Great win, two sent down

I was unable to actually attend the game tonight (my wife was out of town and I was not about to take my kids since they were not in the best of spirits today). I gave my tickets to a friend and listened to Chuck and the letter K on the radio.

My impressions:

• Cam Ward is a stud. The kid played out of his mind and should have an interesting season if he continues this level of play.
• Nine rounds of the shootout? Damn - that would have been something to see. I hope someone has some video somewhere. Hamilton and Cullen are blanked and it's Andrew Ladd who nets the winner? Huh?
• Penalties much? What in the hell was going on?

Before the game, the Canes sent Borer and Carson to Albany, bringing the Canes to their opening night roster. Not unexpected, and I'm actually excited that we have three guys (including Babin) who can step up at defense should we need it.

So, we're done...

It appears, according to the N&O, that JR is done tinkering for the moment. OK, so where does that leave the Canes right now? Here is a possible lineup that would keep scoring depth down to three lines; four if Hamilton and LaRose have some chemistry.

First Line: Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Cory Stillman
Second Line: Rod Brind'Amour, Andrew Ladd, Justin Williams
Third Line: Matt Cullen, Scott Walker, Ray Whitney
Fourth Line: Jeff Hamilton, Craig Adams, Chad LaRose

Top Six Defense: Bret Hedican, Glen Wesley, Niclas Wallin, Mike Commodore, Frantisek Kaberle, Tim Gleason

Utility/Extras: Trevor Letowski, Dennis Seidenberg, some prospect who has been playing well

Strengths: Scoring depth at forward, Shootouts (Cullen, Hamilton, and Whitney would be my first three), Faceoffs (Brind'Amour and Cullen)
Weaknesses: Depth on defense - I'm not confident in the ability of Hedican and/or Wesley to make it through this season intact. Who is behind them and ready to step up should they go down? Casey Borer? Brett Carson? Jamie McBain? I don't know enough about them to be confident that they'll be able to step up any time soon. Seidenberg is serviceable, but only just. Unless we kiss and make up with Babchuk, we're an injury or two away from a scary situation.

We could always re-sign Tanabe, who I really think played pretty well last year, despite numerous detractors. Sadly, that would make me feel a little bit better about the defense situation; and that's saying something in itself.