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.

ECU Hockey schedule released

Wuffie's McLovin Dance continues today as the ECU Ice Hockey page has the release of their schedule for the 2008-2009 season.

Dates to circle on your calendar and plan for the drive to G-Vegas:

The November homestand at Bladez On Ice starting on the 7th against the Division II Duke Blue Devils with the following weekend having VT's Division II team Fri. night the 14th and U of R on the following Saturday the 15th.

That game against the Richmond Spiders will be a re-match of the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference 2006 Championship where the Pirates came up just short of winning their conference in the 1st year of existence.

Unfortunately, the ECU boys don't have App State or NC State on the schedule at this point. ASU is in the other division of the newly re-aligned BRHC but don't rule out the possibility of a Pirates/Wolfpack tilt as they scheduled a game midway through this past season. For all of you who are in the Raleigh area - the closest that ECU will come to us is at the Triangle Sports Plex in Hillsborough vs. Duke on October 25th.

College Hockey: What will it take?

Not any time soon, but one these years college hockey in the Carolinas will come to the forefront. While various schools have recently founded teams, some have had them for decades.
Think of the possibilities. This is last year's winning goal in Minnesota's game vs. N. Dakota.

Could we see a big time tournament in a renovated Dorton Arena featuring NCSU, Duke, UNC, ECU, App, UNCW? Who thinks that wouldn't be outstanding entertainment?


Bubba interviewed David Glenn on the subject and suggests that we won't be seeing Division I hockey in our area in anytime soon. Heres your money quote:

With the exception of Boston College, I think hockey in the ACC has
along, long way to go before it’s close to being sponsored on the Division I
level. The current climate of college sports is that most schools are more likely
to drop a varsity sport than to add a new one, so I’ll be very surprised if you
see a hockey explosion in the ACC. It’s great that so many people are having fun
with ice hockey atthe club level, but I think that’s where it will stay for
the foreseeable future. There are just too many complications with budgets and
facilities right now. - David Glenn of 850 the Buzz, as told to Canes Country

Who knows when/if the NCAA and sports fans in NC/SC will embrace the spirit and passion that these guys display. If nothing else, I hope that people are becoming educated about the game in general via the Hurricanes but also are noticing that their area colleges' club hockey teams are growing in popularity.

College Hockey this weekend, by George!

Starting this Friday, the reigning ACCHL Champion Georgetown Hoyas come into Raleigh to face the NCSU Wolfpack with a 9:00PM start at the RecZone. The GUunit will then continue their tour of the triangle with a match up against Duke Saturday night (10:15PM) followed by a Sunday matinee game with UNC (4:15PM). Both of those games will be at the home of the Blue Devils & Tarheels - the Triangle Sportsplex in Hillsborough.

(aside: - Georgetown shares the Washington Capitals' practice facility - the highly regarded Kettler Capitals Iceplex - while the Carolina Hurricanes share the RecZone with NCSU - nothing against the RZ, but WOW!)

George Mason will face the Pack on Saturday - RecZone 8:00PM - and as always tickets are available to purchase the night of the game.

College Hockey Fires Back Up This Weekend

The local boys are getting their gear out of storage from holiday break and nose-diving in to their January schedules. On tap for this coming weekend:

The RecZone - Raleigh

Friday the 11th at 6:00 Duke hosts Va Tech.

The NCSU Wolfpack hosts a weekend double header facing VT Saturday night, followed by a 1:30 matinee matchup with the Blue Devils.

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The UNC Tarheels will head down to Clemson for a Friday night matchup against the Tigers.

UNC Charlotte will host the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Saturday at their home rink, Extreme Ice.

The East Carolina U. Pirates, still on a tear from this Fall's schedule, are traveling to sweet Georgia to take on power-house teams Georgia & Georgia Tech. This will be a good test for the still young ECU team.

Are you heading to any games this weekend? As always, photos/videos are welcomed.

Good luck! Support your local teams!

Canes Fall On "Walk Around The RBC With Your Figurine Box" Night

OK look, the Hurricanes didn't get embarrassed tonight. They played alright but it was just one of those nights that the puck hits the net -- just not the one with goalposts around it (the big one that blocks your view and saves your dome-piece).

The 1st goal should have been blown dead before it got behind Ward-O.

The 2nd goal was completely Cam's fault. He thought he had it but he pooped out a rebound and got caught trying to play it while a Flyer had an open net on the other side.

3rd goal was a top-shelf beauty and a collective groan from the home crowd (which was a large one).

1/2 way through the 3rd, the Canes finally had a crisp-passing possession and Stiller capitalized with a goal that made it somewhat interesting, but to no avail.

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During the 1st intermission, to coincide with "College Night", the Duke and East Carolina club hockey teams faced off in a shootout. This made my effin night. ECU won 2-1 on 4 shots.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! E.C.! You look so good to me! Hey! Hey! Hey! E.C. You look so good to me!"

College Hockey Overload

App State: It's been a tough season so far for those Mountaineer boys. The Clemson Tigers welcomed them to South Cackalack with a Shalacking double header. Clemson won both games by a combined margin of 24-3. Up next for ASU, they head "right near da beach, boi!" to face the UNC-W Seahawks, a team they have never lost to.

Duke Blue Devils: On a tear!

The Blue Devil's beat ACCHL foe NC State 4-1 on Friday to move to 4-0 in the league.

The Blue Devils' came away with two victories in their Home and Home with the Liberty Flames . On Friday, the team traveled to LaHaye Ice Center and won 4-3. Playing at home on Saturday, the Devils edged the Flames 6-4.

The Blue Devils' travelled to north to play two ACCHL opponents in Virginia and Virginia Tech. After beating UVA 6-1 on Friday, Duke outlasted Virginia Tech 3-2 Saturday night.

The Duke Blue Devils' opened up their season with a 6-0 win over Appalachian State and a 8-0 win over rival UNC.

UNC Tarheels: Despite losing to rivals NCSU & Duke, they were able to handle App State this year in OT, 5-4.

East Carolina: Since dropping one their 1st game this year to GW in the Charlotte Shootout, the Pirates are off and rolling once again and have not lost since. Despite the ECU Football team being outlasted by the Pack, the hockey team was able to hold up their end of "Rivalry Weekend?" by beating State (DII) 6-4.

ECU is wiping the floor with their competition this year. The beat UNCW handily last weekend. They now turn to their most anticipated game of the season with NCSU coming into town Friday night as part of Rivalry Weekend in Greenville.

UNC lost two games in 3 tough days. 8-0 to Duke last Friday, and 8-2 vs. VT on Sunday.

Added to Carolinas Hockey Links -- Central Carolina Hockey

Sorry for lack of posts, but I still don't have a computer yet (see the whole "fire thing")

To keep you entertained and knowledgeable for the upcoming Pens game on Friday, check out:
The Pens Blog - very funny stuff!

Upcoming Games

Canes & Sens -- can the Canes slow the Sens undefeated role?

Weekend of October 12th & 13th

Duke vs. UNC @ Triangle Sportsplex 10:15 -- Where's Dicky V when you need him?

NCSU @ Gulf Coast FLA - Quite a roadtrip for self-sufficient student athletes!

UNC-W @ ECU - Budding rivalry - can the Seahawks rally as underdogs? (double header, Fri & Sat)

Local Boys Fire Up This Weekend

This weekend at the SportsPlex in Hillsborough - App State is in town to take on the Tarheels and Blue Devils in a weekend double header.

Link: "House Of Blues" - ASU Site

Also - if you're East bound and down - load it up and truck it to Greenville for the Purple/Gold ECU Scrimmage or head down to the Dub to see UNC-Wilmington in their Teal/White Game.

Yeehaw!