Hockey is over. Sadness ensues.

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.

Special Double Issue!

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

Lots of hockey stuff today

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!

And so the season ends

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

A Ramblin' Recap

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

A week's worth of games!

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

Can we restart the season?

Well, I'd like to permanently forget about this opening weekend.

Canes lost 7-2 to the Bruins.

I don't even know where to begin. The Canes went 1-for-10 on the power play, making their season total now 1-for-18, or a 5.6% conversion rate. The Canes also let in 4 goals on the penalty kill, making that operate at about a 54% kill rate.

The Canes also let in a quick succession of goals in this one, allowing Boston to score two in twenty-six seconds in the first period.

Cam Ward was pulled after the fourth goal, not that it helped.

Eric Staal had to get 25 stitches to close a gash from a puck on his ear. Erik Cole was apparently hurt late in the third with some sort of knee injury.

In summary: this game sucked. Apparently the Canes have short term memory and can't remember that this was the team that they beat in the playoffs. It's hard to believe that almost this exact team went to the Conference Finals about 5 months ago.

The Canes have a lot to pull together before their game against Tampa on Tuesday. Might I suggest starting with the special teams?

Future, Present & Past

Weeeeee! Schedules were released today! Opening Night '09 is set for October 2nd against the Flyers. Personally I wish that it was the next week because that is my "fall break" for college. Alas, this will be the first year that I won't be at the opener (or, rather, I haven't developed a plan to get me there yet...).

The interesting thing that I've noticed is that there doesn't seem to be a true West-Coast stint where the Canes go away for five games or so. Most of the western games are spread throughout the season. Also special about this season is the Winter Olympic break in the middle of February - ooh, I can't wait for that either!

Along with the unveiling of the schedules came the announcement that this year's Winter Classic will be played at Fenway Park between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. Likely to be a good matchup, and likely to be bitter cold - that's what makes it great, right?

Turning to the present, it appears that Ruutu and the Canes are having issues on the length of the contract to be signed. The Canes want to wrap him up long term, Ruutu wants only a year so that he can hit the free agency market after this season. Considering Rutherford's track record with having people not go to arbitration, I wouldn't be surprised if this gets wrapped up before the hearing on July 30th.

And, finally, to yesterday, when the Canes signed Tom Kostopoulos to a three year deal that will average a little under a million per. Previously he played with the Canadiens, although I don't really remember much about him other than looking at the lineup and going "Hm. 'Kostopoulos'. That's a name you don't hear much." He had 106 penalty minutes last season and seems to be the tough defensive forward that the Canes have missed the last few years. Apparently he's known for his hard work, and if you read this article, it seems like from that angle the Canes have signed a larger version of Chad LaRose. If that's the case, it sounds like an awesome signing.

79 days until Opening Night. I can't wait!

Scott Walker wins it!

Canes win 3-2 in a thrilling Game 7 overtime!

And guess who scored the series-winner? Yes, our very own sucker-punching Scott Walker! Haha, Boston fans must be livid at that particular outcome.

This game was just great to watch. It was a very closely-played game, just as a Game 7 should be. Both teams played well, and a testament to that statement is the fact that neither team collapsed going down the stretch, and both pushed it to the extra period.

As for overtime? Well, I think this video can describe it better than I can:

Scott Walker's first playoff goal certainly came in a timely fashion, eh?

Now it's off to Pittsburgh to play the Sidney Crosbys the Penguins. First game is next Tuesday (long layoff, anyone?).

Eastern Conference Finals, here we come!

Another Game 7

Well, this sucks.

Canes lost 4-2 in Game 6. They came out slow in the first period, allowing Boston to score two in the first five minutes. They never recovered.

And now we have a Game 7 for the priviledge to advance on to play the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won their own Game 7 last night.

I don't even know what to think about this Canes team anymore. They had Boston where they wanted them - ready to eliminate in five games - and here we are, at Game 7 after two poorly played games.

Can the Canes win this? Of course they can. Will they show the fire and passion that they had in Games 2-4? That is the question.

Puck drops at the random time of 8:00. Watch it!

Chad LaRose stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 2 goals, 7 assists

Well, that game was crap

Canes lost 4-0 in Game 5.

Let me put it like this - the Canes were playing so bad that I fell asleep during the third period. Of a playoff game. That, my readers, is pretty frickin' bad.

Of course, by sleeping through the last 15 minutes (the last thing I remember before being woken up with 25 seconds left was Erik Cole's stupid delay of game penalty), I missed the Scott Walker sucker punch on Aaron Ward. Walker wasn't suspended for that, only fined, which I guess is good. But it was a stupid, stupid play by Walker. Considering this is the same dude that has been previously suspended for headbutting, I would suggest that Walker take a few deep breaths before getting into it with anyone...

Anyways... yeah, this was a pathetic showing by the Canes. They didn't skate at all, they didn't pressure, they took lame penalties. Everything that the previous three games weren't.

But, the good news is that the Canes now can come back to Raleigh and have another chance to win it. I know the Caniacs will definitely be out in full force - hopefully the Canes will show up this time as well.

Canes win Game 4

Canes won 4-1 in Game 4 on Friday night.

Attempts at writing full coherent paragraphs are not working out today, so here's what I remember:

- Eric Staal played very good. At times he seemed like the only player truly trying out on the ice. His second goal of the night really drove the nail in the coffin for the Bruins.

- Jussi Jokinen scored again. Perhaps not as momentus as his other postseason goals, but it did break a 1-1 tie.

- Rod Brind'Amour finally got a point in the playoffs - assisting on the Jussi Jokinen goal with an excellent pass through the crease.

And, yeah, that's all that I can remember (give me a break, prom was last night and I'm working on four hours of sleep). Oh well. Game 5 is tonight in Boston - Canes can win the series!

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 2 assists

Jussi Jokinen, I think I love you

Canes win Game 3 in overtime 3-2.

Jussi Jokinen is proving that he is the clutch-est player around. Yes, of course he got the key OT winner - with the way his playoffs are going, who else would it be?

And I'm trying to think of what to say for the rest of this post, but my mind just keeps turning back to Jokinen and how completely awesome he's been. A game-winner in .2 left in regulation, a game-tie-er in Game 7, and now another game-winner in OT. Dang, this guy is clutch.

As for the rest of the team, they played pretty well last night. The first period and some of the second was a little sloppy - they let Boston get out to a 1-0 lead. But the Canes came on in the late second, scoring two goals in less than a minute to get the lead. (Sergei Samsonov got his first playoff goal on a nice shot).

Oh, and by the way, the refs were absolutely horrible in this game. Couldn't call an obstruction penalty if their life depended on it. Look, I understand that you don't want to slow the game down unnecessarily with marginal penalties - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't call the blatant stuff!

The Canes then played pretty good in the third, but still let in a Bruin goal for them to tie it up. The game went to overtime, but luckily the Canes were able to stick to the overtime-is-only-for-winning rule.

Jussi Jokinen - just wow. Rutherford is looking like a genius for picking this guy up.

Game 4 is tomorrow at the RBC Center. Hopefully the Canes can win it - it would be nice to go back to Boston with a 3-1 series lead!

Cam has another shutout - Bruins go down

Canes won 3-0 in Game 2 last night!

This game was played much better than Game 1. And I'm going to say at this point that it is creepy how this series has so far mirrored the Jersey one. We're 1-1 after two games, the Game 1s both being the crappy losses, while the Game 2s have been the better played ones. Hopefully the Canes can win quicker than in the first series, although I wouldn't be too upset if round 2 mirrors round 1 completely. (In case you can't follow the choppy sentence, that would mean a Canes win...)

The first period was only okay, both teams being kept off the scoresheet. Which is probably a better sign for the Canes than the Bruins, seeing as that was the first time Boston had not scored in the first period (or something along those lines - I forget the exact stat from Versus.).

Second period opened up with scoring for the Canes - Joe Corvo scoring on a slapshot pretty early in the period (and Erik Cole finally - finally! - got on the scoreboard with an assist). But the best goal was the Matt Cullen shorthanded goal - Chad LaRose intercepted a pass at the blue line and ran it up the ice, missed his first chance, but then passed it to Cullen who zapped it in the net.

The second period was definitely the Canes' period in terms of outplaying Boston. It could have actually been 3-0 at the end of the period, thanks to Chad LaRose never giving up and catching pretty much everyone on Boston mentally heading to the locker room. Alas, they said it was no goal as there was not enough video evidence to overturn the no goal call on the ice (Apparently, someone in the Situation Room is completely color blind because I saw white in between the puck and the goal line - but whatever). I think it wasn't a goal because scoring with .2 seconds left in anything is totally Jussi Jokinen's gig, not LaRose's.

The Canes also came out strong in the third period, but took some stupid penalties. Either their penalty kill is excellent or Boston's power play is crappy, but either way the Canes managed to keep it a two-goal game (with a lot of help from Cam Ward, of course), until Staal's empty net goal.

I am really glad the Canes were able to win this one, as I did not like the prospect of going back to Raleigh down 2-0 in the series. But, they played better than they did in the first game and now it's a whole new ballgame!

Next game is Wednesday at the RBC Center!

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist

Chad LaRose stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 2 goals, 6 assists

Canes drop first game.

Right now I'm "studying for Statistics", so I'll make this post short, okay?

Canes lost 4-1 to the Bruins last night, which, oddly enough, is the exact same score they lost in Game 1 against the Devils last series.

Unlike the first Game 1, the second wasn't anywhere near the level of lameness. The Canes played okay last night - a few good chances, but a few poor plays as well, specifically the Tuomo Ruutu intercepted pass across the middle that led to the Bruins' third goal.

The bright spot of the night was Jussi Jokinen's goal in the first period. This guy is on fire of late. If only some of his other teammates would step up as well... *cough*ErikCole*cough*

To win Game 2, I think the Canes need to, well, play better. Playing merely okay will not win them a game against this Bruins team. They need to play some of their best hockey - and maintain it!

Game 2 is tomorrow on Versus, so that means that we finally can get coverage outside of our own market.

Onwards to Boston!

So the second round starts tomorrow and the Canes are going up against the #1 seed, the Boston Bruins. Looking at this matchup, let's just say that I was hoping for a New York Rangers win so we would play Pittsburgh in this round. But the Rangers crapped out in the last three games so here we are.

Yeah, Boston totally kicked our butt during the regular season. They swept all four games and none of them were exactly close games (Two games were 4-2 losses, the others by a margin of 5-1).

Of course, we haven't played the Bruins since February, and the Canes are certainly a changed team since then. For one, the Canes hadn't gone on their crazy-long winning streak at that point (obviously). And, after watching the series against Jersey, you can't tell me that the Canes don't have the "intestinal fortitude"^† to beat a team like Boston.

Boston, like Jersey, has an insanely good goalie (although perhaps without the starpower of Brodeur) in Tim Thomas. Dude was in the top of the league in the goaltender stats for pretty much the entire season. I predict that Cam Ward will have to outplay him just as he outplayed Brodeur in the last series.

This, I think, is going to be a majorly tough series. Boston is extremely good and they definitely didn't show and weaknesses in the series against Montreal. But as long as the Canes play as well as they did in the Jersey series (excluding poor showings in Games 1, 3, and everything except the two minutes of 7) they should have a chance of winning games. Winning four? Well, that'll be difficult considering the opponent. But it's definitely possible.

For the Bruins spin on things (I'll add more blogs to the sidebar eventually), I've found these blogs:
WickedBruinsFan's Blog
Here Come the Bruins
Hockey Blogging Adventure
Boston Rink Rats
CLS mini-blog: Bruins v. Canes
(Psst! I'm a contributor for the last one! And I don't always just copy and paste from this blog either!)

And, I would like to say that I hope, no matter what happens, that the games in this series are better than the games in the Penguins-C[r]apitals series, just to prove to the mainstream media that good hockey can be played without Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby. (Personally, I think it would be hilarious if they both got injured and couldn't play, if only to see the whole star-studded promo fall apart and the commentators actually have to talk about the game for once.)

Game 1 is TOMORROW!

^† Repeated phrases like this is why I love Tripp Tracy. In case you didn't watch Game 7, I think he said this about 10 times in the third period.

So long New Jersey...

...and hello Boston!

Last night the Canes defeated the Devils in a thrilling 4-3 Game 7 win that they totally pulled out of their butt at the last minute.

Seriously, there was less than a minute and a half remaining and the Canes were down 3-2. Then BAM!, Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal strike and the Canes are advancing to the second round.

The game started out on an excellent note, with Tuomo Ruutu notching his first point of the postseason at the 1:02 mark of the first period. Of course, I was enthralled by this goal because that meant the Canes were coming out fast and taking the Jersey fans out of the game early.

Then, of course, the Devils score a minute and a half later, thereby getting the crowd back into it.

Throughout the game I didn't think the Canes were playing well enough for them to win. Like so many other games in this series, they weren't playing bad, they just weren't playing hard enough to win a elimination game. Cam Ward kept them in the game in the third period, preventing Jersey from going up two goals instead of just one.

Then came the last rush, and Jussi Jokinen cemented his status as my bestest friend evah by scoring yet another needed goal in regulation:

Jokinen is like the Secret Weapon of Regulation - how he somehow is scoring these goals at just the right time is unknown to me - but whatever he's doing, he needs to keep it up!

So the game was tied. Then less than a minute later Eric Staal just gains the zone and shoots - flat out beating Martin Brodeur. I don't think Brodeur looked that bad on a goal the entire season. Granted, it was tipped or something, but still.

I just can't believe we won the game. Seriously, just thinking about it now just blows my mind. Why the heck wasn't scoring goals as easy as that the entire series?

And I must commend the New Jersey Devils. They played the toughest first round I've ever seen. These teams were so even, the series came down to a couple of bounces and tips here and there.

But now we must say goodbye to Jersey and face the upcoming second round opponent - The Boston Bruins. I'll leave the preview for another post (maybe? hopefully?) - just know that Game 1 starts this Friday.

Chad LaRose stats: 2 assists
Playoffs: 2 goals, 5 assists

Glen Wesley Night!

Last night was Glen Wesley Night and the Canes had a really nice ceremony to raise the number two to the rafters. And I was lucky enough to attend!

It was very similar to Ron Francis' ceremony - hosted by John Forslund, there was a video montage of Wesley's career, then some gifts given to Wesley (a ski trip, his first and last game scorecards, a painting (which I took a picture of, but Wesley doesn't show up at all because my camera apparently doesn't like to focus in the dark)). Then Wesley himself spoke, thanking pretty much everyone who had helped him to play hockey (family, friends, coaches, fans, etc.).

Then came the actual raising of the banner, which Wesley and his family attached so it could be lifted:


As you can tell from the above picture, the seats weren't really in the best place for banner photography - my camera also doesn't like to focus on thin floating rectangles, apparently.

Then came the actual game. Which is totally not worth talking about compared to the achievements of Glen Wesley.

I mean, seriously Canes? A 5-1 loss to the Bruins the night you're honoring a teammate? What, was this your way of showing how great Wesley was - by showing what our defense has become without him in the lineup?

The game wasn't that bad in the beginning - the Canes even scored first. But then they just couldn't connect on anything after that (I swear these guys don't know how to lead a pass so someone can keep skating instead of doubling back to get the puck), Cam let in a soft one in the second.

And then the Canes just had a meltdown in the third period. You realize the combined score of the last three home games is 15-2 against? Yeah, I seriously don't think we're going to make it into the playoffs. And guess what? Even if we squeeze in the 8th spot - guess who we'll get to play? Boston, the team which has kicked our butt for four games this year.

Such pessimism... that's definitely not in my nature. But optimism is like a gas tank - every once in a while you have to fill it up with something to keep going. And 5-1 losses at home are like gashes in the fuel line.

Next game is tomorrow against the Islanders. Just win or something, okay?

Wow, can they play like crap...

Well, the Canes are on a nice little losing streak right now. Since the last post they've lost 3 in a row, making it four in a row altogther.

Last Saturday they lost 5-1 to the Bruins in an absolutely miserable game to watch. Boston just rolled right over the Canes, and if I remember correctly, the only Canes goal was an odd redirect off of William's stick that Tim Thomas should have stopped.

Then on Tuesday the Canes lost by the same score to the Ottawa Senators in a game that I did not watch, but it sounds like it was pretty much a replay of the pathetic play against Boston. Except, of course, it was against Ottawa, and losing 5-1 to the Senators says a lot more about the poor quality of hockey that was on the ice than a 5-1 loss to the Bruins.

Finally, last night the Canes lost 6-4 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I have positively no idea what to make of this game. The first two periods were painful to view - but then the third was a glorious showing of offensive prowess, tying the game up 4-4.

My only question - uh, where was this in the first two periods? The Canes showed both ends of the spectrum here, and I have no idea which team is the real Canes. Is it the lackluster team that couldn't put forth an effort if their lives depended on it? Or are the *real* Canes the ones who came out in the third and steamrolled the Leafs?

Anyways, I thought the Canes were going to win this game - in a way strangely reminiscent of the one Toronto game last year - but it was not to be. No, stupid Cam Ward let in a goal off of his glove and the Leafs went on to win.

Oh well. I guess that's what this team deserved after getting in a 4-0 hole.

The next game is tomorrow against Buffalo - a game muy importante as the Canes are 8th in the standings and Buffalo has been hovering right around the same point total we have been for the last few weeks or so.

Canes play well, but lose...

Canes lost their game against the Bruins last night 4-2.

I didn't think that the Canes played that bad, really. I thought they had a pretty good pace for most of the game - they just didn't capitalize on the chances they had and they ended up losing.

The first goal was a Matt Cullen tip-in of an awesome Chad LaRose shot - maybe this is the beginning of another streak for my man LaRose? Hopefully.

The second Canes goal was a wicked shot by Anton Babchuk. He's another one I want to go on a scoring spree - he definitely still has his slapshot.

And, Tuomo Ruutu was a hitting machine last night - pretty much, if it had a Boston Bruins jersey on, he wasn't skating around it, but through it. I get more and more impressed with this guy as the season goes on - how could Chicago give up on him?

Hopfully the Canes good play will transfer into more wins against the big teams like Boston soon.

Next game is New Year's Eve against the Thrashers.

Chad LaRose: 1 assist
On the season: 8 goals, 3 assists