Shootouts galore!

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

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 

Giant Week Recap

Sorry, guys. I've been a bad blogger of late. Unfortunately I have been positively swamped and I haven't been able to keep up with a rapid rate of games this past week.

So, let's kick it back 8 days to the Canes OT W over Pittsburgh 3-2. They won the game on a wicked shot from Jamie McBain with about a second left in overtime. Considering the fact that McBain has 6 points in 7 games with the team, I'd say he's looking to be an asset on defense.

Then the Canes lost to Buffalo at home the next day 5-3. Buffalo scored three goals in 7 minutes in the second to turn the tide their way. I wasn't able to catch any of this game, but any loss to the Banana Slugs Sabres leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Canes also lost to the Lightning 3-2 in overtime. I wasn't happy with the outcome (St. Louis only 29 seconds into OT), but I was extremely pleased when both Erik Cole and Chad LaRose scored within 20 seconds during the second period.

Tuomo Ruutu's season ended on Thursday with shoulder surgery. He had apparently been playing through the pain for a while, and he's expected to be out 4-5 months. I guess it's a good thing that we're not in the playoffs - his loss would be devastating.

Then came the Canes victory over the C[r]apitals in a shootout - a game I got to watch! And let me just say that I find it amazing that we can play Washington like this and then lose immediately afterwards.

An interesting theme of the game was rookie defensemen scoring. The Canes came out fast in the first period with a nice shot by Jamie McBain, and then followed it up with Bryan Rodney's first NHL goal about seven minutes later. Getting a 2-0 lead in the first is always a good thing when you're going up against the best team in the East. For the C[r]apitals, John Carlson also scored his first goal, although unfortunately it had to be the tying goal in the third.

Then came the hero of the night - Chad LaRose won the game by scoring on his first ever shootout attempt. After much jubilation my reaction was: Seriously? This guy has never had a shootout attempt in his career? I mean, a few seasons ago you would have thought that the Canes would've tried anything to get a shootout goal.

Maybe this means LaRose will be a regular in the shootout rotation? Doubtful - but wouldn't that be awesome?

And then, after that great win against Washington, the Canes lose 4-0 to the menial Thrashers. I guess they felt they should keep someone's playoff dreams alive, since their poor play crushed ours in November.

So what did we learn after this week? The Canes like to either win in a tight OT/SO game, preferably beating a giant, or they like to be blown out by teams.

Oh, and, despite my fervent adoration for Chuck Kaiton (he's the man!), watching games on TV is still superior (for both attention span and remembering what happened). Even if I do have to put up with the Washington announcers.

Erik Cole stats (Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 9 goals, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Last Saturday): 1 assist
(Tuesday): 1 goal
On the season: 7 goals, 10 assists

A Ramblin' Recap

A lot of games have happened in the past week, and once again I find myself apologizing for a late recap. Unfortunately they don't schedule physics test around breaks in the hockey schedule.

Let's go back to last week, where the Canes, coming off of an overtime win over the C[r]apitals, also managed to somehow pull out another overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning by a tally of 4-3. I say "somehow" due to the fact that the Canes came out extremely sluggish and got behind 2-0 only 6 minutes into the first period. It looked like the Canes were feeling effects from playing hard the night before, but luckily they snapped out of it with goals by Whitney and Boychuk to end the period 2-2.

The Canes kept it close, and Brian Pothier knocked in a quick goal in the overtime period to win the game (off of a nice pass by Ray Whitney - Ray is certainly shining especially bright now that there's little other starpower on this team).

Before I go on to the next recap, let me vent a little. Hey, Pittsburgh fans who attended the game at the RBC Center (there were a lot of them, probably because the game was matched up against ACC basketball involving a team wearing blue...): Wearing Steelers gear does not equate to wearing Penguins gear. Yes, I get it, all of your city's teams have the same colors. But maybe you could wear paraphernalia for the game which you're actually attending? I'm especially talking to the people waving the football-specific Terrible Towel. If you want to show up and cheer for the opposing team, that's cool, but maybe you could at least try and look like you didn't stumble into the wrong stadium?

So, of course, with back-to-back wins against Washington and Pittsburgh, some people immediately get the idea that this is a playoff team and we can run the table, blah blah blah. For those of you who think that, please look at the next two games as evidence to the contrary: A 4-0 beatdown against Phoenix and a 5-2 loss to the Bruins. Both were poorly played games against teams the Canes needed to beat to keep their playoff hopes *snort* alive. The Canes especially needed to play well against the Bruins, as Boston is holding on to the 8th seed - but apparently only Erik Cole got that memo, contributing both goals for the Canes.

But, not a team to quit, which after this season I'm not sure is a good thing anymore (goodbye, good draft pick... although I seriously doubt we could have out-tanked the Oilers for the number one...), the Canes pulled out another win against the C[r]apitals, winning in overtime 4-3 in a wild one last night. It looked like Chad LaRose had put the dagger in with 1:35 left, but Washington had to score with 9 seconds left to send it into OT, where Ray Whitney scored the winner.

I understand optimism, and most of the times I am hopelessly optimistic when it comes to my sports team, but let's be real. The Canes are not a playoff team. They do not deserve to be in the playoffs. If by some miracle from above they make it in, it says more about the weakness of the rest of the Eastern Conference than it does about this team. Yes, apparently they are kryptonite to the C[r]aptials this year. But for every win against Washington, there's a blowout to an opponent they should have beaten. This season is not something that I'll want to look back on, and I don't want to extend the misery with an ill-conceived playoff run. Harsh words, perhaps, but true ones.

(Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?)

Erik Cole stats (Last Thursday): 1 assist
(Tuesday): 2 goals
On the season: 8 goals, 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Thursday): 1 goal
On the season: 6 goals, 9 assists

Canes won two in a row : Baby Steps

Well, how about this?

The Canes won their first game on the road on Monday, beating none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.

The Canes got out to a 3-0 lead in the game, letting the Pens score two in 49 seconds to make the game close again. But, really, we all should be used to that by now, and it's a sign of the Canes' improving play that they didn't actually relinquish their lead completely.

Notably, Andrew Alberts scored his first Canes goal in that one as well.

The Canes followed up that road win with a 4-2 road loss against New Jersey tonight, which can be considered a victory from the perspective that we did not allow Martin Brodeur to overtake Terry Sawchuck's shutout record. Not that I dislike Brodeur or that I don't want him to get the record - I'm just glad it didn't happen against us.

The scoring was almost opposite of the Penguins game; they allowed the Devils to score three, then the Canes came back to score two but were finally put away by an empty netter at the end.

This game also marked the return of Cam Ward from that nasty laceration injury. No word on what's going to happen with our two backup goaltenders - Michael Leighton was put on waivers earlier this week, so I assume that he'll be going down.

Finals week for me starting Friday, so expect either no posts or spacey random rambling thoughts about the upcoming games. In other words: business as normal. Which apparently people are attracted to, as this blog was able to advance to the second round in the Canes Blog-Off. Currently I'm tied for second (or last, but I'm feeling optimistic tonight), so maybe go over there and vote for me? Because, as we all know, "If you ain't first, you're last".

(And, yes, I just mentioned that quote so I could post a clip of that movie.)

Speaking of video clips, I plan on entering this contest, as soon as I get a mind-bogglingly awesome idea for it. So be prepared.

Canes are on the road again Friday in Washington. I think it's on Comcast, so I should be able to watch it once I get out of my Calculus exam.

Canes drop two

Since my last post the Canes have gone 0-1-1. Awesome.

The Canes lost 5-2 to the Lightning, allowing them to get their first win of the year. I was able to watch a lot of the third period, which means I was able to tune in just in time to see the Canes give the game away by letting Tampa score 3 goals in succession. Ryan Malone got a hat trick in that one.

Then yesterday the Canes lost in a shootout to the Penguins. Again, I tuned in just in time for the third period - although this one had somewhat of a better experience. Ray Whitney single-handedly tied the game with his two goals. Unfortunately, he couldn't knock in another one (in regulation or in the shootout) and the Canes lost in the shootout, despite pushing the Pens to 6 rounds in the shootout.

Watching the highlights online, I must say that, first of all, Ray Whitney should be in front of the net more often, as both of his goals were redirects off of his stick out in front of the net.

Secondly, Cam Ward is a beast. I was going to post a clip of one of his saves, but at the end of the game he had so many. The goals were not his fault, mainly a lack of defense there - but this game easily could've been won outright by the Penguins if it wasn't Ward making the stops there.

Some concerning news for Caniacs is that, according to the Canes' Twitter feed, this is the second time Eric Staal has been held out of practice. He played in the game last night, but I think there must be some kind of injury if he's not practicing. Why else would you hold your star player off the ice?

The next game is Saturday against New Jersey. I know it's early in the season, but I haven't been overly impressed by the Canes... perhaps they can begin to turn it around?

And so the season ends...

Pittsburgh Penguins won 2-1 in Game 7 last night, thereby winning the Stanley Cup.

Well, at least it wasn't a repeat by Detroit, right?

I didn't watch too much of the Finals, although I did watch most of the game last night. It wasn't interesting to me - I didn't care who ended up winning because I didn't want either team to win it.

That said, Game 7 was as Game 7s always are - action packed and full of tension. Detroit scored late to make a true game of it for the last minutes of the third - one of their shots went off the crossbar and Fleury somehow managed to save a point-blank shot with one second remaning. Props to Max Talbot of the Pens for scoring both of their goals.

And so now begins the long boring hockey-less offseason. Only four months until October!

The Song is Over

The Canes ended their postseason run in a 4-1 loss to the Penguins, allowing them to sweep the series.

Not the best of games. It started out well, with Eric Staal quickly scoring the first goal. (Remember, the Canes had won every game that he scored in... up until this one. Talk about giving us Caniacs false hopes...). Then, our defense repeatedly let us down and the Canes never got on the scoresheet again.

And, seriously, the second goal by the Pens nearly made me cry. Cam? Where the heck were you this series? The Cam Ward of rounds 1 & 2 would have never let that one slide...

This was just a series I would like to forget. There really was no good play in it (excepting Chad LaRose - he looked like the only one who remembered the previous two series).

And I, on the behalf of the Carolina Hurricanes, would like to apologize to the rest of the NHL fanbase who will now be subjected to a Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup Final (barring anything crazy happening in the West). And, of course, Pittsburgh touched the stupid Prince of Wales trophy (which all of us Caniacs around for '01-'02 know is a big no-no.) meaning that, if tradition/superstition holds, the stupid Wings will raise the Cup... again.

Argh. This series was frustrating. Everyone who watched the Canes knew that they could play better - but then they decided to revert back to December crappiness in the middle of May and here we are, swept out of the playoffs.

Well, at least we have the good memories against New Jersey and Boston, right? (That's what I'm telling myself at least...)

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 5 assists

Pathetic.

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

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

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

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

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

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 4 assists

That could have gone better

Well, crap.

Canes are down 2-0 in the series after losing 7-4 in Game 2. Definitely territory we haven't been in this playoff season. (However, for you optimists out there, don't forget Round 1 against Montreal in 2006).

The first period was a good one. I think. I didn't actually see it due to an awards ceremony running 40 minutes over. But the score was 3-2 in favor of the Canes (5 goals in a period! Of course I miss the most offense intensive period of the whole playoffs) with goals by LaRose, Jokinen, and Seidenberg.

Then came the second period, where the Canes didn't play as well. They looked to be going in the third with only a tied game, but they allowed the Pens to score with only eight seconds left in the period.

The third period just went downhill from there. Evgeni Malkin got a hat trick (Memo to Versus - nobody actually cares about his parents celebrating. Just FYI.) and the Canes let the game get away from them with sloppy play. The interesting part of the period was what happened with less than two minutes left. There was a huge scrum at the end boards, Bayda got a match penalty for high-sticking (I think?) and then was consequently fined $2,500. I don't really know what happened - I don't think Versus really went over it and if they did I didn't listen because I was just ready for the stupid game to be over.

The Canes certainly need to put out a better quality of game if they hope to beat the Penguins. The Pens driving offense (along with poor defense and effort on the Canes part) killed us in this game. We need to take it back to Raleigh and set the pace in our own building.

The Canes can do this. It'll be tough, but it can be just another comeback for them.

Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
Playoffs: 4 goals, 7 assists

Here we go again...

Well, the Canes are down 0-1 in another series, having lost last night's game 3-2.

This game wasn't quite as bad as the other first games, but it was still pretty horrible nonetheless. The Penguins first goal was scored after a pretty decent Canes powerplay - the puck got behind said powerplay and Miroslav Satan came out of the box right into a breakaway and scored on Cam.

Then our defense just decided to give up on the period. The Pens scored less than two minutes later, giving them a two goal lead in the first. The Canes never recovered from this early deficit, although they definitely tried, especially in the third period. But, sadly, even the fast last minute rush couldn't save the Canes in this one.

A bright spot for the Canes was definitely Chad LaRose. He had the Canes first goal (thanks to a nice drop pass from my man Erik Cole) and would have had another had that same Erik Cole not pushed Hal Gill into Fleury to prevent Fleury from stopping the puck. Oh well.

Erik Cole actually was playing a very good game - until he left with a possible knee injury. Add Tuomo Ruutu to the possible knee injury list and that's not a very good outlook for Game 2. As of right now, there's no info on either injury - no news is good news, right? Hopefully?

Game 2 is Thursday. Hopefully the Canes can continue their playoff winning pattern *knock on wood*.

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
Playoffs: 3 assists

Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
Playoffs: 3 goals, 7 assists

The major storylines

A lot to talk about on this Monday, the start of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Firstly, the series-winning goal by Scott Walker got a lot more significant, considering he announced that his wife had been recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. From the N&O article:

"The last couple [of] games, I don't even really remember playing them," Walker said. "I talked to [Maurice] about that. I played those games, and sometimes I would look up or at the end of the game, I'd be like, 'Wow, we just played a game.' I was trying to do my job and play as hard as I could and try and keep my mind as calm as I could. After that game [Thursday], so much emotion went out of me."

I know my thoughts are certainly with the Walker family as they deal with this. Luckily, his wife is expected to make a full recovery.

On a much more happier note, the Canes-Penguins series begins tonight! Let me tell you ahead of time what the Versus coverage will consist of (enabling you to put the TV on mute and instead listen to Chuck K):

- OMG! Sidney Crosby is in this game! Let me repeat that again - SIDNEY CROSBY IS IN THIS GAME! And guess who he beat in the last round? ALEXANDER OVECHKIN! Sidney Crosby had 8 goals in that series! SID CROSBY SCORED 13 POINTS IN A SERIES AGAINST AO! SIDNEY CROSBY!!!!!!!!

- Hey! There are two guys named Staal in this series! Isn't that wierd? And, get this, they're brothers! Wow, that's like the first time that's happened in like, ever! And, get this, they have two other brothers that play hockey! It's like, a whole family of hockey players! That's like a completely new concept!

- Remember that guy Erik Cole? You know the guy who checked him from behind? He's on the Penguins! And Cole's on the Hurricanes! And they're going to play at Mellon Arena, where Cole got hit! Wow, it's like they've never faced off against each other!

I think the most pathetic thing is that all of these subplots have been covered when these teams have played in the regular season (I should know, I've yammered on about them enough)- it's just all of a sudden they've been blown out of proportion because it's the playoffs - but you would think there would be new material for the playoffs, not just the same old storyline. But I guess that's too much to ask.

Anyways, here's some random Pittsburgh blogs I've run across:
Pensburgh
I Bleed Black 'n Gold
Igloo Dreams
The Pensblog

The series begins tonight!

We're in!!!!

The Canes clinched a playoff spot with an overtime win over the Penguins last night!

Unlike other recent games, the Canes didn't look as well put together in this one, relying heavily on Cam Ward to bail them out. Luckily, Ward was up to the task, blocking 35 shots (including an Evgeni Malkin penalty shot that shouldn't have been called because he got a shot off on the powerplay - but whatever) and just generally looking spectactular.

Chad LaRose notched another one, and Anton Babchuk blasted one in overtime to win the game and the playoff berth.

YaY! It's been far too long in Carolina without a postseason - I am so looking forward to it!

Oh, and video proof that Sean Avery is a punk (if you needed it, that is). Respect for Tim Thomas just went up about five notches after that.

Next game is Tuesday against the Islanders.

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
With the Canes: 2 goals, 9 assists
On the season: 18 goals, 20 assists

Chad LaRose stats: 1 goal
On the season: 19 goals, 12 assists

Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?

The Canes can clinch a playoff spot by winning tonight against the Penguins! This is so excellent, because that means the Canes can bomb the rest of their games and still make it into the playoffs! (Think bombing all of the final games is impossible? Please refer back to last year.)

And the game is against Pittsburgh, which pretty much guarantees a fun game to watch. And the weather is beautiful, so it's perfect for tailgating! YaY! April with playoffs in sight is so exciting!

But let's go back to the 4-2 win against the Rangers, hm? I must, of course, begin this recap with the obligatory: Sean Avery is a punk! Seriously, that dude has issues. It was a good thing that most of the Canes didn't put up with his crap and didn't shy away from hitting the punk. Joe Corvo I especially remember giving Avery some of his own medicine.

That being said, there were so many uncalled penalties! Don Koharski is pretty much the worst ref in the league - clutching, grabbing, blatant interference - and none of it was called! (Or, rather, the marginal stuff was called against the Canes, but the obvious stuff was never called.)

Although, I guess it did contribute to the playoff atmosphere - not very many calls are made in playoff games (or has that changed? It's been so long since we played in the postseason...). Also, the fans at the RBC Center certainly made it a playoff atmosphere - after Rod Brind'Amour scored, the building seemed about to burst it was so loud. Definitely decibel levels that hadn't been seen since the spring of '06.

Speaking of goals, Chad LaRose was absolutely electric in the game, notching two goals and seeming to always be in the right place at the right time. So awesome to see him score two!

Oh, and in reference to the post title - that is one of my favorite football ads, believe it or not. I think it's because of the quotability of it.

Chad LaRose stats: 2 goals
On the season: 18 goals, 12 assists

Canes win two!

The Canes have broken out of their losing slide with a two-game winning streak!

The first win came against Toronto, a 2-0 shutout on Monday. I didn't see it, as it wasn't on TV, but apparently Cam Ward was spectactular.

The second win was last night against Pittsburgh. They played so much better than in the last game that I watched. And Cam Ward was awesome as well, definitely making the saves he needed to make, and the ones that were almost impossible to stop. The defining moment, I thought, was the kill of Tim Gleason's double minor to end the game. Canes were perfect in stopping the Penguins 5-on-4 and then 6-on-4 drive.

The next game is way after the All Star Break. Hopefully they'll remember how to win like this next week!

Chad LaRose stats (Monday): 1 goal
On the season: 10 goals, 3 assists

Same old, same old

Well, the firing of Laviolette didn't spur the Canes on to victory - they lost 5-2 to the Pens last night.

Granted, they did come out with somewhat more of a spark than they had in games past. But it was nowhere near what is needed to win, especially against a loaded team like Pittsburgh.

I will say, though, that Tuomo Ruutu definitely ate his Wheaties before the game - he was on fire, crashing the net and just being where he needed to be. Sergei Samsonov, playing on the same line, also was pretty good. (They had a goal and an assist between them).

However, Josef Melichar played on the opposite end of the spectrum, being pretty much directly responsible for two of the Pens goals. Needless to say, I'm not that disappointed that he was sent to Albany today, and Casey Borer and Tim Conboy were recalled.

Justin Williams played pretty well for his first game back from injury - probably better than some of the Canes who are perfectly healthy.

Next game is tomorrow against the Flyers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Canes play Pens tomorrow

So the Canes play Pittsburgh tomorrow. The liklihood of me actually sitting down and watching that game is slim to none, as I have two tests and an essay due on Friday.

Which is a bummer, because Pittsburgh games always prove to be a fast-paced affair with a good amount of goals and action.

Anyways, I'm getting my blogging out now, so tomorrow I have one last thing to procrastinate with...

Canes sent Zack Boychuk down to his junior team. Boychuk played well in the last two games, but I think it's for the better that he gets another year in the juniors and recovers from his wrist surgery.

And, hopefully, we might see him around come playoff time...

That's it for now. Hopefully the Canes will win and not get any injuries at Mellon Arena tomorrow...

Overtime, retirement, and firings

So apparently I missed a pretty good game last night. Game 3 went into triple OT, after the Pens scored two in the first, let in three consecutive and were ~35 seconds away from watching the Red Wings lift the Cup when Maxime Talbot saved the day. Then Petr Sykora won it in triple overtime.

But, I wasn't watching (didn't want to see the Red Wings win, as the Pens performance on Saturday didn't leave me with a lot of hope), and I wouldn't have stayed up for it anyways.

This game does increase the probability of me tuning in tomorrow, but considering all the games I've watched the Pens have lost, and all I haven't they've won...

In other news: Sami Kapanen, the Cane from long ago, has announced his retirement today. He was a fast little skater, and was a part of that special season of 2001-2002.

John Tortorella will not be coaching Tampa Bay next year, being canned from the job today. I'm happy because I thought he was a little arrogant and I didn't like his coaching style - but that happiness depends on the Lightning hiring someone that will enable the Canes to win. Not that having only one line on their won't help with that, it just is beneficial to the Hurricanes if the Lightning can pick up someone moronic.

And rumors are that Barry Melrose, the guy known to me as the ESPN hockey analyst that wears pinstriped suits and gets very little face time since the network dropped hockey games, will be taking the job. Which sounds weird because it doesn't look like he's coached in the last ten years, but it's just a rumor... But, hey, if he makes his team lose to the Canes, I'm all for it.

Which, now that I think about it, is pretty much my outlook on anything that happens in the NHL. Don't steal my players, don't beat my team, anything else is cool. And, if you can hurt Buffalo in any way, that's doubly fine.

Onwards to Game 6!

Now that's just sad...

Y'know what's both pathetic and hilarious at the same time? Watching Marc-Andre Fleury trip coming out of the tunnel in Game 1.

If that's a sign for the way the Pens play in the rest of the series... *facepalm*

So, yeah, Penguins lost 4-0. And the Wings should have had goals earlier in the game - I believe one was called off and a few hit the post.

Game 2 is tonight. Hopefully Pittsburgh will come out and make it an interesting series.