Bring it? Oh, it's already been broughten!

The day that would never come.

Opening Night is Friday October 10, 2008. As in tomorrow. Really.

At the RBC Center? No more of "The Wiggles Live!":

Instead:

and the old jumbo-tron begins it's final run at glory, as it is reportedly being replaced in the Summer of 2009.



as for the RBC surroundings tomorrow night? Expect quite the celebration.

Windows 95 low-bit MS Paint creation.

Let's do this thing:

Canes in mid-season form already?

Mid-season as in December through January of last season where they couldn't score a goal or put up a consistent nightly effort? Well, no.

But the pre-season opener last night against the Caps certainly reminded me of that horrible stretch. Can't hold the puck, can't play D.. can shoot the puck on net all night but never generate any solid chances...

Thank goodness that one didn't count. A few notes:

-Pitkanen (if he can stay healthy) is going to have a tremendous year for Carolina. He was a beast pretty much all night.

-Corvo paired with Pitkanen working the points on the power play is rather lethal if they're in the offensive zone. However, having two offensive-minded defenseman during a potential short-handed breakaway (especially Corvo) may not be the best idea. Carolina allowed way too many shorties last year.

-Petruzalek had a great 1st period. If he buries all of his chances, we're talking about a whole different outcome.

-on Bowman & Sutter - meh. Poor B-Sutt couldn't win a face-off to save his life but otherwise showed decent awareness around the puck. Bowman is fast and he will be a sniper, he just looked flat like the rest of the team last night.

-Nic Wallin. Dude. Did you get hammered before the game or something? Get a clue.

-Ward. Mmm, yeah he was already in mid-season form. Allowing 2 goals on the first 3 shots. The first you couldn't really fault him for. The 2nd was mostly Joe Corvo's fault - but he's gonna have to learn to handle those breakaway chances playing this Hurricane style of hockey where that door is occasionally left open.

-Justin Peters - Hey guy, you're supposed to have your butt facing the net - not vice-versa as you were when you gave up your first goal.

-Jeff O'Neill & LaCouture - not real impressive. O'Neill was playing just OK, I barely even noticed LaCouture.

It was outstanding to be at the RBC Center. It was outstanding to tailgate. It was outstanding to finally meet some of my blogger co-horts, David Lee of RBH fame & Beth from the Sliding Pokiecheck. Not such an outstanding game to watch as a Canes fan, but that's what the pre-season is all about. Get out the kinks and move on.

Did Brind'amour hurt himself in the Friesen 5K Run?

This probably will end up as nothing, but I can' help but wonder: Did Rod Brind'amour injure himself before or during the 5K run on Sunday at the RBC?

If you watch this YouTube clip, you will see a struggling Brindy coming across the finish line around the 2:40 mark:

To boot, he ended up missing informal practices at the RecZone the following day. Some folks who were able to make it to the run saw him head into the RBC Center with an obvious limp following his finish. Seriously doubt that it's anything serious, but what a blow this would be.

RBC Center: Movin' on up

Thanks to some posters on The Scoreboards, news is out of a few needed upgrades at the RBC Center. The long awaited new sound system is in place and being fine-tuned for the coming season. The acoustics have been rather horrible there over the years, so I'm looking forward to having a little more clarity through the PA.

The old school jumbo-tron is being replaced next summer, as the RBC Center Centennial Authority is now accepting bids on the new one from general contractors. May I suggest studying whatever the Capitals did in the Verizon Center last off-season?
Finally, the gravel lots outside of Carter-Finley Stadium that serve as tailgate areas for many Caniacs are being paved this summer as well. During the Summer Fun Fest, I could see that our normal tailgating spot was covered in heavy machinery. Sigh.

Google Earth now with 3D on the RBC

Last Summer, I blew your collective minds with my display of how to be a "Good Ya-Google-izer". As I perused the E-bays today, I came across news that Google Earth now has a feature available where you can see some of the more popular sports stadiums in 3-D. Sure enough, the good ol ATM is available... and it's still mind blowingly cool.

Anyone got a good pic they want to upload to Google Earth that shows the RBC grounds the way they should look; with a raucous crowd of Caniacs tailgating?

A closer look:

This shot here appears to be your smokers lounge that fills up during each intermission. If I could only look in the window there, I'd probably see my homeslice that runs the Sausage Stop outside the Gates to the Priority Lounge.

Just for fun, the Florida Panthers' home: BankAtlantic Center

*Not available to see through Google Earth in this shot, the magnitude of empty seats and overflow pool of Jacque Martin's tears from crying about the Canes. Somebody should e-mail the Google and tell them to include that in their next update.

Download Google Earth, Now!

Leave it to BoJangles baby & Summer update

Great news out of the OHL draft as Enloe High School student Matt Gellatly was drafted by the Saginaw Spirit. My favorite part of this nice little interview? His pre-game meal is "BoJangles fried chicken". Same here, even though my "pre-game" meal normally isn't preceeding a physically gruelling athletic event. It also tends to be my "morning after" meal when I need a little grease in the tank. Paint me the picture of good health.

Good luck, Matt.

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Was back in the friendly confines of the RBC Center last night, unfortunately not to see the Canes in a May game -- but nonetheless it was still nice to be in there. The geriatric Van Halen boys rocked the house as much as possible. This thing that flies around before they take the stage is awesome. But the sound is so bad in there acoustic-wise, it's hard to hear anything at all.

The scoreboard was retracted up into the rafters. I was hoping that it had been taken down completely for the inevitable upgrade, but it is certainly not in the budget for the upcoming season (so I hear).

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One thing that the RBC Center staff was paying attention to were my cries for an updated RBCCenter.com and they delivered. w00t!

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I'll be posting as often as possible with any kind of updates this summer, whether it be hockey related, concerts, etc... keep yourselves entertained with my Mom's wonderful blog, All Things Quilty.

Canes tickets quickly selling out

If you have any intention of attending the Hurricanes' upcoming final 4 home games, may I suggest that you jump on that notion. Just checking in on the upcoming Capitals game on Tuesday, the entire lower level is sold out already.

And then.....

It's playoff time baby!

A friend of mine made an interesting comment the other day. If your team gets all the way through the playoffs, and you were to buy a ticket to every single home playoff game -- you end up spending more money on those games than you would for a whole 41 game regular season ticket. Nobody ever said hockey was a poor man's sport.

Arriving in from Buffalo: things to do and places to see!

As it appears that busloads of Sabres fans are trecking down from the greater Buffalo area, it would only be proper Southern hospitality to offer those fine folks some pointers on entertainment outside of the hockey game this weekend! Well Buffalonians, look no further than your trusty dusty bloggers here at Carolina On Ice... We know all about Raleigh's hot spots and must-sees.

As you are coming down Us-1 South, be sure to speed through the small town of Kittrell, just around Henderson. Don't worry, there are never any cops there.

Once in Raleigh, I would certainly reccommend checking into any one our fine area hotels.

In between the RBC Center / NCSU area and downtown is a lovely place where we keep the North Carolina Welcoming Committee. Stop on by 1300 Western Blvd. and let them know you'd like the tour.

When you're ready for a meal, be sure to head over to the Ten-Ten Grand Buffett over off of Western as well for a dinner fit for a king.

Up for a flare of the nightlife? Get in touch with your wildside at Raleigh's hottest nightclub, The Foxy Lady. You won't regret it, trust me.

Why, you ask, should a bunch of Caniacs offer to help out fans of a rival team? We just did this to offer the olive branch. We'll welcome them down here. After all, a good chunk of them have already moved here. Can you blame them? The suggestions here are just a few of the many great things to do!

But hey, we looked out for them - so please, no more stealing meat from grills, destroying our cars, punching out ANYONE or cursing like a sailor for Saturday's game. Cool?

Weekend Caniac Observations

So the Canes properly welcomed the newest Tampa scapegoat goaltender in Mike Smith last night with a 5-1 tromping at the giant ATM. All our newbies showed up with points, while TB's new guys left behind a storming Dallas team to join a floundering Bolts club. All I can say to them is get used to it, -- You'll have your nights but Carolina does their best to get your backup goaltender some playing time.

During the game last night, FSN showed us the 7ish or so goaltenders that have been through Coach Tort's stable and have had little to no success. They've tried young and old, experienced or newb -- no minder has been able to follow up the consistency of Stanley Cup champ Nikolai Khabibulin. Hmm, ever stop to think that maybe it's not the goaltender but the team system?

One guy this blogger won't be missing is Johan Holmqvist. The guy was the 2nd coming of John Grahame against most teams, but seemed to become the reincarnation of Patrick Roy against the Hurricanes. Even at the beginning of this season when Carolina was rolling across the Eastern Conference, the Lightning always appeared to have their number. Toodles, dude.

The Canes have a rare stretch of days off from Sunday until Wednesday Night's ATL game at Phillips Arena. Next week, they again look at three whole consecutive days without a game. While the boys heal up some nagging injuries, they'll also enjoy letting Washington catch up to only one game in hand instead of two.

Now is the stretch drive and as long as they carry the momentum of their recent ways on through the month of March, their SouthEast surpremecy shall remain.

Lets. Go. Canes.

One photo to sum up the game last night

Because like my Eastern NC style BBQ sandwich, the game was outstanding.

Hurricanes 5, Panthers 4.

Change in Atmosphere: Volume not Valium

I know what you're thinking. What does a man cuddling with a sheep have to do with hockey? Why, nothing of course. So what gives?

I'll tell ya: It ain't about the lovely cover art, it's about the auditory ambrosia within. That's right. It's about the music. And that, my friends is the bridge to hockey. Allow me to explain.

I am friggin sick of the pansy crap blaring out of the jumbotron during games. Seriously. If I never hear Gary Glitter "Rock and Roll part 2" again, it'll be too soon. Sure, it was a great sports "anthem" circa 1981. And god knows, I love the 80's (and yes, I do know that awful song is from the early 70's). But let's face reality: Ole Gary is a convicted pedophile. So couple that fact with the prepubescent kids now featured on the Canes season ticket stubs and ask yourself what message are they really sending? And while we're at it, let's shelve "We Will Rock You" for the time being. At least until they've reached the consistency level where there's a better than 50% chance on any given night that the Canes will, in fact, rock somebody. I swear one night, the Canes were down 3 goals with 2 minutes to play, and those RBC idiots started playing "We Will Rock You". We lost by 4. Talk about writing checks your bodies can't cash...

And why the hell to we have to hear the [edited by Billy Graham]-ing "Chicken Dance" every game? Isn't that a yankee wedding song? Note to RBC staff: IT"S A [ edited by the Vatican]- ING HOCKEY GAME!!! NOT A [personally edited by the pope himself] - ING YANKEE WEDDING OR MILWAUKEE BAR MITZVAH!!!

And I won't even begin to describe everything that is wrong with playing "Cotton-Eye Joe". It makes me nauseous just thinking about it. Suffice it to say, and I mean this in the strictest biblical sense: THAT SONG SUCKS [edited by the Moral Majority; minus Falwell]!!!

So what do I propose? Simple. Replace the god awful sappy/kiddy/antique/NAMBLA approved music with something original. Something edgy. Something fast. Something violent.

In two words: Something punk.

Punk makes everything better. More energetic. More passionate. More lively. More alive! Can you imagine the jolt of confusion and fear opposing teams would get as they came out of the tunnel to the sound of Rancid's "Killing Zone" and the awe-inducing sight of 18,000 manic Caniacs in a full blown panoramic pogo? I can. It'd be both a beautiful and terrible sight to behold. I can personally attest to the fact that a man can derive ambient energy from groups like D.R.I., NOFX, X, Black Flag, or most anything early with Henry Rollins...

True story: Once upon a time, back when ole East was but a young lad, I instigated a full blown riot in a previously subdued establishment, merely by bribing a sympathetic DJ into substituting one of my Dead Kennedy's LP's (In God We Trust, Inc. - on vinyl...) for the pre-existing dreck the bar had been feeding the assorted patronage. The last thing I clearly remember before coming to about 6 hours later (in a strange bed with a very cute green and pink haired girl who introduced herself as "Lash") was seeing the entire joint in a violent counter-clockwise mosh with both bartenders in the middle of the vortex; slinging elbows and grinning like they'd won the 'effing' lottery. Best I can reconstruct, I caught either an elbow or knee to the face (dunno which, I never saw it coming. Or going for that matter...) shortly thereafter, and was dragged off to lie in state on the end of the bar, until closing time, when my mortal remains were mercifully claimed by "Lash" and carried to her pad for suitable disposition. THIS is what punk brings to the table.

Punk can do anything. Punk can even turn bad 80's pop into something good (that's a Utah Saints [sub: Kate Bush] reference, to any fellow sophisticates). Don't believe me? Check it:

See what I mean? Much better...

And that's the rub. If you want a loud, active crowd, you've got to give them motivation. And upgrading the auditory atmosphere in the RBC from the same old tired and predictable garbage would go a long way towards that. Let's face it, hockey is a fast, reckless, extreme, and even a little violent sport. So let's get with the program, and frame this incredible sport with some fast, reckless, extreme, and even a little violent music. A hockey game is not a Bar Mitzvah. Logically, it therefore shouldn't sound like one. They need to can the milquetoast music, and set the place afire. They just need a spark.

I'll start the petition.

Who's with me?

Isles, Dubie smoke the Canes

and their favorite movie is "Get Shorty". So many things to be upset about after a game like that. Despite out shooting the Islanders 47-31, someone forgot to tell the point players that they're supposed to, you know, protect against shorthanded breakaways.

Wade Dubielewicz = NY Isles backup goalie, 5' 10", maybe 140 lbs. soaking wet. He didn't have to be fantastic tonight, but he plays like a confident 2nd string goaltender. Hey, the Canes could use one of them!

This team is fortunate to have so few games end in shootouts recently. Ward-O doesn't do one-on-ones. Could we get the fat Cam back? My CanesCast (more on that later) compadres asked me the other night what my thoughts were on Carolina's goalie situation. I responded by saying it wouldn't much matter who is in goal right now because of this NHL worst team defense. Shaky at best tonight.

Speaking of bad D, Frankie K? If I had to nominate someone to receive the Arturs Irbe treatment, myself and several peers outside section 208 are behind me in sending you to lovely Florida.

Plenty of spare time to let this one sting. Oi vay.

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Congrats to the ECU Hockey team in their 3-2 shootout win over NC State last night on College Night. Awesomeness.

(Becka)

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!

Canes Drop Opener To Some Eh-Holes

Continuing on with my luck of attending Hurricanes games - they dropped last night's game to Montreal in overtime. What is it about my presence at the RBC Center that makes our favorite team want to lose? Out of the 15ish games I attended last year - the only Ws I witnessed were early on vs. the Thrash and late in the season vs. the Craps.

Erik Cole did look good last night, scoring the games first goal. Cam Ward was standing on his head, skates, ass, hands, you name it. He was spectacular. Staal looked like he is ready to play this season. Our D looked shaky all night. Gleason was like a pylon with skates all night. The cross-checking call on Wallin in OT was garbage.

Oh well, at least the beer was good.

Reviews:

Canes Country Game Review

Lord Stanley's Blog - Montreal 3, Canes 2

850 The Blog - So Much For Another Stanley Cup

Santa Wears Brown: Christmas in September

WARNING: SEASON TICKET SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Christmas in September.

This is how I usually think of the day each year when my season tickets are delivered. Sure, instead of Santa and his little red sleigh, this present is delivered by Randy in his big brown UPS truck. But I still get excited, somewhat like a kid, when I know my Hurricanes "Box-O-Swag" is on the way. Every year, I get a small surge of adrenaline when I see that shiny box sitting on my neighbor's porch (That Randy is kind of a dumbass when it comes to our street numbers). I just can't wait to open it up and savor each of the few measly trinkets our crack marketing staff thought to include with the tickets. [At this point, I know it sounds like I'm bitching. I also know that it's poor etiquette to bitch about free stuff. But I should point out (before the real bitching kicks in) that I DO appreciate the thought and the trinkets in question.]

This year was no different. I got home, parked my truck, walked across the street to retrieve my tickets from the Rodriguez's porch, then went inside to covet my newfound booty. Upon opening the box, the first thing I noticed was a couple of those clear plastic ticket sleeves with neck lanyard. Hot damn. Now I can finally get an order of nachos, a hot dog, and a $9.00 beer back to my seat without having to strike the Capt. Morgan pose, place the nachos on my head and the hotdog on my knee, then use my one free hand to retrieve my ticket from my back pocket (while hopping on one foot trying not to dislodge the nachos and the hotdog or slosh out $4.00 worth of the beer) and display it to the seating Nazi outside my section. That little clear bastard will come in handy! Fight the Power!

The next item was a "Season Ticket Holders" bumper sticker. Wheeeeeeeee! I've always wanted one of those. I REALLY want to make a joke about putting it on the back of the bandwagon, but I won't... I'm too sensitive a guy for that.

Finally, I opened up the tickets to see the ticket artwork. Last years were cool as hell. Staal, Cole, etc. You can't go wrong with nice glossy player pics. So needless to say, I am stoked. I slowly pull back the cover and what to my wondering eyes do appear? Not a player. Nope. Apparently, somebody decided that putting annoying pre-pubescent looking teenyboppers on the tickets would be a good idea. Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick! WTF? I was expecting action shots: Cam Ward making that incredible toe save in the closing minutes of game 7 to hold the lead for the cup - Brind'amour benchpressing Wally Tatomir between periods - Scott Walker biting the head off a live chicken - Mike Commodore giving Tripp Tracy a "swirlie" in the charter plane lavatory... You know---HOCKEY pictures. Instead, we get the King and Queen of the Wakefield Middle School Sadie Hawkins dance. SUNAMABICH! What were they thinking?

After seeing the tickets, it looks like I won't be needing that neck mounted ticket display case after all. I think the back pocket will work just fine again this year...

Come On & Get Me, You Make Me Go Beep! Beep! Ape! Shit!

Please forgive me for bashing the work of the lovely Cheri D & 13 Stories. I've seen the group at the Pour House in Downtown Raleigh at least once and she was very nice and fan-friendly. But the Ford commercial featuring the "Beep Beep" song that played at least once during every break in the Hurricanes TV coverage last season - must be put out of its misery. I can't recall how many times the clip would play even twice in a row during a commercial break. I found myself DVRing the games and finding something to do between 7:00-8:00. Then tune in so I could fast forward through the commercials.

That being said - another that must die is the "Silly Little Fairy" Dodge commercial.

Between the two of those - I would catch myself violently awaking in cold sweats after the reoccurring nightmare of replaying those clips in consciousness (or un).

It is almost as if its a marketing ploy by the team. "Buy your Hurricanes season tickets now: You won't have to watch it on TV and be subject to the death rattle of our two commercials." Then again, I can recall hearing Beep Beep on the pre-game warmup speakers at the RBC.

Give us 2:00 minutes of staring at the color bars screen. Give us NHL commercials. Play elevator music. Just don't give us anymore torture this season with our commercial breaks.

Harbingers of Good Fortune

Now I don't want to jinx our season or anything, but for the superstitious, I've got something to think about. A good omen, if you will.

You see, this afternoon, I had to go to my "select-a-seat" event at the RBC. Now before I explain the significance of the afore-mentioned omen, allow me to give you the history. I am usually a harbinger of doom for professional sports franchises. It seems like whenever I take a liking to a team, that team envariably tanks. It's well documented. The Washington Generals used to send me a letter every year begging me to start pulling for the Harlem Globetrotters. I decided that the whole jinx thing was nonsense, so I actively supported the Generals in 1994/1995. Of course, we all know how that turned out: The Generals got sh*tcanned and now the Globetrotters play the New York Nationals. I gave up basketball after that. I then became an avid Duke football fan. You can probably piece together the rest... I then turned my attention to professional baseball and my beloved Boston Red Sox. When I decided they had had enough, I decided to pull for the Yankees for a change, and you all saw what happened. Why just a couple of months ago, I was on an NFL message board posting my predictions for the upcoming season. I was predicting that this year was the year Michael Vick would finally silence his critics and the Falcons would get their due. It's almost funny.

Anyway, to get back to hockey, I was a Penguins fan for years (post cup years, of course) and finally decided to switch loyalties to the local boys (Hurricanes) after game one of the finals against Detroit in 2002. Sorry about that. But despite my history, I couldn't help but love the Canes. So I bought a 24 game ticket plan (mid row seats, down low in 124) the next year. With predictable results. We stank. No problema! I bought a 24 game plan the next year (mid row seats, down low in 124) as well. We stank. So I then realized that maybe it was unfair to the Canes to dump all my evil mojo onto them. I decided that I should not jinx just one team and that if I pulled for the entire NHL and just enjoyed all the games, no matter who was playing, I couldn't lose. Of course, this led to the first professional season ever lost to a lockout. Cripes...

So I thought: 'The Hell with it!!!' I like the Canes and this whole jinx thing is silly. So when I went to get my seats, there were two (2) empty seats on the aisle (down low in 124). So I bought them. And the rest is history. The Canes won the cup! Obviously, these are magic seats. I had found a tiny loophole in the delicate fabric of sports mojo. Thus, I was intent on keeping those seats forever. However, fate is a vindictive bitch. I mean a tire slashing, clothes burning, rabbit boiling bitch. You know the type. So, I went to my select a seat and found that some bandwagoner had slipped in and bought the magic seats out from under me.

I was livid.

And, as fate would have it, the only seats available were those mid row seats, down low in 124. So, hoping the curse on hockey was busted, I bought the mid row seats again. Once again, we stank. So I had little optimism going in to buy seats this year.

But low and behold, what should happen? Yep! The magic seats were available. And I snapped them up. This may just be the missing piece of the puzzle to getting another cup. I hate to be too confident in one omen, but you can't argue with history. The Canes have never failed to win the cup when I have had the magic seats. Rejoice Caniacs! We're back on our way...

A Good Ya-Google-Izer

There is a reason why GOOG sells for over $500 a share. If you haven't yet discovered Google Earth - please do yourself the favor! Ever get caught thinking: "Self, I could spend hours on YouTube." ? Wuffie could spend days on GE.

Google Maps now has the satellite view available. This link just may blow your mind Caniacs. Use your mouse roller for zoom in/out.

To quote Cam from Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "I think I see my Dad."