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.

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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.

We're off to see the wizard

Whitney re-signed for three years for around $3.55 millon per. That was quick. He mentioned that it was the easiest negotiation he had been involved with and he probably could have done it without his agent. That's always nice to hear.

I've been watching as many playoff games as possible in the meantime. When the Canes aren't directly involved, I find that I develop my favorites somewhat organically. I watch several games and discover who I am cheering for. I was cheering for Vancouver and Pittsburgh so far. That's not to say those are my Finals picks, but those are the teams I have been pulling for. I'm watching Buffalo and the Islanders right now and I haven't quite picked one yet; the same goes for the Rangers and Thrasher - my heart's just not in it. I have a soft spot for Nashville, so I'll be keeping an eye on their series with San Jose too.

Playoff Picks - Round 1

Eastern Conference
Buffalo (1) vs Ny Islanders (8) - Buffalo in 5
New Jersey (2) vs Tampa (7) - Tampa in 7
Atlanta (3) vs NY Rangers (6) - NY Rangers in 6
Ottawa (4) vs Pittsburgh (5) - Pittsburgh in 6

Western Conference
Detroit (1) vs Calgary (8) - Calgary in 7
Anaheim (2) vs Minnesota (7) - Anaheim in 6
Vancouver (3) vs Dallas (6) - Vancouver in 5
Nashville (4) vs San Jose (5) - San Jose in 6

Ouch

Hedican - concussion; Williams - the ever popular "upper body" injury; down 4-1 in the third period to the Rangers in a exceedingly tight playoff race. Things are getting messy for the Hurricanes, bordering on ugly. They're not playing bad hockey, but this is a dangerous time to start losing players and games.

In even bigger news, Foppa is on his way to Music City. Huge trade and pushed the Preds, already first in the league, into legit Stanley Cup favorites. This is a move akin to the Hurricanes picking up Weight and Recchi last year. Good for them. They had the guts to pull the trigger and go for it all.

The other shoe drops

Well, Nashville has turned around and sent Belanger back to the southeast division in return for Vitaly Vishnevski.

I wonder if JR knew about this beforehand or he was surprised. I know GMs don't generally like to trade within the division.

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.

Quick Hits

I'm back, more or less. I was finally able to see a complete game last night and I'm going tonight, so I'm pretty happy on that front. It's been a while and life has been crazy. Anyway...

The Atlanta Thrashers are up to their old tricks - things start going against them and they throw an on-ice tantrum and start up with the cheap shots. Atlanta may be on top of the division, but as Rick Flair says: "To be the man... WHOOO... you gotta beat the man." They haven't.

The Penguins are blossoming. Last year Sid the Kid was on his lonesome and tearing up the league, now he has Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin taking the load off his shoulders. I'm happy for Staal; I know he had a ticket back to junior pre-printed, but he earned staying with his play on thei ce. Malkin is phenomenal - At least a goal in each of his first 6 games is an amazing feat, one not performed in 89 years. That team will be deadly for the next few years, depending on how the RFA contracts for Staal and Malkin iron out. They'll come up the same year, and that won't be nice on the Pens' payroll. Both players should hit free agency at about age 25. Yikes!

I'm not surprised at how poorly Boston is playing. I wasn't as impressed with their offseason moves as everyone else. I am surprised by Philadelphia though. That whole situation is insane. More surprising than either of those is that the Central division looks basically unchanged from last year; Nashville and Detroit at the top (reverse from last year) and the other three teams languishing in the cellar. I think Chicago has a better chance of the bottom three of making a move, but it all depends on Havlat getting healthy.