On a lighter note

Well, the Thrash came into town and beat the Canes about the head and shoulders tonight. The funny thing to me was that our best period was the one in which Atlanta scored its opposed goals. I mean, the Canes controlled play in the first, but two plays - a great individual effort by Marian Hossa on the first goal and a defensive gaffe (that's a great word) combined with Mike Commodore not covering the two-on-one well for the second. That was the game in a nutshell.

The second and third were quite miserable and the guys seemed lost, despite Cam nominally keeping the team in the game. Ward was our best player tonight and there was nothing he could have done about either goal scored on him.

A few more thoughts on the game:

• Chad "He Hate Me" LaRose seemed to draw just about every Atlanta penalty. It was bizarre. It's like the entire city of Atlanta has a deep wish to see Chad beaten and bloodied.
• My inside voice took over once during the third period on an Atlanta three-on-two break. I believe what I said was "David Frickin' Tanabe! Cover the trailer, damn it!" He was staring at the guy with the puck and not the Atlanta player crashing the net. Luckily it was broken up anyway.
• The high sticking non-call on Pascal Dupuis - When Brindy took the stick up high, half the crowd was irate. I didn't have the benefit of instant replay, but my initial impression was that it probably shouldn't have been a penalty. It looked to me that Brindy took Dupuis' feet right out from under him and, when he was in mid-air from this, he caught Brindy up high. It could have been both of them called for penalties, so it was just as well that it ended up being neither. Granted I could see a replay later and change my opinion, but like the ref, that was my impression on the spot.
• The passing was weak and lazy tonight. After the first period, the Canes made several half-assed, disinterested passes that were easily intercepted by the Thrashers. It was very disappointing.
• Brat Watson made his first appearance at the RBC since "Divegate". I'm actually mad at myself for even typing that. Anyway, the crowd didn't particularly let him feel their wrath. The crowd energy was a bit underwhelming tonight, not that the Canes did much to help it.
  

Vote

All Star Fan Balloting
Vote: Eric Staal, Justin Williams, and Cam Ward are on the ballot.
Feel free to fill in your favorite Canes elsewhere - maybe Rod Brind'Amour, Matt Cullen, or Cory Stillman?

Vote early and often.

I would add Erik Cole to that list, but he is conspicuously missing from the drop down of players. I mean, Craig Adams is the first name for the eastern conference and they forget Erik Cole?

Update: All of the players appear to be in there now.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

It's kind of nice to deliver a spanking like that on national TV when you're the only game of the night. It made a good impression and gets the guys moving in a positive direction. It was nice to see Stillman back. Cam Ward was solid again in net and everyone around him had the legs to bring the game to the Leafs.

Toronto looked slow and confused. At times the Canes looked to be toying with them, which is not something you expect to see on this level. When the guns are firing, the Canes will be a serious force to be reckoned with. The power play made an appearance (with four tallies) and that is a very good sign.

Object Lesson the first

This is how they should play. Every night. Without fail.

Ward and Staal? Awesome and awesome. Nice to get Hamilton and Ladd on the board too. Good game overall for the good guys.

Discipline

Game 1 of 82, the Hurricanes lost in overtime to the Canadiens. A lot of callers on the Aftermath (call-in radio show, post game) complained about the referees, but I think that's a bit of misplaced frustration. I thought the refs called a pretty solid game. The problem was that our guys kept taking penalties.

Discipline is the word of the day. After taking some undisciplined penalties to start the game, Montreal calmed down. The Canes started off disciplined and then backed off. Even with all of that taken into consideration, the real stars of the game were both goalies. Huet and Ward both had some shining moments and kept their teams in the game. Both sides had some great shots and they came up big time and time again.

Carolina's goals were on the other end of the ice from me, but none of the Habs goals could have been stopped. Anything remotely stoppable, Ward took care of. If he keeps up this level of play, we'll definitely win more than we'll lose this season.

The Penalty Killer player of the game goes to Cam Ward, with honorable mention to Chad LaRose for an all around gritty and pesky effort.

On an unrelated note, I got a chance to hang out with Beth of the Sliding Pokecheck, Camille (Acid Queen), and Dave of Red and Black Hockey fame (Happy Birthday!) for a few minutes tonight during the first intermission. We just chatted this time, but hopefully it will be the first of many gatherings.

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.

Tonight's lineup

Player
2 Glen Wesley (A)
4 Dennis Seidenberg
5 Frantisek Kaberle
7 Niclas Wallin
8 Matt Cullen
13 Ray Whitney
14 Brandon Sutter
16 Andrew Ladd
17 Rod Brind’Amour
18 Ryan Bayda
22 Mike Commodore
24 Scott Walker
27 Craig Adams
30 Cam Ward
32 Trevor Gillies
33 Brett Carson
37 Keith Aucoin
39 Patrick Dwyer
43 Noah Babin
47 John Grahame
49 Michael Leighton
51 Jeff Hamilton
53 Casey Borer
56 Jakub Petruzalek
61 Cory Stillman (A)

It looks like Hedican, Gleason, Forrest, Williams, Staal, Letowski, Cole, and LaRose are sitting. I don't think the "official" list sent by the Hurricanes is completely accurate. Three goalies are on the list and, even with that, there are four more skaters than should be allowed to sit on the bench.

It's nice to see Frankie on the roster though.

---

Updated: Canes win 3-0! I figured out the extra scratches and verified it on the 'Canes site. A good win by the boys in red, despite the sluggish start. The Preds came out early fast and hard hitting and the Canes didn't really get things going until the second. Once they got it going, they pretty much had a handle on the rest of the game.

Very strong showing by Cam Ward - he looked calm and in control the entire game and made even the hardest saves look effortless. Casey Borer was very strong on both ends of the ice and started the scoring off, adding an assist later for the second goal. I also liked Sutter's play and Seidenberg. It was nice seeing early chemistry between Matt Cullen and Scott Walker.

The power play (well, all one chance) in the first didn't look impressive. In the latter half of the game, it was a different story. It looked dangerous and the Preds did a good job killing the penalties off.

Some side notes: Jordin Tootoo is a punk. Also, I had no idea that Shane Willis was out on the ice tonight, despite his late penalty. That pretty much sums up what kind of night he had. The only Preds I noticed consistantly were Tootoo, Erat, and Radulov. Radulov was everywhere it seemed. I remember Yonkman because his name is funny and he took a stupid penalty. He was charged with interference technically, but what he really did was swipe Aucoin (I think) across the face with the butt end of his stick as Keith tried to get past him deep into the zone.

Boost to morale

John Grahame failed the 25% rule tonight, but the return of Cam Ward (who only had to face 4 of the Caps' 10 shots) and a resurgence early in the third period gave the Canes a needed two points. The Canes remain in 8th place for now, although a regulation loss tonight would have dropped them 11th, below Toronto. The race is incredibly tight, so every point will count from here on out.

Footnote

Well, Cam Ward got to be a historical footnote tonight, but at least he got the win. Sidney Crosby picked up his 200th career point, surpassing Wayne Gretzky as the youngest player to reach that milestone in NHL history. It's always impressive to surpass the Great One in anything. The span is even more impressive. Gretzky was almost 20 when he got 200, whereas Sid the Kid still has some five to six months to go.

The game itself started a breakneck speed, both teams rushing up and down the ice at very high speed. The pace was startling and could not be maintained. The Penguins were the better team in the first period, but the Canes came back and gained some momentum in the second, even though the Pens tied it up shortly after they gave up the lead. Scott Walker was in the right place at the right time for both of his goals, keeping the Canes in the fight for the playoffs still.

Timing

If the Canes had to choose a pivotal game to win, this was the one. Not only are the Canes competing directly with the Habs for a playoff spot, but as luck would have it, Atlanta and the Islanders lost tonight and Tampa is in a dog fight with Florida at the moment (4-4 at the moment. 5-4 Florida win in OT, that's something).

Brind'Amour and Ward were on fire tonight. Ward was rock solid early on and basically kept the Canes in it before the offense kicked into gear. I enjoyed the game thoroughly from both sides - there was a lot of flow and back and forth action. Montreal is some kind of snake bitten right now and their fans can't be feeling comfortable with this state of affairs, especially with Huet going into surgery.

Back from the dead

OK, I decided enough was enough and it was about time for me to get back into the hockey blogging game. I have been completely out of touch with forums and message boards in the time I was "away", so it will be interesting for a while. A few things have happened recently to catch my attention...

1. If Josef Vasicek is the answer, I'm not sure I want to know what the question was. Josef, known now on the PK as "the Answer" (imagine the "Practice? We're talking about practice" speech in a czech accent), was acquired for Eric Belanger. Maybe JR thought we had one too many Erics on the team, or that he just wanted to get "the band" back together since we got Tanabe on the cheap at the beginning of the season. Regardless his reasoning, the Answer is now back with the Canes. We tried to warn Preds fans about Big Joe when the trade for Walker happened, but some lessons must be experienced.


2. Streissand's antics We have a numbers crunch on the roster when Frankie gets back and Streissand pulls a diva and won't report to Albany? What in the hell is that kid thinking? I've read that the human brain doesn't full mature until around the age of 25, and that was my first impression upon hearing Babs didn't want to report because he is an "NHL player, not a minor leaguer". Did someone not explain it well enough? I met the guy and his English seems OK. Although, to be fair, he only said two words. He looked liked he understood though. Whatever.
   
3. Forty minutesNot the average time on ice for El Capitan, rather the amount of time this season that the entire team has been healthy. Forty minutes of Kaberle back in the lineup and playing before Stillman went out. This team is in the thick of things and hasn't been healthy all year. One hopes they will be able to fully recover and make enough noise to get into the playoffs. Things are awfully tight.


4. Sugar Ray Who would have thought that our most productive player would be Whitney? The guy put up very good numbers last year, but was battling health issues. He's been healthy this year and leads the team in scoring by a bit, not to mention the monster 5 point night he had in Boston the other night. Wow.


5. The Key With everything going on with the Canes, the key to their success is still Wardo. The past two games, Ward has been simply outstanding. If he continues to play this way down the stretch, the Hurricanes might get healthy and on a roll into the post season. Only time will tell.

I'll try to keep things updated more often, but family, work, and various hobbies are keeping me busy all of the time. Adios.

Power failure

Wow, I am finally able to make a game and this is what I get? The whole team looked sloppy and out of sorts last night. Cam Ward actually played pretty well, but he had little to no chance on the various breakaways and odd-man rushes caused by careless turnovers. When your team is -2 on the power play, you're going to have problems.

I was concerned when we clearly outplayed the Habs in the first period, doubling their shot output, and had nothing to show for it. The second period was all Habs and I knew it would take something to turn the tide. That something never came and it ended up as a 4-0 blow out.

We're in Ottawa on Saturday, taking on our former goalie and his new team. I would make a Darth Vader/Obi-Wan analogy, but the prequel ruined it for me.