The Comeback Kings are back: Canes with weekend sweep

Fan A: "Down by two goals again."

Fan B: "We got 'em right where we want 'em then"

The Hurricanes displayed some serious heart and effort in both the opening night 6-4 win over the Panthers and again Saturday night at Tampa with a 4-3 OT decision. What a wild, 24 hour ride for the Caniacs!

Friday night's game:

The opening entrance was pretty cool. I feel sorry for anyone who sat in the lower bowl (Lexus Club side) that had their view obstructed by the impromptu hanging TV screen during all that. The leftover fog seemed to linger around the ice for half of the first period.

Florida came out prepared and walked through an almost non-existent Carolina D to score a few beauties. The Cats made true on their power play chances and Stiller's tip-in goal had the good guys down 2-0 early on. (Methinks Cory Stillman will have a great season with Florida based off Friday's observations and the lack of talent surrounding him.)

After that however, the Canes put on their shit-kickers and started generating pressure by maintaining the offensive zone. Tim Gleason borrowed Wallin's nickname of "The Secret Weapon" and railed out three assists in the game. Pitkanen looked great and scored, as well as Brindy. LaCouture and B-Sutter were workhorses and their efforts paid off as Danny had the game-winner on a feed from Brandon.

Sutter will score at least 3-4 shorties this year - bank it.

In a quip borrowed from the fine folks at The Battle of California, here's your entrusted blogger enjoying the action last night:


Those aren't my usual section 102 seats, but they surely didn't suck. A big thanks and shout-out to reader Bill who provided Wuffy with an adult beverage during the 1st intermission.

On to Saturday's game.

I got home in time to start watching the Tampa game at the beginning of the 2nd period. As I saw the Canes slack around the ice, the Bolts appeared to be taking advantage of a weary Carolina squad. But lo and behold, they crept back into it by waking up and forcing Tampa goalie Mike Smith to do his drama queen act. aside:To Smith's credit, he is a great goaltender that can flat-out play with a suspect defense in front of him. But when he lets in a goal or disagrees with a call, he's more dramatic than the ladies from Desperate Housewives. Exhibit A being the shattering of his stick over the crossbar tonight.

The third period saw Carolina completely dominate play and Tampa in fact looked like the team with tired legs.

In fact, the Canes ate up the Tampa defense, spit them out, swallowed them again and then crapped them out. Outstanding play to come back from being down 3-0 and finish them off with a beautiful Whitney-to-Staal two on one OT marker.

To borrow a line from the boys of The Pensblog:

Oh Hell Yeah

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

We stink, you almost ready to go?

Well, let's hang around for another minute.
(Stiller scores)
Awesome! We've got a chance. We're probably still doomed.
(Wizard scores)
AH!!!! Whaaaaaaat!?! YES!!
(OT - On the power play yet we haven't scored a PP marker since the Hartford days)
d00d - we've got to score here.
(Staal farts a shot towards the net, Walker tips in)
Awlriiiiite. Awesome. WE ARE THE BEST TEAM EVER!

The Kaberle family got to see both their sons play a decent game, with Frank getting a helper and Tomas getting an assist and a PP goal.

It was great to see the remaining crowd at the RBC all on their feet during the OT period.

Cory Stillman is a beast. BEAST!

Since this game wasn't televised locally, here's the YouTubeage

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.

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."

The C.O.I. Awards

When looking back on the Hurricanes short NHL season, the Canes played themselves out of playoff contention, however they did bring the Stanley Cup to Raleigh, NC of all places last year. We should all still be celebrating that fact.

On the optimistic side of things, here are the Carolina On Ice individual awards:

Hart Trophy (MVP): Ray Whitney.

-Leads the team in scoring at 82 points (32 goals, 50 assists)
-Mr. Clutch
-Has the fastest (natural) hat trick of the regular season in the NHL (1:40 in one period)
-"The Wizard" stayed healthy (for the most part) all year and always created scoring chances

Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy (player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey): Brent Falcon, ECU Pirates, Captain.

In two years of existence, the NY transfer has spear-headed the building of an unknown sport in Eastern North Carolina into a legitimate powerhouse of college hockey. See previous post "The Pirates Are Ready". Congrats to the Pirates, and we will be seeing them in the NCAA Frozen Four in a few years.


Selke Trophy (best defensive forward), Lady Byng Trophy (exemplifies sportsmanship and gentlemanliness (sp?)): Rod Brind'amour.

Things could have been REALLY bad early without our rock of a captain. "Rod the Bod" still wins over 60% of his faceoffs, had a solid (current) 80 points, and plays through almost any injury or illness.

Vezina trophy (Best Goaltender): Cam Ward.

It's not easy following up a rookie season that included Lord Stanley's Cup, The Playoff MVP, and marriage. Ward-O stepped in the #1 goaltender position this year with solid performances and highlight reel saves (30-20-6). Although he would like to have a few of the goals scored against back, the majority of nights he had his teammates to thank for those.

The Jack Adams Award (Best Coach): Hockey Parents

If you're a parent and you invest the time, energy, and financials in your kid playing a game they love; YOU are the best coach of them all. This wonderful sport will continue to embrace our communities with your support.