skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Hmm... it's been almost a month. I suppose I should write something about this team.
Overall, the Canes are 5-6-3 with 13 points - enough to gain them 11th in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the Southeast. This is slightly worse than last year around this time, where the Canes were 7-7-0 and 10th in the East. Oh boy.
I haven't been keeping up with the team as much as normal... but what I've been able to listen to and read about on the internet does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Eric Staal, our wonderful captain, is taking after the last captain in that he has the worst plus/minus in the league at -16. (Out of all the things to take after Brind'Amour in, he chooses the plus/minus...) He also only has 5 points through 14 games and hasn't gotten a point in the last five, which is not necessarily the rate that we want our star player to be producing at.
Another alarming trend for the Canes is that they seem to not have enough fire in the game (specifically the last two losses).
"I don't have an explanation for it, but we did not have the fire in order to win that game," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "And that's the bottom line. Whether it's your passing, your hitting, whatever it is."
The above quote was taken from the recap from the Washington loss on Friday. The part that is concerning to me is the "I don't have an explanation for it" section - he's the coach, he ought to have a reason for why the team plays like crap. Granted, this is coming from someone who was hoping the Canes would completely tank so that Maurice was fired - but it really really frustrates me to be reading these sorts of quotes. Because what happened after the Washington game? The Canes turned around and lost to Dallas in a game that wasn't even really a game after going down early. You would expect to see some change, but apparently that's too much to ask.
I go back to a game two weeks ago, where the Canes lost in a shootout to the Ottawa Senators. The led the Senators in shots the first period, and I actually had a warm and fuzzy feeling about the team. They then allowed Ottawa to score two goals in the second and the team generally plays like crap from there on until five minutes left in the the third when Ruutu scored a fluke goal. I don't think I've ever been so frustrated at a game I wasn't watching. Listening to Chuck K call this game was like listening to every poor game from last season. The Canes can't score and only play at tops 20 minutes of good hockey, hoping that a last minute drive will pull them out of a hole.
Because this team seems like the exact same team as last year, with some cast changes. They're frustratingly inconsistent and seem to be going nowhere. I don't see anything changing, which is not good as the present is not looking particularly positive. I really really hope they get rid of Maurice - I hate to see anyone out of a job, but I really don't see what option the team has. Nothing is different. Nothing is exciting. Nothing is making me want to turn off Pandora and listen to the Canes while I work. I know that waiting for me is a team with a lack of passion, at least until the third period when it could be too late.
So, yeah, that's my bitter monthly update.
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
I think I must be some sort of shootout magnet. Three out of four of the games I have managed to watch this season have gone to a shootout - I suppose I must apologize to those who dislike the practice, expect December and January to have a lot of shootouts if current trends continue.
But let's rewind to Wednesday, when the Canes made a trade. They acquired Ian White and Brett Sutter from Calgary for Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk, Sutter being waived the next day to be sent to Albany. (For those wondering, Sutter is current Cane Brandon Sutter's cousin). Having seen him in action, I can say that White is a smallish defenseman who looks to be pretty solid in the defensive zone - he stepped in pretty well in a pairing with Joni Pitkanen both Friday and Saturday.
I'd say, from this early vantage point, that it's a good trade for the Canes. White seems like a good defenseman, who would certainly be an upgrade from Anton Babchuk's flightiness (I'm not too sad to see him and his seasons in Russia go, although his slapshot might be missed.) Kostopoulos is a good character guy, but not a core part of the Canes team. And I won't miss struggling to spell his name while blogging.
Also on Wednesday the Canes won 7-1 over the Ottawa Senators. Generally a win of this goal differential would be something I'd celebrate, but it doesn't seem right to be cheerful, as the Senators had attended the funeral of the assistant coach's daughter earlier that day.
So let's move on to the two games I was able to view, one on the television, and one in person. The former was a 5-4 shootout loss to the Penguins. I thought the Canes played extremely well in this game, constantly battling back from being down a goal. They really played up to the Penguins level, which I was certainly not expecting, having seen the boxscores from the previous week. They also got a point in the standings, in spite of the refs (and the War Room in Toronto), who showed that they could use a new contact and hearing aid prescription. A goal in the third period was allowed for the Pens where the whistle was clearly blown before the puck crossed the goal line. Luckily, the Canes were able to come back once again so that the call didn't cost them the entire game.
The next shootout loss was last night against the Predators. Where the Pittsburgh game was offensively powered and fun to watch, the Nashville one was defensively driven and kind of a snoozefest.
Interestingly, the same three shooters were chosen for both shootouts - Jeff Skinner, Jussi Jokinen, and Patrick O'Sullivan. Skinner and Jokinen I understand, but I just do not understand the choice of O'Sullivan. Granted, he didn't get to show his stuff in the shootout against Pittsburgh, but I wasn't impressed last night. I somehow get the feeling that Paul Maurice keeps writing down "8" thinking Matt Cullen's on the bench, and then is somewhat disappointed when he realizes it's a different guy in the jersey.
Anyways... a more successful week for the Canes than the previous, I'd say. I was very impressed with the play against Pittsburgh - definitely gives me hope for playing well in other close games this season. Currently the Canes are 9th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 20 points - movin' on up. Up next for the Canes are the C[r]aptials on Wednesday and the Bruins on Friday - not easy matchups in any sense. Hopefully they can play like they did this past Friday and maybe get a win out of one of them.
And my final thought for this post: Make sure you're voting for the All-Star Game! I'm officially on the Paul Bissonnette bandwagon!
Erik Cole stats (Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 4 goals, 6 assists
Chad LaRose stats (Wednesday): 2 goals, 2 assists
On the season: 6 goals, 6 assists
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
So the Canes' season is slowly winding down. Amazingly, they're not yet eliminated from the playoffs, and their recent play seems to just be staying that inevitability for the longest possible time.
Cam Ward came back for Monday's game against Atlanta, and stopped 26 of 27 for the 4-1 win against the Thrashers. From what I could tell from the radio broadcast, it sounded like the Canes were playing sloppily in the first period, but then turned on the afterburners in the second and third.
The consolation prize of this game? Atlanta's playoff chances significantly dropped after this loss to us. So I guess winning isn't all that bad.
The Canes also won 2-1 against the Canadiens on Wednesday. I think I listened to part of this game, but I honestly can't remember much of it. Other than the fact that Cam Ward looks just as sharp as he did before his prolonged injury leave, which is a good thing.
Then came the 4-3 shootout loss against the Senators last night. The Canes looked to have this one wrapped up, but let Erik Karlsson score with 7.7 seconds left in the third period. His goal assured the Sens of a point and a spot in the playoffs. The Canes then proceeded to lose in the shootout.
And, now for something completely different...
So I had this whole thing typed up about what made me start blogging and how my life has changed over the past year with college and lack of time and lack of Canes-game viewing and how I don't post a lot but I still love blogging, blah blah blah. But I couldn't end it very well, and to be honest the beginning wasn't that great, so here's a bulleted list:
- This blog is awesome. It's been going since April 2nd, 2006. That's four years!
- My readers are awesome. I may not get bazillions of visitors each day, but even the fact that one person wants to read what I write is amazing. Keep on rockin' you guys.
- I am awesome. I think four years is a pretty cool accomplishment.
- The Canes are awesome and hockey is awesome. Okay, maybe this year the Canes aren't that awesome, but hockey makes my day, every day.- And, finally, Erik Cole is awesome. Do I seriously have to qualify this statement?
Thanks for visiting, everyone. How about four more years?
Erik Cole(Monday): 1 goal
(Wednesday): 1 assist
On the season: 10 goals, 4 assists
Chad LaRose(Monday): 1 assist
(Wednesday): 1 assist
(Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 8 goals, 12 assists
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
Remember that last post where I said that the Canes had to maintain a .780 winning percentage to get close to making the playoffs? Yeah, well, guess which team has won four of the last five? No, not the New Jersey Devils, you moron. The Canes!
The only loss in this past stretch was against the Nashville Predators last Thursday. It's been a week so I don't remember the details, but pretty much just picture the normal underwhelming offence and pathetic defense and there's the game.
The Canes played the next night against the Colorado Avalanche, winning the game 2-1. Ray Whitney scored both Canes goals, including a laser that took Budaj off guard to open the second period. Cam Ward had a shutout going until Colorado scored with 16 seconds left in the game.
The main story in this one, however, was the multitude of fights that peppered the first period - 15 penalties assessed in the first period alone, with 8 of them being for fighting or roughing. The bad news for the Canes was that Tuomo Ruutu, who fought with Darcy Tucker to settle things (Tucker was the guy Ruutu hit from behind to get suspended earlier in the year), injured something in the fight and did not return to the game. Not good news for this injury-plagued team, as Ruutu will be out for a few weeks.
The Canes then won 4-1 against the Senators and 4-2 against the Leafs. Neither game was on TV, so I can't give you much of a recap other than, uh, we won.
Interesting fact: Rod Brind'Amour has 3 points and a +3 in the past four games - perhaps his contributions are the reason the team has been winning? I sure it certainly doesn't hurt the team.
So the Canes head into tonight's game in Detroit on a 3 game winning streak. Unbelievable, isn't it?
Wow.
Have you guys looked at the standings lately? Can you believe it? I can't. I mean, I was doubting we were even going to make it into eighth, let alone fifth!
So, while I was gone (two weekend trips to colleges and two class presentations due in consecutive weeks will zap the drain any blogger), the Canes won three in a row, making it five overall? Six? I don't even know anymore. All I know is that the Canes are winning when they need to be, and in games they don't necessarily dominate.
Anyways, links to recaps because I'm lazy:
3-2 OT win in Florida
2-1 win over the Senators
2-1 win in Jersey
The next game is Thursday. Four out of the last five are at home! Hopefully the Canes can keep up their winning ways!
So, the Canes have managed to gain two points on eighth place in their last three games. Sound pretty bad, but it's actually good considering that means other teams had to lose in the process.
On last Friday, the Canes played Tampa and broke their home losing streak by winning 4-1. Really, they should have had more goals as they had numerous breakaways and opportunities (Ray Whitney can't hit a net if his life depended on it, it seems). Not to mention they outshot the Lightning by 28.
Although, my personal highlight was Tim Conboy's fight against Steve Downie. Not really good, but I love the wild haymaker at the end to bring them both down to the ice.
Next was the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Matt Cullen got his first career hat trick in the 5-2 win. And... I can't remember anything about that game. Oh well.
Then, last night, the Canes lost to the Senators 4-2, breaking their streak of beating teams they're supposed to beat and winning on the road. This game was not fun to watch, primarily because Cam Ward looked absolutely horrible for a good portion of the first period, and the third Ottawa goal just kind of ruined the night for me.
Yesterday was also the first day on the job for new Rangers coach, John Tortorella. For the good of the rest of the Eastern Conference, he really should just throw in the towel and let the Rangers continue on this slump they're in.
Today the Canes assigned Brandon Sutter to Albany for a conditioning stint. It's a shame because I liked him, but it will probably do him good to actually play in the games, rather than sit on the bench during them.
And, it looks like the current lineup is the one we'll have for the rest of the season. Rutherford essentially says here not to expect any sort of movement from the Canes.
Tomorrow the Canes play Buffalo. A pretty important game, both for fan pride, and for the fact that the Canes are only one point behind Buffalo in the playoff standings. Hopefully the Canes won't crap out like they did the last time they were in this situation.
Chad LaRose stats (Sunday): 2 assists
On the season: 13 goals, 8 assists
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.
The Canes are seriously disappointing me right now.
I did not watch Thursday's meltdown against the C[r]apitals - I chose to go instead to my school's play, an $8 that was worth it both for the quality of the production and the fact that it kept me from throwing something through the TV, as I surely would have done at home.
Yep, the Canes went from leading, to tied, to losing, all within a little under three minutes.
Over and over again, I have stressed that the Canes need to play a full sixty minutes. Here's a perfect case in point.
And my mom says that I should just be happy that the Canes won last night. Yes, they won. Good for them. Came back from a 1-0 deficit in the third period.
But what about the first two periods? They played like crap. That was an utterly lackluster hockey team on the ice last night. To be honest, I'm getting sick of it. I want to see well-executed hockey for the entire game, not just a one-period flurry and the other two periods being merely okay. That's not a way to win a championship, that's for sure.
Granted, the Canes are missing a lot of people due to injury. Hopefully when we get Cullen & Pitkanen back, our power play will finally connect. But Rod Brind'Amour seems completely non-existent on the ice (maybe after-effects of his knee surgeries?), and Eric Staal looked like he took some bad allergy medicine or something - he was not playing anywhere near his best, it just looked like he was going through the motions out there.
A positive thing I have to say today? Well, Peter Laviolette, with the unimpressive win by his hockey team last night, became the winningest American-born NHL hockey coach, surpassing John Tortorella Good for him!
The next game is Sunday against the Thrashers. Hopefully they'll be able to start opening up Lavi's lead on Tortorella...
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.
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 lost 5-1 to Ottawa last night.
Do they still do that pizza promotion in Ottawa where, if the home team scores 6 goals they give away free pizza? Canes, next time you insist on playing like crap, please, at least be courteous enough to give the fans something in return...
Man, now I'm hungry...
Anyways, I turned the TV off feeling okay with the Senators leading 1-0 after the first. (Hey, Ugly Betty was on!) The Canes had killed off most of a 5-on-3 (no thanks to you Bret Hedican!), where, had Cam not pulled some astounding saves, the game could have easily been 3-0.
And then I turned the TV back on right as Ottawa scored their 4th goal of the night, 3rd in the second period.
*sigh* So much for optimism...
Yeah, so they sent Casey Borer down to Albany today. Why, I don't know, because I thought he was playing just as good as the rest of our defensemen (and better, in some cases...).
And they also play Edmonton tonight. Who is cruising the bottom of the West, as we are the East. Maybe we have a chance for a win tonight? Please?
Canes lost 6-0 to Ottawa last night.
The game was pretty fast paced, especially in the first period. Unfortunately for the Canes the fast paced-ness went in favor of the Senators, Ottawa jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first. The 3rd period was particularly miserable to watch, the Senators scoring another three in that period.
The most important thing coming out of this game is probably Scott Walker's fight in the beginning of the second. After the fight was kinda-sorta broken up by the linesmen, Walker head-butted Mike Fisher and is now suspended for one game by the NHL.
Perhaps it's my middle-school-era humor coming up, but I think saying "Headbutt" is pretty funny.
Scott Walker being suspended (especially for doing something retarded like headbutting) is not funny.
Canes won 5-3 over Ottawa last night.
Due to the massive cold/cough that I have, I didn't really pay that close attention. But, I watched close enough to gather the following:
- Erik Cole scored two goals! YaY!
- Chad LaRose looks like he's coming into his own. 3 assists last night!
- Dennis Seidenberg shattered a pane of glass with 43.7 left in the second. Refs called the period and played the remaining time after the intermission. (Never would have thought Seidenberg could do that... Dude does not look like a Happy Gilmore, if you know what I mean. (I love that movie))
- Canes let Ottawa score two goals to pull within one waaay too close to the end of the period. Thank goodness Ottawa didn't tie it up.
And, the Canes handed Ottawa their first loss last night. An interesting correlation is that, in 2005-2006 the Canes handed Ottawa their first loss of the year in a 3-2 victory. And guess what the Canes went on to do in that season? Exactly.
I know I just wowed you all with my uncanny ability to remember random stats.Erik Cole stats: 2 goalsOn the season: 2 goals, 2 assists
The Canes are no longer the reigning Stanley Cup Champions.
The Anaheim Ducks have won Lord Stanley's Cup, after a 5 game series with Ottawa.
The Ducks won 6-2. The Senators didn't play very well (or at least, they didn't play well consistently), but the Ray Emery own-goal definitely didn't help their cause.And, I think I know why the Senators were doomed to lose. Yeah... Daniel Alfredsson touched the Prince of Wales trophy. And you Caniacs who saw the Canes do the exact same thing in 2001-02 know exactly what I'm talking about. I remember seeing the picture of him holding the trophy! on NHL.com and thinking "Wow... that's not a good sign."For those who don't know, it's a superstition that you don't touch the conference trophy until you won the Stanley Cup. Otherwise, you're not going to win the Cup.*sigh* Well, there's always next season!
Today Anaheim could win the Cup.On Monday, they won 3-2 over the Senators. The first period of this game was absolutely Ottawa's game, holding the Ducks to only 2 shots.Then, due to my massive headache, I fell asleep, only to wake up during the second of Anaheim's second period goals. I groggily stared at the TV, heard "two goals in a minute" and decided it was time to go to bed.So, then I missed Daniel Alfredsson "shoot" the puck at Scott Niedermayer to end the second period. (YouTube footage!) Pretty class-less move by "Alfie".Anyways... Ottawa needs to win, or this series will end at five. (I think I do a pretty good job of stating the obvious.)
Glen Wesley was resigned on whatever day it occured. A one-year contract for 1.4 mil. It will be his 20th season in the NHL.A good signing, I suppose. He is getting up there in years, but he wasn't the worst defenseman on the team last year, let's just put it that way.As for the quest for the best sports trophy evah!, Ottawa did what they needed to and won Game 3 by a score of 5-3.And let me just state that Chris Pronger is a jerk, and deserves to be suspended for Game 4 after the elbow to Ottawa's Dean McAmmond (YouTube footage here).That is all.
Actual Canes news today! Cam Ward was signed to a three-year contract today! Next season he'll be paid 2 mil, 08-09 2.5 mil, and 09-10 he'll get 3.5 mil.Does anyone happen to know the Canes salary cap status?Anyways, Anaheim has pulled ahead 2-0 in their series for the big shiny silver trophy with a 1-0 win last night.I only ended up watching the first two periods. (By "watching", I mean, having the TV on while I was studying Spanish vocabulary, studying Spanish verb conjugations, comleting a stupid Spanish study packet, finishing a Chemistry assignment, working on another Chemistry assignment, and debating who my Chemistry had to bribe to get awarded Teacher of the Year.)In other words, I was only vaguely aware of the score.Series goes to Ottawa for Game 3. Ottawa pretty much must win, and I'd say they'd have to blow 'em out to gain some momentum.
