Canes in mid-season form already?

Mid-season as in December through January of last season where they couldn't score a goal or put up a consistent nightly effort? Well, no.

But the pre-season opener last night against the Caps certainly reminded me of that horrible stretch. Can't hold the puck, can't play D.. can shoot the puck on net all night but never generate any solid chances...

Thank goodness that one didn't count. A few notes:

-Pitkanen (if he can stay healthy) is going to have a tremendous year for Carolina. He was a beast pretty much all night.

-Corvo paired with Pitkanen working the points on the power play is rather lethal if they're in the offensive zone. However, having two offensive-minded defenseman during a potential short-handed breakaway (especially Corvo) may not be the best idea. Carolina allowed way too many shorties last year.

-Petruzalek had a great 1st period. If he buries all of his chances, we're talking about a whole different outcome.

-on Bowman & Sutter - meh. Poor B-Sutt couldn't win a face-off to save his life but otherwise showed decent awareness around the puck. Bowman is fast and he will be a sniper, he just looked flat like the rest of the team last night.

-Nic Wallin. Dude. Did you get hammered before the game or something? Get a clue.

-Ward. Mmm, yeah he was already in mid-season form. Allowing 2 goals on the first 3 shots. The first you couldn't really fault him for. The 2nd was mostly Joe Corvo's fault - but he's gonna have to learn to handle those breakaway chances playing this Hurricane style of hockey where that door is occasionally left open.

-Justin Peters - Hey guy, you're supposed to have your butt facing the net - not vice-versa as you were when you gave up your first goal.

-Jeff O'Neill & LaCouture - not real impressive. O'Neill was playing just OK, I barely even noticed LaCouture.

It was outstanding to be at the RBC Center. It was outstanding to tailgate. It was outstanding to finally meet some of my blogger co-horts, David Lee of RBH fame & Beth from the Sliding Pokiecheck. Not such an outstanding game to watch as a Canes fan, but that's what the pre-season is all about. Get out the kinks and move on.

Justin Williams just can't catch a break

What a shame, what a shame. The following day after everyone finds out about Brindy's ongoing knee drama - the news wire hits this afternoon that Justin Williams has ruptured his Achilles' tendon and is out for most of the season (4-6 months). He only got to play through December last season and came back for a March 'o8 return only to be sidelined again by a back injury.

You know he's been busting at the seams all summer to get back onto the ice. You can't help but feel sorry for him as he's had two ACL surgeries and now this major setback. I'm sorta curious as to how this happened. All I've heard is that it happened "off-ice". What exactly do you do to rip your Achilles tendon?

With a top winger going down - people are debating who should move up. I'll be all for Ryan Bayda / Wade Brookbank dressed at home with perhaps a Tim Conboy dressed as the seventh D on the road. Jeff O'Neill certainly can see his Carolina return more probable now. Get well soon, J-Will.

850 The Buzz & My Boy Jimmy answer everything

As this post is being typed, I'm listening to the lengthy interview of Jim Rutherford today by Adam Gold & Joe Ovies on 850 the Buzz. Must say that it is rather outstanding, as they ask the Canes' GM all the burning off-season questions:

The Return of Captain Hot Topic and his ability to play left, right or center if needed. All signs have pointed towards O'Neill looking sharp in Camp Brind'amour.

The health of Matt Cullen and his dome-piece / skating / "feeling great. 100%".

David Tanabe is expected to come to training camp. If the team could legally buy him out they would have, so the only thing JR can do - is expect Avi to show up to camp in three weeks. Check out D-Lee's coverage on the Tanabe situation over this summer, he's been following it closely.

Rutherford on Brandon Sutter - "he's got a chance to make the team" - COI Translation: Sutter will be a Carolina Hurricane this year, you can bet your first born on it.

AG & Joe Ovies do it respectively as always, but certainly didn't hold much back for this interview. Towards the end of the clip, the conversation shifts to the fact that since the championship 2006 season - it's been two dissapointing, playoff-free years in a row.

Listen to the rest over at 850's site. It's certainly a good listen.

Is it just me, or does Jim Rutherford sound like the years have taken its toll on him? Listen, I'm a huge JR fan and there is a reason he's the longest tenured NHL GM. Perhaps it is just this YouTube clip that makes me think he's still a strapping young lad.

The perfect blogger's accompaniment

After these bad boys came in this week, I set the display case up with the other Canes figurine stuff on my already crowded blogging desk. Now considering I write the majority of the posts from this said "Man Room", these bobbleheads that came out around 2001 from Hardee's restaurants fit in quite nicely. I still can't pat myself on the back enough for finding these on Craigslist for $15 (Thanks again, seller!). They were all in the original boxes and plastic wrapping even.

The bobbling heads are certainly getting put to work here though. I'm what they call an "agressive typer". My co-workers know when I'm busy or not by the sound of my keyboard being abused. So as I log in to blogger and pull things out of certain orifices for Hockey-related material on COI; Jeff O'Neill, Ron Francis, Arturs Irbe & Rod Brind'amour all sit here smiling and staring me down. It can get downright creepy actually:

It's a good thing that I'm so easily entertained.

Frankie's gotta go to make room for O'Neill.. or K. Adams?

It's apparent that the NHL trade front has gone silent while the hockey world patiently awaits the staggering Swede's decision. The sooner that Mats Sundin can make his up his mind where or if to play next season, the sooner that Frantisek Kaberle can be shipped out of Carolina.

Obviously, it would seem logical for LA or Atlanta to take a risk on the aging Czech who is a former Thrasher and King. Both of those squads are still under the minimum salary cap for the league. They both have huge holes to fill on defense. While Frank may not be the offensive-minded stud defenseman that teams seek, folks still remember his 05-06 season which saw him score a career-high 44 points with a +8 rating. Methinks that other teams are asking for a forward or draft picks to be thrown in with a possible Kaberle trade. Otherwise he would have probably been moved around the beginning of July.

With the Hurricanes already at $4.6mil above their budget of $45,000,000, Frankie's $2.2 million dollar contract has to be shed from the team if they end up offering a contract to Jeff O'Neill. As #92 is coming to training camp on a tryout basis, the team obviously can't afford him even if Kaberle is shipped out. Hence the reason that Jimmy Boy has been hinting at the 2-way contract for Jeff.

Kevyn Adams was interviewed by a Buffalo newspaper (he's a Buffalo native) recently, he remains unsigned this offseason after an injury-shortened year in Chicago. Since being traded to Phoenix in 2006, his scoring numbers haven't been present among the Coyote and Blackhawk squads but his leadership abilities were never in question. If the team is willing to take a shot at Jeff O. who hasn't played professionally in over a year, why not bring in K-Ads for a tryout as well? What have they got to lose?

Johnny Random stops by

Some random items for you:

The new jersey numbers are posted at Ch.com now, and Melichar will be sporting Commodore's old #22, Anton Babchuk is leaving #48 behind in lieu of #33 this season and Pitaknen will rock the #25 jersey.

There are also new Bios posted under player's roster pages now, the highlight being the question to Ray Whitney, "What song is playing on your iPod?" and his response, "Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way."

The Cary Ice House is having a clearance sale on their new style replica jerseys (no names or numbers on them). Stop by their pro shop on Buck Jones Rd. and pick them for $61 bucks (you'll pay $100-$110 everywhere else, normally).

Congrats to East of Here on his Bettman Pee-Wee Herman photoshop getting an honorable mention in the Puck Daddy contest.

Added to the Carolinas Hockey Links: NC Trailblazers, Women's Ice Hockey and The Citadel Club Hockey site.

Welcome Cory Lavalette into the Canes blogosphere as he joins in the fun with Bubba @ Canes Country.

I found a hidden gem among the Raleigh-Durham Craigslist: the entire set of the Hurricanes Bobbleheads from 2002 that were originally sold at Hardee's.

Included are Jeff O'Neill, Ron Francis, Arturs Irbe & Brind'amour. Awesome.

I believe as hockey fans we're all looking forward to the day when we don't have read the word "Sundin" in the headlines. Enough already!

Is October ever going to come?

What if Jeff O'Neill introduces the Molson Miracle?

Let me begin this post by stating that I have no inside sources here, just simply throwing this out there.

What if tomorrow, during the Canes Summer Fun Fest as the evening's climax begins with the showing of the Molson Miracle - the one and only Jeff O'Neill introduces it? It would be a huge PR move for the team and for marketing in general. Love the (potential) signing or hate it, this would generate an incredible amount of buzz around Caniac Nation.

Would you jeer or cheer? Better yet, if it is 8:00 tomorrow night and you have drank tailgated a bit too hard, will you even believe your eyes?

Thanks to C-Leaguer for the idea.

You gotta be kidding me: Canes to bring back Jeff O'Neill?

(photo: 850 the Buzz)

Luke posted a lengthy blog entry tonight which was great to see in this dead time of hockey and sports in general. For the Caniacs deprived, almost any news is good news right now. Almost that is, until you see a headline like this:

O'Neill back in Canes' plans - maybe

The team is interested in talking contract with the one and only Jeff O'Neill.

I'll admit that I had to make sure my contacts hadn't fallen out upon first reading that. Out of all the free agent possibilities for the Hurricanes to be talking to - they're back in cahoots with the Diva himself? Sure, he was one of the team's all-time leading scorers - but it's no longer 2001 and there are reasons why he wasn't playing in the NHL last season.

My boy, Jimmy mentioned that if he were to join the organization - it would be as a depth center. Is this a sign of how confident the team is regarding the health of Matt Cullen? They're so concerned that Cully hasn't/won't recover from his two concussions last year that Jeff O'Neill playing out of position would be an effective emergency alternative?

I can't wait to read what the Acid Queen has to say about this.

Upcoming Ebay Auction Items: Official Chotchkes

Here it is folks! The Roddy Brind'amour figurine. I guess the Pint Glasses just weren't getting it done, so they went all "Franklin Mint" on us. Now I don't have a problem with the promotion, but you must admit that it doesn't look a thing like Roddy. In fact, the figurine actually looks like what would occur genetically if Ted Nolan boffed Sidney Crosby. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that is an improvement or not. The other three (3) players featured in the figurine series are Eric Staal, Ray Whitney, and Cam Ward.

However, in a C.O.I. exclusive, we can now reveal that before the Staal, Whitney and Ward figurines were chosen, there were several other Canes and former Canes figurines that were considered and rejected. These proofs were supposed to be destroyed; never to see the light of day. However, Wufpirate knows a dude who is friends with a guy who once dated the sister of a girl who worked for a guy who delivered mulch to a neighbor of Ron Francis' plumber. For the hefty sum of a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 (the blue kind) and a half used can of WD-40, we managed to procure a peek at these figurines. As a public service to our readership, we can now post exclusive pictures of the never-before-seen (and never-to-be-seen-again) rejected Canes figurines. They are:

The Cory Stillman Figurine:


The Pavel Brendl Figurine:

And the Jeff O'Neill Figurine:

Man, the lengths we go to for you people. But that's OK. There is nothing too good for our readers.

Both of you.

The Leafs Are Falling

It's got to be tough as a Toronto Maple Leaf fan. That sympathy won't last past 7:30 tonight for Caniac Nation. With MTL, NYI, and Carolina all competing for the final playoff spot, the Leafs once again are on the outside looking in. Our canes are rocking right now, and Cason's skepticism department is losing steam with each game played.

Let's hope Coach Mo, Jeff O'Neill, and Lucky B don't have that '02 come from behind magic in them anymore.



Yes, that's the most recent of their championships.