Is it too early to award NHL Executive of the Year for 2009-2010 to Jim Rutherford? Aaron Ward returns to Carolina in trade for Patrick Eaves.

(Bruins site)

Jimmy Rutherford contines his bang-up job this summer today by trading out a dissapointing player in Patrick Eaves for an old fan-favorite in Aaron Ward.

Add that to his re-signing of crucial free agents in LaRose, Cole and Ruutu as well as bringing on tough new players in Andrew Alberts and Greek Lightning, and you've got a boner-fied threat to the Eastern Conference champs once again. Seriously, if last year's team could take it all the way to the Conference finals - what are the chances of heading back with a stronger version of the same team? Pretty damn good if you ask me.

Now, in regards to Punch-Gate - (Aaron Ward becoming a teammate of the guy that cold-cocked him), it's going to be a non-issue between the two players. But you'd better believe that the media will cook up a storm about it. Count on it. (Hi Canada!)

Welcome home Aaron, enjoy actually getting to live in your new house!

Aaron joins my buddy Brandon in Buffalo for a cocktail during an off-night, 2006.

Things you could do while awaiting a west coast puck drop

As the Hurricanes head out on a three game, west coast road trip against Vancouver, San Jose and Phoenix - all of us East coast players are doomed to staying up until at least 12:30 at night just to see the team on TV. With a 10:00 start, you might find yourself getting just a tad anxious for the game. With that being said - be glad that we here at COI are by the people, for the people, of the people and we're here to keep you occupied while you anticipate your Pacific time zone game.

Here's some things that I'll be doing and maybe you should try too:

You could drink a beer or twelve.

You could step on over to the new and improved Canes Country via the ever expanding SB Nation. Congrats to Bubba and Cory who are professionals at this game by now.

You could drink a Smithwick's. Dark, smooth, yet not too heavy.

You could scope out the competition's bloggers, with my personal favorites being Waiting for Stanley on the Canucks end, Five for Howing for all your Coyotes action and Fear the Fin is great for the Sharks. Also including the Sharkies is one of my all time favorite blogs - the Battle of California. Earl Sleek (even though he's a Ducks fan) is one of the most free-thinking, creative and entertaining hockey bloggers out there today. His twisted mind is on par with only a select few in the elite of the blogosphere. Here's a favorite from his series of "Pucktoons" with Sir Sleek:

You could drink a Fat Tire, if you're anywhere in the Nashville area or further West. What a great MF beer. (For the longest time you couldn't get the Colorado brewed beer anywhere East of the Mississippi. If it hits NC and you find out, let me know and the first rounds on me.)

You could congratulate East of Here on the birth of his first born this week! While he's obviously not going to be around here too much in the coming months if at all - enjoy a little collection of the best of East's twisted mind:

The Professional Chotchkes Union Must Be On Strike East breaks down the Eric Staal bobblehead

About those shoddy Hurricanes car flags they tried to skimp on

We're boned, seriously: regarding East's assurance that the return of Paul Maurice meant the inevitable return of dump and chase (as well as being teh Suck).

Congrats again there, bud.

You could drink an Eye of the Hawk beer. Strong at 8% but the copper, amber color with the caramelly (is that a word?) flavor take the edge off. Good stuff. It's kinda fun to start squawking like you're some giant bird of prey while you drink this too.

You could check out the qual that my cohorts have been spewing over at Barry Melrose Rocks, or view only posts written by yours truly if you must. I also highly recommend the author's thread of Kevin Schultz at the NHL Fanhouse for AOL Sports.

With Mardi Gras right around the corner, you could appropriately drink a "Hurricane". Duh.
You could rip some bingers swim like an Olympic champ.

You could check out my favorite new blog, F You, Penguin. An excerpt:

"This jerk refuses to be my friend"

"What the hell, Dog? Like I'm not good enough for you. I have 6,000 friends on Facebook! YOU'RE NOT EVEN ON FACEBOOK BECAUSE YOUR PAWS WOULD MAKE TYPING IMPOSSIBLY AWKWARD. What am I doing wrong here? We hung out that one time, and I thought things were going pretty well. I made some jokes, you ate your own poop, WE HAD A NICE DAY TOGETHER."

You could go and drink dozens of different beers at any of the Carolina Ale House locations, with the Cary location on Walnut St. hosting a Cool Bars with the Storm Squad there on Saturday night for the Phoenix game.

You could also head on up to Hillsborough to check out the UNC vs. Duke hockey game on Saturday. It starts at 4:15. Guarantee you that one will be a chippy affair. Let's just hope that you staying up so late is warranted by a Hurricanes team worth watching. That is - they don't ride west only to crap the bed in a different time zone.

Up is down - left is right

"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!

I'm Still Alive

So Mrs. Wuffy and I bought a house at the end of November and spent the majority of December refusing to do anything but drink getting settled in. Any free time I got outside of the usual hey-day and my vegetable impersonations went towards either painting, raking, cleaning or some other "honeydew" chore.

So alas, we are now Cary-ites and happy homeowners. But COI is not so happy. I'm more than displeased with the fact that there's been nothing but crickets around here. East jumped in when he could (and delivered some dime-pieces, thanks again East) - but I slacked on my blogging big time. For that my friends, I am sorry.

The other day I got an e-mail from Kevin of Barry Melrose Rocks /AOL Fanhouse fame. Seems he's got a super secret internship that requires him to step away from the blogging scene for a bit. He asked me to join in the fun over at BMR to cover his stead while he's away. Naturally, how could I say no? One of my favorite bloggers asks me to hold the reins - you're damned right I'll do it! That's almost like the beer samplers at Miller Brewing calling and asking to come and work for them.
"You mean I get to sample beer for a living? and you're gonna pay me? Like US Dollars?"

With that said - I'm not dropping COI off at the dump. Not by a long shot. But I am entertaining offers if anyone thinks they'd like to give this blogging gig a try. CarolinaOnIce@gmail.com if you're interested, lonely and need to chat, or should you have any questions.

See you around. Go Canes!

Flyers @ Canes Gameday: They may still suck, but the tailgates don't

God bless Saturdays.

College football (go Pirates!). Sunshine. Cornhole. Brats. Beers. Good friends.

and some (hopefully) some fine hocka-ja-wee-ah.

Go Canes.

The Annual State Fair road trip so far

Ah yes, it's that time of the year again. The leaves are changing, the air is cooler - and the NC State Fair has come once again to triumph over Raleigh. The Hurricanes have to travel for a season-long road trip every October as the world's biggest state fair is in town. From the outside of NC, this may seem silly.

'Well, they probably won't schedule their hockey games to interfere with the NASCAR race, so why not let the farmers and carnies run them out too?'

Those of us living within the vicinity of the RBC Center can understand why they don't schedule games during this 2 week Fair time. Your drives home are thwarted on the beltways and interstates by out-of-towners not sure which exit to take for the fairgrounds. Co-workers constantly ask you, "So, you make it to the fair yet?".

Well actually, no I haven't. Don't plan to make it. When the State Fair was more about farmers, food and the NC goodness - and less about too many people in one place - I was all about it. Maybe I just can't deal with scattering grounds of these:
Thus endeth the anti-carnie rant. But if there were any Hurricanes games going on during the fair time? Without a premiere parking pass - you may not have a tailgating spot. The NCSU students had to tailgate down the street at the University Club and catch buses to Carter-Finley for the Thursday night FSU game. No thanks.

So in two games out west - the Canes get caught in OT by a suddenly up-and-coming Kings team but slack their way past a sinking Duck squad 3-1. Here's what we know:

Hi-yo! - Leighton is 2-0 with a 1.92 GAA.

Cam Ward ain't been too shabby neither, with solid showings in both the Kings and Red Wings games.

Brandon Sutter is an excellent two-way player who will become even more valuable when he can win a faceoff.

Brindy is all that is man.

Matt Cullen, Eric Staal & Ray Whitney are progressing through this season nicely.

Tuomo Ruutu needs to stay healthy. :(

Coach Lavi doesn't need to be fired. No how no way.

Nic Wallin got tired of people thinking "you'd be on a different team without your no-trade clause" and is suddenly tied for 5th place in defenseman scoring in the entire NHL. He's been an extremely pleasant surprise through 5 games.

The Canes wanted 4, but will take 3 points out of their weekend with a content flight home before heading to the Mellon on Thursday.

Finally, here is what we also know - that YouTube user "alnova1" is a marketing genius while hilariously ripping off the "Is This The Year?" NHL commercials.

Well done, Caniacs.

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival: Can it get any better?

Today the wifey and I are heading out to Cary for the first annual Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheater. How brilliant is that? The World Beer Festival has been a smashing, massive success in Durham and Raleigh for many years now. But when you add bourbon AND barbecue to it, it could only get better right? Summer is all about events like these. Should be beautiful weather too, party cloudy with a high of 88.

w00t!

Because hockey people are good people

Back in September, the wife and I had arguably the worst week of our lives. Nothing turns your life upside down like an unexpected tragedy. As the late great Phil Hartman would say during his SNL Frankenstein , "FIRE BAAAAD!!!".

Well as I returned from hiatus, I titled a post "I might have to buy a new jersey after all". My Roddy Brind'amour "A" jersey that I'd had since 2003 and worn (without washing) all through the 2005-2006 Cup run year was in the same condition as all of my other clothes: covered in a nasty yellow soot stain.

I had been tinkering around on the Canes Country Forum and made some e-friends, but had yet to meet any of them. We had been discussing joining up for a tailgate party before a Canes game.

It ended up being one of the 40 games we had against the Florida Panthers last season.

So there we were, having a grand 'ol time enjoying the pre-game festivities. My new friends and I were getting along like we had all known each other for years.

With about an hour or so before the 7:00 puck drop, people starting telling everyone to gather around me. Someone went to their truck to get something. He came out with a white bag from "The Eye" (the Hurricanes merch shop). Sure enough, they had bought me a shiny white new Rod Brind'amour jersey.

I was speechless. I still am. How could these people do something so nice for someone that they had never even met? With a poo-eating grin on my face, I happily accepted it and immediately threw it over my body. Fit like a glove.

So Thank you to Bob, Janey, Brian & East for what you did for me. I won't forget it.

$3 Beer night at the Charlotte Checkers game

Tonight!

Hint, Hint.. Canes Organ-eye-zation...

A boy can dream right?

Gameday Panthers @ Canes on a day made for tailgating!

Hey Joe Corvo & Patrick Eaves...

How was the weather in Ottawa when you left? Oh wait, I know! I'll use the Google and see for myself!

Hmmm, the high today is 12 degrees with a low of 1 degree Fahrenheit.

How pleasant!

Today in beautiful Raleigh, NC? Why it's a sunny, near 60 degree day and it has been fairly pleasant for weeks as the flowers have already begun blooming on the tree in our front yard!

There will be a crowded yet rowdy tailgate party full of Wolfpackers & Caniacs. The NCSU basketball game is at 3:00 and the puck drop tonight is 7:00. We're going to witness some shoddy ice out there, but such is life with two major sports clubs sharing a venue. The Fist of Fury and I will enjoy the day, the grills, the adult beverages, good company and hopefully, a great hockey game.

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:

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!

What To Do With An Extra Half Hour Before The Game

Canes square off at home against the Sens with a rare 1/2 hour to kill - 7:30 start. We here at COI thoroughly enjoy a weeknight tailgate just as much as anybody does, but what are we to do with the extra time? Here's a few ideas.

1. Drink a few more $1.50 beverages as opposed to $7.50.
2. Grill your own burgers as opposed to buying the delicious $6 Hardee's Thickburger.
3. Spend a few extra minutes doing your hair before leaving the house.
4. Make sure your seat is nice and warm.
5. Go to K-Mart and buy a $30 jersey instead of the $200 one at The Eye.
6. See suggestion #1.

Q&A With J-Willie

Justin Williams made an appearance Monday at the MacGregor Draft House for 99.9 The Fan's "Canes Corner". In what was maybe a 1/2 hour interview, he discussed being among the league leaders in points/assists and aspirations for the current season. Towards the end of the conversation, the DJs opened up the floor for questions from people at the bar. Being the go-getter that I am, I jumped right up with a on-the-spot query for Justin.

(ala The Chris Farley Show)

WP: "Hey Justin, how's it going"
JW: "Pretty good."
WP: "That's awesome. Dude, YOU ARE THE MAN!"
JW: "Thanks for the support."
WP: "So, you remember when Staal passed you the puck, you skated down and put it in the empty net against the Oilers and then you won the Stanley Cup?"
JW: "Yeah, I remember."
WP: "That was awesome."
JW: "Yeah, thanks."
WP: "Damnit! That was such a bad question."
JW: "No, you're doing fine, really."
WP: "Do you remember, you remember when Jimmy Boy traded to the Flyers for you?"
JW: "Sure do."
WP: "That was awesome!"
JW: "Yeah."

In reality, I did get to ask him one decent question, "Who do you and Brindy prefer to be paired with?" To which he wouldn't give a direct answer but basically said whoever has the hot hand and is playing well. However, when he mentioned that Chad LaRose had stepped up nicely this season, I replied, "CHAD LAROSE!!!!!!!"

Gratuitous Rosey Highlight:

Canes Defeat 'Ol Juicy Lips, Turn Towards Shutting Down Russian Dudes

In the meantime, a few thousand of your closest friends are heading out to Durham for the World Beer Festival today. Happy Saturday.

Open Letter To Sidney Crosby

Sid the Kid & Staal Jr. in town tonight to take on the Canes.

"Dear Mr. Crosby,

We know you're badass and all. We've seen it. Seen the scoring a goal while standing on your head and baking an apple pie. We've seen your pink Reebok designs. We've YouTubed 'Sidney Crosby' and seen the numerous Canadian commercials where you are worshipped. Now that you're captain and all - would you mind laying down tonight and letting our boys win one? No? OK then, we'll just have to kick your asses then. My boy TIMAAAAY doesn't care about penalties, he'll just throw down. It'll be fun. Then, Jordan and Eric can go out and buy everyone drinks at Sullivan's tonight, K? Stick around, we'll all go to the World Beer Festival in Durham tomorrow - we'll send Trevor Letowski and some Albany River Rats to play the Caps Saturday, don't worry about it."

Note From Colorado:

My friends really weren't kidding when they said every establishment in Colorado has their own brewery. A few highlights:

the Brewski @ the Smokehouse in Nederland

The sampler at BJ's


The Coors Factory


Boulder Falls

Boulder-rado Outtie

Time to take a little VaCA - heading out west to tour every brewery I can find visit with friends.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and Go Pirates/Wolfpack/Everybody else playing football!

A Bloggety Review

Taking a few moments to recognize Caniac blogger friends:

CasonBlog is still a daily hit - and Scotty just revamped his format with a shiny new look. CB was one of the original Canes bloggers and he just celebrated 2 years of the gig. Hat tip to him for always having the backs of newbies and showing support. I'm especially digging his new feature: "CB Spotlight".

Bubba of CanesCountry is the newest Southeast Shootout contributor and continues to always come through with a thoughtful and informative daily post. He houses a great forum and message board through his site that is not overwhelmed with members. It's kind of nice having an intimate group to share your disapointments, rants or raves with as opposed to having hundreds of people such as with the more mainstream forums.

Her Majesty, AQ, was recently mentioned in the whole "Eklund Takedown" as the anonymous hockey "blogger" was after her in more ways than one. You don't mess with her. She can out-wit anyone.

Storm Surge has burst onto the scene this week with a South Park influenced banner. He digs Hurricanes and Beer. I like him already.

D-Lee of Redandblackhockey has been come-and-go with his posts this offseason - but he can always be counted on for breaking the glass with the latest scoop. He was the first to post about the leaked "new uniforms". I expect he'll be back with more frequency when the season gets rolling.

I have nominated the following two for Hockey Ladies of Greatness:

Magnolia Mer of Paperwhitesinseason always brings the funny with her daily frustrations or music raves from her wide array of taste.

Beth Ellison of Beth & Hockey is putting together a team for the Pete Friesen Leukemia/Lymphoma 5k run that the team is sponsoring. What a great idea! Herr Wuff is all about philanthropy.

Doing The Birthday Dance

Today is the only time in my life that my age will coincide with my date of birth. Turning 26 on the 26th, I certainly feel no older than I did turning 25. Most importantly however, when I am turning 40 years old I will still feel young at heart. Yes I pay bills, work full-time, and have to deal with the same everday BS that we all do. But inside, I just want to go outside and play!

So that is what I'm going to do! I'll be in my favorite place in the world: Ashe County in the NC Blue Ridge mountains this weekend celebrating and floating down the river (pictured above). Peace!

(ps - My normal saying for my friends on their birthday is: "I hope your parents had as much fun making you as I have knowing you..." but I couldn't really wish that upon myself.)