"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!" - the Hurricanes won a hockey game! New president! Raleigh is effin snowed in! People spontaneously combusting! Hide your families! Chad LaRose is all that is man! Cam Ward is Conn Smythe!
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?
The former Penguins D-man who played in the Czech republic signs with the Canes today for a (cue Dr. Evil voice) One Million Dollar, One year contract.
As an aside, the Hurricanes Ticket Sales Dept. is now accepting payments in euros.
still can't get used to seeing this
-Speaking of Green Eggs & Hamilton - I feel the need to send him off properly. After a kickass start to the season, I was shouting on high how smart JR was for signing this guy. He had a rocket of a shot, he seemed to pickup an assist every time there was a power play goal and by all reviews of him - he was a great character guy.
As his point total started to decline, so did his ice time as other teams started to crack down on the "Five Forward Power Play" that had worked so well. It's unfortunate that heart doesn't win you games - because Jeff Hamilton has plenty of it. Best wishes, Hammy.
(image via Flickr user MaesMama)
-I've been wanting to do a post about the whole free agent frenzy using the dude, "I Need Money" from the movie How High. Oh well. There it is.
-WTD with Chad LaRose? Management wants to get bigger on the 4th line? What does that have to do with The Chuck Norris of Hockey? Why even associate 4th line and Chad LaRose in the same sentence? Come on, dude.
(image via Flickr user [Keith] )
-What's Sergei Samsonov doing this summer? Wodka, Wodka, Wodka?
-Roddie Brind'amour is a beast. Something tells me that next season is going to be a career best for him. Just sayin'.
She's everywhere!!!!
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.
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.]
