Trade deadline recap

Well, the NHL trade deadline has come and gone. Not too exciting this season - most of the trades had occurred before today, and there weren't too many superstars being tossed about as in previous years.

Canes-wise, Rutherford continues his mantra of "reduce, reuse, recyle" by bringing back Cory Stillman from the Florida Panthers for Ryan Carter and a fifth round pick. I mean, I guess there are worse former Canes that could come back into the fold. Stillman did manage to score a goal in his first game back with the team, and the Canes didn't really give much up for him, so I guess there's not too much that can go wrong with this trade.

Today the Canes picked up Bryan Allen from the Panthers (I think Florida traded away their whole team over this past week - seriously, there was barely a trade they weren't involved in) for Sergei Samsonov. I think it's a good move, giving some more support on the back end and hopefully giving Samsonov a location where he can be a little more consistent and get more playing time.

Since my last post, the Canes have gone 2-2-1, giving them an overall record of 29-25-9 which is good enough for 8th in the East and 3rd in the Southeast. So, yes, they're just barely squeaking in the playoffs at this point, two points above Buffalo in 9th.

It seems like this team is playing mediocre right now. They have good games (beating Pittsburgh) and bad games, and they often have to have comebacks or let the opposing team get back into the game. Not the most confident of play going into the playoffs. Just the fact that they had a chance to steal 7th place from the Rangers in their game on Tuesday and they failed doesn't give me too much of a warm and fuzzy feeling. 

But who knows, with this team, it seems that as long as they can get into the playoffs they'll have a decent shot. This week presents another close to a must win game, in Thursday's game against Buffalo. A victory over them could go a long way to securing that playoff spot.

Erik Cole stats (18th): 1 goal
(22nd): 2 assists
(25th): 1 goal, 1 assist

Chad LaRose stats (18th): 1 goal
(26th): 1 assist

Weekly Game Recap

So I'm smack in the middle of my Spring Break, and I will say that I am enjoying the nice weather around here. Some nice hockey too, believe it or not.

Starting with last week, the first game after the trade deadline, the Canes increased their winning streak to seven with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Manny Legace had a shutout going until former Cane Matt Cullen scored on him.

Of course, every good thing must eventually end. The Canes lost the following game to the Florida Panthers 4-1. Of course, this is the first game in a month and a half where I had actually seen the Canes, and of course they were horrible.

I would also like to find out the stats of how many goals Cory Stillman has scored against us since going to the Panthers. It seems to me as if he has scored in almost every game - apparently he was taking notes while he was with the Canes.

The Canes rebounded by beating the snot out of Atlanta 4-0 on Sunday. It was the first shutout of the season for the Canes - which is incredibly depressing.

Tonight the Canes played an excellent game against the Washington C[r]apitals, forcing them to overtime. And, oddly enough, the last regulation loss for the Eastern Conference-leading team came against the Canes. Can you believe that? Are we the kryptonite to the C[r]apitals? That's actually kind of beast.

I was extremely surprised while watching this game. The Canes were playing with Washington - an action-packed end of the third period with many chances on both ends. I hadn't seen that kind of good hockey from the Hurricanes in an incredibly long time - and to think that this is happening with a good bit of our team traded away!

Hopefully the Canes can keep the mojo going for tomorrow night's matchup against Pittsburgh - I look forward to booing Sidney Crosby and his Canadian gold medal. Go America!

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 1 goal
(Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 5 goals, 9 assists

Canes win in OT!

Canes won 2-1 over the Panthers in overtime last night.

Last night was completely awesome for me, as I not only got to attend the game, but I also sat in the lower bowl. And I was really close to the ice:
And, if you don't think that's close to the ice, then you have much better seats than I usually do. Jealous!

The only problem with said seats is that I don't really like the end section that low - it's sometimes hard to judge what's going on down at the other end.

Anyways, I thought the Canes played pretty well. I really appreciate Tuomo Ruutu that close to the ice - I saw a lot more of the fighting for the puck along the boards and the physicalness that he plays the game with.

Justin Williams scored his first goal since coming back from injury, and it was a power play goal as well! That goal was the deciding factor until the third period - Cory Stillman came out of the penalty box into a breakaway.

Canes played well in the overtime, Joe Corvo scoring the OT goal. I imagine it looked something like this shot, taken in the second period:Except that the goal was scored on a backhand. Whatever. Use your imagination.

Anyway, the point is that the Canes won against a division rival and took over 8th place in the East. YaY Canes!

The next game is on Saturday, away against the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins.

Corvo notches a hat trick!

I think today's game showed who came out the victor in the Commodore-Stillman/Eaves-Corvo trade.

Canes won 5-1 over Ottawa. Joe Corvo had a hat trick and Eaves added a goal as well.

Meanwhile, Stillman added a mere assist, and Commodore took two stupid penalties for Ottawa - looked like that part of his game hasn't changed any.

Anyways, this game was a very fast-paced, up and down game. Ottawa couldn't get any good chances, and it didn't help they were taking penalties left and right. Or that they only had 3 shots on goal in the second.

This was a nice comeback for the Canes after the Buffalo debacle. Next game is against Atlanta on Wednesday.

GAH! Canes trade Commodore and Stillman!

The Canes have traded Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman to the Ottawa Senators for Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves.

Holy crap, I didn't see this coming.

Well, okay, I did see a trade coming. And I had a feeling Stillman was going to get gone (My dad called him "Still-boy" because he reminded us of the Pillsbury Dough Boy out on the ice) - but Commodore? I mean, he was one of our top D-men (and we need all them we can get!).

I miss the hair already.

So, we got a defenseman and a forward in return. Corvo I don't think really stuck out at me a "trade for me" kind of guy, but Eaves I'm pretty sure is a good, young forward.

Hey, if they help us win, then I'm cool with it.

In completely different news, a scary incident last night in a game between the Sabres and Panthers, where Richard Zednik had his neck cut by a teammate's skate. Luckily, he's in stable condition right now. (Link to YouTube video - I personally can only watch it once)

I'm glad to hear that he's okay. Get well soon, man.

We'll see the new Canes acquisitions tomorrow against the Bruins.

Canes win in OT

So yesterday I looked at the clock:
- saw 3 pm
- went "crap" because I had forgotten the game was in the middle of the afternoon
- turned on the TV
- saw the Islanders score their first goal
- turned off the TV.

Canes won 3-2 in overtime, in a come-from-behind victory!

Yep, the Canes were down 2-0 heading into the third, but Wallin and Commodore scored goals in the third to force OT and Cory Stillman got the OT winner!

Tonight's game is against the Islanders as well. And it's Ray Whitney figurine night!

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 lose to Flyers again

It just occurred to me that I did not post a game recap for the Flyers game.

Canes lost 3-1.

There. Now I'm done.



Just kidding.

Canes didn't play too well, allowing Philly out to a 3-0 lead before Cory Stillman's PP goal. Cam Ward did not look good - he was sliding all over the ice, waaaay out of the crease numerous times.

Hopefully the Canes can pull it together tonight against the C[r]apitals.

In complete randomness, here's my blog's "readability".


I feel smart!

One natural hat trick for Mr. Stillman

Canes flattened the C[r]apitals 5-0 last night.

This win was certainly helped along by a Cory Stillman, who scored the game's first three goals - all in the first period. The second goal was absolutely stellar - Stillman beating Kolzig with a move I didn't even know he could pull off!

Eric Staal got the other two goals for the Canes.

And - Cam Ward finally got the shutout he deserved! He stopped all 35 of Washington's shots.

Things certainly are looking good for the Canes.

Next game is Thursday against the Lightning.

Oh - Happy Birthday Erik Cole! The best power forward evah! turns 29 today!

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
On the season: 3 goals, 8 assists

Canes win against Florida

Canes won 4-2 against Florida on Saturday.

Game was solidly played. Chad LaRose notched one and Trevor Letowski got the game winning goal. (!) The Canes powerplay connected twice, Cullen getting a goal, and then Stillman getting the other.

And, unlike the last Florida debacle, no diving penalties were called!

And, in completely unrelated news - I dyed my hair red again! YaY!

Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
On the season: 3 goals, 3 assists

Heels win; Canes play tonight

Canes play Boston tonight.

According to TSN's Ice Chips, Cory Stillman will miss at least a week after injuring his knee in Montreal.
Great. Just what we need, a change in the lineup after we won a game for the first time in what seemed forever.

In other news, Dook lost their third game in a row to the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Nothin' could be finer...