When is Training Camp????!!

Okay, okay, so it's not until September 12th!! The only hockey activity between now and then is Pete Friesen's 5K on August 30th. Couldn't we come up with something else?? Since our family couldn't make it to the Summer Celebration 2 weeks ago, we are forced to live vicariously through the N&O and the Canes' website until mid-September. Arghhh!

Now that the team roster seems set for next year (with the possible exception of another late-summer trade for a defenseman if training camp doesn't provide a young stand-out), I guess we are left to just wait to see which of the Albany faithful can garner a slot on the Raleigh team for the start of the season! For those of you who haven't been on top of all things Caniac this past month, we bought out Frank Kaberle's contract and declined to re-sign Babchuk or Seidenberg. So it's "bye-bye" to them, and "hello" to Aaron Ward ~ a standout from the 2006 Stanley Cup run. After kicking our collective butts during the Boston-Hurricanes 2nd round playoff series, Aaron Ward is a welcome addition to our defense and as long as he and Scott Walker can keep things cool between them, we should have a great year behind the blue line!

Our younger players show such promise, too ~ training camp will be so much fun to follow this year. We have Zack Boychuck, who we saw last year for the first time, and Brandon Sutter, who matured a bit in Albany after starting with us last year. Then, we have Mike Murphy, Jamie McBain, Drayson Bowman, and Zac Dalpe. Although our draft picks from this year will probably join us for training camp, I doubt any will see action at the Hurricanes level ~ most will go to junior level or Albany first. The big name, however, that everyone will be watching is center Phillippe Paradis. Our first round pick, he may make a play for a first-year slot like Eric Staal did in 2003.

All-in-all, training camp this year will be exciting to watch ~ mostly because I know all the names and who to watch like I did last year, but also because this year we have traded and acquired players to gain size rather than speed, and it will be interesting to see how that affects our game, which until now has been a fast game where speed conquers size.

Come on September 12th!!!

OMG -- It's Off-Season and I'm Craving Some Hockey!!

Well, I managed to get through an entire season of Hurricanes hockey without posting ANYTHING on this site!! What was I thinking?!! :)

So much happened last season, but I can't imagine trying to cram a recap down anyone's throat at this point in the year. The only thing I can offer from last season is a quick breakdown of what we did as fans, and some great pics!

First, we went to Caniac Carnival again this year, but this time we went early enough that we got wristbands for the autograph session. We now have autographs on our jerseys, which puts us in a whole new Caniac club -- those crazy enough to stand in line for an hour for someone who has no clue who you are to sign your jersey! It was fun, though!

We also bought a 3-pack of tickets from our friends Leigh and Jim who work at the American Kennel Club. With those tickets we got to go to the Canes/Bruins game where they retired Glen Wesley's jersey. That was a pretty spectacular event for us, since we missed the retiring of Ron Francis' jersey a couple of years ago.

Kennedy had a fun Hurricanes year! She joined the Kids Club for the second year in a row, and this time got to go to THEIR autograph session. The only players we got to see that day were the Albany River Rats who had been called up to help out, but some of them have become bigger names as the season continued (Dwyer, Ryan, and Helminan), so now she has seen them play as well. She also participated in the inaugural "Junior Storm Squad" clinic and was given an opportunity to perform as a Storm Squad member at a game in April. She was so excited and we have great pictures from that event as well!

The big news this spring was the return of Eric Cole, who sparked the team and propelled us into the playoffs for the first time in 3 years -- since we won the cup in 2006, actually. We made it to Round 3 by the skin of our teeth, but were just too tired to make it past the Penguins, who eventually beat Detroit to win the Cup! It was a great try, tho -- it put the Canes franchise back in the black financially, and set us up for a great season next year.

The BEST news, by far, however, is the resigning of Eric Cole, Chad LaRose, and Jussi Jokinen. We still are working on signing Ruutu (who I hear is in arbitration at this point), Babchuk (who I could care less about), and Seidenberg, but the first three were the biggies! If we can keep just Ruutu out of the second three, we have the core of the team that made things happen at the end of the 2008-09 season, and with a good training camp should have a GREAT year!

Can't wait for training camp to start -- practice starts in August for some, and training camp in September -- summer drags on wayyyy too long for me without any hockey, but September isn't that far away, and we've got some great talent in Albany looking for a permanent slot in Raleigh, so it will be worth the wait to see who makes it!

Happy Hockey-less Summer to Caniacs everywhere!
(I'll post pics soon!)

Michael Leighton is a Cane!

I love it! The announcement I've been waiting all spring for has just been made public! Michael Leighton, age 27 -- the AHL's goalie of the year for 2007-08 -- will join the Hurricanes roster full-time this Fall with a newly inked 2-year contract to serve as Cam Ward's backup in goal!

His NHL record-breaking 98 saves in 5 overtimes during a River Rat playoff game against the Philadelphia Phantoms this past season was heralded as "historic" and his 7 season shut-outs weren't anything to scoff at either!

I was really concerned that he would get snapped up by another team this summer instead of signing with the Canes, but he earned his spot on the team with his work in Albany this year, and I think we'll have a heck of a combo with Ward and Leighton in goal. Anything else the Canes front office does is just gravy (although I'd be thrilled if Casey Borer or Wade Brookbank were offered a contract as well)!!

It's Official!

The peach-colored rose signifies sadness, appreciation, and gratitude. I post it today in honor of defenseman Glen Wesley, who formally announced his retirement from the NHL as a hockey player today. Glen Wesley, a 3rd-round draft pick by the Boston Bruins in 1987, ended his career after 13 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes. After three trips to the Stanley Cup finals (2 with Boston, and 1 with Carolina), he finally won his ring in 2006 with Carolina. His dedication and professionalism throughout his career will carry him even further as he steps off the ice and into a business suit for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Yes, that's right -- we aren't losing him altogether! He also announced today that he will remain on staff with the Hurricanes as Director of Defensemen Development. I haven't heard of that position before, so it could have been created for him, but if anyone can take our young Albany defensemen and mold them into top-notch hockey players, it is Glen Wesley! It's always hard to lose family members, and it was a bit sad to think of both Glen and Brett Hedican retiring and leaving the team. With Glen Wesley following the lead of Jeff Daniels and Ron Francis and crossing the aisle into the management side of the business, however, we get the best of both worlds -- new blood on the ice in the form of young defensement who can pump a little energy into the team, and the experience and leadership of our veterans. Go Canes!

Lord Stanley, Laviolette, and a Pair of Defensemen

It's been slow out there as the post-season vacuum sucks up all things hockey -- only the run for the Cup is immune from the great off-season hockey void, and that's only if you are enough of a fan to watch EVERY GAME when your own team is out of the race! :)

Oh, are you looking at me?? EVERY SINGLE GAME, you ask? But of course!! First we had to watch the Flyers oust the Washington Capitals... I know a lot of you felt you had to root for Washington because they were the only representative of the southeast division left in the hunt. Not me! I enjoyed INTENSE personal satisfaction watching Alexander Ovetchkin cut down a couple of notches on the ego stick!! :) I guess I don't feel any sense of loyalty to the entire southeast division, so for me, the CAPS had to go! Unfortunately, we lost the Bruins during that round, too. I would have liked to see them go much further than Round 1. With the Bruins out, we turned our attention to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference, and the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference. The Penguin/Flyers series was a lot of fun to watch, and I am happy to see the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in an ice age! Although we aren't too familiar with Western conference teams, we're very impressed with Dallas because of goaltender Marty Turco. He is phenomenal, and I really wish his team had wiped up the ice with Detroit players. I am a true underdog champion, and Detroit has had a much too easy run this year.

This brings us to the Cup finals, which start Saturday night (get your beer chilled and the wings heated!). We will be cheering (praying) for the Penguins. At least there's a Stahl on the team! :) I really think the Penguins can give Detroit a run for their money, but they'll have to work hard for it

So it seems Coach Laviolette's job is secure for the immediate future. The franchise prides itself on being a big family, but the down side of a relationship-driven management process is that it becomes VERY difficult to cut ties and make changes when they might really be necessary. I happen to like Peter Laviolette, but time will tell if Rutherford made the right decision. Who knows what went on during their meetings last week, but the bottom line is that Laviolette will stay and try to pull a winning season out of his bag of tricks. Will he be able to jumpstart the team this year, especially if the team starts out of the gate with 98% of the same players we ended with last season? What dynamics will change that will get Eric Stahl to play more energetically or create real defensive chemistry in front of the net? We can only wait and see...

So, will Brett Hedican and Glen Wesley retire or give us another year? That is the big question on everyone's minds. Glen says he's too busy playing golf to talk about it, and Brett Hedican has been supporting his wife's quest for her own cup! :) He says they are relocating to California regardless of what he decides to do about hockey, so it looks like he may be looking for a trade to a Western conference team to finish out his career. He had a great, relatively injury-free season this year, so he could conceivably play another year or two and provide great leadership and experience to a team looking to provide some balance for its younger players. So, I hate to rush either of them, but can't they end the suspense for those of us who are looking for a Caniac bone to gnaw on for a few days? It's been very quiet for the last week or two, and we could use a little excitement and something to speculate about!!

All Hail Brind'Amour!!

Our captain skated for the first time yesterday!! Too bad we don't have a playoff game for him to get ready for, but it's great to hear that he's back on the ice and getting in shape for 2008-09!

Since I posted last, several big things have happened in the World of all Things Caniac -- management signed Sergei Samsonov, and a bunch of our guys were selected for the World Cup games this summer. So, our Canes won't stand idle while the rest of the U.S. hockey kingdom is glued to the Stanley Cup playoffs! Although Coach Laviolette's job is still hanging in the balance, his players support him and the fans certainly do. According to everything I've read on the blogs and message boards, the general consensus is that Peter Laviolette should get another year at least, with the potential for replacement mid-season if the Canes slump again in 2008-09. Seems reasonable to me. :) Hopefully we'll hear soon whether or not Hurricanes management feels the same way.

I'm still waiting for news about players like Pat Eaves, Tuomo Ruutu, and Joe Corvo, but I think they already have contracts so no news is good news! Of course, we are all waiting patiently to hear if Brett Hedican and Glen Wesley are headed for the golf course or for summer training for next season! I am also waiting to hear if the Canes organization makes any announcements about the younger players that are fan favorites, such as Ryan Bayda, Keith Aucoin, Tim Conboy, Wade Brookbank, and Brandon Sutter. I know they'll wait until training camp to make roster decisions, but with no announcement of "forward-for-defenseman" trades even rumored so far, I'm hopeful that Rutherford will opt to use his now-experienced younger players rather than opt for older players that might be more prone to age-related injuries.

Stay tuned for further developments!

Post Mortem

Okay, for the last few days, I've been reading the other Caniac blogs and the message boards at carolinahurricanes.com, and everyone is trying to sort out why the Canes choked in the last 2 weeks of play.

Will we ever know for sure?

Yes, it could have been the long list of injuries that plagued the team all season, or the flu bug that ran through the locker room TWICE. But, according to Laviolette, the team was bolstered by hot new talent from Albany and played some of its best hockey while the big names were out of the lineup.

Yes, it could have been adding the big names back into the lineup too early during that last week of play -- bringing Williams, Cullen, and Whitney back in questionable health while guys like Aucoin and Bayda were winning games for us might not have been the best decision ever. But, those guys can PLAY even at less than 100% health -- we've all seen it before.

And yes, it could be that Cam, despite his stellar play during the last month and a half of the season, is still too young to have the kind of consistent success of a Marty Brodeur or Christobel Huet. But, he did great until the last 2 games of the season -- was it really all his fault?

Some people are saying that Coach Laviolette's time has come and gone and that we need a new coach. Some others are saying that we need a new captain and that Eric Staal should lead the team next year.

My opinion?? I think that changing coaches is the LAST thing we need to do right now, and I also believe that taking the "C" from Rod Brind'Amour and giving it to Eric Staal is the worst move we could make! Doesn't anyone remember the Stanley Cup season, when game after game, the credit was given to Rod Brind'Amour for keeping the team's eye on the prize regardless of what the world threw at them? How many times did he score the goal that turned things around for them in close games? His steady leadership and calm, quiet style both on the ice and in the locker room and beyond were what made the difference that year!! So soon many people forget!

This year, in a season when injury, illness, inconsistency, and a LOT of new young talent were factors, we really missed the leadership of our captain. Yes, Eric Staal is a good player with a lot of energy. But, as far as I'm concerned, he is not yet team leadership-ready. He is young, and there have been MANY games where I have watched lackluster play from him -- from not earning any points at all for 5-6 games in a row, to just standing on the ice while his teammates rush past with the puck! He may be energetic, but it comes in spurts. Like Cam, he is not consistent. He also lacks the charisma of a Sidney Crosby and the ego of Ovetchkin. Perhaps, just perhaps, our team sagged at the end because it lacked a leader on the ice who could really be a difference-maker when the going got tough. That is one of the drawbacks of youthful leadership. It doesn't make Eric Staal the bad guy -- it just emphasizes the fact that the absence of Rod Brind'Amour probably hurt the team more than people are willing to admit.

So, boys and girls, I think the "C" needs to stay with Captain Rod, and Eric needs more time to mature and take on leadership roles more gradually. It's time to put this season behind us and look to the future -- and hopefully a team with a good balance of young, energetic, talented skaters, and older, more seasoned and consistent players who can mold the youth of the team into top-notch NHL players. It certainly worked for Tim Gleason this year!