How 'Bout Them Pack?

How did I miss this during the regular season this year?



It seems like they should be doing just a little more to hype up a college shootout. This is much more entertaining of an intermission than watching the pee-wee's fall down play.

Ottawa Senators Inspiration To Win

Tip of the hat to Scarlett Ice for this wonderful post about Elgin-Alexander Fraser, a 3 year old boy who recently lost his long battle with cancer. In "SI"'s post, He Saw Them Win, she explains how this little hero wanted nothing more than to watch his Senators play.

If this doesn't break your heart, then you haven't one.

Damn I'm Glad This Guy Is Coming Back For At Least 2 More Seasons

Proper Offseason Training

Rainbow Warrior College Hockey Round-up

Clemson: Sept. 4th & 6th in Greenville, SC for you newly free-from-conference restraint le Tigres. (Tryout Application)

UNC-W has released their 2006-2007 season schedule. The friday Oct. 12 & Sat. the 13th matchup @ ECU is not to be missed.

NC State: Trying to raise money to renovate Dorton Arena.

Flashbacks anyone?

East Carolina: With their 1st game as independents scheduled for October 5th, the Pirates are holding tryouts on August 31st & Sept. 1st in Greenville, North Carolina (not South, W) (Tryout Application)

UNC always has their application available on-line. They say bring your gear and be ready 1st day of classes.

Appalachian State has a nice written farewell to their Seniors.

Support your local teams!

Blogger Needed

Seriously.

Like to write? Willing to work for free? Need an outlet from your daily grind?

The WufPirate himself as well as cohort, East of Here, are getting hosed at our jobs. Not that being busy is a bad thing when real money is involved. This site does not get the attention I believe it deserves (from the editors). One of my regular quotes is, "Work is for the f'in birds, dude". I stick by that.

There seems to be about 67-ish Hurricanes blogs out there; 14 of which are regularly updated. Anyone other than the crickets out there?

Send your application to:

CarolinaOnIce@gmail.com

Would be nice if:

You live close to Raleigh

You have graphic design experience

You actually have time to devote to this

Thanks, Wuffie.

Great Hockey Player Names: (sp?)

Olli Jokinen

Saku Koivu

Yanic Perreault

Ogie Oglethorpe

Radek Bonk

Leave your favorites in the comment section, if you like.

The Staal Brothers & Team Canada Get Their Party On In Russia

(AP / Dmitry Lovetsky)

The Staal Family "hype" is proving has proved to be the real deal. Oldest at 22 years of age. 3rd oldest at 18. House trophy case (since being Pro): Lord Stanley & World Champions. Not too shabby.

The Clan-Destine stands tall in this great picture on home turf in Thunder Bay. What do they feed them? What is in their water? We here at COI have reports that they eat lightning and crap thunder.

Hey Eric. Don't feel too bad when your youngest brother, Jared, is plastering you into the boards while you attempt a breakaway. (speaking in future-tongue)

Throw a party for him when the kid gets his draft day signing bonus in a year or two.

Might we see Marc Staal in a blue shirt next season?

Scottie Walker Might Test The Waters

OK

On both sides of the Scott Walker deal:

If you're Jim Rutherford:

• "Do we need to sign another late 30 something skater before we get too attached to him? He deserves a lot more cashflow than he's been getting and Nashville let him go because of chronic injuries."

If you're a Canes fan at the RBC 05-06 season:

• "Dude, did you see that little guy just knock out a guy 3 feet taller than him?"
• "Shit! I was out getting another $8 adult beverage! Always miss the action! Oh well, at least I was also in the beerline when that other SE Division team scored 3 goals on 6 shots against."

Dear Scottie Walker: We'd hate to see you go, but hope you sign with a Western Conference team if you must. (Nashville could use their A-captain back)



That can of WhupAss was well worth missing the following game with a "hand injury" for Mr. Walker. Not to mention, the Wiz scored the fastest natural hat trick of the NHL reggie season shortly after this beat-down.

Thought We Might See Gerber In Action

So I'm at the rooftop Rudino's in N. Raleigh watching Sabres/Senators Game 2. I thought at around the 10:45 mark in the 1st period, that we might see the emergence of Marty Gerber (after two quick BuffaSlugs goals that were not Emery's fault). Talk about a salary goalie who is itching to get in and prove he's worth his signing bonus. Even though he faltered (supposed flu, lost 12 lbs. in 3 days or something) in the playoffs (leading to Cam Ward being kickass in the Pros) last year with the Hurricanes:



Martin Gerber Is A Badass

For he had a large share:

In being the reason the Canes hardly ever lost last season.

Was a highlight reel of saves most nights.

Unleashed an unforgettable performance in the '06 Olympics backstopping the underdog Suisse to an upset over Team Canada.



Video: European Feed of Swiss vs. Canada '06 Olympics as Gerber made save after save. Regardless of what your opinion was on this beauty (robbing Rick Nash), this was officially a save.


I thought of John Grahame a little tonight. When he's good, he's an amazing goaltender and he's ON. When he's bad, he can be terrible. But Karman-O pays Grahame Crackers the right price for what he does. Our future is invested behind the net with Mr. Conn Smythe. It had better be, that is, after his new contract with us this summer.

p.s.

If you type in Carolina On Ice on the Google search bar now, I'm 4th on the link list. I used-ta-could-be not even listed! Yeah, the 1st is a cool company called Carolina Ice company. Check them out too if you feel the urge. I'm almost positive that you can purchase Ice Luge Blocks from Carolina Ice for (clears throat) Tailgate parties.

p.p.s.

Anybody heard from CasonBlog? I think he's enjoying the offseason this year as much as the New Fathers / Lucky B's Around The Corner Bar Regulars / Golfers, excuse me. Hurricanes players are.

Guilty Pleasures

by new Blogger: East Of Here

Hola Amigos!

It's that time again. It's late, I've got a caffeine buzz going and the wife's got a headache. Since she won't put up with my crap, I figure I'll annoy you a little bit...

As previously noted, without the Canes in the playoffs, I've been at a loss for what to rant about. Tonight, I found my muse. Specifically, it was watching the Senators silence 20,000 or so Buffalo fans. People tell me that it's bad Karma to revel in other people's misfortunes. But since I'm not some new-age, stalk-munching hippie who believes in that Karma crap, I'll readily admit that when Corvo flipped the puck past Ryan Miller in the second overtime, I was grinning like a jackass eating briers. Not that I'm a Senators fan or anything. I just hate Buffalo. Actually, that's not wholly true. I hate Buffalo fans. So what does this story have to do with hockey in Carolina? Well, it's about Hockey and I'm in Carolina. And that's good enough for me.

Now, nothing will ever beat the warm fuzzy feeling I got watching Rod Brind'amour practically shove Gary Bettman out of the way and lift the cup last year. At least nothing that doesn't involve cheap liquor, me, a Victoria's Secret Model (or 2), and a can of Cheez Whiz. But watching the disappointment on the faces of those Buffalo fans came pretty close. If I were a stalk-munching hippie, I'd probably say that was Karma biting them in their collective ass for acting like such punks during last year's conference finals. But it matters not exactly what it was. It felt good to me and that's what really counts.

But just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I was hacking about the online hockey wasteland and happened upon their message boards. And if you thought watching their widdle hopes get dashed was funny, you should see the meltdown on their message boards right now. I'll not regale you with the full details of their lamentations, but I'll sum it up with a picture:

Talk about falling off the bandwagon. Half of them have already conceded the series to Ottawa. About 25% are convinced they only lost because the refs are out to get them. And approximately 20% apparently believe there is a huge conspiracy by the NHL to make sure they don't win the cup. Step away from the grassy knoll fellas. And quit crying, that river of tears is about to overflow. In fact, for the safety of the rest of New York state, here's an important Public Service Announcement:

Do this now because it doesn't look like the (former) slug fans are gonna quit crying anytime soon. Leave your belongings and move to higher ground. Beware of washed out roads.

I guess what makes this meltdown so very sweet is the fact that I remember all the crap the slug crowd talked last year about how Canes fans weren't real fans. And that Canes fans didn't know anything about being true hockey fans. Well, if completely bailing on your team at the first sign of adversity is what being a true hockey fan is all about, they can have it. As for me, I'd rather be a "dumb redneck" and stick with my beloved team to the bitter end. So to the Sabre's "faithful"(an apparent oxymoron), I say thanks for being such a great and loyal fanbase guys. It's a heartwarming thing for me to behold. Really.

The Avett Brothers - NC's Finest

Scott & Seth Avett, along with Bob Crawford on the stand-up bass, comprise a wonderful "thrash-grass" band entitled, "The Avett Brothers". Hailing from outside Charlotte, NC, this critically acclaimed group grows their fanbase more every day.

Tune in (or set DVR to record) to Late Night with Conan O'Brien this Friday, 5/11 as they will be the featured musical guest!

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing their live show, do yourself the favor.

Their new album entitled "Emotionalism" will be released on Tuesday 5/15. As part of the coming out party, the boys will be playing a live in-store @ Schoolkids Records on Hillsborough St. near the NCSU campus on Tuesday 12:00 noon.

We got to see these guys as undergrads at East Carolina U. There was no doubt in my mind that they would be hitting it big time in the music industry. Congrats to them and keep them beats-a-stompin boys!

Video: "At The Beach", Chelsea Campbell Benefit Concert, Berwyn United Methodist Church, Berwyn, PA. August 18, 2006

For more on the Avetts:
www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers.com
or
TheAvettBrothers.com

The Stash

Bill McCreary has been selected to referee the NHL conference finals. Regardless of your feelings toward him, his mustache deserves its own post.

"Who wants a mustache ride?"

Edited: Sunday May 13th, 2007

Stumbled Upon this wonderful blog.

826 Valencia's Mustache-A-Thon

Grow an awesome mustache, raise money for charity.

Little League Tryouts

Have hyper children? Like hockey? Why not let your kids wear themselves out playing a sport you both love!

Tryouts for PeeWee league begin this week in Raleigh.

For more info: Raleigh Youth Hockey Association

How Convenient Is That?

In a matchup of two of the best teams at the World Championship of Hockey, Team USA & Team Canada played this afternoon in Russia. In a moment that ironically was similar to the Canes season, Erik Cole skated into another player awkardly, collapsing to the ice and leaving the game in writhing pain. At least it wasn't a Hurricanes player that injured him.

LINK TO STORY

Soon-to-be Headlines for Carolina Hurricanes:

-In other news, Ray Whitney suffered what appears to be a tailbone injury while going down a waterslide. The Whitney family was on vacation in the Caribbean, and Ray came off the slide "kinda funny". No word on what kind of recovery lead time so far.

When contacted, the only comment from "The Wizard":




-Cory Stillman is listed as day-to-day after an alleged "drive-by sneezer" attacked the 2-time Cup champ in Cary yesterday. Mrs. Stillman, when contacted, said Cory is "in good hands" and making a recovery from bouts of measles, whooping cough and flu-like symptoms.



-Anton Babchuk unexpectedly was a no-show for a local charity event last weekend. It seems there were some thunderstorms that knocked his electricity out. "My Choco-Taco melted. It was in freezer. Don't deserve this. Won't go." (Anton muttered in rough Ukranian/English.)
Babchuk's agent, Jay Grossman, said, "Babs will show up. We just didn't feel that the Ronald McDonald house was the right place for him, and we have requested a trade for something else."

Hurricanes History: Jesse Boulerice

The best thing this guy ever did for us was bring in Doug Weight last year as he was traded to St. Louis. He resigned in the offseason, and played out a 1 year deal in Albany this season.

He is your typical "enforcer", although, most of the time in his fights he was the one getting enforced.

See this all time classic hockey fight below:



Bitch! You got knocked da-fuk-out! (ala Chris Tucker Friday)

Brind'amour Will Win The Selke Again This Year

Our captain-o-captain is nominated for the Frank J Selke Award again this year as the league's top defensive forward. As the current trophy holder, he only increased his offensive production this season. But the steady penalty-killing, face-off winning, badass captain has become even more reliable with a year's age.

He's up against Sam Pahlsson of the Ducks minus the mighty and Jay Pandolfo of the Devils. You ask anyone in the league who they would rather have between Brindy and the other two, I believe your answer would be unanimous.