Wolfpack out for revenge on Pirates

(Becka)

Friday, February 1st, at the RecZone will pit the NCSU Wolfpack in a rematch against the East Carolina Pirates. ECU beat the pack in a tough matchup back in October, 6-4. NC State coach Steve Glick provides his thoughts on the game:

It's always great to have a game where so many players from each side grew up together. It adds a personal touch. You aren't just playing to win the game, your playing for bragging rights. Many of ECU's fans and family live in the Triangle and you can be sure that there will be a lot of purple in the stands on February 1st.

ECU plays at Bladez on Ice in Greenville, which was not designed for hockey, thus it is not "regulation size".

I don't consider ECU's rink to be an advantage for either team. Both teams have to play on it and it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to make sure their respective teams are ready for any conditions. With that said, I'm not sure games should be played on a rink that small whenever possible because it takes away from the creativity and speed that make hockey great. One of amazing things about college hockey is how talented so many of these kids are. You don't get the fighting and dirty play that plagues many leagues and the ACHA should do everything it can to ensure our level of play stays that way.

Coach Glick insists that his squad will have their game faces on:

ECU is a very talented team and a lot of teams are fooled by the fact that they play division III. They could be extremely competitive in the ACCHL. I personally take responsibility for the outcome in October. I did not have my team ready to play and it showed early on in that game. When you play from behind, you have to take more chances and end up in the box more often. We won't make that mistake again.

Game starts at 9:00, be there.

Oh Hell Yeah

If Cason had anything to say about last night's game, it would probably be "Ooooh that's nice".

VT Hokies take the Triangle tour

Catch the UNC Tarheels matching up against the Virginia Tech club team Friday night in Hillsborough at the Triangle Sportsplex, 10:15PM start. The Hokies will travel to Raleigh to take on the DII Wolfpack at the RecZone Saturday night @ 8:00. I will be there. Bring it.

It's 80's Night in CLT, Cheap brews next Thursday

Tonight at the St. Lawrence Ice @ Bobcats Arena is "I Love the 80's Night" as Charlotte Checkers fans will be given a t-shirt in memorandum upon entering. You can also register for their Amtrak trip to Raleigh for a Canes game. Next Thursday is their monthly event, "Thirsty Thursday", where you can get 12oz. Bud Lights for $3. Hello Hurricanes? Good idea, maybe? Please?

The Checkers are also sporting a brand new logo that looks much more professional.

Niiiiiiice.
I'm still fond of the Bud Light jerseys or the old school NASCAR inspired ones:

CanesCast - I'm an idiot

Episode 2 of CanesCast is now available for download. It features Andy "I can do it all" of Hurricanes Insider, Bob "I agree with Dave" of Canes Country and Dave "Can't figure out how to use a microphone" (me) of Carolina On Ice. You can find us on a weekly basis jiving about the Hurricanes trials & tribulations.

A big thanks to Mr. Andy, who has put in the hard work of editing this and trying to teach me how to not be a computer retard.

Enjoy!

Isles, Dubie smoke the Canes

and their favorite movie is "Get Shorty". So many things to be upset about after a game like that. Despite out shooting the Islanders 47-31, someone forgot to tell the point players that they're supposed to, you know, protect against shorthanded breakaways.

Wade Dubielewicz = NY Isles backup goalie, 5' 10", maybe 140 lbs. soaking wet. He didn't have to be fantastic tonight, but he plays like a confident 2nd string goaltender. Hey, the Canes could use one of them!

This team is fortunate to have so few games end in shootouts recently. Ward-O doesn't do one-on-ones. Could we get the fat Cam back? My CanesCast (more on that later) compadres asked me the other night what my thoughts were on Carolina's goalie situation. I responded by saying it wouldn't much matter who is in goal right now because of this NHL worst team defense. Shaky at best tonight.

Speaking of bad D, Frankie K? If I had to nominate someone to receive the Arturs Irbe treatment, myself and several peers outside section 208 are behind me in sending you to lovely Florida.

Plenty of spare time to let this one sting. Oi vay.

__________________________________

Congrats to the ECU Hockey team in their 3-2 shootout win over NC State last night on College Night. Awesomeness.

(Becka)

Colin Powell would be proud...

... to be there seeing stellar puck handling skills during today's Isles / Canes game. Let's just hope he was watching Ricky D do his thing and not Cam Ward.

When the team hired Tom Barrasso as the new goalie coach, Cam's first response was, "One of his top skills was puck-handling, and if you look at my game, that's one of the areas I'd like to improve on". A collective 'hallelujah' was said, but we're pretty sure that he didn't teach Ward this one:

Luckily for the team, he looked sharp in a back-and-forth gritty victory over NY in betwixt the pipes.

Brindy must have taken AQ's post personally, as he has woken up with 6 points in his last three games.

Cory Stillman was in the right place at the right time and scored the OT chip-in on the rebound as he was knocked down onto his back. Fortunately, he was able to get his skate out from under him thus avoiding a scary incident like the "hey-your-knee-isn't-supposed-to-bend-like-that" fall at Philadelphia in December.

Whew. Rematch, the big bank, Tuesday night.

Take a train to happy town, w00t! w00t!

I leave Raleigh for the weekend and the boys finally show up for a game, giving the home crowd something to cheer about for a change. D-Lee gave an inspiring recap that left him crying like a baby again. Cason's prose is back with frequency (Canes get bad, the C/B skepticism dept. goes into overdrive). Are you Caniacs checking Hurricanes Insider on the regular now too?

"I don't wanna work, I just wanna play on H/I all day."

A 7-2 romping over the Oil was fine and great I'm sure, but the questions are still there. One big win over a bottom feeder Edmonton doesn't fix what has been two months of suckage. It will be a good test for this team squaring off in the "home-and-home" against an Isles team with consistency questions of their own.

Just because I said something, watch Joe "Dry erase marker" Vasicek show up with a natural hatty tonight.

One ring to ruin them all...

(East of Here)

Oh, and Craig? Buhbye Now

It wasn't working out with Craig Adams anymore as he became the first of several moves promised to happen. The Chicago Blackhawks traded with the Canes today for "future considerations". So, what number would you like to wear, Future? Go and tell the seamstress how to spell that 2nd word correctly and you're in the lineup tonight.

Being the 3rd longest tenured Hurricane, you can't help but look back on the good things he did with the team.

The highlight for moi?

December 6, 2005

Kevyn Adams scores a natty hat trick, which at the time was shocking enough. Craig gets the primary helper on all three goals in a 6-2 rout of the Anaheim Ducks. When "The Adams Family" line can do that kind of damage - a team is hitting on all cylinders.

His energy will be missed, but reuniting the Adams family in Chicago might be great for the both of their respective careers. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye.

LOL Chad and Tater

(AP Photo/Jim Bounds)

Suggested Caniac Nation alternative programming: I Can Has Cheezburger?

Will JR resort to "The Arturs Irbe" treatment?

Since mid-November, nearly every game recap you read mentioned that the Hurricanes "are now 2-8-1 in their last..." or something similar. Throw those figures out. The boys lost to arguably the worst team in all of hockey last night while also losing their Southeast division lead.

Everyone has their ideas as to why such a talented team is struggling so badly.

Injuries - sure the Canes have been hit hard again this season with injuries. Per The N&O:

"The Hurricanes have now lost 148 man-games to injury, on pace to exceed last season's total of 250 and approach the 2005-06 mark of 267."

Coach Laviolette is correct with his "no excuses" approach to blaming injuries. Anyone remember what this team did that 05-06 season?

Goaltending - Overheard from co-blogger East of Here - Cam Ward, despite a strong start - has been referred to as a not-so-flattering "Cam Weekes". Strong sometimes, very fluky at others. However, it matters not who is in goal when the NHL's worst defense and penalty kill hang their goaltender out to dry.

Management - For all the wonderful things my boy Jimmy has done here, a killer right now are the amount of no-trade clauses within the Canes contract players. A large portion of players who come to Raleigh love living here and want to stay. Were these NTC's issued as a way to keep the players happy or a method of offering smaller figures in contract negotiations?

Complacency - This is the silver bullet, IMO. There is absolutely no excuse for a professional athlete to "take nights off". Arturs Irbe had a great finishing touch on his long career in the NHL with Carolina, backstopping the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002. Next season after that? He's paid his full NHL level contract to play in the ECHL.

This team used to live by the slogan "Whatever It Takes". Is the Arturs Irbe treatment what it will take to get this team heading in the right direction? John Grahame was put on waivers, sent to the River Rats supposedly to "set an example". He feels that it was a slap in the face. What's more important here? - hurting a players feelings or doing whatever it takes to win?

College Hockey this weekend, by George!

Starting this Friday, the reigning ACCHL Champion Georgetown Hoyas come into Raleigh to face the NCSU Wolfpack with a 9:00PM start at the RecZone. The GUunit will then continue their tour of the triangle with a match up against Duke Saturday night (10:15PM) followed by a Sunday matinee game with UNC (4:15PM). Both of those games will be at the home of the Blue Devils & Tarheels - the Triangle Sportsplex in Hillsborough.

(aside: - Georgetown shares the Washington Capitals' practice facility - the highly regarded Kettler Capitals Iceplex - while the Carolina Hurricanes share the RecZone with NCSU - nothing against the RZ, but WOW!)

George Mason will face the Pack on Saturday - RecZone 8:00PM - and as always tickets are available to purchase the night of the game.

College Night Shootout - NCSU vs. UNC

It's really a great thing that the organ-eye-zation invites local college clubs to do shootouts on the promotional college nights. I've said it before and will say it again - there are countless numbers of potential supporters that would never even know X school has an ice hockey team. Whether alumni, casual fan or you share the love of hockey - the exposure provided by these is an outstanding way to fill you in.



This took place during last season, but perhaps seeing the Wolfpack win this can soothe the pain of watching NCSU score 13 points in the first half at the Dean Dome on Saturday. Ouch.

Next Canes' college night - Tuesday January 22 vs. NY Islanders. Be there.

C.O.I. Update - It's just "gross" right now

Working on some fresh ideas for Carolina On Ice. Do not adjust your resolution settings if something pops up looking a little funky. Activity and page visits have significantly increased in recent months. Thanks for reading, linking here and welcome to the newcomers!

There are some exciting things happening for the Canes-Blogsphere in the near future. A podcast collaborating with some Caniac friends, a potential radio appearance and perhaps some new C.O.I. contributors are all on the horizon. Keep on keepin' on and we'll continue to satisfy your Carolina hockey thoughts with really, really, rediculously good-looking stuff.

Avalanche @ Canes - The Battle of the Beatens

Picture from the Wuf family recent Boulder trip:

Lovely day for a tailgate.

I've been looking forward to this game. Colorado is breath-takingly beautiful. Breweries everwhere. The people are nice. Downtown Denver in the Coors Field area is an experience not to be missed. I get the occasional update on the Avalanache from our good friends living in Boulder.

The Avs are without their Ultra Captain Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth due to injuries (sounds familiar). If you don't like big Joe, you can pretty much get out of my country. What a stand-up character guy. They've been on a not-so-hot streak lately, struggling to find consistent goaltending (again, familiar). Hopefully this will be an entertaining, high scoring affair tonight.

Favorite Avs related blog: Jerseys & Hockey Love with Tapeleg.

Go Canes!

stALL Star

Eric Staal is officially an Eastern Conference All-star. Congrats dude. Back-to-back. Try not to get injured in ATL, please.

Devils @ Canes

"I Kill You!"

For opponents' perspective, check out Devils Daily & Interchangeable Parts.

Lets. Go. Canes.

Red Dawn: What's that Russian Doing Here?

So JR went out and bought himself a Soviet Sniper. Is this a good thing? Or is this just window dressing? Either way, it's too early to tell. But, upon being prodded for my thoughts on the matter on the CanesCountry forum, I decided to be cautiously optimistic. And in the spirit of laziness, I will just cross post those thoughts [with a few retrospective edits] about the Samsonov acquisition:

Remarkably, I was on the fence about it, but leaning towards cautiously optimistic for several reasons. Just hear me out...

First, at half price, his salary wasn't that big a hit considering he's got to be better than Aucoin or Bayda.

Second, even if he can't score, he can at least skate with the puck, catch a pass, and make a pass (the little things the rest of our team has periodically forgotten how to do).

Third, he is in a pinch where he either performs, or is forever forgotten in this league. So, the odds are, he will at least give 110% effort; and that's more than we are getting from our superstars on a regular basis. If he wasn't willing to give the effort, then he probably would never have showed up to play for us in Boston in the first place.

Fourth, as long as Atlanta doesn't acquire a defenseman named "Delilahnov", we should have an advantage in the division. (Additional COI commentary: Someone pointed out that he currently has a shaved head. If this is the case, in keeping with my bad joke, he can only get stronger; so long as they keep him away from the clippers. I'd make him room with Commodore. That should do it.)

Fifth, we currently have more broken forwards than a bad transmission.

Sixth, how can I ever hope to make a movie inspired joke about a line called "the Big Letowski" line, if we don't have a white Russian?

Seventh, he was free. And free is generally good. Unless you are talking about hookers. Then, you should be suspicious. Very, very suspicious. Not that I'd know anything about that. I'm just saying...

Eighth, we've already got a German, a Czechoslovakian, a couple of Americans, a rash of Canadians, a Dubai-ian, a Swede, and a whatever the hell people from Minnesota are supposed to be. We needed a Russian because everybody knows that a wider range of diversity is a good thing. Now, if we only had Anson Carter and a token "Freedom" Canadian, we'd at least be EEOC compliant, if not unstoppable.

Ninth, the dude was sucking lately, and the Canes were sucking lately, so it seems like a match made in heaven.

Tenth, there's gotta be several dozen of those wannabe "trendsetter" fans, who are, as we speak, logged onto NHL-dot-com furiously trying to order the "first" Samsonov Canes jersey to complement their collection of "Hlavac", "Gove", "Storr", "Vrbata", and "whatever-other-obscure-flavor-of-the-week-player-we-managed-to-acquire" jerseys. And that is extra revenue for the team.

[Side note: I've got $5 (or a cup of coffee, the good third world exploitation stuff they sell at the kiosk) that says that within the next three 24-Game pack games (gotta allow time for shipping and handling), I can get a picture of one of these asshats at the RBC in their trendy new Samsonov Jersey and post it here.]

Canes over B's (I wanna talk to Samson!)

When a hockey game ends with a 1-0 score these days, people like to break out the whole:

"The new and improved Gary Bettman NHL! There you have it, folks!"

But the past two games as a Caniac have both been of that result and each was strikingly entertaining. Although they dropped one to the Bluenotes, Carolina comes out on top of Boston tonight with a solid game and a Staal wrist-shot game-winner. Coming out of a three game roadie with 4 points will fight off the Southeast hounds for a minute.

Sergie Samsonov looked awlright - good enough to warrant his acquisition for the moment. Reports kept alluding to him being brought in to replace the injured J-Willie and Matt Cullen in the forward corps. The missing PP defense and PK skills that #11 & #8 possess are not being helped out in bringing in Sampson.

WardO came up big tonight, killing it all night and especially in the waning moments of the game.

Our closest divisional teams both lost tonight as well. A short sigh of relief by all.

But don't get too comfortable.

The Wade Brookbank fight from the First period last night:

Three Stooges - esque!

Wha?!Wha?!Wha?! Canes sign Sergei Samsonov

Interesting move here. Trust in my boy Jimmy (even though he is normally anti-Euro). All I can say.

My best rememberance of Sergei Samsonov is from the '06 SCF:

So, he can do that shifty stuff. Unfortunately, he can also be known for this type of play: Theory of Ice on Sergei Samsonov (a must read).

B Prepared for a Fresh Face

Canes @ Boston B's tonight - Bruins are on a winning streak, they're due for an L. Plus, Wardo pwnts them in his short career history.

Although there is a game tonight, more attention is being paid to Jimmy Boy and his trigger finger. Reports from DeCock this AM state that a "depth forward" could be signed as soon as today to help fill in for J-Willie (out for season; knee) & Matt Cullen (concussion, or is it???).

In addition, the elusive puck minding defenseman that he's been after for the longest time is close to being signed (maybe, sort of, possibly, definitely, perhaps, check back later) and Colorado's J.M. Liles is at the top of the list. Apparently, Jimmy has been reading Hurricanes Insider, who has been encouraging this trade for months now. In any case, it should make for an interesting couple of hours. Want to catch a glimpse for yourself of John-Michael L? Colorado faces Detroit tonight on Versus, 7:30.

"I can move pucks with my eyes, man! "

College Hockey Fires Back Up This Weekend

The local boys are getting their gear out of storage from holiday break and nose-diving in to their January schedules. On tap for this coming weekend:

The RecZone - Raleigh

Friday the 11th at 6:00 Duke hosts Va Tech.

The NCSU Wolfpack hosts a weekend double header facing VT Saturday night, followed by a 1:30 matinee matchup with the Blue Devils.

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The UNC Tarheels will head down to Clemson for a Friday night matchup against the Tigers.

UNC Charlotte will host the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Saturday at their home rink, Extreme Ice.

The East Carolina U. Pirates, still on a tear from this Fall's schedule, are traveling to sweet Georgia to take on power-house teams Georgia & Georgia Tech. This will be a good test for the still young ECU team.

Are you heading to any games this weekend? As always, photos/videos are welcomed.

Good luck! Support your local teams!

Leighton Will Battle Ward

Whoah Whoah Whoah guys, we meant battle for the goaltending position

See ya Crackers. It's been fun, exciting, a long time coming.