Guess what? Caniac Nation was right

I'm an easily amused guy. This much is obvious. But I always get a kick out of reading the opinions via comments to sports blogs. Other than PD, the most frequent one I visit is Canes Now.

(side note: Canes Now is a little better than "Lord Stanley's Blog", but is that the best they could have done? It falls in line with the "ACC Now" blog @ the N&O. At least it takes away the irony of naming the beat writer's blog after a 2006 cup run while failing to make the postseason the following two years..I digress)

Frequent commentators have been screaming for he of the worst +/- in the NHL Rod Brind'amour to be benched or other similarly drastic.

Strip him of the captaincy!
Trade him!
Send him to the minors to force retirement!
Sit him!

Whatever ridiculous ideas that were proposed, one swimmingly good idea was to demote him from the top two lines to fourth line duty. While he's been back-and-forth between 3rd/4th, it certainly has been the best we've seen Brind'amour to date this season. It works because he can run his shift w/ Bayda/Jokinen/Sutter/Conboy/etc.. but also jump out for face-off duty. He shares the league lead and has been in front for the most of the season in FO % with a challenge from Radek Bonk of the Preds.

What award can we get for Brindy for face-off performance? The Rod Brind'amour award?It's working. That's all I/you need to know about Brindy. Also, that if/when the Canes make a playoff run you want him on this team, hello.

Look, I love the guy. I have two of his jerseys, one pre-captaincy and one post. I think he's HHOF material big-time. But he's sucked this year. He's too much of a man to admit any injuries, but he'll be clutch when he needs to be. Bank it.


Another thing that the fan base was right about was Timmy Conboy.

Dude's MF crazy, no doubt. He's earned a reputation around the league for being a prick on the ice (rightfully so). But damn if his teammates and Canes fans don't love him. How can you not like this guy being on your team when he stands up to an enforcer nearly 147 times his size in his first NHL shift?:



He doesn't ever err have to win the fights but he's not going to back down from anybody. He's like Chad LaRose minus the offensive skills, plus the PIM team leader and bat-shit craziness. He needs to stay in Raleigh though the team management will have one hell of a decision to make when Walker and Williams return to health. You would think that it is obvious what to do, but management usually won't listen to the fan cries. What happened then? Doh.

Chad LaRose: The One that almost got away

Here's the highlights from the Jan. 12th game in Raleigh against the Colorado Avalanche.

If you watch the video, you'll notice that the Canes' goals come from an Erik Cole breakaway, a Keith Aucoin rocket-of-a-shot, Cory Stillman slapper and Chad LaRose sweeping up the trash. The irony here is that the first three will not be suiting up in a Carolina sweater come September and that the fourth was nearly lost.

I read mixed opinions that surfaced during the limbo time of not knowing whether the organ-eye-zation was willing to bring LaRose back. Some said that he would be easily replaced. Others threatened to ex-communicate with the team if he was let go (most of those folks added that they couldn't stand to see two fan favorites leave Raleigh in the same month).

Personally, I think Chad is just coming of age. Keep in mind that his third season with the Plymouth Whalers produced a team-leading 117 points in 49 games (including a team record 61 goals). Also keep in mind that he's a homegrown boy, being the only person to play in each level of the CompuWare hockey teams (Compuware AAA Ambassadors, Plymouth Whalers, Florida Everblades, Lowell Lock Monsters, and the Carolina Hurricanes). The Chuck Norris of Hockey himself has been Petey Boy's child prodigy since he was crapping thunder into his little diaper.

As much as I may have a man-crush on him, this could all be a wash as my boy Jimmy could trade him away tomorrow for all I know. But he will be needed if Earl Sleek's stat projections for the 08-09 season are at all accurate.

I'd like to take this time to offer a sneak preview to the Carolina On Ice CafePress store. Stay tuned for some additions over there, but here is the first design:

Fayetteville Fireantz advance in SPHL Playoffs

The defending league champion FireAntz dispatched the Richmond Renegades in their best-of-three on Friday & Saturday with an overtime clinching goal by Rob Sich.

Antz goalie Chad Collins made 51 saves (51!) on Saturday. Combined with his previous night, he stopped combined 91 shots in two games against Richmond.

Fayetteville will play the winner of the Jacksonville / Twin Cities series with home-ice advantage if T.C. ends up winning.