Not a happy ending

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

It's an Erik Cole Christmas!

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!

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

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

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

Rock Bottom

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

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!!!!

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?

Pathetic.

For the love of all things good in the world, can we at least try to stop Evgeni Malkin?

Canes lost 6-2 and are now down 3-0 in the series.

Seriously, the only good thing about this game was the fact that I was able to snap a picture of Don Cherry and not have my camera break.
So, maybe you can't see the features very well - who else could pull off a jacket like that?

This game was just miserable to watch and is now even more miserable to recall. Every time I think of the goals scored by the Pens in rapid succession (in both the first and third periods) I just want to take my keyboard and slam it against the wall.

Game 4 is Tuesday. Canes play like this again and the season's over. Period. End of story.

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 4 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.

Scoring a goal. What a novel idea!

Well, that was pathetic.

Canes lost 5-0 to the Panthers last night.

Last night was a very important game in the playoff standings, and the Canes didn't even bother to show up. Go figure. They can beat down the Coyotes in a meaningless game for the Eastern Conference standings, but they can't even put up a goal against the Panthers. Who are now tied for seventh place, while the Canes are now three points back in ninth.

I can't even put into words my frustration at this team right now. I think the shutout irks me even more than just a plain loss. Not to mention allowing five goals in said shutout (Cam looked like crap, btw).

The Canes had 42 shots, which I think says more about the quality of shots they are taking than the actual effort put forth. Vokoun was barely tested last night. 42 shots and not even one goal! Pathetic.

You can kiss the playoffs goodbye if this is the way the Canes play in a crucial game.

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 get Capped

Yes, I stole that headline from the Canes' website, and, yes, I took a screenshot of it, because I feel it is such a headline that should be saved for our posterity's sake.


Actually, I find it hilarious. And I need a laugh after the turn this season has taken...

I believe the "Laviolette Watch" has begun. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a new coach soon. I'm not advocating this - I like Laviolette, don't think he's done anything wrong, necessarily - but something has to get the Canes going in the right direction again.

*sigh*

Two crappy losses against two division rivals. What more can I say?

The Canes just appeared to implode on Sunday against the Thrashers: Luckily, I wasn't watching it, as the game wasn't televised. Listening to it was no walk in the part, though.

We finally have everybody back from injury - Pitkanen, Cullen, and Sutter returned - but they certainly didn't do anything to stop the 5-1 rout by the C[r]apitals. The only one who bothered to show up at all was Scott Walker - at least he has a goal to show for it.

I'm at a loss here. Something needs to happen - somebody needs to pull Staal's head out of his rear, specifically - but we can't go on like this. We have more talent than this - why can't we show it?

Next game is tomorrow against Atlanta. I predict the seat gets extremely hot for Lavi if the Canes have another blowout. Hopefully they won't...

I'm hungry for a win. And Primanti Bros sandwich.

Canes lost in a pathetic attempt against Pittsburgh 4-1.

Now, granted, the whole game wasn't pathetic. The first period was good, the second period was the start of the decline, and the third period was a crash-and-burn-in-a-huge-mushroom-cloud sort of affair.

Kicking off the good part of the game was LaCouture mixing it up with Paul Bissonnette. And by "mixing it up" I mean getting his butt kicked. But it still was a way to get fired up at the beginning of the game.

Then Brandon Sutter got his first NHL goal off of a Brooks Orpik turnover (yes, it felt good to see Orpik look as inept as, well, our defense does...).

The second period, instead of building upon the success of the first period, the Canes just kind of skated around in circles, not actually doing anything. (Brookbank did make up for the rather lame fight in the first by getting some good shots in on Eric Godard).

Then came the third period, where the Canes just completely imploded. It started with Crosby tipping in a Malkin power play shot, and then 32 seconds later Fedotenko just waltzed through our defense and the game was 2-1.

Note to Canes: A one-goal game is NOT a comfortable lead.

Then I don't even remember the third goal, but it wasn't unexpected because the momentum was completely in the direction of Pittsburgh. And then an empty net goal was the dagger in the heart.

So, in summary, the Canes completely blew the game, not pressing offensively when they needed to and resembling Swiss cheese when they needed some defense, leaving me with a gaping hole of patheticness and a huge craving for a Primanti Bros sandwich. (Delicious sandwich... if anyone is ever anywhere near Pittsburgh, they must get one.)

Jeez, I feel like a broken record. It seems like every single game I'm begging the Canes to play a full 60 minutes. And y'know what? They never do! And y'know what? It makes them play like crap and lose!

So, please, Canes, please, actually put forth an effort in the 60 minutes against the Islanders, okay?

Canes look lame; lose

Canes lost their first preseason game last night against the C[r]apitals 4-1.

They played like crap pretty much the entire time. The game was boring, nothing really exciting or cool happened during it.

No one really stood out, either, except for Joni Pitkanen. He didn't really seem to make much of a presence on the ice - but then I would look to see who took a nice shot and it would be him. Maybe he's like a ninja - you don't see him until he strikes!

Anyways, Niclas Wallin looked like crap. He was a -2 on the night, too.

And the injury bug bit again - Gleason's out with some sort of leg injury. YaY.

Apparently the Canes are tied in their rematch against the C[r]apitals tonight. Hopefully they'll get their act together before the season starts. And hopefully they'll stop getting injured!

Canes lose

Canes lost to the Rangers 4-2 Thursday.

Overall they played like crap.

Erik Cole had the two goals for the Canes.

Sean Avery is a punk!

And that's the extent of this recap. Canes play tonight against Tampa.

Erik Cole stats: 2 goals
On the season: 17 goals, 23 assists

Hey, how bout some defense?

Wow. That was lame.

Canes lost 6-1 to the Devils last night.

The lone goal for the Canes was scored by Keith Aucoin, who I think can be called the Brodeur-Sniper (or some other creative name) because he has scored both his first and second career goals on the guy. Which is pretty amazing, cause Brodeur's one of the best ever...

That's pretty much the highlight of the night. Defensive lapses abound.

I did notice that the Canes did not come out with as near as much of a physical presence as they did in the Washington game. I think that cost them a lot - allowing the Devils to set the tone.

Next game is against the Bruins. Hopefully the Canes'll remember to play defense.

Canes play like crap

Wow, that game was crap.

Canes lost to the Islanders 4-1 yesterday. Here are my notes from the game:

- Refs were absolutely horrible. I swear the Islanders must've paid them off, because all the calls certainly seemed to go in one direction.
- The penalty kill was horrible. Which did not bode well, considering all the penalties the Canes took.
- Ice looked pretty bad in the second, Canes and Islanders slipping everywhere.
- Cullen started the game, but left early because he was "feeling ill".
- Cole needs to drink more coffee or something - it looks like he's missing a little of the jump in his step.
- Grahame didn't look good in goal, but I blame the guys in front of him. A little defense would help your goaltender, guys...
- Seidenberg needs a different hockey stick. I think I counted three sticks broken last night.

Hopefully the Canes got all of their lameness out of their system in 2007...

And in 2008, the first hockey game I watched was the "Winter Classic", which actually sort of lived up to the billing that the NHL gave it. The game was a close game (won in a SO by Sid Crosby) and actually had some offense to it, despite the steady amount of snow falling in Buffalo. I did not envy the players playing in that weather...

First Canes game of '08 is tomorrow against the Thrashers. Hoping for a win in the new year!

Canes play like crap - win anyway

Canes won 3-2 in overtime last night against Toronto in a true example of a come-from-behind-victory!

And, man, did they play like crap for most of the game. They started off strong with 11-ish shots in the first five minutes. And then it went downhill - the Canes looked sluggish and just absolutely boring.

I thought the game was sealed when Craig Adams took a high-sticking penalty with only 3:55 left in the third (which he has since been suspended two games for...).

But then Cory Stillman knocked one in with a little over a minute left and then stripped the puck from a Toronto defenseman (who was looking at an empty net). 58 seconds after the first goal Whitney got a goal to tie the game - on to OT!

And, it almost looked like the Canes were not going to score in OT, having a two-man advantage killed off by Toronto. But, on the single-man advantage Walker finished the comeback with only 33 seconds left in the period.

I was absolutely astounded when the Canes scored a goal in this game, let alone score 2 in the last minute and the OT winner. Nice comeback, but I definitely would have preferred to win the game in the previous 59 minutes...

Erik Cole stats: 2 assists
On the season: 7 goals, 16 assists

Canes hand Tampa first road win

Well, Tampa Bay had lost all of their past 7 road games going into last night's game. Let's just say the Canes helped them to break the streak...

Yep. A 5-1 loss to the Lightning last night.

Canes looked sluggish in the first two periods of the game. Actually, the third wasn't much better, but at least Ray Whitney notched a goal.

An interesting occurence was that there were absolutely no penalties in the first 32 minutes of the game! And, of course, the penalties that they do call are complete crap (read: Vincent Lecavalier penalty shot).

Anyways... Canes played like crap. Not really much else to say other than that...

What's really odd is that Keith Aucoin was sent down to Albany today and Ryan Bayda was called up. I didn't think Aucoin was playing too bad - I wonder why he was sent down? Is there some kind of cap/contract issue I'm not aware of?

Next game is Saturday against the Thrashers.

A bad game and a good game

So, Canes won one and lost one this weekend, both by insane margins.

First, the 7-4 loss to Montreal:
- Canes played like crap.
- Montreal dropped 5 goals in the first due primarily to the Canes horrible penalty kill. Needless to say, Cam Ward was pulled after that period.
- The pretty much only positive was Eric Staal's penalty shot goal in the second, which infused some life into the Canes. Sadly, it was waaaay too late.

Then the 8-3 win over the Islanders.
- I saw/heard absolutely none of this game.
- Rod Brind'Amour had a hat trick!
- Erik Cole was back in action, with 3 assists and a +4 on the night.
- How the heck can the Canes play so bad and then play so good?

Next game is on Halloween against the Panthers - I sure hope we see the team that showed up on Saturday...

Erik Cole stats (Saturday): 3 assists
On the season: 3 goals, 6 assists