Farewell to Colesy, Hello Joni

I'd been clamoring for some kind of news out of the Hurricanes, well that clam opened up big time today. I've had some time to sit a spell and do some research on Pitkanen and think about the proper send-off for #26.

Erik Cole, from his 2002 rookie year until April of '08, was a true power forward. From his legendary days with the BBC Line, to his extremely frightening and career dangering neck injury, to his triumphant return in games 6 & 7 before the Cup win and through last season - you couldn't have asked for a classier guy.

Whether he was charging up the ice or laying out the opposition, living a quiet Southern lifestyle or raising money for his home town's library; Cole was the player that you could always look to set the example.

Caniac Nation will certainly miss him but the timing was right and the situation was necessary for him to move on. Take care up there, Erik.

I'm sure that there is a near-endless amount of clips to choose from, but I'm picking this one as his C.O.I. swan song:



On to Joni Pitkanen.

Is it pronounced "Yo - nee"? I heard a radio talking head say it as "Yanni" today. Let's hope it's not "Yawn-nee".

Covered In Oil offered a pseudo-scouting report on him in their post the other day after speculating that he might indeed be traded:

"Joni Pitkanen is probably gone, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Actually, wait, no, I really love somewhat chaotic, flaky Finnish defenceman, especially 24-year-old ones who are capable of skating an entire lap with three effortless, platonic strides. " - DMFB

Back in 2003, The Sporting News had this to say on the budding young Finn:

" His ability to handle physical play is a concern. He has had shoulder and knee surgeries and will have to shake off a reputation of being injury-prone. "He can be overaggressive sometimes and take risks that don't work," says the scout. His shot has force but is not very accurate." - Kara Yario

I'm gonna have to trust in my boy Jimmy on this one. Judging from his propensity to scout and eventually sign former Philadelphia Flyers, he's obviously had his eye on Pitkanen for quite some time. Oh yeah, and he's an offensive defenseman - in case you haven't heard. My main concern is bringing in another injury-riddled player after what the Canes have been through in the past two seasons especially.

I do think that he will be a good compliment to one Joseph Corvo seeing as Joni shoots left and Corvo right. He should also be a good compliment to the suddenly very Euro-friendly Hurricanes squad. Only time will tell.

UPDATE: per TSN, Joni Pitkanen is signed to a 3 year deal, total of $12 Million. About as close as expected. He's now our highest paid defenseman, BTW.

Staal lowers the boom on Deutschland

Just how sick might a forward line with Martin St. Louis & Eric Staal be?

4 goals, 6 assists between the two. One game.

TSN HIGHLIGHTS - CANADA 10, GERMANY 1

(AP / Dmitry Lovetsky)
No mention of Herr Seidenburg, but check out Staalsy's 2nd and 4th goals. B-yootie-full.

Use Canada to catch your hockey World championship highlights

For example, you read on Red & Black Hockey, "Tuomo Ruutu had the game winner for Finland last night." You say to yourself, "Damn, wish I could have seen that one."

Thanks to TSN and a broadband connection, you can.

Here ya'll go.

You can catch most any Canadian highlights as well up there.

Thick skin or not, your opportunity is there as a Carolina Hurricane

As Cane newbie Joe Corvo came in this week from the Senators, much was made about his departure and the defenseman not being able to "take the pressure" in a Canadian NHL market.

Senators GM Bryan Murray:

“I don’t know whether it was the pressure or never having a life away from the building, but he felt that Joe would enjoy going to an American team,” Murray told the Ottawa Sun. “He wanted to play where there was less scrutiny. He just couldn’t handle the pressure here."

So be it. An unwanted player left a team for a patch of greener grass in Raleigh, not to mention from the sub-zero tundra to the 60 degree February days of NC. Who knows how Joe "Uh Oh" Corvo may end up playing with the Canes. Although he may not be the savior to Carolina's defensive woes, chances are he will flourish in Coach Lavi's system.

The soul searching and confidence boost that comes with joining a new team may be all an athlete needs to jump start his game.

Exhibit A. Look at Mark Recchi (sans his manboobs), who left his long time home in Pittsburgh this year to the (at the time) lowly Atlanta Thrashers. Be it spite or having the drive - guys like him can benefit from being out of the limelight in major hockey towns.

Exhibit B. - Mr. Sergei Samsonov. People can remember when he was "the next big thing" as a Boston Bruin. A former rookie of the year, he struggled mightily in Montreal, had a stint in Edmonton and signed a lucrative deal with Chicago. He had constantly been turning the puck over this season with the Hawks and had a whopping 4 points until he was claimed off waivers by Jimmy Boy and the Canes. Now? He's been consistently one of Carolina's best players using his nifty puck handling skills to chip in offensively at almost a point a night average.

So I say let them talk all the trash they want to about Big Joe Corvo and whether or not he could "handle" things up there. While they chase their players away, just remember there will always be a place down South for them to flourish, thick skinned or not.

Dear Bryan Murray, we talk hockey

Quote from Ottawa GM Bryan Murray in regards to the Joe Corvo trade:

“I don’t know whether it was the pressure or never having a life away from the
building, but he felt that Joe would enjoy going to an American team,” Murray
told the Ottawa Sun. “He wanted to play where there was less scrutiny. He just
couldn’t handle the pressure here.
“People like to talk hockey here and they live hockey. They don’t talk (hockey) in Raleigh very much. He’ll probably thrive in that environment and I like guys who thrive under pressure.”
(This isn't the first time the Senators have played that somewhat-odd card. Ottawa coach John Paddock has repeatedly mentioned that Martin Gerber flourished in Carolina because "they only have one beat writer.") (Lord Stanley's Blog, N&O)

I beg to differ, sir. Our cab drivers may not be able to tell you why our powerplay is slacking but we do talk hockey here. For example, on Monday (the day of trade), I headed to Borders to pick up some new tunes. While I was paying for my things, the woman running the register just happened to see my Canes pocket schedule in my wallet and she piped up, "Oh!! Did you hear who they traded today?!?" As I explained to her what went down, she expressed her sorrow for seeing "Stiller" gone but knew that Jimmy Boy had usually been the man to trust in these situations. As I walked out, the three people in line behind all asked the lady what had happened with the Hurricanes today.

Also, there's about 900 unique visitors in the past 30 days in NC/SC alone who came to this lil' 'ol blog to "talk hockey". Sure, plenty of locals are obsessed with ACC and college sports but they're not all freaks ready to pounce at the first sign of an athelete's vulnerability.

Yes, we do have one official "beat writer" in Luke DeCock. (Guess everyone is ignoring Rachel Carter, who has been chiming in nicely over the N&O.) However, do not discount the Durham, Fayetteville, etc.. writers that contribute to the Canes coverage. Not to mention the guys at 850 the Buzz, 99.9 The Fan, and the local news channels. These folks do their jobs and they do it well. They're not out to hound NHL players in their personal lives. Our GM doesn't take pot-shots at departing players, no matter the situation. As Cason stated today, it's just flat out bigotry the way the Canadian media (and GM Murray) have handled this whole trade.

Whatever sells their story, I guess.

Skin 'N Bones Ward Still Owns The Bell Centre

Cam Ward stood on his head making 35 of 36 saves during a 5-1 win in Montreal, where the Habs have laid a goose egg against him since pre-lockout. Tonight he comminced to stand on his head, his skates, his gloves, Alex Kovalev, Mark Streit, the glass, and then just for fun, he went and stood on David Tanabe.

A nice and lengthy prose write-up from Luke at LSB.
D-Lee (possibly the most old-school Caniac) reviews the game and issues his 3 stars.

Face Time With the Washington Capitals Blogs

My favorite thing about that team is their quality blogs.

Congrats Guys!