Red Wings at Hurricanes Preview: The Red Wings are bullies

The Red Wings Are Bullies

Go Darkness.

Go Canes.

(Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians.)

Tampa Bay Lightning's new third jersey: Spellcheck FAIL

All aboard the FAILbolt everyone.

Link to Bolts Report story

That isn't as embarrassing as the Pens' Evgeni "Maklin" jersey though.

Chest bump to The Big Lead.

Rolling Blackouts & You act like you don't know

Any of you folks out there have insider's access to the new black 3rd Hurricanes jersey before it comes out?

There seems to be mixed opinions on them, but this guy can't wait to get his paws on one. I read on a newb's blog "Eye of the Storm Is Upon Us" that they are considering the Red Wings game in October as the first game to wear them. Call me pessimistic, but I'm not sure I want to associate getting creamed 6-2 by Detroit as the first appearance of the black uni's. If that ends up happening, maybe they should reconsider the design and go with CasonBlog's suggestion.

I'll bet East Of Here's shiny wooden nickel that the Hurricanes' marketing dept. will have "Blackout Nights" this coming season in conjunction with the darkness jerseys. It kind of makes sense I suppose -- most of us North Carolinians are used to their power going out during hurricanes / tropical storms. I'm sure that the team can come up with a cooler slogan for those nights than something like "Rock The Red". Cheese factor 84% loaded.

In regards to the old and/or clueless people surveyed that don't know / don't care about the Carolina Hurricanes, I can say this: Naturally the average person in North America doesn't usually associate the words "North Carolina" and "hockey" in the same sentence. But like Mr. Hurricanes Insider said so well, "Tradition to us is going to the Stanley Cup finals, on average, once every 4 years or so. That's tradition in this market."

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The New Barry Melrose approved Tampa Bay Lightning logo

From the twisted mind that is East of Here:

"here is the super top secret "developmental" copy of the new Tampa Bay 'Melrose Mullet' logo..."

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.

Use the 3rd jersey to make the playoffs, or something

I can remember working in a sub shop in college. Working as the part-time night manager, we always got the job done but if we knew that the store owner would be coming by, everyone would make sure the place was running good. Nobody wants to deal with an aggravated owner on their case.

So naturally, it's good to hear that Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos is coming down to keep a closer eye on his investment (eye, ha! you see what I did there?). Turns out business owners don't like it too much when they are losing money.

A third jersey has been rumored to be produced for Carolina for years, but according to multiple unofficial sources - it's finally going to happen this summer. I'll admit that its pretty slick and I'd probably buy one.

If every Caniac that already shells out a fraction of their household salary to support the team through season tickets buys one of the new jerseys - might that allow Pete to approach making a profit next year? Oh wait, they tried that this season with a league wide jersey re-design. (More about that in a future post on how I got a new-old jersey last year.)

Why doesn't the NHL adopt a "throwback game" at least once a year where ALL teams can wear their old school digs? Those powder blue Penguins jerseys with Malkin & Crosby have to be some of the best selling pieces of hockey merch. They cover the stands in the Mellon from what I've seen on media coverage of the Pens playoffs. (Playoffs. Pete, just make that the priority buddy... don't care what colors the team has to wear - just do it in Raleigh.)

Chris at 850 the Buzz is right, wouldn't it be neato to see the Canes skating around in the W for one night against an Atlanta Flames team?

This kid ^ looks like my brother's childhood pics, seriously.

Make it an old school night. Everyone goes retro.

I Might Have To Buy A New Jersey After All

So do any of you remember a few weeks back when the new Canes jerseys were unveiled, I stated that I wouldn't buy one because my $300 old school Brindy jersey set me back enough?

Well, turns out I'll be needing a new one.

Out of all the things that we tried to salvage - this was the one I wanted to save the most. After numerous attempts - the smoke and soot stains just don't want to come out of the white fabric.

On the serious side of things - I am thrilled to be alive and well (same goes for all my neighbors and their pets). It is amazing the good that comes out of people when something like this happens. Whether it was our friends & families, co-workers, or even just random strangers - everyone stopped by to offer their helping hands. 'Tis nice to feel such love when looking over such a horrific site as your home and belongings covered in ash and soot.

Many have asked what they could do to help us. We have plenty of support between everyone who has been out to lend a hand. What you can do: Please consider the American Red Cross when you are doing your next charitable contribution. I can't say enough good things about the volunteers and their caring ways. They are paying for us to stay in a hotel until a new apartment is ready. They gave us money for clothes and food. They are paying for our 1st month rent in the new place.

To help yourselves: Buy renters insurance (if you rent, of course). That $15 per month has been an absolute lifesaver. Several of my unfortunate neighbors who lost everything did not have it. Because you never know what may happen.

The wife & I are ready to get back to a normal life. The ushering in of the new hockey season will help to take our minds off of the tragedy and tribulations of replacing things. I'll be back to blogging as often as possible once things have settled down a bit.

And again - Thanks to all of you out there for your kind words and good wishes!

CLT Love

Canes bloggers, forums, and even official sites are back to regular season activity (almost). Rather than go through them all - just head over to Bubba's playground, Canes Country, for a complete rundown.

With all the hype over the new uniforms and logos from the Hurricanes - I've missed the Charlotte Checkers doing the same:



Also, info on the 1st annual "Charlotte Shootout" coming shortly.

WTF? A Whaler-Cane Uniform Concept

NHL Tournament of Logos recently had a crazy idea for the ever evolving uniform saga.

On Uniforms & Tradition

Luke DeCock, propietor of the Lord Stanley's Blog at the N&O is back from hockey nowhere land and posting up a storm. See his post regarding the official unveiling of the new uni's. (You'll have to for now, the official site's photo gallery has crashed! A few people trying to look apparently, you think?)

As JR is quoted saying he didn't want to mess with their tradition or original uniforms - I couldn't help but remember a post from a while back about football and successful teams having traditional uniforms.


See: StateFansNation: A View From The Cheapseats for a very insightful look at this theory.

New Unis Link Dumpage:
Red & Black Hockey (from my friend and yours, D-Lee, this is his original post about EA leaking the new threads)
CasonBlog: Silly Racing Stripes
CanesCountry: The Emperor's New Clothes (I wonder how long Bubba spends trying to come up with a song title relevant to his posts?)

I Know! We'll Have A Uniform Release! Yeah!

The Canes are joining the bandwagon of teams having their new RBK edge jerseys released this week. Jumping from the afore-mentioned debut at the Caniac Carnival & first pre-season game to having it's own press conference is a no-brainer.

Instead of getting one day worth of press - why not two?

Regardless of how the new unis look - you won't find me purchasing one anytime soon. They got my broke-ass when I bought my "authentic replica" Brind'amour jersey in 2004 for $200 or whatever it was. WP will keep it old skool (with the "A" and all).

A Little More Uniform Leakage

Prospect photos now on the Canes official site are showing up in the new uniforms. Granted it is only a bust shot - but the "white piping" (stripes) are certainly prevalent. (NHL Tourney of Logos)

For an almost live video of the new unis in action, check out this website that might make you wish you spoke German. They don't make video games like Pitfall and River Raiders anymore do they?

Vote For The Hurricanes Logo

Because we're getting swamped in the competition right now!

HURRICANES VS. DEVILS @ The NHL Tournament of Logos

Voting ends Sept. 2nd @ midnight.

Charlotte Checkers Happenings

The Checks have unveiled a new logo for their 15th anniversary season. Let's hope that they don't decide to place new pucks into bathrooms as urinal cakes. Their regular season schedule has been released for the upcoming year as well.

Heating Up In Raleigh

To re-hash this past week in Caniacism, I'll let two excellent bloggers fill you in:

red and black hockey: Carolina gets a Sutter, (sort of) unveils new sweater

Bubba discusses the NHL draft weekend and hints at the Erik Cole trade rumors in his post, "Long Day"

Colesy has been a defining player, a top power forward and excellent member of the Hurricanes community in his time here. Although somewhat brittle, injury prone and tub-ridden in recent years, when he is on his "A-Game" he is hard to stop. (See "Damn I'm Glad..." post) How would you like to try and do what he does/did after breaking your neck only 15 months ago?

I'd certainly admit that it will be a sad day the Cole family has to leave NC. As the saying goes:

"For once, I'm glad I'm not the General Manager" (thanks C)

Though the Canes certainly need the sexy, big-named free agent pickup of a blue line stud this summer, at what cost will it be? Stalker Face Babchuk is returning to Kiev and JR hasn't thrown in the towel on Hutch & Seidenberg.

(above) that's odd, I don't remember ever seeing or running into Kid or Cuba Gooding Jr. other than in the Cup Finals. Damn Fairweathers!

If Erik must go, I hope our return is worth it. Stay tuned...

*Update*: Flyers, Canes talking trades