Corvo comes back to the Canes

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.

Summer Doldrums

Let's see, what has happened in the past week...

Tuomo Ruutu has opted to take the Canes to arbitration. Hopefully the Canes can come to a good resolution with him - I would hate to lose such a bruiser of a forward.

Recently, the Canes re-signed Casey Borer and Justin Peters to two-way contracts as well as Steven Goertzen from the Phoenix Coyotes.

And finally, today Joe Sakic announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the NHL.

Otherwise, not much has gone on in the hockey world. As always, I will update when anything earth-shattering occurs.

If there are any formatting errors in this post blame my Tablet PC, not me. I'm still getting used to this whole writing on the screen thing. (And the "I'm not going to recognize your handwriting on the first try" thing too). Along the same lines, if anyone has any tips for dealing with tablets, please leave a comment!

Bus crash and a win

Big day in the realm of the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday.

First of all, the Canes' minor league affiliate, the Albany River Rats, were involved in a horrible bus crash early Thursday morning. Apparently the bus was traveling in snowy conditions when it flipped over and came to rest by a guard rail. Luckily, everyone was able to walk off the bus, although 4 players (Casey Borer, Joe Jensen, Nicholas Blanchard, and Jonathan Paiement) and the radio commentator were kept in the hospital with more serious injuries. Hopefully they will recover quickly - it was very lucky that more people weren't seriously hurt.

As for the Hurricanes, they kicked butt in a 6-2 win over the Islanders. A well-played game with some fights in the third period (Conboy v. Jackman and LaRose v. Comrie. Neither was a bout to write home about, but I'll take them considering how rare fights are when your team is the Canes). The Canes really set the tone of the game at the end of the first period by scoring two goals in less than a minute.

Essentially, I think the team should play on the road the rest of the season, considering their recent road streak and their current home losing streak. But, that's not going to happen tonight, as the Canes take on the Lightning at home. The Canes are still ninth in the standings, but have closed the points gap to three.

Canes earn first preseason win

Canes went 1-1 against the Flyers this weekend.

They lost the first game 4-2, the Flyers being all emotional and whatnot because this was their last game at the Spectrum before its demolition, and they had all kinds of ceremonies and stuff.

Then there was today's game, which the Canes won 1-0. It was a lot more exciting than the score makes it seem - the Canes missing on tons of chances with an open or semi-open net. The Canes played a heckuva lot better than they did in the only other time I've seen them play this preseason (that being Wednesday). Staal, Cullen and Walker were some of the regulars in this game - Cullen didn't play the last two periods because he was hit hard and they were holding him out for "precautionary reasons". Samsonov was the one who scored the goal for the Canes.

I took my new digital camera to the game, and came back with 31 pictures. Most of them were blurry or pictures of the jumbotron so I could judge when in the game I took the pictures.

Anyways, this is the best picture of a string showing Scott Walker's fight with Nate Guenin.

And this is a random picture of Brandon Sutter. I have no idea when or why I took this (I think I was aiming at something else), but it's the best one of the bunch.
I debated taking a picture of the blood across the ice when Josef Melichar was struck by a high stick, but I didn't want to seem overly morbid.

And, the Canes have sent some people back down to juniors/Albany after this game. I'm bummed that Casey Borer didn't make it, and also Jakub Petruzalek, just because I think his name is completely awesome to say out loud a few times (try it!).

Making it through this round of cuts is Bryan Rodney, a defensemen who played really really well in today's game.

Next preseason game is Thursday at Nashville.

I'm hungry... FOR A WIN!

Canes lost 5-1 to Ottawa last night.

Do they still do that pizza promotion in Ottawa where, if the home team scores 6 goals they give away free pizza? Canes, next time you insist on playing like crap, please, at least be courteous enough to give the fans something in return...

Man, now I'm hungry...

Anyways, I turned the TV off feeling okay with the Senators leading 1-0 after the first. (Hey, Ugly Betty was on!) The Canes had killed off most of a 5-on-3 (no thanks to you Bret Hedican!), where, had Cam not pulled some astounding saves, the game could have easily been 3-0.
And then I turned the TV back on right as Ottawa scored their 4th goal of the night, 3rd in the second period.
*sigh* So much for optimism...

Yeah, so they sent Casey Borer down to Albany today. Why, I don't know, because I thought he was playing just as good as the rest of our defensemen (and better, in some cases...).

And they also play Edmonton tonight. Who is cruising the bottom of the West, as we are the East. Maybe we have a chance for a win tonight? Please?

Canes play pretty well over weekend

Two games this weekend. One win and one loss. Sounds vaguely familiar, I'd say.

First game was a 4-3 win against Atlanta.
Michael Leighton played his first regular season Canes game, and looked pretty good in it. A little shaky to start off, but he got into the groove as the night went on.
Casey Borer got his first NHL goal. I want this guy to have a permanent spot on our roster. He's looking more solid than half the vets on our defense.

Next game was a 1-0 loss against the Blues.
Didn't watch too much of this game, but apparently the Canes played pretty well, but just couldn't get anything past the Blues goalie. Surprising that Leighton got the starts in both games this weekend.

Next game is Tuesday against the Bruins.

Canes lose in OT; Leighton called up

Canes lost 5-4 against the Thrashers in OT last night. My notes:

- Defense was sort of lame.
- Cam Ward was consistent: 1 shot out of three went in.
- Casey Borer looked completely awesome for his first NHL game. Good, crisp passes - few defensive breakdowns (saying something for a Canes defenseman...) - and a little physicality too!

Anyways... big news today! John Grahame was placed on waivers and Michael Leighton was one of a trio called up from the minors today.

Looks like Rutherford is a little fed up with the goalie lameness of late, eh? I think it's a good move - maybe it'll spur Cam into playing a little bit better. Or, heck, maybe Leighton will kick rear in net. Either way, it can't hurt to call him up at this point.

Next game is tomorrow against the Thrashers (again).

Erik Cole stats: 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 9 goals, 18 assists

Hooray football!

3-0 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Sadly, I'm not talking about the Canes (who lost their third preseason game 4-1 against the Predators), but, instead, I'm going off on one of my forays into NFL-Land.

Yep, the Green Bay Packers are 3-0 after their win over the Chargers today. And Brett Favre tied Dan Marino's all-time TD record.

So, yeah, I'm pretty much in football bliss right now.

Anyways, back to hockey... Canes won their second game Friday against the Predators. I can't really remember anything important about that game... (even though I attended it...) Casey Borer, a defenseman, scored a goal and an assist... Um... Cam Ward looked pretty good... Final score 3-0, held Nashville to 18 shots... Lookin' good so far...

I really have to start writing this stuff down... That is a pathetic game recap.