - the Panthers traded Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell to Boston for Dennis Wideman. I think Boston gets the better talent in Horton - us Caniacs can vouch for his offensive ability - but the move also puts themselves in a tough position under the salary cap. Or rather, doesn't relieve their cap issues at all.

Scott Niedermayer retired today, ending an era on the blueline.

And, finally, the Hockey Hall of Fame class was announced today, consisting of people that I don't recognize because I'm not old enough or because I don't follow women's hockey. Definitely not that Francis/Messier/MacInnis/Stevens class of a few years ago.

The NHL Awards banquet is tomorrow. I'm not canceling my plans for it.

The NHL Draft is this Friday and Saturday. Canes draft 7th overall - could've been higher, but noooooo, they had to decide to win halfway through the season. (How dare they!) I'm hoping for a pick that's not a dud!

Did you realize...

2010-06-19T21:30:00.002-04:00

...that four years ago, on this very date, roughly around this exact time, the Canes won their Stanley Cup?

The fact just blows my mind.

The Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup

2010-06-10T15:49:00.008-04:00

I didn't see it coming.

No, really, I didn't see the Stanley Cup winning goal. I, like 90% of other people watching Game 6, had a thought process something like:

"Wait, did he just score? No, he didn't score. What the...? Where the heck is the puck?"

But Patrick Kane did score - 4 minutes into the overtime period - to win the Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks after a 49 year drought.

It means that the third time is the charm for Marian Hossa - the curse is over, which makes me kind of sad to lose that joke. But it means that Pronger, Carcillo and other players I don't like were stopped from raising the Cup above their heads. So it's all good, I guess.

I'm somewhat disappointed to not have a Game 7, just because I think that the fight between the two teams would have created some excellent hockey. But the series was great even without that - this Flyers team had so much fight in them. They should be proud that they were even to make a series of it - not many teams could recover after going down 0-2 to this Blackhawks team. Even in Game 6, the Flyers looked like they were dead in the second period, but they battled back again. Unfortunately, it seemed as if their luck finally ran out in the overtime.

So, what now? Hockey season is over - it's officially the offseason, probably the only instance where I will begin wishing summer to be over. I guess it's free agency and then training camp - maybe I'll get back to actually talking about the Canes.

Congratulations to the Blackhawks and their fans. I remember what it was like for the Canes to win their Cup, and I must say that I'm a little jealous to not be a part of it this year - maybe next?

Musings after two

2010-06-02T16:09:00.003-04:00

Well, I will say that this has been an interesting Stanley Cup Finals series so far. Chicago's up 2-0 at this point, and Philadelphia is going to have to work at it to get back in it, I think.

First off, Game 1 was so absolutely amazing. If you missed it, I feel really sorry for you because that was some exciting hockey. I mean, assuming, of course, that you like offense. If you like goaltender-based or defensive hockey (hello readers from New Jersey!), you must have absolutely hated this game.

5 goals after the first period, 11 overall - man, it was like every time you blinked someone else was scoring a goal. And the weirdest part was that neither of the teams' top lines contributed to the scoring!

Game 2 was low-key, comparatively, the teams only scoring 3 goals during the game. Toews and Kane still didn't contribute to the scoring.

After two games, I think, obviously, that the Blackhawks are in a very strong position to win it. And, yes, I am a fickle fan with this series. I was somewhat on the Flyers side when the series began, probably because I think it's hilarious that Marian Hossa can't win a Cup, and that I always liked Peter Laviolette. But then, after watching these games I remembered how much I hate Chris Pronger and how much of a punk Dan Carcillo is. So I think I'm not going to be too upset if the Blackhawks win.

But even still, I can't give the Blackhawks a certain victory. Philadelphia has obviously come back in these playoffs before, and tonight they come back to their home building. Antti Niemi is playing well, but as we saw in Game 1, he can obviously let in goals. However, on the flip side, can the Flyers continue to shut down the Blackhawk's big name players?

Unfortunately tonight is my last sure bet at seeing the games on TV... my family vacations to the backwoods of PA never have any respect for the hockey blogging schedule. Don't expect a post until days after Game 5... so I suppose I'm no longer cheering for a team, but at least a six game series. Although, more hockey before the offseason can't be a bad thing, can it?

Well, that was a quick round

2010-05-24T22:21:00.002-04:00

After an action-packed first and second rounds, I do believe the Conference Final didn't quite live up to billing - who would have thought that we'd have our Stanley Cup Finalists after only nine games?

I mean, the Sharks once again lived up to being the definition of "choke". Granted, they did manage to get out of the first two rounds, but I think being swept out still places them in that category.

Although, I must say that the series was rather good hockey. All of the games were decided by two goals or less, Game 3 going into overtime. The Sharks played well, but they couldn't get it done in any of the games. And, really, that's all that counts at this point in the season.

Then there was the Montreal-Philadelphia series which was, in my opinion, despite going one more game than the Western Conference Final, much more lopsided. The Flyers shut out the Canadiens in 3 of the four games that they won, giving the Canadiens almost no chance in the series.

So this sets up a Chicago-Philadelphia final, both cities going through quite a drought since their last Stanley Cup. I can't decide which team I want to cheer for, and I can't decide which team I think will win. Chicago seems to have all the weapons to win, but Philadelphia has proven themselves capable in these playoffs, not to mention featuring Peter Laviolette behind the bench. As for cheering, I hate this iteration of Philadelphia goons, but I really don't want to root for Marian Hossa to finally get a Cup either.

The conclusion? Well, we'll have to go through a best-of-seven to find out... First game is on Saturday.

Thoughts after Two

2010-05-19T11:41:00.002-04:00

So both of the Conference Finals have played two games, and there are two 2-0 leads.

First up, the East. It looks like the Canadiens' Cinderella run may have come to an end. The Flyers have completely dominated them in both games, winning 6-0 in the first game, and then 3-0 in Game 2.

Hm... having a Cinderella run after being a low seed abruptly end in the Conference Finals... I'm sure us Caniacs have no idea how that feels...

Granted, the series isn't over yet, and if the Flyers of last round have taught us anything, it's that the near-impossible can happen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And the Canadiens have come back in a series already this playoff season against the C[r]apitals - but they're going to have to play significantly better in their next games if they want to accomplish the feat again.

The Western Finals have produced games that are definitely more interesting, although still with the same lopsided series result. The first game came down to the last minute, the Sharks receiving a powerplay and could have tied the game, but Antti Niemi came up strong and the Blackhawks won 2-1.

Game 2 didn't come down to the wire in the same way, but it was certainly closer than the Eastern Conference game that was aired before it. Ex-Cane Andrew Ladd had a very nice goal to open up scoring for the Hawks. The Blackhawks went on to score two more and the Sharks couldn't recover and lost the game 4-2.

And, just a question, but one that's been bothering me for a while. Dustin Byfuglien. Apparently, his last name is pronounced "Buff-lin". WHERE DOES THE 'G' GO?! Seriously, who looked at that last name and came up with that pronunciation? Although, it makes me curious to see how Chuck Kaiton would say it on the radio...

Finally, I've been a little lax in Canes news of late, so let me get you caught up. Last Thursday the Canes traded a 5th round pick to Phoenix for Jared Staal, Eric's youngest brother. Then on Friday they signed him to an entry-level contract. Apparently Jared is not the instant NHL sensation that his other forward brothers were, expected to stay in the minors for a bit longer. But I can't see an issue with having another Staal in the system, when the others have turned out so well.

Recent news is that Anton Babchuk may be back on his way to the States, Rutherford sounding confident that he'll be back this season. Our blueline has definitely missed his slapshot in his absence, but I can't help but remember how he completely disappeared in the 2009 playoffs. He has extreme amounts of potential... but potential that has only seemed to have shown in spurts throughout his career with the Canes. Although, I suppose the worst that could happen with his return is that he sits in the press box.

Well, that's all I've got for today! Playoff games resume on Thursday with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Second Round Recap

2010-05-16T12:57:00.002-04:00

First off, I must begin by apologizing for my two-week absence, but unfortunately such evil things as exams cannot be avoided.

Second, that was certainly an interesting second round. The Sharks (for once) didn't take an early-round exit and defeated the Red Wings in five games, in a series that the Sharks largely dominated, except for a Game 4 beatdown.

The Blackhawks defeated the Canucks in a series I really didn't pay too much attention to, largely because it was the Western Conference and didn't carry quite the storyline that the other series did. Oh well. It sets up a Sharks-Blackhawks Western Conference Final, and at this point I might say that this might actually be the Sharks year, unless the Blackhawks goaltending manages to hold up.

In the East, the Montreal Canadiens continued on their improbable run to the Cup, beating the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Where did this team come from? Who knows, but certainly much of their credit should be given to Jaroslav Halak and Michael Cammalleri.

And, OBTW, Marc-Andre Fleury is not that great of a goalie. That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with this series in particular, but I just felt the need to express that opinion again.

Finally, in what is one of the saddest series I have seen - the Boston Bruins lost their series to the Philadelphia Flyers after being up 3-0 in the series. Not only were they up 3-0 in the series, but they were up 3-0 in Game 7 as well - somehow, they managed to blow both of their leads. Honestly, I can't imagine what Bruins fans must be going through right now - it's bad enough to lose a playoff series, but to lose one like that? Ouch.

Although, it seems to lend credibility to the theory that as long as you get a Peter Laviolette-coached team into the playoffs, you have a chance to go far. He is perhaps the only thing I find that I like about this Flyers team - Dan Carcillo is a punk.

So I suppose I'm going to cheer for the Canadiens because I really don't feel like cheering for the Western Conference and I dislike the Flyers. Wouldn't it be interesting to see an Original Six matchup with the Blackhawks and Canadiens in the Finals?

But the Finals are still a series away... I will most likely be back on my normal posting schedule, so stay tuned!

First Round Recap

2010-04-30T23:14:00.003-04:00

Well, that was certainly the first round, wasn't it?

For those of you living under a rock, you pretty much missed the best opening round of hockey playoffs in an extremely long time. Two game sevens, a score of overtimes, excellent goaltending, upsets galore!

Let's start with the East, shall we? The Montreal Canadiens upset the Washington C[r]apitals in seven games after it looked like Washington had wrapped the series up at 3-1. Considering this was the only series I was able to watch, let me tell you - Jaroslav Halak was a beast. I believe in Game 7 he stopped something like 46 shots, and he had a similar performance in the previous games. He absolutely, completely stonewalled what everyone had thought was the best team in the East.

Of course, the C[r]apitals 1-for-33 powerplay didn't help matters, either...

The Flyers upset the Devils in a series that made Martin Brodeur look old compared to... Brian Boucher? Holy crap, no wonder Jacques Lemaire retired from behind the bench after this series.

To finish the East: Buffalo lost to the Bruins and the Pens managed to beat the Senators. The Boston-Buffalo series looked like a fun one to watch - tons of fights and an epic goaltending battle between Ryan Miller and Tuukka Rask. Makes my day to see the Sabres go home early, though. And, yes for those of you keeping track, the only upper seed to advance in the East was #4 Pittsburgh. So much for the top of the conference being elite, eh?

Out in the West things were slightly more predictable - the only "upset" was the Red Wings over the Coyotes, although they had to push the series to a game seven to beat the Phoenix team. And, no, I'm not counting the Sharks advancing in the first round as an upset.

So, for the second round, the Sharks are already up by one game over the Wings, and the Pens defeated Montreal earlier tonight 6-3. And, no, I'm not doing predictions because with the way this playoffs season is going, they'll all be wrong. Although, I think I'm still rooting for the B's because I pretty much dislike every other team.

Don't expect any wonderfully coherent playoff posts anytime soon - lack of VS has me cut off from most of the hockey experience now that the C[r]apitals are out (and with them the homerific Comcast coverage) - and not to mention finals for this college student are approaching fast. So, I guess expect the normal kind of post eventually.

Playoff Recap and Stuff

2010-04-23T22:21:00.005-04:00

Not much has been going on in the hockey world of late.

Ha! Gotcha! Just kidding. This has been one of the most interesting first rounds in a while - something like a bazillion overtimes - and the round isn't even over yet!

But first, some Canes news of the bland. Last week they signed Michal Jordan so he could join Albany's playoff run. It's probably only interesting in the fact that I'm sure everyone who read the name did a double take and wondered why we were signing an NBA superstar. But, hey, if he can go play baseball, why not hockey?

So back to the main event - NHL Playoffs. I never thought I would miss the VS TV channel - but oh, how I wish it was on my college cable package. Luckily the C[r]apitals games have been on Comcast, so I'm not completely cut off from the hockey of the season.

Only one team has hit the road so far, and it is a surprising one - the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils in 5 games. The Devils were the heavy favorite over the extremely weak Flyers... but we as Caniacs are no strangers to the Devils being a heavy favorite in a series are we?

Pretty much every other series has been action-packed. It's interesting, because teams that were expected to dominate are doing no such thing, and those who were supposed to just roll over, well, haven't. Seriously, did you expect the Predators and Blackhawks to be tied 2-2? Or for Boston to be leading the Sabres? This had been an excellent first round - I can wait to see how it concludes!

The 2010 Eastern Conference Playoff Flowchart!

2010-04-13T21:38:00.004-04:00

The playoffs start tomorrow and unfortunately the Canes are not in them. So at this point you're probably saying "I dislike and/or hate all of these teams. I wish there was an easy way to choose who to pull for without making my brain hurt."

Fear not, dear reader! For, using my amazing freshman engineering skills, I have put together a 2010 Eastern Conference Playoff Flow Chart to help you through this difficult decision!
A few notes:
- Click the image for a bigger, better, clearer picture. Unless you prefer to squint at your computer screen. I don't judge.
- If you don't get the "Ariolimax" thing, just Google it. Yes, I have obscure nerdy humor... I made a flowchart for fun for goodness sake!
- I realize there are not nine teams in the playoffs. If you get the Rangers, just go cheer for the Western Conference or something.

For the record, I'm rooting for the Bruins. That will probably change after the first round.

And so the season ends

2010-04-10T20:25:00.003-04:00

Finally, this sub-par season is over. It seemed in November that the end of the season couldn't come quick enough - now that it's over it seems a shame that this team couldn't compete in the weak Eastern Conference playoffs. But every team has to have rebuilding years sometimes, unfortunately this year was the Canes'.

The Canes followed up the All-Star Game announcement with a 5-2 win over the Canadiens. It was Fan Appreciation Night at the RBC Center, which meant free hats. And what's better on hat day than a hat trick? Eric Staal netted three for the Canes and had helpers on Chad LaRose's two goals for a spectacular night. At least the Canes managed to scrape together a good win for the fans at home, something which doesn't always happen on Fan Appreciation Night.

And then came today's game against the Boston Bruins. The Canes were kind enough to allow Boston to clinch a spot in the playoffs in this one. The Bruins were definitely helped along by the fact that Carolina let in three shorthanded goals on the same power play, an NHL record.

Yeah, let's file this game under "Games I'm glad I didn't see". It's games like this that are preventing me from feeling too bad about missing the playoffs this year. Three shorthanded goals - really? That's just not cool.

And so begins the offseason. Stick around, I'll have sporadic coverage on the playoffs, including a special Playoffs flowchart I whipped up in case you don't know who to pull for in the East.

Erik Cole stats (Saturday): 1 goal
Final season stats: 11 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 2 goals, 2 assists
Saturday: 1 assist
Final season stats: 11 goals, 17 assists

Today is a good day for Caniacs

2010-04-08T12:56:00.003-04:00

Some BIG news at the end of this post... but for now, let's get caught up on the past games that the Canes have played.

The Canes laid a big fat egg on Saturday, losing 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils. It was Martin Brodeur's 109th career shutout. This loss also eliminated the Canes from the playoffs - yes, it truly did take that long for this team to be mathematically eliminated, which I suppose is an accomplishment in itself.

On Tuesday the Canes won in a flurry of offense, defeating the Lightning 8-5. Drayson Bowman, Rod Brind'Amour and Eric Staal all had two goals apiece in that game.

And now on to the main event for today:

The Canes held a super-special press conference at their "Caniac Cookout" today. Special guests Gary Bettman, Jim Rutherford, and Peter Karmanos were there.

And so Gary Bettman said the best words to ever come out of his mouth:

The Carolina Hurricanes will be hosting the 2011 All-Star Game!

If you're like me, your response most likely is "Finally!". Bettman had promised the area the game a while ago - well, he has finally followed through on his promise.

And then, if you're me, your follow-up response to the satisfaction of this market finally getting something it has deserved was a girlish scream of delight - THE ALL STAR GAME IS COMING TO RALEIGH!!!!

I'm already excited for it - only 9 months away! At least this will make the doldrums of this non-playoff year a little more satisfactory!

Canes play tonight against Montreal, then finish up the season in Boston on Saturday. If there's any more cool All Star Game news I will definitely post it!

Erik Cole stats (Tuesday): 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Tuesday): 1 goal, 2 assists
On the season: 9 goals, 14 assists

Happy 4 years!!!!

2010-04-02T10:34:00.003-04:00

So the Canes' season is slowly winding down. Amazingly, they're not yet eliminated from the playoffs, and their recent play seems to just be staying that inevitability for the longest possible time.

Cam Ward came back for Monday's game against Atlanta, and stopped 26 of 27 for the 4-1 win against the Thrashers. From what I could tell from the radio broadcast, it sounded like the Canes were playing sloppily in the first period, but then turned on the afterburners in the second and third.

The consolation prize of this game? Atlanta's playoff chances significantly dropped after this loss to us. So I guess winning isn't all that bad.

The Canes also won 2-1 against the Canadiens on Wednesday. I think I listened to part of this game, but I honestly can't remember much of it. Other than the fact that Cam Ward looks just as sharp as he did before his prolonged injury leave, which is a good thing.

Then came the 4-3 shootout loss against the Senators last night. The Canes looked to have this one wrapped up, but let Erik Karlsson score with 7.7 seconds left in the third period. His goal assured the Sens of a point and a spot in the playoffs. The Canes then proceeded to lose in the shootout.

And, now for something completely different...

So I had this whole thing typed up about what made me start blogging and how my life has changed over the past year with college and lack of time and lack of Canes-game viewing and how I don't post a lot but I still love blogging, blah blah blah. But I couldn't end it very well, and to be honest the beginning wasn't that great, so here's a bulleted list:

- This blog is awesome. It's been going since April 2nd, 2006. That's four years!
- My readers are awesome. I may not get bazillions of visitors each day, but even the fact that one person wants to read what I write is amazing. Keep on rockin' you guys.
- I am awesome. I think four years is a pretty cool accomplishment.
- The Canes are awesome and hockey is awesome. Okay, maybe this year the Canes aren't that awesome, but hockey makes my day, every day.
- And, finally, Erik Cole is awesome. Do I seriously have to qualify this statement?

Thanks for visiting, everyone. How about four more years?

Erik Cole(Monday): 1 goal
(Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 4 assists

Chad LaRose(Monday): 1 assist
(Wednesday): 1 assist
(Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 12 assists

Giant Week Recap

2010-03-28T21:20:00.006-04:00

Sorry, guys. I've been a bad blogger of late. Unfortunately I have been positively swamped and I haven't been able to keep up with a rapid rate of games this past week.

So, let's kick it back 8 days to the Canes OT W over Pittsburgh 3-2. They won the game on a wicked shot from Jamie McBain with about a second left in overtime. Considering the fact that McBain has 6 points in 7 games with the team, I'd say he's looking to be an asset on defense.

Then the Canes lost to Buffalo at home the next day 5-3. Buffalo scored three goals in 7 minutes in the second to turn the tide their way. I wasn't able to catch any of this game, but any loss to the ~~Banana Slugs~~ Sabres leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Canes also lost to the Lightning 3-2 in overtime. I wasn't happy with the outcome (St. Louis only 29 seconds into OT), but I was extremely pleased when both Erik Cole and Chad LaRose scored within 20 seconds during the second period.

Tuomo Ruutu's season ended on Thursday with shoulder surgery. He had apparently been playing through the pain for a while, and he's expected to be out 4-5 months. I guess it's a good thing that we're not in the playoffs - his loss would be devastating.

Then came the Canes victory over the C[r]apitals in a shootout - a game I got to watch! And let me just say that I find it amazing that we can play Washington like this and then lose immediately afterwards.

An interesting theme of the game was rookie defensemen scoring. The Canes came out fast in the first period with a nice shot by Jamie McBain, and then followed it up with Bryan Rodney's first NHL goal about seven minutes later. Getting a 2-0 lead in the first is always a good thing when you're going up against the best team in the East. For the C[r]apitals, John Carlson also scored his first goal, although unfortunately it had to be the tying goal in the third.

Then came the hero of the night - Chad LaRose won the game by scoring on his first ever shootout attempt. After much jubilation my reaction was: Seriously? This guy has never had a shootout attempt in his career? I mean, a few seasons ago you would have thought that the Canes would've tried anything to get a shootout goal.

Maybe this means LaRose will be a regular in the shootout rotation? Doubtful - but wouldn't that be awesome?

And then, after that great win against Washington, the Canes lose 4-0 to the menial Thrashers. I guess they felt they should keep someone's playoff dreams alive, since their poor play crushed ours in November.

So what did we learn after this week? The Canes like to either win in a tight OT/SO game, preferably beating a giant, or they like to be blown out by teams.

Oh, and, despite my fervent adoration for Chuck Kaiton (he's the man!), watching games on TV is still superior (for both attention span and remembering what happened). Even if I do have to put up with the Washington announcers.

Erik Cole stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 9 goals, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Last Saturday): 1 assist
(Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 10 assists

A Ramblin' Recap

2010-03-19T21:56:00.006-04:00

A lot of games have happened in the past week, and once again I find myself apologizing for a late recap. Unfortunately they don't schedule physics test around breaks in the hockey schedule.

Let's go back to last week, where the Canes, coming off of an overtime win over the C[r]apitals, also managed to somehow pull out another overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning by a tally of 4-3. I say "somehow" due to the fact that the Canes came out extremely sluggish and got behind 2-0 only 6 minutes into the first period. It looked like the Canes were feeling effects from playing hard the night before, but luckily they snapped out of it with goals by Whitney and Boychuk to end the period 2-2.

The Canes kept it close, and Brian Pothier knocked in a quick goal in the overtime period to win the game (off of a nice pass by Ray Whitney - Ray is certainly shining especially bright now that there's little other starpower on this team).

Before I go on to the next recap, let me vent a little. Hey, Pittsburgh fans who attended the game at the RBC Center (there were a lot of them, probably because the game was matched up against ACC basketball involving a team wearing blue...): Wearing Steelers gear does not equate to wearing Penguins gear. Yes, I get it, all of your city's teams have the same colors. But maybe you could wear paraphernalia for the game which you're actually attending? I'm especially talking to the people waving the football-specific Terrible Towel. If you want to show up and cheer for the opposing team, that's cool, but maybe you could at least try and look like you didn't stumble into the wrong stadium?

So, of course, with back-to-back wins against Washington and Pittsburgh, some people immediately get the idea that this is a playoff team and we can run the table, blah blah blah. For those of you who think that, please look at the next two games as evidence to the contrary: A 4-0 beatdown against Phoenix and a 5-2 loss to the Bruins. Both were poorly played games against teams the Canes needed to beat to keep their playoff hopes *snort* alive. The Canes especially needed to play well against the Bruins, as Boston is holding on to the 8th seed - but apparently only Erik Cole got that memo, contributing both goals for the Canes.

But, not a team to quit, which after this season I'm not sure is a good thing anymore (goodbye, good draft pick... although I seriously doubt we could have out-tanked the Oilers for the number one...), the Canes pulled out another win against the C[r]apitals, winning in overtime 4-3 in a wild one last night. It looked like Chad LaRose had put the dagger in with 1:35 left, but Washington had to score with 9 seconds left to send it into OT, where Ray Whitney scored the winner.

I understand optimism, and most of the times I am hopelessly optimistic when it comes to my sports team, but let's be real. The Canes are not a playoff team. They do not deserve to be in the playoffs. If by some miracle from above they make it in, it says more about the weakness of the rest of the Eastern Conference than it does about this team. Yes, apparently they are kryptonite to the C[r]aptials this year. But for every win against Washington, there's a blowout to an opponent they should have beaten. This season is not something that I'll want to look back on, and I don't want to extend the misery with an ill-conceived playoff run. Harsh words, perhaps, but true ones.

(Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?)

Erik Cole stats (Last Thursday): 1 assist
(Tuesday): 2 goals
On the season: 8 goals, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 6 goals, 9 assists

Weekly Game Recap

2010-03-10T22:50:00.003-05:00

So I'm smack in the middle of my Spring Break, and I will say that I am enjoying the nice weather around here. Some nice hockey too, believe it or not.

Starting with last week, the first game after the trade deadline, the Canes increased their winning streak to seven with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Manny Legace had a shutout going until former Cane Matt Cullen scored on him.

Of course, every good thing must eventually end. The Canes lost the following game to the Florida Panthers 4-1. Of course, this is the first game in a month and a half where I had actually seen the Canes, and of course they were horrible.

I would also like to find out the stats of how many goals Cory Stillman has scored against us since going to the Panthers. It seems to me as if he has scored in almost every game - apparently he was taking notes while he was with the Canes.

The Canes rebounded by beating the snot out of Atlanta 4-0 on Sunday. It was the first shutout of the season for the Canes - which is incredibly depressing.

Tonight the Canes played an excellent game against the Washington C[r]apitals, forcing them to overtime. And, oddly enough, the last regulation loss for the Eastern Conference-leading team came against the Canes. Can you believe that? Are we the kryptonite to the C[r]apitals? That's actually kind of beast.

I was extremely surprised while watching this game. The Canes were playing with Washington - an action-packed end of the third period with many chances on both ends. I hadn't seen that kind of good hockey from the Hurricanes in an incredibly long time - and to think that this is happening with a good bit of our team traded away!

Hopefully the Canes can keep the mojo going for tomorrow night's matchup against Pittsburgh - I look forward to booing Sidney Crosby and his Canadian gold medal. Go America!

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 1 goal
(Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 5 goals, 9 assists

Deadline day!

2010-03-03T21:36:00.005-05:00

Well, the past day has been exciting! Let's start with the recap of the first game back from the Olympics.

The Canes stomped on the Leafs, winning the game 5-1. Justin Peters had a shutout going until inside the 5 minute mark of the third period. Chad LaRose had three points in his first game off of the IR.

Also - Erik Cole's first game back! Not quite as successful as LaRose's, but hey - HE'S BACK ON THE ICE!

It's pretty amazing that the Canes won this game so handily. Obviously they're not quite the bottom dwellers that they had been - this game marks the sixth win in a row for the Canes.

How long will that continue? Well, considering the Canes traded away half of their roster before today's trade deadline... who knows? They did somehow manage this win streak, after all.

The first to get traded was Aaron Ward, who got shipped to the Ducks for goalie Justin Pogge and a fourth round pick. To which my response was, "Why the heck do we need another goalie?" I mean, we do have Cam Ward and Justin Peters (is there another one in the minors? Knowing Rutherford's goalie collection habits, I wouldn't be surprised).

Next to go was Scott Walker to Washington (a trade within the division! I thought that was taboo!) for a seventh round pick. I also thought this was slightly less than what should've been gained for him. I mean, if Ward is worth a fourth rounder and someone, Walker certainly must be worth more, correct?

But then came the announcement of Joe Corvo going to Washington and the previous trade made a little bit more sense. The Canes got Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala, and a second round pick for his services. Am I the only one to think it's odd that this didn't just happen in one trade? It would seem more economical - although I suppose you should give those guys at TSN something to talk about.

The Canes also shipped Andrew Alberts to Vancouver for a third round pick and Stephane Yelle and Harrison Reed to the Avs for a sixth-round pick and a prospect.

So, overall, this day was an ultimate salary dump for the Canes. This season has been over pretty much since it began, so it makes sense to jettison off all of the spare parts. It will be a shame to see Corvo and Walker in C[r]apitals jerseys, but at least they get to go to a serious contender. I'm glad to see Ward go as I don't think he really did that much except clutch and grab this season. Alberts and Yelle didn't really do a lot for the team either.

Interestingly, Ray Whitney was not dealt as many expected, likely because of Ray's no trade clause. Also, the asking price of a first rounder + some may have been too much for the market.

Hopefully Rutherford will put all of those draft picks to good use so that we're not in this position again for a very long time.

Pure unadulterated awesome

2010-03-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

So I've tried to write a good intro for this post at least six different times now and I can't manage to do it. How can I, a lowly hockey blogger, begin to describe the sheer awesomeness that was the USA-Canada gold medal game?

It's not even hyperbole when I say that this was one of the best hockey games I have seen. One for the ages. Those who tuned in just for the Olympic game, as much as the NHL needs your viewership you might as well stop watching. You're not going to see another game like this for years.

I mean, it is scripted like it was some kind of Disney sports movie. Favored home team that was beaten early in the tournament is rematched with the same opponent again for the final game. The bulk of the game is close - nothing like the blowouts either team had previously put up in the tournament. Just when it looks like Canada is going to win it, Zach Parise ties it up with 24 seconds left to send it into overtime. Overtime is again well fought by both teams, but the winning goal is knocked in by the superstar Sidney Crosby.

I mean, seriously. If this was a movie script at that point the producer would step away and shake his head. There's no way that, in reality, the superstar would score the goal to bring the gold medal to his home country on home ice, right? That's just too cheesy, too unbelievable.

But it happened. Sidney Crosby is proving that he is all that he's cracked up to be. Canada takes home the gold, winning the game 3-2.

This is by no means a defeat for the Americans. This is a team who no one thought would be in this position - no one thought they would have beaten Canada once, let alone have won all of their games in the Olympics except for this one. Winning a silver sucks, but at the same time it is an accomplishment that should not be easily tossed aside.

This game was pure, unadulterated awesome. This game pretty much summed up everything that every hockey fan loves about the game. If you think that hockey is confined to be a niche sport, please please watch this game again. There is no way that any sports fan, any person couldn't feel the enjoyment of watching this game. The fun of watching, of cheering, is what has spawned crazily loyal hockey fans like myself.

And, hey, uh, the Canes play the Leafs tomorrow. So maybe watch or listen or something? I promise, it'll be just like the gold medal game - it'll be two teams fighting to the death on ice for... the number one draft pick.

Man, it was nice to cheer for a winning team for two weeks.

Olympic Update - T-minus 1 hour

2010-02-28T13:52:00.003-05:00

I'm doing another Olympic hockey recap for my college radio station, so I'm recycling the outline again. I'd feel worse about this, but there's actually some thought put into the recap (unlike the normal rambling posts) so I hope my loyal readers will let me slide. And, hey, if you want to listen, the link's up on Twitter.

Canada - USA

Team USA won this game 5-3
Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur - normally a stalwart in goal - had an absolute meltdown, making blunders that led directly to 3 USA goals
USA also scored the first goal :41 seconds into the game, which did a lot for taking the rabid Canadian fans out of the game early

This game left USA, Russia, Sweden, and Finland as the teams with the bye to the quarterfinals, although in the next round there were no upsets. This set up the expected gold-medal matchup of Russia-Canada in the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals
- Russia - Canada

Unexpected blowout, Canada beating Russia by the score of 7-3 - might I remind you that Russia was supposed to be the favorite in this tournament.
Alex Ovechkin was a non-factor in the game, although almost all of Team Russia barely showed up to this game.
Mike Milbury, the outspoken NBC anchor, even went as far to say that Russia brought their "Eurotrash" game - when you can make Jeremy Roenick speechless, I do believe you've crossed a line.

- USA - Swiss

USA won 2-0 over the Swiss in a well-played game

Semifinals

- USA - Finland

Complete blowout
Miikka Kiprusoff was horrible - 2:04 into the first period he makes a very poor play on the puck that turns it over straight to Ryan Malone who hit it into an empty net. Needless to say, the Finns never recovered.
Kiprusoff was pulled after the fourth goal only ten minutes into the first period, but that was too little too late - the final tally 6-0 after end of the first
Final score was 6-1 after Finland scored one late in the third period. With this game, the USA advance to the GOLD MEDAL ROUND

- Canada- Slovakia

The Canadians controlled most of this game, the score being 3-0 at the end of the second, outshooting the Slovaks 21-9.
Slovakia made it interesting with two late goals in the third period and a good last minute rush at the net - Pavol Demitra had a chance to tie up the game in the waning seconds but missed the net. Canada escapes with a 3-2 win to propel them into the Gold Medal Game

Bronze Medal
Finland-Slovakia

Finland wins the bronze medal after a 5-3 match.
Slovakia's special teams kept them in this game, as they did for most of the tournament. Slovakia's first two goals were scored on the powerplay, and their third was a shorthanded goal.
Unfortunately for the Slovaks, the Finns came back and scored four goals in the third period, wrapping up their bronze medal run

So that leaves today's game, the game of games, the USA-Canada contest for the gold. Can the Americans pull off another upset? Or will Canada manage to pull through and win it all on home ice? I expect a tight game - can you imagine this game being otherwise?

Either way, though, the Americans come home with a medal which is more than many (including myself) expected and that in itself is a victory. But gold would certainly look nicer...

Team USA is awesome!

2010-02-23T22:18:00.004-05:00

The USA-Canada game on Sunday was some of the best and most entertaining hockey that I have seen in a very long time.

Yes, that might be because I'm a Canes fan, but nevertheless, this game was excellent.

The USA managed to pull it off, winning 5-3 over the heavily favored Canadians. Martin Brodeur was the factor in this game, although not for the normal reasons. Brodeur played an absolutely horrific game, his puck-playing blunders leading directly to 3 USA goals.

USA scored the first goal in the game :41 seconds in, which set the tone for the remainder of the game - nothing like a quick goal to take the home crowd out of it.

With the win the USA earned a first-round bye into the quarterfinals, where they will have the benefit of a day off before playing Switzerland, a team they already beat 3-1 earlier in the Olympics.

Interestingly enough, Eric Staal actually played a very good game against the USA, scoring 1 goal and having one of the few positive plus/minuses on the team. Staal also had 3 assists in today's game against Germany to advance Canada into the quarters.

In bad news on the Canes front, Joni Pitkanen was suspended for one game after checking Patric Hornqvist in the head in his game against Sweden.

The Americans play the Swiss tomorrow! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Olympic Update

2010-02-20T13:57:00.002-05:00

The first week of the Olympics has passed, and there has definitely been some exciting hockey to watch.

First and foremost, of course, is Team USA, which beat Switzerland 3-1 on Monday. They then beat Norway 6-1 on Wednesday. Tim Gleason unfortunately didn't make it on the scoresheet at all.

The interesting games so far have been the same Swiss team which USA beat forcing Canada into overtime and a shootout, although ultimately losing 3-2. Sidney Crosby scored the winning shootout attempt, although it is obviously that any team can be carried by a hot goaltender - Jonas Hiller obviously held his own extremely well.

Another team who ran into a hot goaltender was the favorite Team Russia - they lost to Slovakia and Jaroslav Halak 2-1 in another shootout.

Let's just say that either of these teams having trouble in these rounds is extremely surprising, as they were both expected to be head and shoulders above anyone else.

For Caniacs, Tuomo Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen both scored goals in the 5-0 Finnish victory over Germany. Pitkanen also had a point in the 5-1 win over Belarus. Eric Staal made it on the Team Canada scoresheet in the 8-0 victory over Norway.

Tomorrow is the game of games, USA v. Canada. Believe it or not, the USA is currently on top of the Group A standings, due to winning both of their games outright (the Olympic standings give 3 points for regulation wins and 2 for OT/SO wins). This game will be important to determine who may get a first-round bye for the quarterfinals.

The Olympics!!!!

2010-02-16T12:30:00.004-05:00

It's my favorite time of the four year cycle - the Winter Olympics. I love every single sport that competes and I can (and do) watch hours and hours of Olympic programming.

Of course, my favorite sport of the Olympics is ice hockey (couldn't see that one coming, could ya?), and conveniently I did a hockey preview for my university's radio sports show (don't know what I'm talking about? Follow my Twitter). So, because I am a fervent supporter of recycling, below are the notes for my hockey preview which probably comes across better over-the-air, so just imagine a psychotic girl's voice rapidly reading the points.

The Olympics started this Friday and seeing Wayne Gretzky, the Great One, light the Olympic cauldron proved one thing: Hockey will be prevalent at these Games, if only due to the fact that they are being held in the hockey-mad country north of our border.

- Russia and Canada are the teams to beat, Russia barely edging out Canada for the top of the pre-Olympic ratings

- Russia is a wicked team offensively this year. Don't believe me? Imagine a line with Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, and Evgeni Malkin followed by Sergei Fedorov, Alex Semin, and Ilya Kovulchuk. That's an average of 54 NHL points per person per line. And those are only the NHL players, Russia supplementing their roster with top players from the KHL, the Russian top league

Their goaltending is also a positive, as both Ilya Bryzgalov and Evgeni Nabokov are statistically among the top 10 goaltenders this year.
Perhaps their weak point is their defense, if you can call a defensive pairing of Sergei Gonchar and Andrei Markov a weak point.
Throw in the fact that Russia has a relatively easy Group, having only the Czech Republic as true competition, and I would not be surprised if we are seeing the Russians in the medal game

- Canada is looking to improve on their disappointing 7th place finish in 2006 and return to the gold of 2002. This could easily be the team to achieve that.

Canada has an extremely potent team this year. Expect excellent goaltending from Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, solid defense led by Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger and an offense led by Sidney Crosby. I could go through and name all of their star power on the team, but I think I'd be here for another twenty minutes. Canada probably could have fielded two top notch teams for this tournament, so I would not expect the best of the best to disappoint, especially with a home-ice advantage

- The defending gold medal winning Swedish team is ranked third this year, probably the only time the reigning best in the world could be considered as flying under the radar

13 players return from the 2006 team, among those include the 36-year old Peter Forsberg who has been sidelined from the NHL with various foot injuries. Add in a 39-year old Nik Lidstrom and I wonder if this team has a little too much experience and perhaps peaked in Torino. Nevertheless, Team Sweden should not be overlooked in this Olympics

- Squeaking in at four on the pre-Olympic rankings is Team Finland, coming off of a Cinderella run to the silver medal at the last Games. Finland has never won gold at the Olympics, and while their team has good goaltending with Nicolas Backstrom and, I'm not sure their corps of forwards can keep up with those of Canada and Russia.

- The question in these great United States always is "Is this the year we follow up the Miracle on Ice?". My prediction is, unfortunately not this year.

The USA is ranked fifth
A younger team than normal for the US - only three players have previous Olympic experience - 13 of the players are under 25
I think the strength in the US team lies in their goaltending - Ryan Miller is top of the league in save percentage, while the young Jonathan Quick is tied for the top in number of wins
While the US has good forwards, it doesn't have the quite the starpower of the other teams, and I feel that this team does not have enough pure firepower to combat the Canadian and Russian teams. Add in two injuries already on defense and this team may have trouble keeping up.

The best chance for the US to win a hockey medal may lie with the US Women's Hockey team. They led the pre-Olympic standings and it looks like this year it will come between the US and Canadian teams for gold, as the other teams don't quite pack the same punch - Yesterday Canada beat Slovakia by a tally of 18-0, and today the US beat China 12-1.

So, to recap, Russia and Canada are the teams to watch out for, the US is in a rebuilding year of sorts - but who knows? There's nothing more the world loves than a good underdog story.

The first men's game is on TODAY at 3pm as the USA takes on Switzerland. Watch it!

Canes win, deal Cullen

2010-02-12T14:40:00.004-05:00

This has been a moderately busy week for the Canes so far. It started with a 4-1 win over the Panthers. I would attempt to give you more information about it, but I can't remember what happened despite listening to it on the radio, and the highlights online were boring. So, yeah, I'll say it was an unexciting game.

Then came the news that the Canes were moving their AHL team from Albany to Charlotte. It makes sense for the Canes minor league team to be close to the home arena, especially with the revolving door system that's been in place this season.

Last night the Canes managed to pull a win out of their butts against Buffalo in overtime. Brandon Sutter took advantage of a turnover to backhand pass it to Samsonov to win it. This was after the Canes were playing miserably for a lot of the first period, including letting in an extremely soft deflection goal.

This is the second time the Canes have beaten Buffalo in the past two weeks, which is something I like a lot. Again, why couldn't they have played like this earlier in the season?

Resulting from their early season poor play is the fire sale that Rutherford has started. Matt Cullen was today's casualty, being sent to Ottawa for Alexandre Picard and a second round draft pick. I don't know much about Picard, other than that he is 24 years old and a defenseman. This trade obviously doesn't hurt the Canes, as Cullen is a free agent at the end of this season, so he could in theory resign with the team, and the Canes get a player and a pick out of the deal.

I believe the Olympic trade freeze has just passed, so it looks like that will be all the Canes trade news for right now. The Canes play one more game and then it's the Olympic break for two weeks.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Big Ultimate Mega Recap!

2010-02-09T12:24:00.005-05:00

I'm really sorry for not posting this past week, but unfortunately this whole "college" thing isn't going away. A lot of stuff has happened, so I think it's time for a...

Big Ultimate Mega Recap!!!!

The Canes played 4 games over the past week, coming out with a 2-2 record, which isn't too shabby for this season.

They lost to the Oilers, which is pretty pathetic although it does help their quest for the lowest pick. (Which, by the way, the Canes are losing, allowing the Maple Leafs and Edmonton to slip between them and the bottom.)
They lost to the Flames.
They managed to win against Buffalo.
And they won against the Islanders - Justin Peters started his first game in that one - good for him to notch his first NHL win!

And through all this Erik Cole still hasn't managed to play a game! Are they keeping him in a storage shed a la Mike Leach?^†

Tim Gleason was named to Team USA (which should have happened in the first place, not as an injury replacement... but whatever). The Canes Twitter feed provided this photo, which is absolutely amazing. Now I have a favorite player to cheer for on the team!

The Canes also traded the Secret Weapon, shipping Niclas Wallin and a fifth round pick to San Jose for a second round pick. A shame, because Wallin was always an asset in the times it mattered most (check the nickname), but I'm not overly surprised because Wallin had been in trade rumors for the past bazillion years. Hope San Jose goes well for him.

Cam Ward is out with some kind of back injury. Which is, y'know, just what you want your franchise goaltender to have. We'll get to see more of Justin Peters, which is nice, and this is making the Legace signing look a bit better.

I think that's all the news that has gone on over the past week... This is the last week of games before the Winter Olympic break - and I cannot wait until that begins!

^†... too soon?

Another win!

2010-01-31T22:00:00.004-05:00

The Canes managed to get another win last night against the Blackhawks 4-2. Which I find positively amazing, due to the fact that the Blackhawks are one of the premiere teams in the league this season.

I was able to catch the game from the second period onwards on the radio and I must say that this is the first game all year where I wished I could have watched the game. The Canes sounded like they were playing well and it sounded like an exciting game, the Canes and Blackhawks trading goals until the Canes finally pulled away. Watching the highlights, I must say that Cam Ward also looked spectacular, stopping several good chances.

I almost can't believe that the Canes are playing this good now. This is they way I had imagined them playing at the beginning of the season - skating well with effort all game long. I guess this is a legitimate upswing for this team - I can no longer attribute the wins to the lack of skill on the other team, as that is certainly not the case for this opponent.

The next game is tomorrow against Edmonton, who is pretty much on the other end of the spectrum from the Blackhawks. I wonder how long we can stretch these winning ways?

Chad LaRose stats: 1 assist
On the season: 3 goals, 6 assists

A week's worth of games!

2010-01-29T14:18:00.003-05:00

Massive week recap: initiate

Canes lost their only game of the past week last Saturday against the Flyers 4-2.

Yes, that means they won more games than they lost in the last seven days. Of course, all of those games they won were against teams that aren't in playoff contention, but that is trivial information.

The next game was a 5-1 win over the Bruins, in which Cam Ward became the franchises' leading goalie in wins! The game was a shootout until David Krejci spoiled it a little over halfway into the third period. A real accomplishment for Ward, and I think it's a good sign that he still has so much of his career ahead of him. (Or at least, he better, due to the massive contract he'll be getting...)

Then came Wednesday's game against the Rangers, also a 5-1 tally in favor of the Canes. Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal both had two goals apiece in that one.

Finally, the Canes knocked off the Islanders 4-1 last night.

Why couldn't we play this well earlier in the season? Why is this team suddenly having a spurt of wins when really we don't need them at all? Is this the aftereffects of the change in captaincy? If so, that move should have been done a long time ago, perhaps when we still had an outside shot at the playoffs.

Speaking of our captain, Eric Staal has 9 points in the five games since he became captain, 8 of them goals. Seriously, was the key to the lock on the dam of offensive talent a different letter stitched on your jersey? Dang.

So it's great that we're playing well, but this Caniac is slightly miffed that, in reality, it means nothing. We're still the second worst in the league (not even the worst anymore, what a consolation prize).

I guess this little winning streak can show to everyone that, see, all of us weren't crazy for rating this team higher in the preseason. This team can score goals. They just decided not to for the first half of the year.

We'll see how good this mini turnaround truly is when the Canes play the Blackhawks this Saturday. If the Canes win, well, I'd say we've got something going on here. If we lose, well, I won't be overly surprised.

Chad LaRose (Sunday): 1 goal
On the season: 3 goals, 8 assists

Captain Staal nets a hat trick

2010-01-23T10:15:00.005-05:00

So, uh, apparently Staal should have been made captain earlier. Because, in his first night as captain, he tallied a hat trick in the Canes 5-2 win over the Thrashers.

Three of the Canes goals came on the powerplay, and watching the highlights I can say that the Canes completely dominated the Thrashers on their goals. The Thrashers looked absolutely horrible, and I think I'll attribute the Canes' prowess more to Atlanta playing poorly than anything else. But, man, it was nice to see all of this offense by the Canes.

Hopefully this captaincy post will motivate Staal beyond just the first game. There's been flashes this year, but Staal has really had a down year comparatively. Perhaps the "C" on the jersey will motivate him to play like this every night?

Or every afternoon, in the case of today's game against the Flyers. 1pm puck drop, so you can be certain I won't listen to any of it because I have ACC basketball tickets for 1:30. But hopefully the Canes will continue playing better than they had been in the past.

Rod Brind'Amour is no longer captain (!)

2010-01-20T11:51:00.003-05:00

Yes, you read the title correctly. Rod Brind'Amour has been stripped of his captaincy, which has been given to Eric Staal.

Okay, we all knew this was going to happen eventually due to Brind'Amour's reduced capacity with the team - but I'm startled that it has happened during this season. If you needed to reboot the team, why didn't you do it earlier in the season, when there was still a glimmer of the playoffs? Since Rod has lasted this long as captain of a crappy team, why end it now?

I think it needed to happen, but again, I think the timing is very odd. I suppose this is the signal that we should begin looking forward to the next season.

UPDATED: An article at the Canes site pretty much reinforces the above. Apparently Rod could have vetoed the move if he wanted to, but Rutherford thought the timing was appropriate because the Canes want to move towards their newer, brighter, younger (and hopefully winning) future.

More losses

2010-01-18T12:26:00.004-05:00

Well, there is one thing to be said about this season and that is that winning streaks never last very long.

The Canes lost to Detroit 3-1 on Thursday. Which isn't surprising as the franchise hasn't won a regular season game in Joe Louis Arena since 1989.

Penalties were what killed the Canes in this one, as two of Detroit's three goals were on the power play. Tom Kostopoulos scored in the third to make it a little interesting, but one goal isn't enough to beat the Red Wings.

The Canes responded after their loss to the Wings with another loss on Saturday to the Thrashers. The game wasn't on TV, so there's not much insight I can lend other than Eric Staal missed a penalty shot opportunity in the second.

Good news for the Canes: Chad LaRose has been activated from injured reserve and will likely play in tonight's game against the Lightning.

But it begs the question - If Erik Cole was initially out for 2-3 weeks and LaRose for 3-4... when is Erik going to get back in the lineup?

So, we're winning now?

2010-01-14T11:47:00.003-05:00

Remember that last post where I said that the Canes had to maintain a .780 winning percentage to get close to making the playoffs? Yeah, well, guess which team has won four of the last five? No, not the New Jersey Devils, you moron. The Canes!

The only loss in this past stretch was against the Nashville Predators last Thursday. It's been a week so I don't remember the details, but pretty much just picture the normal underwhelming offence and pathetic defense and there's the game.

The Canes played the next night against the Colorado Avalanche, winning the game 2-1. Ray Whitney scored both Canes goals, including a laser that took Budaj off guard to open the second period. Cam Ward had a shutout going until Colorado scored with 16 seconds left in the game.

The main story in this one, however, was the multitude of fights that peppered the first period - 15 penalties assessed in the first period alone, with 8 of them being for fighting or roughing. The bad news for the Canes was that Tuomo Ruutu, who fought with Darcy Tucker to settle things (Tucker was the guy Ruutu hit from behind to get suspended earlier in the year), injured something in the fight and did not return to the game. Not good news for this injury-plagued team, as Ruutu will be out for a few weeks.

The Canes then won 4-1 against the Senators and 4-2 against the Leafs. Neither game was on TV, so I can't give you much of a recap other than, uh, we won.

Interesting fact: Rod Brind'Amour has 3 points and a +3 in the past four games - perhaps his contributions are the reason the team has been winning? I sure it certainly doesn't hurt the team.

So the Canes head into tonight's game in Detroit on a 3 game winning streak. Unbelievable, isn't it?

A statistical moral dilemma

2010-01-07T16:38:00.003-05:00

So it's halfway-ish in the hockey season and I've been thinking recently of what we, as the Caniac Nation, should be cheering for. Should we hope for a massive winning streak for a chance at the playoffs, or should we be cheering for losses so that we can pick up the #1 pick?^†

Let's explore the first option. Currently the Canes are dead last in the NHL with an abysmal record of 11-23-7 and a measly 29 points. To compare, the Montreal Canadiens, who currently hold the last place in the Eastern Conference, have a record of 21-21-3 and 45 points.

Since the lockout the average number of points needed to make the playoffs was 92.75 points, so let's round that up to 93. By this benchmark, the Canes would need to gain 64 points in the last half of the season. That equates to 32 wins (ignoring OT losses and all of that nonsense). That means that the Canes would need to win 32 games out of the last 41 to even get close to the playoffs. That's a .780 winning percentage, or winning roughly 4 out of every 5 games.

Who seriously thinks that this team can pull that together? True, the Canes have been playing better of late, but "better" is still a 4-5-1 record in the last ten games, nowhere near the .780 that they would need.

I believe that means that the Canes are still mathematically alive but realistically out of the playoffs (not groundbreaking news, for certain).

What does that mean for us Caniacs? Do we cheer for trying our best and perhaps moving up a few spots in the standings to make this season look better - or at least the same as the other pathetic seasons we've had? Or do we want our team to lose, to ensure that prime draft position?

Let's look at that possibility. Again, the Canes are 11-23-7 with 29 points. The next closest losing team is Edmonton, loftily sitting at 16-22-5 and 37 points. That would mean that the Canes would need to win 4 straight games and have the Oilers lose 4 straight for the Oilers to "catch up" in this losing race. Unfortunately, the Oilers are 1-8-1 in their last ten, so it could be possible for that to happen.

Since the lockout, the last place team has had an average of 61.25 points, but that varies widely from the rather pathetic '06-'07 Flyers with 56 points to the comparatively successful Lightning of '07-'08 with 71 points. So, if we are to take that average of 61 as the maximum allowed number of points for the first draft pick, then the Canes would be allowed to gain 32 points in 41 games, or to have a winning percentage of .390. That's winning about 2 out of every 5 games or less.

Is anyone else beginning to get a sick feeling at the realization of how realistic it is that our Canes will finish in last place? If you look back at our schedule, I believe the only time we've won more than 2 out of any five games is the period between 11/15 and 11/ 21, where the Canes won 3 out of the four games in that week. That's it.

But, recently, the Canes have been playing more like a .500 team than a sub-.400 team. If you're following my logic this would put the Canes in the ugly limbo position that's not near the playoffs, but not worst in the league. What are we, as fans, supposed to cheer for here? Are we supposed to hope for wins that are possibly hurting our chances at a better future through the draft?

I do not know the answer to this question. It feels wrong to hope for my team to lose, no matter what the other consequences are, but it also feels hollow to cheer for victory when the likelihood of it doing the team any good is minuscule. Watching every loss and every poorly played game is agonizing - but I think that looking back at the standings and seeing that we were so close to [enter next 1st pick superstar here] will be painful as well.

My solution? Well, I'm certainly not going to stop cheering for my team - those who do so are just tacky. But, perhaps, looking forward at next season will make the losses seem like wins - winning the best draft position instead of the Stanley Cup.

What does that mean? I present a true win-win situation - a win means, well, a win. But a loss is now really a win in the duel of the bottomfeeders.^‡

† Yes, I know that being last in the league does not guarantee the first pick in the draft due to the draft lottery. But it certainly helps.

‡ If this sounds like hopeless optimism, I assure you, it is.

It's a new decade!

2010-01-06T14:01:00.004-05:00

So there's been a whole new decade since I last posted, but I'm having a nice chill break so I don't really care much. The Canes went 1-0-1 against the Rangers over the New Year, which, let's face it, is one of the better records of this season.

On New Year's Eve, the Canes lost 2-1 at the RBC Center. Neither team played very well, so when the Rangers went ahead in the third I don't think the Canes had anything to counter it with.

Then the Canes won in overtime two days later by the same score. Ray Whitney scored the game winner in that one.

In between was the NHL Winter Classic, which was awesome as normal this year. First fight in an outside game between Dan Carcillo and Shawn Thornton - seriously, would you have believed a Flyers-Bruins game without a fight?

After the game the US Olympic team roster was announced. No Canes made the team, although I personally think that Tim Gleason should have made the roster.

More recent news is the announcement today that Eric Staal will likely miss the next two games with personal leave for the death of his sister-in-law. I'm sure our thoughts are with him.

The next game is tomorrow against the Predators.

Surprises!

2009-12-30T19:55:00.003-05:00

Two big surprises to report today.

First of all, the Canes beat the C[r]apitals 6-3 on Monday night. Yes, you read that right. Our pathetic, last place team beat the top of the league team. And not just beat, but laid out an ultimate smackdown - the Canes were up 3-0 after the first!

And let me strike from the record the comments I had about Eric Staal playing wing in the last post. Eric Staal can play defense for all I care, if he puts up five points while doing so.

Seriously, I am absolutely floored that this team was able to beat Washington like this. I believe this was their first lost in the Southeast Division - can you believe it?

Another thing that really surprised me was the Olympic team selections that came out today. The Canadian Olympic Committee must have been watching this past game, as Eric Staal made the team. The Finnish Olympic Committe mustn't have watched any Canes games as Jussi Jokinen was not selected to the Finnish team with his counterparts Ruutu and Pitkanen.

I feel really bad for Jokinen because I feel that he has had an excellent season (especially for being on this team) and I think he should have been credited with a spot on the team.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and the Canes have their traditional game at the RBC Center. This year it's against the Rangers. Maybe the Canes will have some momentum going into it?

This is frustrating

2009-12-28T16:49:00.002-05:00

The Canes lost in a shootout 4-3 to the Flyers, in a game that could be called "Exhibit A" in the Museum of "Why this team is so frustrating".

The first two periods of this game were definitely nothing to brag about, the Canes going down 2-0 in the first period.

Then came the third period, in which the Canes scored three straight to tie the game up and force it to overtime. Where this sudden comeback came from, I have absolutely no idea. But it's amazing how this team can be playing poorly for the entire season, but somehow appear to be a cohesive unit for 10 minutes.

I'm at a loss, here. I don't understand why Eric Staal is playing the wing. I understand that you would want to mix up the lines when the team is playing horribly, or to send a message to the players, but I just don't understand why you would want to force a player to play a position that he is not comfortable with for an extended period of time.

And, yes, I know that the Jokinen-Cullen-Staal line is responsible for two of the goals that were scored. Although, personally, I thought that the Whitney-Sutter-Ruutu line played with more energy and had tons of excellent chances (Whitney apparently can't hit the broad side of a barn).

And, let's face it, this was Michael Leighton in goal for the Flyers. He may not have gotten a fair shake in Raleigh, but he never played as well as he did in the first two periods. The Canes need to play better - because if they're scrapping for points against the Flyers (who are tied with the Maple Leafs), how are they going to manage against a team like the C[r]apitals, who have all of their ducks in order?

It's an Erik Cole Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:39:00.004-05:00

As you can see, it's been an Erik Cole kind of Christmas around these parts. I would like to think that the bobblehead turned out looking than those horrific pictures that were released earlier - but that might be the endless optimism talking.

Unfortunately, that optimism doesn't extend to how the Canes played in the 5-1 loss to Montreal. Two facts stand out that help to describe how poorly the Canes played:

1) Cam Ward was pulled after 10 minutes with the score 3-1.
2) The Canes had 47 shots on goal and one goal. That's a .979 save percentage for Mr. Jaroslav Halak.

Cam looked terrible on the third goal - a breakaway by Sergei Kostitsyn that should've been stopped - and didn't look that good on the first one, either. Our superstar Eric Staal was dropped to second line winger. There was pretty much nothing good by any player on our team - the fact that we had that many shots with so few goals should tell you that by itself.

Watching games like this, it is obvious that this team deserves to have less than ten wins this season. And it makes me want to cry, as it seems that any time there is any glimmer of this team beginning to play well they put out a performance like this, which crushes any seeds of optimism that were beginning to foster.

But this is not talk for Christmas Day! I'll save the whining for another day (probably soon, if the Canes play the same against the Flyers tomorrow). I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and that Santa brought many Canes-related gifts to place under your tree!

Canes are playing better

2009-12-22T16:29:00.003-05:00

Canes lost 3-1 to the Rangers last night.

From what I was able to see, it is evident that this team is playing a lot better than they had been previously this season. Are they playing well enough to beat the 9th place team in the Eastern Conference? Apparently not. But they do look better.

The lone goal in this game was scored by Sergei Samsonov on a nice wrap-around. Of course, half a minute later the Canes let the Rangers kill all momentum by tying it up. But, to the Canes' credit, they didn't collapse completely and allow a bazillion goals after that. See, I told you they were playing better.

The one person who isn't playing better is Cam Ward. On the above goal he had slid waaaaay out of the crease, giving an open net to Marian Gaborik (who definitely does not need an open net to score). There have been several times in the past few games that I've seen him out of position and it led directly to a scoring chance, if not to a goal.

I'm not sure what would be causing this sort of play by Cam - maybe he's still recovering from the injury? If that's the case (although I find it tough to believe that a leg laceration messes up your awareness of the crease), then I hope he gets better soon because this team does not need its goaltender screwing up.

The next game is tomorrow against Montreal. It's Erik Cole bobblehead night!

A recap of the past week

2009-12-21T12:48:00.005-05:00

So, I have posted in a while and I'm sorry, but I got sidetracked by a little thing called finals. But those are thankfully done and I now have a glorious month with nothing to do except pay attention to hockey!

So, to recap, in the week I didn't post the Canes went 2-2, which is a .500 win percentage, which is probably all we can hope that our final record will even out to at the end of the season. The games were:
A 4-2 loss to Ottawa.
A 5-3 win over the Stars. (Tuomo Ruutu hat trick in that one!)
A pathetic 6-3 loss to the Panthers.
And, to top it all off, a 3-2 win over those same Panthers this past Saturday.

A piece of news that got the Caniac Nation buzzing was the fact that the Canes are in talks to begin their season overseas next year. Supposedly the location would be Finland because of the plethora of Finns on the team. I think it's a cool idea - it would be really great for those guys to play in front of their home country fans.

That's all for now. I promise some more interesting recaps soon!

Tim Gleason deserves a medal of awesomeness

2009-12-12T17:07:00.005-05:00

Canes lost in overtime last night to the C[r]apitals 4-3.

Before this game was played, the absolutely horrid news came out that both Erik Cole and Chad LaRose would be placed on injured reserve for lingering injuries. Much wailing and sobbing was heard from this particular blogger because that means she will likely go the whole winter break without seeing both of her favorite players in action.

But, considering that Erik Cole was playing his best hockey while fighting off a lingering injury, I can't help but be hopeful for later on.

Patrick Dwyer and Jiri Tlusty were called up to replace them, and Tlusty was effective in his first game, scoring a goal in the first period. Further continuing the trend of "interesting things happening when I am missing hockey during class", Tim Gleason blocked a puck with his face in the first as well, requiring something like 30 stitches. Being the beast that he is, he came back in the game and tied it up on a breakaway shorthanded goal for the Canes in the third period.

Unfortunately, Gleason's pure bad-assery could not stop the C[r]apitals increasingly good play and the Canes lost in overtime. But we got a point out of the whole thing, so it's not too bad.

Bad news for Michael Leighton, the goalie issues were figured out, and he was sent down to the minors, leaving Manny Legace as Cam Ward's backup.

Canes play again tonight against Ottawa. Maybe they can continue this slight upswing in play that we've seen recently?

Canes won two in a row : Baby Steps

2009-12-09T22:11:00.004-05:00

Well, how about this?

The Canes won their first game on the road on Monday, beating none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.

The Canes got out to a 3-0 lead in the game, letting the Pens score two in 49 seconds to make the game close again. But, really, we all should be used to that by now, and it's a sign of the Canes' improving play that they didn't actually relinquish their lead completely.

Notably, Andrew Alberts scored his first Canes goal in that one as well.

The Canes followed up that road win with a 4-2 road loss against New Jersey tonight, which can be considered a victory from the perspective that we did not allow Martin Brodeur to overtake Terry Sawchuck's shutout record. Not that I dislike Brodeur or that I don't want him to get the record - I'm just glad it didn't happen against us.

The scoring was almost opposite of the Penguins game; they allowed the Devils to score three, then the Canes came back to score two but were finally put away by an empty netter at the end.

This game also marked the return of Cam Ward from that nasty laceration injury. No word on what's going to happen with our two backup goaltenders - Michael Leighton was put on waivers earlier this week, so I assume that he'll be going down.

Finals week for me starting Friday, so expect either no posts or spacey random rambling thoughts about the upcoming games. In other words: business as normal. Which apparently people are attracted to, as this blog was able to advance to the second round in the Canes Blog-Off. Currently I'm tied for second (or last, but I'm feeling optimistic tonight), so maybe go over there and vote for me? Because, as we all know, "If you ain't first, you're last".

(And, yes, I just mentioned that quote so I could post a clip of that movie.)

Speaking of video clips, I plan on entering this contest, as soon as I get a mind-bogglingly awesome idea for it. So be prepared.

Canes are on the road again Friday in Washington. I think it's on Comcast, so I should be able to watch it once I get out of my Calculus exam.

Erik Cole is so AWESOME!

2009-12-06T12:27:00.004-05:00

Canes win! Canes win! Canes win!

The Canes won 5-3 over the Canucks yesterday, largely thanks to an Erik Cole hat trick.

The Canucks opened up the scoring, but for once the Canes didn't give up immediately. Ray Whitney had a nice backhand goal to tie up the game 20 seconds later. Then in the second period, the Canes scored three goals to make it 4-1, including a strange goal that was credited to Cole, but looked like it was knocked in by one of Vancouver's own players.

Of course, then came the third period, which had been ill-fated for the Canes of late. And, they did allow the Canucks to come within one goal, which I'm sure had every Caniac just waiting for the inevitable tying goal and then loss. But, luckily for us, it didn't happen, thanks to an Erik Cole empty net goal!

Erik Cole had a hat trick! He is playing amazing right now - tearing up the wings like the Erik Cole of old. Obviously, I am thrilled about this upswing in play.

Canes had an interesting trade this week. They traded their first-round pick of this past draft Philippe Paradis for Toronto's Jiri Tlusty, a first-round draft pick back in '06. It doesn't affect either team right away, but I find it interesting that we would trade a first-rounder so soon in development.

Next game is tomorrow at Penguins. Too soon to hope for a win streak?

Erik Cole stats: 3 goals
On the season: 6 goals, 2 assists

A mix of bad luck and not scoring

2009-12-02T18:06:00.004-05:00

We just can not catch a break, can we?

Canes lost 3-2 to the C[r]apitals. Because I am now in the viewing area for Washington, I was able to catch the third period of the game.

Which, of course, meant that I missed all of the interesting bits.

The most important part that affects our team is the nasty cut that Joe Corvo received on his lower right leg. This happened after he had made scoring on Jose Theodore look easy with a nifty power play backhand earlier in the game. Corvo is expected to be out for 8-12 weeks with the injury.

This is not a good trend that the Canes have started with his whole laceration-out-for-a-bazillion-weeks-thing. Honestly, even with the massive losing streaks and poor record, I think this is the most concerning thing so far. Because you obviously don't have two separate players miss an extended amount of time if they're just simple paper cuts.

The second important part that affects the league more than us directly is Alex Ovechkin's knee-on-knee hit on Tim Gleason. Gleason was helped off, but came back later - Ovechkin was hurt on the play. AO has been suspended for two games for the reckless hit.

It's good that Gleason wasn't hurt on the play but hits like this should not be tolerated, so I think it is good that AO is feeling some repercussions.

Finally, it is absolutely pathetic that we lost this game, considering that we pretty much outplayed the C[r]apitals statistically. For example, we outshot them 16-6 in the first period. But we came out of that period down 2-1. How is this even possible?!

The next game is Saturday against Vancouver. Hopefully we can get out of that one without any injuries.

Your 2009-10 Hurricanes: finding new lows every game.

2009-11-29T19:26:00.002-05:00

These third period things aren't really working out for us, are they?

The second game in a row that the Canes let five goals in the third period.

Canes lose 5-1 to the Sabres. Alert me when the play of our team stops making me want to gouge my eyes out.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

2009-11-27T22:55:00.003-05:00

Erik Cole had a goal and an assist tonight in the 6-4 loss against the Thrashers. To me, his play is the bright ray of sunshine that got covered up by the dark clouds that was letting 5 goals against in the third period.

I don't think I've ever seen a team implode before my eyes like the Canes did tonight.

Because, really, things were flying high for the Canes. They looked excellent in the first and second periods, storming the net, having good chances. Matt Cullen missed a wide open net in the second, and there were several other times that Canes players were inches away from scoring another goal.

Then came the third period, which started off with two absolutely dreadful powerplays. After those the momentum quickly swung Atlanta's way and the Canes let in their trademark of rapid goals against.

Let me just say that this game killed whatever optimism I had for this team. I thought that, if the Canes continued to improve, they might not be so bad after all. But then this game - I just can't believe how the Canes appeared to firing on all cylinders and then just suddenly lost it. It was like someone flipped a switch in the dressing room and everything that was going good just turned off. How can you be optimistic that your team will turn it around when they can't even finish off a game with a three goal lead?

Next game is tomorrow against the Sabres. On the road, so you can pretty much chalk up another loss, if their current record holds.

Erik Cole stats: 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 3 goals, 2 assists

Canes lose another two. Whatever.

2009-11-26T21:36:00.003-05:00

Well, a little less than a week has passed, and we can chalk up two more losses on the road. Ho-hum, same old, same old.

The first loss was 2-0 against the Stars on Monday. Didn't listen to the game, so I don't know really much about it. Recap says that a Ray Whitney goal was called back due to the fact it was kicked over or something like that. Biggest (and worst) news of the night was the fact that Tuomo Ruutu went out with an injury, adding another player to the growing list of Canes casualties on the season.

The second loss was last night against the Ducks where the Canes lost 3-2. Eric Staal came off of the IR for this one, and he played pretty well, getting an assist in the third period.

I thought that the Canes played pretty well. Besides for some rough patches in the first period, they actually played solid hockey for once (or the Ducks were looking pretty poor... whatever). Tom Kostopoulos scored a very nice goal off due to the fact that he was square in front of the net with no one around him when Ray Whitney tossed it to him.

Unfortunately, the Canes broke down as they always seem to, allowing a goal at the very end of the second period to let Anaheim tie it up. Then came two in the third, including a game-breaker with a minute thirty left. Brandon Sutter managed to score thirty seconds later, but it wasn't enough for the Canes to win.

I'm not quite as angry at these losses as I was during the losing streak probably because I've accepted the fact that this current Canes team tends to lose a lot, and they're currently playing better while still losing.

Maybe if we get some more people healthy it'll continue to improve. Maybe winning one on the road? But that might be too much to ask. We'll have to wait to see if the Canes can pull that off, as the next game is a bout with the Thrashers tomorrow at the RBC Center.

Canes win!

2009-11-21T23:14:00.003-05:00

So, I attended my second game of the season this year, and the Canes won their second game in regulation. The last game I went to was the 7-2 romp over Florida... coincidence? I think not.

Anyways, the Canes beat the Lightning 3-1 in this one.

Some random observations in list form because paragraphs are too complicated during Thanksgiving Break:

- Yes, I do have thoughts concerning the shootout loss to the Canadiens and the shootout win against the Leafs. I also have thoughts about the current cap issue with the Canes and a few curse words concerning the injury bug this team had. No, you're not going to get them because who wants to talk semi-depressing stuff when you have a legitimate win on your hands?

- That being said, Canes have gotten points in their last five games. Infinitely better than their bazillion game losing streak. Is this the turnaround point for the team?

- Ruutu and Jokinen are awesome.

- Chad LaRose got his first goal and an assist in tonight's game. The goal was a result of him powering up the side of the ice, and it has been a long time overdue for one of my favorite forwards.

- Manny Legace made most of the stops tonight, but I didn't think he looked that great while stopping them. Cam Ward, please get healthy soon.

- Jussi Jokinen's goal was the result of what I called a "changeup". The puck, instead of coming off of Joe Corvo's stick at lightning speed, came off at an extremely slow rate and I think that's what fooled Mike Smith in net for the Lightning.

- The Canes had their ups and downs, but I actually think that they didn't play that bad. If we can sustain this current positive trend, I can't help but be optimistic for our final position. There's still three-quarters left in the season.

Just remember to tell me that if we begin to lose again.

The next game is Monday against the Stars.

Erik Cole stats (Tues): 1 assist
(Thurs): 1 goal
On the season: 2 goals, 1 assist

Chad LaRose stats (Thurs): 1 assist
(Sat): 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 1 goal, 5 assists

WE WON!!!!

2009-11-15T19:35:00.003-05:00

IT'S OVER!

THE STREAK OF DARKNESS IS OVER!

THE CANES ARE VICTORIOUS!

5-4 SHOOTOUT WIN, TAKE THAT MINNESOTA!

Anyone up for a 14-game win streak?

We've got us a new goalie...

2009-11-09T18:02:00.004-05:00

Well, it looks like Cam Ward's going to be out 3-4 weeks, so faced with the prospect of an extended period with Michael Leighton and Justin Peters, the Canes went and signed Manny Legace to a two-way contract.

Really, I think the Canes should apologize to Legace for taking him from the winning AHL Chicago Wolves (winning being a relative word, as they are 5-7-1 on the season... but that just about blows us out of the water) and planting him on a miserable last place NHL team.

Although, it's a complete no-pressure situation for Manny, for if the Canes lose with him in goal then there's no way he can be pinned as the problem... and if somehow the Canes begin to win, he'll be hailed as a hero.

So congratulations on the signing, Mr. Legace. Don't expect that 3.21 GAA from the AHL to get much better on this team.

We hit rock bottom... and then we started drilling...

2009-11-08T12:23:00.004-05:00

The Canes lost to Columbus 3-2 last night, Erik Cole scoring the first goal, then the Canes allowing three within three and a half minutes of the third to lose the game. Nothing new there.

The horrible news? Cam Ward got cut by Rick Nash's skate in the first period. He was immediately helped off the ice, and had to stay overnight in a Columbus hospital.

I said in my last post that the Canes couldn't get any worse. I was obviously not envisioning going without our Conn Smythe winning goaltender.

Hopefully he won't be out too long.

Erik Cole stats: 1 goal

Rock Bottom

2009-11-07T09:33:00.002-05:00

Well, this is it. There's nowhere else for this team to go.

Last night the Canes lost to the Maple Leafs 3-2, cementing their spot as the worst team in the National Hockey League.

The game looked like it was going to swing Carolina's way after they knocked two goals in after one period. But apparently the Canes need a lot more than a two goal lead after the first to win a game nowadays. The Leafs scored three unanswered, and the Canes are left with a dismal losing streak.

The worst part? Looking at the highlights, those goals the Leafs scored were not good. At best they were mediocre, at worst they were pansy goals allowed by letting them skate all over us. Watching the first goal, I thought that the Maple Leafs were on a power play with the way they were directing the puck throughout our zone. Then I counted our players and realized, with some developing horror, that it was even-strength.

To pose a serious question, how long will this losing streak last? You must think that the Canes will snap out of it soon, they can't be that bad of a team, not with all of the good parts that they have.

But then you realize that this team just got beat by the Toronto Maple Leafs... the 29th team in the league. If the Canes can't manage to create a win against them...

And I say "good parts" slightly tongue-in-cheek, because obviously something has gone horribly rotten with this team. Zach Boychuk led the team in shots last night, and Brandon Sutter is the only player that has been consistently scoring. Where are the rest of our veterans? The people who, last year before the playoffs, if Eric Staal wasn't scoring, would step up and pull through for the team?

I am at a loss as to what to do about this team. There are two things that I can think of to begin to turn it around: either trade a well-liked player (which pains me to say, I know), or fire Paul Maurice. Maurice got a three-year contract this offseason, but I think that is looking more and more like a bad move after each game we lose. Something has got to wake up this hockey team - Rutherford has said that he's willing to make changes, hopefully for the sake of what's left of our season he'll pull something through.

The next game is tonight against Columbus. Hopefully the Canes will find a way to pull out of this streak.

This is just pathetic

2009-11-01T20:46:00.003-05:00

Let me just say that I chose a very good season to go off to college. It's a good thing that I haven't watched any of the last nine games, I think I would be ready to kill right about now.

I mean, honestly, it's hard enough listening to Chuck Kaiton. Take the 5-2 loss to St. Louis. I turned on the game a little bit late... and the Canes were down by 3 goals. Who wants to even listen to a game when your team is already down by three goals, and considering their last few games probably has no chance of coming back?

Quite possibly the only good things about the 6-1 loss to Philly and the 5-1 loss to San Jose is that Brandon Sutter, who was called up after the Ruutu suspension, scored both goals in those games. That's more goals than he scored all of last season (1). Obviously someone doesn't want to go back to Albany - and with the way everyone else appears to be playing, I definitely don't think he should.

Nine losses. NINE LOSSES! Even typing that I can't belive how far we have fallen. What do you say after your hockey team has lost nine in a row? Well, golly gee, I sure hope we win the next one?

There are limits even to my optimism. We have to see a full 180-degree turnaround here. You don't lose nine in a row and just have a few things that need to be tweaked. Fundamentals need to be changed.

But I can't leave my loyal readers with that unhappy though. The Canes have depressed us enough. Here's the good news of the night: ERIK COLE IS BACK IN ACTION!!!!

The Canes have issues

2009-10-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

Remember my last post, in which I said that if the Canes lost to the Islanders, they have all kinds of issues?

Well, issues are definitely what this current Canes team has. They lost in a shootout to the Islanders, then lost to the Avs in regulation, then lost in overtime to the Wild.

The Canes have not won a game on the road yet. The Canes are last in the NHL in penalties per game, taking an average of 22 minutes per game. They're 4th in the Southeast, 12th in the East, 26th in the league.

What is wrong with this picture? EVERYTHING!

But I'm not done yet. Eric Staal isn't producing, Rod Brind'Amour was moved to wing, Tuomo Ruutu was suspended 3 games for a nasty hit on Darcy Tucker against the Avs.

What happened to this team? They shouldn't be this bad!

But they are. And I don't think the current situation will last very long before Rutherford does something. What could he do? I can't even begin to imagine what can fix this sloppy play and bad chemistry. But something has to be done to stop the bleeding.

Entertainment, courtesy of Martin St. Louis

2009-10-21T13:19:00.004-04:00

So, on Saturday, the Canes got shutout by the New Jersey Devils 2-0, making them the third former playoff foe to beat the Canes this season.

But that is not what got me off my lazy bum to post. Martin St. Louis playing a game of strip-shootout after a Tampa Bay practice is what got me off my lazy bum to post (props to Puck Daddy for bringing the vid to my attention).

Because laughing at an opponent in good fun is always better than looking at your current train wreck of a team.

Canes play tonight and if they lose to the Islanders, we have major issues to consider.

Canes drop two

2009-10-15T19:25:00.002-04:00

Since my last post the Canes have gone 0-1-1. Awesome.

The Canes lost 5-2 to the Lightning, allowing them to get their first win of the year. I was able to watch a lot of the third period, which means I was able to tune in just in time to see the Canes give the game away by letting Tampa score 3 goals in succession. Ryan Malone got a hat trick in that one.

Then yesterday the Canes lost in a shootout to the Penguins. Again, I tuned in just in time for the third period - although this one had somewhat of a better experience. Ray Whitney single-handedly tied the game with his two goals. Unfortunately, he couldn't knock in another one (in regulation or in the shootout) and the Canes lost in the shootout, despite pushing the Pens to 6 rounds in the shootout.

Watching the highlights online, I must say that, first of all, Ray Whitney should be in front of the net more often, as both of his goals were redirects off of his stick out in front of the net.

Secondly, Cam Ward is a beast. I was going to post a clip of one of his saves, but at the end of the game he had so many. The goals were not his fault, mainly a lack of defense there - but this game easily could've been won outright by the Penguins if it wasn't Ward making the stops there.

Some concerning news for Caniacs is that, according to the Canes' Twitter feed, this is the second time Eric Staal has been held out of practice. He played in the game last night, but I think there must be some kind of injury if he's not practicing. Why else would you hold your star player off the ice?

The next game is Saturday against New Jersey. I know it's early in the season, but I haven't been overly impressed by the Canes... perhaps they can begin to turn it around?