Deadline day!

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.

Canes won two in a row : Baby Steps

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.

Canes sign d-man

Proving that I really should check Twitter before I push the "publish" button, the Canes just signed Andrew Alberts, a 28 year-old defenseman, to a two-year/~1mil contract.

And, what I think is the best news, the dude is 6'5". And he led the Flyers in hits last season. Finally (F-I-N-A-L-L-Y-!), the Canes are signing big physical players!

I'm not entirely sure what this could signify in Seidenberg or Babchuk's situations, but at this point I don't care too much. I mean, seriously, the Canes have signed two physical players in two days. When was the last time that happened?

Maybe tomorrow the signing of Ruutu would make it a hat trick...