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
Showing posts with label Colorado Avalanche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colorado Avalanche. Show all posts
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
So, we're winning now?
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?
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?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Canes have issues
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Canes close point gap by two
So, the Canes have managed to gain two points on eighth place in their last three games. Sound pretty bad, but it's actually good considering that means other teams had to lose in the process.
On last Friday, the Canes played Tampa and broke their home losing streak by winning 4-1. Really, they should have had more goals as they had numerous breakaways and opportunities (Ray Whitney can't hit a net if his life depended on it, it seems). Not to mention they outshot the Lightning by 28.
Although, my personal highlight was Tim Conboy's fight against Steve Downie. Not really good, but I love the wild haymaker at the end to bring them both down to the ice.
Next was the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Matt Cullen got his first career hat trick in the 5-2 win. And... I can't remember anything about that game. Oh well.
Then, last night, the Canes lost to the Senators 4-2, breaking their streak of beating teams they're supposed to beat and winning on the road. This game was not fun to watch, primarily because Cam Ward looked absolutely horrible for a good portion of the first period, and the third Ottawa goal just kind of ruined the night for me.
Yesterday was also the first day on the job for new Rangers coach, John Tortorella. For the good of the rest of the Eastern Conference, he really should just throw in the towel and let the Rangers continue on this slump they're in.
Today the Canes assigned Brandon Sutter to Albany for a conditioning stint. It's a shame because I liked him, but it will probably do him good to actually play in the games, rather than sit on the bench during them.
And, it looks like the current lineup is the one we'll have for the rest of the season. Rutherford essentially says here not to expect any sort of movement from the Canes.
Tomorrow the Canes play Buffalo. A pretty important game, both for fan pride, and for the fact that the Canes are only one point behind Buffalo in the playoff standings. Hopefully the Canes won't crap out like they did the last time they were in this situation.
Chad LaRose stats (Sunday): 2 assists
On the season: 13 goals, 8 assists
On last Friday, the Canes played Tampa and broke their home losing streak by winning 4-1. Really, they should have had more goals as they had numerous breakaways and opportunities (Ray Whitney can't hit a net if his life depended on it, it seems). Not to mention they outshot the Lightning by 28.
Although, my personal highlight was Tim Conboy's fight against Steve Downie. Not really good, but I love the wild haymaker at the end to bring them both down to the ice.
Next was the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Matt Cullen got his first career hat trick in the 5-2 win. And... I can't remember anything about that game. Oh well.
Then, last night, the Canes lost to the Senators 4-2, breaking their streak of beating teams they're supposed to beat and winning on the road. This game was not fun to watch, primarily because Cam Ward looked absolutely horrible for a good portion of the first period, and the third Ottawa goal just kind of ruined the night for me.
Yesterday was also the first day on the job for new Rangers coach, John Tortorella. For the good of the rest of the Eastern Conference, he really should just throw in the towel and let the Rangers continue on this slump they're in.
Today the Canes assigned Brandon Sutter to Albany for a conditioning stint. It's a shame because I liked him, but it will probably do him good to actually play in the games, rather than sit on the bench during them.
And, it looks like the current lineup is the one we'll have for the rest of the season. Rutherford essentially says here not to expect any sort of movement from the Canes.
Tomorrow the Canes play Buffalo. A pretty important game, both for fan pride, and for the fact that the Canes are only one point behind Buffalo in the playoff standings. Hopefully the Canes won't crap out like they did the last time they were in this situation.
Chad LaRose stats (Sunday): 2 assists
On the season: 13 goals, 8 assists
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Canes lose lead and, well, lose...
Canes lost 5-4 to the Avalanche last night.
From what I could tell on Chuck K's broadcast of the game, the Canes completely lost it in the third period. Heading into the second intermission, they were up 4-2, and before I knew it they were tied, then down 5-4.
Not cool.
So, yeah, I was glad that the game wasn't broadcast on FSN, because I was at home watching the Pack roasted the Seahawks 42-20. Although, from what I saw on the news highlights, Erik Cole's goal was spectactularly awesome, and probably would have been doubly that, had I seen it real-time.
Canes play Tuesday against Toronto. Some healthy players, a full 60 minutes of hockey, and a win would be nice in that one.
Erik Cole stats: 1 goal
On the season: 10 goals, 18 assists
Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
On the season: 6 goals, 7 assists
From what I could tell on Chuck K's broadcast of the game, the Canes completely lost it in the third period. Heading into the second intermission, they were up 4-2, and before I knew it they were tied, then down 5-4.
Not cool.
So, yeah, I was glad that the game wasn't broadcast on FSN, because I was at home watching the Pack roasted the Seahawks 42-20. Although, from what I saw on the news highlights, Erik Cole's goal was spectactularly awesome, and probably would have been doubly that, had I seen it real-time.
Canes play Tuesday against Toronto. Some healthy players, a full 60 minutes of hockey, and a win would be nice in that one.
Erik Cole stats: 1 goal
On the season: 10 goals, 18 assists
Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
On the season: 6 goals, 7 assists
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