Goodbye again Erik

And so the Erik Cole era ends in North Carolina.

Cole signed with the Montreal Canadiens today for a four year contract at $4.5 mil per year. Considering the length of the contract, it's probably unlikely that the best power forward evah! will be back with the Canes.

Now, this isn't the first time that Cole has left the Canes, but I doubt that Rutherford will trade for him again - the contract is a little unwieldy, and I'm not surprised that the Canes weren't willing to shell out that much.

I seem to be taking the loss of my favorite player a bit better than I did last time. Yeah, last time, when I was a crazy psychotic high schooler, I got all upset and did crazy stuff like change the background of the blog to black. Oh, you all can see I've changed the background again? Guess I turned into a crazy psychotic college student...

Anyways, I wish Erik the best in Montreal - he always played extremely well in their arena, so hopefully that trend will continue - as long as he's not playing the Canes, that is.

Beyond that, the Canes were relatively active today, signing four free agents. They resigned Jiri Tlusty to a one year, minimum amount contract. They signed center Tim Brent, previously of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to a two-year contract. They signed Brian Boucher, rescuing him from Philadelphia goalie hell, to a two year contract for just under a million per. And, finally, they signed Alexei Ponikarovsky to a one year contract for $1.5 mil.

I like Tlusty's contract, if he doesn't pan out, the Canes didn't lose much in the process - maybe he will finally come into his own. I don't know much about Tim Brent, but he sounds like he could be a good fourth-liner with penalty killing ability. Brian Boucher will hopefully be a consistent backup to take some of the obnoxious load that the Canes always put on Cam Ward. And Ponikarovsky seems like a good winger addition. I also can't wait to hear Chuck Kaiton to say that name.

In the article on the Canes site summarizing the day, it sounds like the Canes still want to add another winger to replace Cole's loss (and a big loss that is, considering how he played last season and his chemistry with Eric Staal), but that the Canes are probably going to wait for a trade to make that happen. That probably means that the rest of the immediate summer will be rather uneventful, unless said trade occurs.

All in all, not too bad of a signing day... except of course for the gaping hole left in my heart for Erik Cole. No, I'm not being overdramatic at all.

An active week for the Canes

Quite a bit has happened over the last week and a half - and it doesn't look like the news is going to slow down anytime soon, so let's get caught up, shall we?

The amazingly wonderful Jeff Skinner won the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. I heard the Awards ceremony was pretty horrible to watch, so I'm glad I wasn't quite that bored this year to suffer through it. But I am very happy for Skinner - us Caniacs knew how awesome he was this season, so it's nice to see him get some credit from the rest of the league as well.

The 2011-2012 schedule was released. I'm excited because I'll get to see the Opening Night game for the first time in a few years.

I think I'll take this opportunity to mention the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets move. In short, not a fan. I like the South. I like hockey. I get really really really tired of people cracking jokes about hockey not belonging in the South. So I feel for Atlanta because their fans got screwed and nobody really seems to care. I'll always remember the Thrashers playoff games I was able to attend back in 07 - definitely a lot of fun.

From a scheduling standpoint, the city change completely throws a wrench into the NHL's regional divisions, meaning the Canes and the rest of the Southeast are going to have to make huge trips to Winnipeg multiple times throughout the season. There are rumors that the NHL plans to rearrange the league after this season, which will make a lot of sense. Hopefully the current rivalries are preserved, but I guess we'll see what happens with that later.

The day after the schedule was released, the Canes selected Ryan Murphy with the 12th pick of the Draft. Apparently he's a steal at number 12, but I certainly wouldn't know. His stats show that he could be an offensive powerhouse on the d-line... but he's also a 5'11" d-man. Rutherford, apparently, dislikes drafting size. It worked out with Skinner last year, hopefully it will do the same this year.

Finally, the first day of free agency is approaching, and the Canes are wrapping up some of their players before they hit the market. The two notable signings are Joni Pitkanen at $4.5 million over three years and Chad LaRose for $1.5 and $1.9 mil for two years.

I like the Pitkanen signing - I do like him on the blueline and I think the contract is the going rate for defenseman. I don't think the Canes would have been able to get anyone much better for the same price through free agency, so I like the deal. Of course I like the Chad LaRose deal, and it seems like the right amount for him as well - hopefully he can rebound from this less than stellar past season.

The fact that Erik Cole has not yet been signed is very concerning for this Caniac. I would have thought that he would have struck a deal by now - in my last post it seemed like negotiations were coming along well... apparently not? I hope he and the Canes will still be able to work it out.

Whatever happens with that, we'll find out in a few days. I'll definitely update with what occurs during free agent signing day!

Hockey is over. Sadness ensues.

So the 2010-2011 season is over. Complete. And not the premature "over" that us Caniacs experienced in April - despite our team's failings, there was at least hockey to be seen. Not anymore - no more hockey games until October.

Congrats, I suppose, to the Boston Bruins and their fans. I was cheering them on throughout the playoffs, and it's nice to see them win. I would make some sort of crack about how I'm glad that Canada doesn't have the Cup for another year... but after seeing the riots in Vancouver, I'm beginning to think war might occur if they don't get one soon.

On the home front, there's actually been some Canes news since I last posted. The biggest news is the shuffling of the front office and who's behind the bench. Ron Francis is back at a desk, Tom Rowe is a scout, Brind'Amour is an assistant and newcomer Dave Lewis is also an assistant. Rather unfortunately, we're still stuck with Paul Maurice as head coach for another year. I'm thrilled, and by thrilled I mean that I really hope they don't re-up his contract. I am also sick of my team doing mediocre, so I would like them to do better this year. Just, maybe better because of Jeff Skinner or something and not because of the coach.

Players-wise, apparently contract negotiations have been going on. Today an article was put out on the Canes site about possibly trading for some people because it's not looking positive for Jokinen or Pitkanen returning. Chad LaRose and Erik Cole might be looking to test the market. If both of them go... man, there goes both of my favorite players.

For which I say to Jim Rutherford: Please Please Please Please Please SIGN ERIK COLE!!!! I honestly don't think I could stand him going to some horridly cold non-North Carolina place again. Hopefully he and the team can work something out.

And that's it for now I guess. I'll keep up with whatever little news trickles in this summer.

The life of a bubble team...

This team just can't make up it's mind, can it?

Last post I was talking about how crappy the Canes were looking, and how I didn't really think that the playoffs were possible. Right now they're ONE POINT behind the Rangers who are in eighth, and two behind Buffalo, all three teams with four games left to play. And OBTW, the Canes play Buffalo tomorrow.

And, they actually seem to be playing pretty well. I was able to watch part of the Washington game this Tuesday and the Canes definitely had a bit more pep in their skate than they had previously. Not to mention - they've gone 6-1 in their past seven games.

The question, of course being, is this a case of too little too late? It's nice, I suppose, that the Hurricanes aren't giving up on their season and sitting back - but I can't help that feel that play like this would have helped had they started it a week or two earlier. The chance is still there for a playoff spot, but the fact still remains that the Canes are on the outside looking in and have to both play amazingly and get help from some of the other teams. (Check out Sports Club Stats for a nice breakdown of the percentages.)

Obviously the game tomorrow against Buffalo is key. All of the remaining games are must-wins, but it would seem that the Sabres game is the must-win of the must-wins. If they can't win this one, well, they probably don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyways - a playoff team needs to be able to deliver under pressure, after all.

Is it too much to ask to not be on the bubble one year? Like, just decide that you're going to tank or win at the beginning of the season and stick with it. This is far too much uncertainty at the end of the season for my liking.

Season ends in four games... at the end of this week we'll see if the Canes are going to play more games than that.

(By the way, check out Erik cole's statline from the past seven games below. Dude is en fuego. Much to this Caniac's delight, of course.)

Erik Cole stats (18th): 1 goal
(22nd): 1 assist
(25th): 2 goals
(26th): 1 goal
(30th): 1 assist
(1st): 1 goal
On the season: 24 goals, 26 assists

Chad LaRose stats (22nd): 2 goals
On the season: 15 goals, 13 assists

The playoff forecast is not looking too sunny...

Well, the Canes have tanked, haven't they?

Currently they're 9th in the East, two points behind Buffalo with one more game played. 3-4-1 since I last posted, they're not looking too hot.

I was on spring break last week, enabling me to catch a few of the games, both in person and on the television. Let me say, they don't look good. Honestly, they don't look like a playoff team. I'm not sure they have the 60 minutes of passionate play that is required of them each game night. They definitely don't look like a team playing with the season on the line. I was fairly optimistic that the Canes would get into the playoffs, but after seeing them play, I feel like it's a pipe dream.

I mean, really. What playoff-caliber team goes 0-for-28 on the powerplay? The Columbus game was some of the most depressing hockey I've seen in a very long time. 0-for-9 in that one, with long two man advantages. Playoff teams do not do that. Period. End of story. The Canes have had chances, but it seems they want to blow them and miss the playoffs again.

Granted, while the prospects are looking slimmer with every loss, the Hurricanes still do have hope to get into the playoffs. They did beat Buffalo twice in the past three weeks - gaining them precious points on a rival for a playoff spot. But, honestly, with the way this team is looking, I think it'll be a first round exit if they do manage to make it in. This is coming from me, the perpetual optimist - that's how bad of an impression this team left on me last week.

But, I don't want to be too much of a Negative Nancy, so to lighten the mood this clip describes exactly how I feel about the playoffs:


Obviously the Canes have to win most of their remaining 11 games to make it in. It's gut-check time, to use a cliché, and all we can do as Caniacs is wait and see what happens.

Erik Cole stats (1st): 1 assist
(4th): 1 assist
(9th): 1 goal
(12th): 1 assist
On the season: 19 goals, 24 assists

Chad LaRose stats (3rd): 1 goal
(15th): 1 assist
On the season: 13 goals, 13 assists
(16th): 1 goal

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

Rather delayed recap

I suppose I should start off this post with a sincere apology for not writing about the Hurricanes over the past few weeks. Truth be told, I have had a crap-ton of schoolwork (not just a ton, mind you, a crap-ton) and I honestly haven't paid too much attention to the team.

Let's start with the most recent news. First of all, tonight is Rod Brind'Amour Night, where his number is being raised to the rafters before the Flyers game. In fact, it's probably occurring as I type this. Kind of a bummer that I'm not present for the night, as I had seen both Wesley's and Francis' numbers go up, but unfortunately school schedules don't revolve around hockey.

Also occurring today is the Canes making trades with the San Jose Sharks. They first received defenseman Derek Joslin for future considerations, then traded Ian White for the Sharks' 2012 second round pick.

Looking at what we got, Joslin is a young defenseman who has appeared in a few NHL games over the past three seasons. Rutherford sounds pretty confident that he'll be battling for ice time, so hopefully Joslin will pan out as a good defenseman for the future.

As for what we sent to the Sharks, I honestly barely noticed Ian White when I was able to see a game. Granted, for a defenseman that might mean you're doing your job because that means I'm not noticing your glaring mistakes. But I don't think the Canes lost a key asset in the trade, which is always a good thing.

So, the playoff stretch. The Canes currently have a record of 27-23-8, good enough for 62 points and eighth place in the East and third in the Southeast. The past three weeks they've gone 2-4-2, which isn't that hot, but they've definitely been helped by a tanking Atlanta team. What worries me are the losses to teams like the Maple Leafs and Devils (twice!) - we definitely should be beating them around this time of the season.

What's awesome? Erik Cole. Check out the statline at the bottom of the post and this video of the game-winning OT goal against Atlanta. Certainly makes this Caniac happy to see her favorite player playing well.

The trade deadline is February 28th this year, which seems really early. Perhaps it was just the Olympics pushing everything back that makes me say that. Anyways, I will not profess to have any clue about what the Canes will do. I wouldn't imagine that they'd be sellers in 8th place, but with the Ian White trade occurring today it will be interesting to see if anything does happen - getting rid of his contract does open up some room for the Canes to make a move.

So, to recap, the Canes are in a much better place than they were earlier in the season, which is to say that they're finally holding steady in a playoff spot. As long as they can keep that up, well, not too much else matters.

Erik Cole stats (Feb 1st): 2 assists
(Feb 5th): 1 goal
(Feb 12th): 1 goal, 1 assist
(Feb 13th): 1 goal
On the season: 16 goals, 18 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Feb 10th): 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 11 assists

Quick Canes weekly recap

A quick briefing on the Canes finishing out the month of January before we go into ultimate All-Star mode here.

Over the past two weeks the Canes went 3-3, leaving them at 25-19-6 on the season. Still 9th in the Conference and 4th in the Southeast. Still one point behind Atlanta for the last playoff spot. No, I did not copy and paste this from the last weekly recap, things just haven't changed much standings-wise.

Things have changed since my All-Star preview. There's been a lot of people dropping out because of injuries and whatnot, Sidney Crosby being one of the offenders. But bad luck for some is good luck for Jeff Skinner and Jamie McBain - Skinner was bumped up from the rookie only team to the regular All-Stars, and Jamie McBain was added to the rookie squad. The Canes are definitely well represented now - and I think I might change my team allegiances from "Team Staal" to "Team Skinner".

The All-Star festivities begin tomorrow! I cannot wait!


Erik Cole stats (24th): 1 goal
(26th): 2 assists
On the season: 13 goals, 15 assists

Chad LaRose stats (18th): 1 goal
(20th): 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 10 assists

Canes are looking good

Last Sunday the Canes defeated the Thrashers 4-3 in overtime, Erik Cole scoring the most excellent game winner. The above picture is from his second game star nomination - needless to say, this Caniac was rather excited to see her favorite player play an excellent game.

Honestly, though, the Canes should never have allowed Atlanta to get back into the game - up two goals at 3-1 and they just seemed to let off the gas pedal in the second and third periods. And then the game goes into overtime, which gives a division rival a point... but Erik Cole scored, so I guess that makes it all better.

Then on Tuesday the Hurricanes beat the Flames 6-5 in a shootout. The good news is, again, that the Canes got two points, but the bad news is that they allowed the Flames to score three straight goals to tie up the game.

The Canes then lost to the Sabres 3-2 on Thursday, breaking their eight game point streak. Yeah, that stretched back to December.

To finish up the week, the Canes won against the Southeast-leading Lightning 6-4. This was a really fun game to watch - definitely a lot of offense. There were memorable goals on both sides - Chad LaRose coming out of the box to score a power play breakaway goal stands out for the Canes. For the Lightning, well, that Stamkos kid made the Canes look silly, skating straight up the ice and scoring an easy goal.

So this leaves the Canes at 22-16-6, decidedly over .500 with 50 points, good enough for fourth in the Southeast and ninth in the Conference. So, yeah, still no playoff spot, but we have three games in hand on Atlanta and we're only one point behind them in the eighth spot - so the gap has closed and I would say that the Canes are firmly in the playoff race. Providing, of course, that they continue to play as well as they have.

So now that I'm back at school and my period of being able to view games is over, I think I'll give a list of my collected observations over the winter break.

- Jeff Skinner is amazing. Period. End of story.
- Erik Cole also looks really good. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fangirl. He looks almost back to his 05-06 form - he's driving the net, creating chances and scoring.
- The Canes have serious issues with momentum. They seem to decide to play one and a half periods during a game. This means they start out great and allow the other team to get back in the game after being dominated, or the Canes play like crap in the first two periods and then storm back to victory in the third. Granted, I've become used to this after watching this team for so many years, but it does become frustrating to watch this team go into a defensive shell after they get a two goal lead.
- The call-ups from Charlotte (Dalpe, Boychuk) looked really good. Finally, we have a farm system with useful players!
- The NHL really should consult with me before scheduling games during football season. Missed my half of my team's bowl game and half of the NFL games this past week.

Overall, I'm feeling optimistic for the second half of the season. It seems like things are beginning to click for this team and they're beating teams they need to. This next week will be a test for the Canes, as they play Boston, the Rangers, and Pittsburgh - all teams currently above them in the playoff standings. The points streak has gotten them in the position to compete, now they need to continue their success.

Also, expect an All-Star Game related post sometime soon. In other words, no, I didn't gloss over the fact that Staal and Ward were named our All-Stars this week.


Erik Cole stats (Sunday): 1 goal
(Tuesday): 1 goal
(Saturday): 3 assists
On the season: 12 goals, 13 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Tuesday): 1 assist
(Saturday): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 9 assists

Canes continue points streak

The Canes managed to get points in each of their three games this week, but I wasn't too impressed with their play in any of the games.

It started with a 4-3 overtime loss against the Panthers. The Canes came out incredibly flat in the first period, and it was a testament to Cam Ward that Florida didn't manage to score more than one goal. The second period wasn't much better, and Carolina only began to look good when they were down by two goals. That being said, it was rather depressing when Bryan Allen scored in overtime, putting to rest any sort of comeback idea.

The next game was also an overtime loss, this time losing by a tally of 2-1 to the New York Rangers. This was one of those games where, despite watching it in its entirety, I don't remember a thing about it. (Except, of course, yelling angrily at my television whenever Sean Avery touched the puck). So I'll gloss over this and go on to the next game.

The Hurricanes managed to win the next game, beating Florida 5-3. Yet again the Canes came out flat and allowed Florida to get out to a quick 2-0 lead. Luckily, Jeff Skinner is on the roster, and he scored the next two in the second to get the Canes back into it. A lot has been said about Skinner, and as far as I can tell, he deserves all the accolades. At times you think that he could be the only person on the ice and still manage to beat five opponents and the goaltender - and make it look easy to boot! Not only can he score, but his assist on Cole's goal later in the game was an absolute beauty of a pass.

So this stretch of games leaves the Canes with 44 points, which at this point is good enough for 9th in the East and 4th in the division - 5 points behind Montreal for the last playoff spot, but with two games in hand. Our record is 19-15-6 - finally above .500! And, yes, I furiously just knocked on some wood after that statement. The Canes have fixed themselves a nice little points streak, but I think they could definitely look better. They struggled early in both games against the Panthers, who are not exactly leading the league. While it is wonderful that they can flip a switch and get themselves back in a game, the question remains as to why the switch wasn't "on" to begin with.

This next week has games against Atlanta and Tampa, two divisional rivals who always give us problems - okay, what divisional rival doesn't? - and Buffalo and Calgary. Hopefully the Hurricanes will continue to get points out of these games - although I would prefer that they do it in a slightly more convincing fashion.

Erik Cole stats (Monday): 2 assists
(Friday): 2 goals
On the season: 10 goals, 10 assists

Canes are looking great against bad teams

It looks like the Canes are looking a little streaky at this point in the season. A four game win streak, followed by a three game losing streak, and now we're in the midst of stringing three wins together.

Win #1 came Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. The Canes really didn't look that spectacular in this one, trading goals with the Leafs in the first period. Which wouldn't be too bad except, come on, it's the Leafs. The News and Observer had an interesting article about Rutherford actually going down to talk to the team during the second intermission - somehow I suspect that "come on, it's the Leafs" was an extremely tame version of what was being said.

Perhaps the talk from the GM will have lasting impressions on the season - a convincing win came in the next game, 4-0 over the Ottawa Senators. This is the second blowout this season against the Sens, however, this time the opposing team was not coming off of an emotional day. No, I'm not entirely sure why Ottawa was so lame this time around - although Brian Elliott in goal looked absolutely horrendous. Or perhaps the Canes just looked really good? Either way, Cam Ward earned his second shutout of the season.

Win #3 came as a 6-3 win against the lowly New Jersey Devils. The Canes came out on fire in the first period, opening up with a quick 4-0 lead. Zac Dalpe earned his first NHL goal in the period, although Martin Brodeur had already been pulled by that point. Let's just say that Brodeur looked nothing like he used to in net.

After the marvelous first period, the Canes came out slow and sloppy in the second, only notching five shots on net. Their play probably would have been an issue in any other game - but it's pretty hard to play worse than the Devils this year, and the Canes recovered well in the third period.

So the Canes have fixed themselves a nice three game win streak... against teams that are 10th, 13th, and 15th in the Eastern Conference. Which is good, as it signals that the Canes are beating the teams that they should - and besides the Toronto game, they're beating the teams quite handily. Their upcoming schedule for this week isn't quite as easy - two games against the Panthers, who aren't that great but seem to give the Canes trouble, and one against the Rangers who are currently 6th in the East. Hopefully the Canes can continue their win streak and gain the four points that would put them tentatively in the playoffs.

Erik Cole stats (29th): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 8 assists

Chad LaRose stats (1st): 2 assists
On the season: 6 goals, 8 assists

Canes can't power back after penalties

Things haven't quite gone the Canes way the past two games.

Back before the Christmas break the Hurricanes lost 3-2 to Montreal, and last night they lost by the same score to the C[r]apitals. Both were games that the Canes could have won, and both featured questionable calls by the referees.

For the Montreal game, things were looking up when Erik Cole scored the second Canes goal of the night to put the team ahead by one. Then, nine seconds later, he hit Jaroslav Spacek from behind which earned a five-minute major boarding penalty - the Canadiens scored two goals on that powerplay and never looked back. I'm not entirely sure that the hit deserved a major penalty, but certainly the hit and the call cost the Canes the game.

For the Washington game, the questionable call came in the first period. Tim Gleason received a five minute major for charging and a game misconduct after a clean hit on Mathieu Perreault. It looked pretty rough in real time, but the replay obviously shows Gleason hitting with the shoulder pad, not the elbow... and definitely not charging across the ice for the hit. Looks like the refs were penalizing the amount of blood on the ice from Perreault's broken nose, not the actual play.

The penalty didn't have quite the obvious effect on the game that Cole's did, although I'm sure the Canes would have loved to have Gleason's services later in the game. My peeve for the game was the lackluster effort given in the last few minutes of the game - the Canes were only down by one and had ample opportunity to try for a goal, but it just didn't seem like they had the necessary jump in their step.

So, for those of you keeping track, yep, these two losses do mean that the Canes are back at .500 on the season, 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 34 points. This three game losing streak essentially negates whatever had been gained by the four game winning streak, and the Canes are back where they started.

For me this is frustrating, because the past few games are the first good look I've had at the Canes this season - actually viewing them in action - and I have to say that they're not that bad of a team. They do have the talent to score, but apparently just can't get it done. They're light years ahead of how they looked last season... but if that only means a .500 record, how much better is that? It certainly isn't enough to gain them a playoffs spot, and if they can't make the playoffs, how different is that from last season?

Upcoming this week are back-to-back games in Toronto and Ottawa, then home against the Devils New Year's Day. Hopefully these are all easily beatable teams - if they're not, I will be doubting how serious a playoffs berth can be. However, beating the other bottom dwellers could signify the beginnings of a nice win streak - but hopefully my optimistic side isn't betraying me too much.

Erik Cole stats (23rd): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 8 assists

Chad LaRose stats (23rd): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 6 assists

Special Double Issue!

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

Weekly Recap: Let's just pretend those last two didn't happen

I'd be concerned if we lost by a significant margin to Edmonton, and the other two are toss-ups - hopefully we'll go 2-1 this week.

That was my hopeful prediction last week. The good news? We didn't lose to Edmonton, instead steamrolling them 7-1. The bad news? We got steamrolled by the two other teams we played - 8-1 by the Flyers on Thursday and 7-2 by the Canadiens on Saturday.

This is just depressing. Hooray, we can beat the second-worst team in the league. But, apparently, we can't hold a candle to anything close to the top of the standings. The Canes didn't just lose, they were demolished. The comparisons to last season are already forming in my head.

So let's talk about something else, why don't we? This past week the NHL released their new All-Star game format, which will debut in Raleigh. Essentially, instead of having East and West teams, or even North America/The World teams, the teams will be picked by two players sometime before the Game. Think high school gym floor hockey when you were picked second to last because you were both a girl and unpopular despite your superior knowledge of the game. Yeah, they're doing that in the pros.

Not entirely sure I like the concept - I hope it's pulled off well if only for the fact that this is the game that's being played in Raleigh. The best positive I can draw from the situation is that, with no conference-based teams, we don't have to worry about the NHL implementing a MLB-style All-Star Game where home field advantage is giving to the winning league. But it does nothing for for cheering on geographical rivalries. I mean, how do you decide who to cheer for? Motley group of All-Stars #1 or motley group of All-Stars #2? Probably whichever team @BizNasty2point0 is on. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, just click the link and find the awesomeness. And follow me on Twitter while you're at it.)

Back to the Canes. They currently have 16 points, placing them 4th in the Southeast and 11th in the East. They play Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and Nashville this week. They're getting Patrick O'Sullivan back from healthy-scratchness, and they picked up some random dude (Troy Bodie) off of waivers from Anaheim today. Not sure if either of those will help, but something has got to start the turnaround for the Canes this week.

Erik Cole stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 4 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
(Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 4 goals, 4 assists

Weekly Recap - Canes apparently can't score at home

Yesterday was the end of the first month of hockey (perhaps the only good thing of fall, in my opinion - temperatures really shouldn't ever go below 70). October has left the Canes at an even .500, 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast Division with ten points. In other words, leaps and bounds above last year (do you sense a theme this year?), but overall not spectacular.

This past week we saw the Canes first two games at the RBC Center, and, uh, let's just say that it may not be a bad thing that tonight's game is on the road against Philadelphia. Goose eggs were lain in both the opener against the C[r]apitals and Saturday's game against the Penguins.

Perhaps the Washington game wasn't as bad as the 3-0 score would allow you to believe - I was able to view it thanks to living in C[r]apital country. The first goal was kind of a fluke, Cam Ward being run over outside the crease (and, yes, unfortunately he was outside of the crease, resulting in no goalie interference). Niklas Backstrom put Washington up by two just over midway into the third and then sealed the game with an empty net goal. Michal Neuvirth also looked really good for being Washington's fourth goalie or some similar absurd number.

However, while the game was closer than the score would indicate, I didn't really see anything to write home about from a Canes' perspective. Jeff Skinner continues to impress, but not much else really stood out. Pretty lackluster for a home opener performance, to be honest.

Speaking of Jeff Skinner, he really broke out in Friday's game against the Rangers. Skinner scored two goals and had an assist on Erik Cole's game winner. He seems to be a player that whenever he's on the ice he does something noticeably beneficial to the team (Granted, I've watched all of two games, but the point still remains that this guy looks to be a beast).

Finally, to wrap up the week, the Canes lost by another 3-0 tally at home to Pittsburgh. Let's just say that our current 0-2 home record is not really thrilling this Caniac right now. Yes, it is extremely early in the season, but I, and I think most of the Caniac Nation, would prefer the Canes to not become a road-only team. Especially when I think back to the season we won the Cup - let's just say that the 31-8-2 home record definitely helped. But I think that might be reading way too far into things.

But attempts to improve the home record (or, heck, score a goal at home) will have to wait until Wednesday against the Islanders. Tonight the Canes face Philly away - a Daniel Briere-less Flyers team as Briere was suspended three games for cross-checking an Islanders players straight in the mouth. Look at the YouTube video if you, like me, love to dislike Briere (and Carcillo as well). Hopefully the Canes can stay away from any Flyers thuggery and continue with their good away record.

Erik Cole stats (Thursday): 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 2 goals, 4 assists 

Western Roadtrip Recap

So, the Canes finished up their yearly October roadtrip last night, and I saw or listened to exactly none of them, so let's just do a brief recap.

The obvious stat after this period of time is the record. Currently the Canes have a 4-3 record, which isn't really that great... until you consider that last season the Canes got their fourth win 21 games into the season. From that perspective, the Canes are absolutely amazing this season. Also, considering that the Canes opened up overseas and then went straight into the Western Conference road trip, traveling something like 15,000 miles, I think that their record is spectacular.

Going back through the games, the Canes lost to Ottawa, lost pretty badly to the Canucks, won against the Sharks, lost to the Kings, and finally won last night over the Coyotes in OT.

Obviously, the bright parts are the wins against the Sharks and Coyotes, although the Sharks have not started out as great as last season, having not won a game at home yet. But even the losses don't look too alarming to me - the LA game sounded close and I'm not surprised that the Canes lost to the Cup-favorite Canucks. Perhaps the game against Ottawa should be a win, but, again, I'm just happy that the Canes weren't blown out. Last year definitely does put a perspective on losses.

The best news to me is the distribution of scoring. So often last year, our offensive production (and therefore wins) depended on a few people being able to score *cough*Staal*cough*. This year, we seem to be more well-rounded in the scoring department, only two people on the roster having not notched a point. This is especially shown in the San Jose game, where eleven different Canes got on the scoreboard. A specific player to commend (beyond my two favorites whose stats are at the bottom of the post) would be Eric Staal, who after a slow start in Helsinki, has stepped it up, with 6 points in 5 games. I do think it is a good sign for our season that he is currently at the top of our leaderboard in points.

But just because the road trip is over, doesn't mean that it gets any easier for the Canes. The home opener this Wednesday is against the C[r]apitals, who are never easy to beat, then they must play the Rangers and then the Penguins in a back-to-back. If the Canes can play with Washington and Pittsburgh, then I think we might actually have a worthwhile team this year. If not, well, I'm not pinning the whole season on two games - I just won't be as blindly optimistic.

Erik Cole stats (Oct 14th): 1 assist
(Oct 19th): 1 goal
(Oct 20th): 1 assist
On the season: 1 goal, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Oct 19th): 1 goal, 2 assists
(Oct 20th): 1 goal
On the season: 2 goals, 2 assists

Good start in Finland!

Well, we're 2-0 after two games in Helsinki! Which already means that this season is better than last season - is the cure for a bad start to play two games overseas? Not for the Wild, haha.

But, let's continue.

I was not able to view the Thursday game, which the Canes won by a tally of 4-3. But, viewing was not necessary to tell that Brandon Sutter had a great game, scoring two goals in the season debut. Babchuk and Jokinen scored the other goals for the game.

I was lucky enough to be able to see the Friday game, which the Canes won in a shootout 2-1. My thoughts:

- Minnesota came out with a jump in their step, as evidenced by their early goal. They controlled most of the first period, and were out for blood - several scrums after the whistle and a fight by Tom Kostopoulos.

- The Wild lost their step in the final two periods, which ultimately benefited the Canes. The Canes had something like six straight minutes (a double high-sticking minor and a minor called after that) on the penalty kill in the second period that the Wild squandered. Had Minnesota been able to connect, that could have been deadly for Carolina.

- Cam Ward is the man, at times holding the team's collective head above water. Without him, the Canes would have easily lost the game.

- Jeff Skinner is the real deal. Not only did he score the only shootout goal (and look pretty sweet while doing it), he was an integral part of the play that led to the Canes' regulation goal scored by Tuomo Ruutu.


So, overall, I think it was a successful overseas venture for the Canes. Hopefully the jet-lag won't kill them too much as they come back to the States - after a game against the Senators, they head out West to face the Canucks and Sharks, teams who are both expected to do very well this year. Major test to start off the season? I'd say so. Although, if these two games are any indication, if Cam Ward continues to play well, we definitely will have a good chance at winning.

Erik Cole stats (Thursday): 1 assist

A brief season preview

So, Monday was the FIRST PRESEASON GAME, which, of course, was music to my severely hockey-deprived ears. I eagerly turned on the game once I got back from dinner, so very glad to hear Chuck Kaiton's voice coming from the speakers.

Then I heard the score, which at that point was 3-0 in favor of the Panthers with seven minutes left in the first period. Yes, the Canes went down by three goals less than a period into the new season, all three goals being scored in under two minutes. Needless to say, the radio was turned off.

Granted, it was just the first preseason game. But, let's face it, this is not necessarily what I wanted to see as a Canes fan coming off that horrendous season last year. Luckily the Canes won their next game (Erik Cole got an empty net goal) against the Predators 3-0. They played the Preds again tonight, this time losing by a score of 2-1.

Looking good so far? Well, having not watched these games I can't tell you much, but Patrick O'Sullivan looks like he's making a good case for himself, 2 goals and 1 assist in the 3 games played. The Canes signed him to a two-way contract last Friday. For those keeping track, yes, he is the one who was briefly Canes property in the three-way trade to get Erik Cole back two seasons ago. And, yes, that's pretty much all I know about him, other than a vague idea that he hasn't had the best of seasons of late.

The Canes also signed their first round pick from this year's draft, Jeff Skinner, earlier this week.

And so, now that we're all caught up, this brings me to what will be classified as the season preview. Last season I had the highest of hopes before the season began, only to have them crash and burn shortly after. So, this season, enter skepticism.

We're a young team. I'm not confident that anything will work. Goaltending will hopefully go well, as long as Cam manages to make the saves he ought to. Hopefully the defense won't have more holes than Swiss cheese (for the record, I'm still skeptical of relying on Anton Babchuk). Our offense will hopefully produce and hopefully whatever young guys make the team will be a breath of fresh air. Hopefully Eric Staal takes the captaincy and leads our team to victory. Or something like that.


Do you notice all the "hopefully"s? Yeah, I'm not certain about any of this. In truth, I don't see much different in this squad versus what was on the ice last year. Yes, there are differences, but there definitely wasn't a huge signing or trade over the offseason that I can point to and say "That, that event right there. That's the change that's going to make us a playoff team." Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but not being bad doesn't automatically qualify it as good.


So, we'll see. We're 1-2 in the preseason, but who cares about the preseason? Or at the very least, who cares about games where 1/3 of the roster will actually be playing night-in and night-out? Perhaps the next few games, with more of our permanent faces, will be more telling of our game-readiness, but I think that's doubtful too. Last year we went 2-2 in the preseason, and that was definitely not an indicator of our season in October.

Draft Day 2010

Today is draft day!

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Canes have the 7th overall pick in tonight's draft. It looks like they're pretty content with staying at that spot, so I doubt they'll move up at all.

The Canes site has been previewing the prospects likely to be on the board when the Canes draft, and I have picked out my choice if I was the one making the picks tonight.

Nino Niederreiter. No, I don't know how to pronounce the name, but comparisons to ERIK COLE will definitely get my attention and approval. Apparently he plays a physical game and scored 60 goals in 65 games with his junior team - a power forward for sure. Please, Rutherford, draft this guy. You can always use a power forward.

Anyways, the Canes site also has what amounts to a summary of what's going on with the team. To do a summary of a summary, they might trade some of their later picks for another first rounder, but it would have to be a significant player to do that. Ray Whitney, sadly, seems to ready to part with the team, but Rutherford is still keeping the door open. Justin Peters looks to be the backup goalie and any buyouts will occur after the draft.

Making a splash around the league, the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks traded Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and a prospect to the Thrashers for a first and second rounder, Marty Reasoner, a prospect, and another forward. Which means that the Canes will have to regularly face Byfuglien's presence in front of the net - likely not a fun situation.

Draft starts at 7 tonight!

And so the season ends

Finally, this sub-par season is over. It seemed in November that the end of the season couldn't come quick enough - now that it's over it seems a shame that this team couldn't compete in the weak Eastern Conference playoffs. But every team has to have rebuilding years sometimes, unfortunately this year was the Canes'.

The Canes followed up the All-Star Game announcement with a 5-2 win over the Canadiens. It was Fan Appreciation Night at the RBC Center, which meant free hats. And what's better on hat day than a hat trick? Eric Staal netted three for the Canes and had helpers on Chad LaRose's two goals for a spectacular night. At least the Canes managed to scrape together a good win for the fans at home, something which doesn't always happen on Fan Appreciation Night.

And then came today's game against the Boston Bruins. The Canes were kind enough to allow Boston to clinch a spot in the playoffs in this one. The Bruins were definitely helped along by the fact that Carolina let in three shorthanded goals on the same power play, an NHL record.

Yeah, let's file this game under "Games I'm glad I didn't see". It's games like this that are preventing me from feeling too bad about missing the playoffs this year. Three shorthanded goals - really? That's just not cool.

And so begins the offseason. Stick around, I'll have sporadic coverage on the playoffs, including a special Playoffs flowchart I whipped up in case you don't know who to pull for in the East.

Erik Cole stats (Saturday): 1 goal
Final season stats: 11 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 2 goals, 2 assists
Saturday: 1 assist
Final season stats: 11 goals, 17 assists