What is with this team? I know, I know... It's a bobblehead, it isn't supposed to look exactly like the player. But shouldn't it at least look a little like the player?
As you will recall, I have previously delved into the subject of Canes bobbleheads. And I've discovered that lately, they appear to be modeled after various political figures. The most glaring example was that of Cam Ward's bobblehead:
Well, as you can see, the Cam Ward bobblehead was clearly modeled after Barack Obama. There's just no denying it. But what the hell? Given Obama's popularity back then, I guess it helped marketing. But I wonder if there was not some backlash over this.
Let's face it: The South is generally a conservative area. And the Canes are located well below the Mason-Dixon line. So maybe modeling Hurricane bobbleheads after a black socialist wasn't such a hot idea after all. I know that sounds a bit harsh, but I am a conspiratorial kinda guy. So I am thinking that maybe the Ocama bobblehead might've drawn Gale Force Holdings some complaints. I suggest this, because what other explanation could there be for their latest foray into bobblehead-dom?
In case you haven't seen it, the Canes have now released their first soon-to-be-found-on-EBay chotchke of the year. It is an Eric Cole bobblehead. Of course, one has to wonder about the irony/symbolism of making a bobblehead of a guy that broke his neck a coupla years ago, but I digress...
The point of this diatribe/conspiracy theory is that apparently, the Canes have decided that they needed to be "Fair and Balanced". Maybe practice a little bobblehead fairness doctrine. Because they sure went the other way with the Cole chotchke. Yep, you guessed it. The Cole chotchke is the spitting image of George W. Bush:
Seriously. Maybe you think I am nuts, but this CAN NOT be a coincidence. Two bobbleheads - Two presidents. Think about it.
Of course, there are other possibilities. Given how bad this season is going for the Canes, maybe they had other subliminal messages in mind:
Did anybody actually think that the NHL would let the Canes eliminate Boston without a fight? I certainly didn't. But I didn't think the league would be so obvious about it. But I guess that desperate times calls for desperate measures.
Let's face the facts:
As much as we all love hockey, the truth is that it is run like a second rate league. And I won't even go into the whole abysmal TV deal bit (that's a whole 'nother rant...). But I do want to point out a major difference between the NHL and the other major sports leagues. In the other leagues (NFL, NBA, etc.), the rules don't change for the playoffs. A penalty is still a penalty. A foul is still a foul. However, in the NHL, the powers that be have decided that in the playoffs, what was a penalty in the regular season is somehow not a penalty now. Case in point: this Bruins/Canes series.
In a previous game, Eric Staal got the puck and a step on the defender and was clear for a breakaway. The defender reached out and literally grabbed a double handful of Staal's jersey and nearly turned him around. This is a penalty right? Wrong. No call.
In game 3, a Canes player was hooked down blatantly in front of the Bruin net, and the defender actually threw his arms up in disgust because he knew he was going to get a penalty. Tripping and/or hooking are penalties right? Wrong. No call.
Taking a high shot to Cole in the back (remember that broken neck Cole had a coupla years ago boys and girls? Boston does..) behind the play? Not a penalty in the playoffs according to the NHL. [Edit: Yes, I did see Jussi Jokinen slash Chara on the foot with no penalty. I'd almost bet that Jokinen will draw a suspension, while Stuart will get nothing for cheapshotting Erik Cole. But I digress again...]
To quote John Forslund: That's playoff hockey baby!
Yep, the rules change in the playoffs. And it sucks. Worse, it makes the league look like the joke it has become. Worse, it penalizes the teams that build their roster around speed and skill (which is what people want to see) while benefitting teams that build their roster for big, slow and lazy players (which is what people don't want to see). But you already knew that.
Now I know I'll take some heat for bitching about officiating. It is the easy way out, more often than not. I'll draw the usual "sour grapes" comments and "blame game" whining from the usual suspects. But the truth is that EVERY SINGLE HOCKEY FAN IN NORTH AMERICA knows that NHL officiating sucks at the best of times. And while to date, the officiating has not seriously affected this particular playoff series, it has had the potential to do so. And that is simply unacceptable in a so-called "professional" league, IMHO. Especially when the advantage has been so obviously one-sided.
Don't believe me? See for yourself:
According to Toronto, in the playoffs (and if you are not an "Original Six" franchise), this is not a goal; despite the half an inch of visible white between the puck and the goal line.
Worse, the league isn't even trying to hide their obvious desire to see Boston (Original Six Franchise, BTW...) make it to the ECF for their desired Chara - Crosby/Ovenchicken showdown. In fact, they are damn near flaunting it.
Don't believe me? Check the box score for the game tonight. Specifically, look who they assigned to call the game. Yep: Watson and Peel.
Does everybody here remember Peel?
In case you've forgotten, he was the guy who called the phantom dive on Erik Cole to deny Staal a hat trick (on an empty net goal in the last 30 seconds of a game no less...) a couple of years back. The call was so obviously bad that Peel himself actually even apologized to Cole for the call at the next Canes game he officiated.
As if that isn't bad enough, the NHL has paired him with Brad Watson tonight:
Any non-Cane fans may be wondering why Watson is so bad. However, there isn't a Caniac alive who doesn't know exactly where I am going with this one. So for the non-Caniacs, check this jewel out:
And that was just one of TWO completely bullshit diving penalties that Watson called on the Canes that game. (Not to mention the other stinkers called in that one.) Worse, the officiating played a part in our loss in that game; which may not seem like a big deal now, until you remember that we missed the playoffs by 1 lousy point last year...
Now given Watson's well known propensity to call completely phantom bullshit penalties on the Canes, you'd think that assigning Watson to call such a critical game would be the last thing the NHL would do. If nothing else, you'd think the league would keep him away from the Canes to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in such an important game. Letting Brad Watson officiate a Canes playoff game is like the NFL assigning Ed Hochuli to work a Denver/San Diego playoff game. It doesn't even pass the smell test. Yet, there he is - out there blowing on his whistle like a runaway freight train...
But this is the NHL. The No Honor League. And predictably, the Bruins have gotten a truckload of power plays tonight. There is just no way the NHL could forget Watson's history with the Canes when they made this assignment. Nor is there any excuse for this assignment.
So to the NHL, I say this:
If you want to pick and choose who gets to play for the cup, just scrap the playoff system and adopt the BCS structure. That way, you can cherry pick your beloved Original Six matchups and your Ovenchicken/Crosby matchups and save us "small market" fans the expense of playoff tickets. It's not like you need the revenue, eh?
Yesterday, the Hurricanes got plastered by the Bruins 5-1. Yes, plastered. Ho hum.
To make matters worse, NC State got beat down by an undefeated Clemson team 63-51 and the Carolina Panthers absolutely showed their ass in a playoff defeat to (of all teams) the Arizona Cardinals.
Case in point - Jerko Ruutu's shenanigans last night in Buffalo:
Listen, it's great to be aggressive. It's a good thing to be a little crazy and unpredictable. And while Tuomo Ruutu may get called with a questionable hit or check from time to time, you (hopefully) won't ever see him resort to this kind of BS.
Speaking of Ruuty, I'm loving his game-winning goal highlight from the Devils game last night:
Tuomo has had some big time, clutch goals this year. The MTL OT winner comes to mind. As does the game at St. Louis. Last night just added to the Ruutu lovefest in Raleigh.
Anyone remember this quote from then coach Denis Savard as Ruutu left Chicago for Carolina?: "watching him play for a couple years, a lot of times he had complete possession of the puck and just fell down."
Unfortunately, Savard was spot-on with that assessment. You've got to love him if you're a Caniac, but damn if he isn't the clumsiest skater I've seen. My zinger whenever he gets the puck is "Arrrrrrrre You Ready To Stummmmmmmble?!?!?!?" Not exactly as sure-footed as a mountain goat.
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.
I'm sure that most of our readers already know that I've got a thing about promo chotchkes. Specifically, I hate them; mainly because they are almost always cheesy. But when it comes to figurines and such, the Canes really take the cake. The above figurine is supposed to be Eric Staal. However, like the Brind'amour figurine from last year, this looks nothing like the actual player, but instead bears an uncanny resemblance to Erik Estrada or Ralph Macchio [with thanks to Cason Blog for picking up on the Macchio resemblance...]. WTF? Is it that hard to make a figurine that resembles Eric Staal? Jeez, if you can make one that looks like Ralph Macchio, how hard could it be to make one that looks like Eric Staal? Hell, for that matter, why can't they just make one that doesn't look like Ralph-frigging-Macchio, for god's sake!
Worse, the designers of this monstrocity apparently chose what appears to be Staal's signature pose after scoring a goal. I say "appears to be" because I haven't seen it enough this year to confirm that this is indeed that pose. In fact, I find it ironic that this is the pose they chose for this year. Didn't we just pay him $7 million a year not to score much anymore? It sure seems that way. Maybe they should've gone with the "I've got my money, so piss off" pose:
Maybe that is a bit unfair. After all, everything I hear in the media is about how Staal may not be scoring, but he is doing all these other little things (that we mere peons can't see or appreciate) so well that it somehow makes up for us not scoring goals and therefore losing hockey games. But that's another story altogether.*
So back to the chotchke. When I first saw this, I got that nagging feeling that you get when you see something reminds you of something else, but you just can't place what it is. Maybe it is someone you know or some incident from your past. As I had that thought, it hit me like a ton of bricks! I knew where I'd seen that face before:
Yep. It looks just like the face of those cheap blow-up sex dolls that hang on the wall behind the counter of every sleazy 'adult novelty' and peepshow store you've ever been in. Or at least it looks just like the ones hanging on the wall behind the counter of every 'adult novelty' and peepshow store that I've ever been in. The resemblance is uncanny.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How many sleazy porn huts have you been in, East?" Well, the truth is, I've been to one or two in my time. It's not that I'm a bad person, mind you. It's just that College, Alcohol and an optimistic (though misdirected) spirit of adventure often conspired to lead me into places and situations that still amaze and astound me to this very day. But truth be told, the image of the blow-up doll face was burned into my brain on my very first foray into the seedy underworld of low rent porn shacks. I won't tell the entire story here, because it does not relate to hockey in any way, shape, form or fashion. But suffice it to say that the image of that doll face is burned into my brain because it was the first thing I saw upon entering my first sleazy porn shack, and it was the last thing I saw before the great big guy behind the counter grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and the waist of my bluejeans and threw me face first out the door and into a rock parking lot. Total time from entry to ejection: 18 seconds. It might've been a record; I don't know. But I digress...
I guess I just find it funny that it seems like every chotchke that this team comes up with (the Macchio-Brindy figurine, the defective car flags and now this) seems to be problematic or otherwise humorous in some fashion. Or maybe I'm just too critical. But just once, I'd like to see a figurine or bobblehead from this team that actually resembled a player and didn't look like Chachi from "Happy Days". But apparently that'll never happen, unless JR trades Scott Walker for Scott Baio.
Come to think of it, considering JR's decision to re-hire Mo, a Scott Baio trade might not be so far fetched after all...
[*Historically, whenever I've bitched about Staal slumping, he has usually broken out shortly thereafter. So, I'm piling on him right now. Unfair? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely...]
Had to get back on here if for no other reason than to have something other than a horse's choad staring directly back at me!
It's been an eventful past week and 1/2 or so for the Wuffy family. We're all moved in our new abode and life is good as a Cary-ite so far. Thanks to East of Here for spewing some brilliance in my absence here.
I didn't have cable TV set up for most of last week, thus I didn't catch much hockey action. From the looks of it, I didn't miss much Hurricanes wise as they continue their lose 3, win one, lose 3 trend.
Every Caniac out there seems ready to offer their reasons why this team isn't clicking. It's the casual co-worker who stops by your office with the "Damn man, what's wrong with the Canes?" spiel. Then there's the "esteban1949" type who apparently hit refresh on Lord Stanley's Blog once every 30 seconds waiting to comment with his optimistic approaches. Old COI friend Pokecheck is more of your pessimist here within the Canes' recent slide, eating rats and ready to give away her tickets after a loss.
Myself? I'm still undecided at this point about the team. The talent is present (enough) on the Canes to challenge near any team in the NHL. A lot of people here lately are ready to throw Jimmy Rutherford under the bus. With all he's done and the respect he can garner among the league - not to mention his longstanding relationship with Peter K - Jim is here to stay. Fuhgeddaboutit if you think there's a chance he'd get canned.
If there is one thing he's been able to do over his tenure, it's ice a quality team that glides under the league average. Note Bubba's great post @ Canes Country the other day regarding this specific topic of personnel expectations.
Justin Williams - ye of the injurious fate - returns to the fold this week hoping to stay healthy for a change. It doesn't get much more unlucky for the kid as he tore his ACL last winter, returned to hurt his back immediately months later and in pre-training camp his Achilles tendon snaps in a freak ordeal. He hasn't been playing any hockey, so at least he's been able to spend time with his wifey and their new baby. So he's got that going for him if doesn't have his health.
Justin's working on the powerplay unit today, so maybe he can score a PPG for the Hurricanes on Thursday seeming as they haven't had one since they were the Hartford Whalers. Guess who else was working on the ice to fix the struggling man-advantage? Ronnie Francis.
As they say, "he's in the best shape of his life".
Tell me THAT wouldn't be an awesome thing. I know he won't un-retire, but just thinking about the possibility gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Really, I don't know how to fix the Canes. Maybe a trade. Maybe a new coach. Maybe a house-full of esteban1949's every night at the RBC. The big kicker for me is that the big guns aren't towing their load in Raleigh this season.(not sure who's PS job this belongs to, maybe East's)
I'd rather pay to see a team iced with 4 lines of Brandon Sutters and Ryan Baydas who are ready to play balls-out night in and night out - than to shell out the cash to pay a hefty salary of a non-producing player. So maybe that's it - Staal wakes up, the team will follow.
The Canes are extremely fortunate to have a 7-3-2 record through 12 games considering they way they've been playing. We've yet to see a "complete" game. It's kick the crap out of them a period at a time, then just "hang out" and watch the other team come back to life. Or vice versa. How good could this team be if they could string three periods a game together?
Toronto is better than anyone expected. Grabs is on point as well as Niklas Hagman. Toskala is a legit #1 and Ian White has quite the porn-stache underway. Good on Ron Wilson for (so far) over-achieving with this Maple Leaf team. They're still gonna need quite a few therapy sessions this season however: My prediction that Samsonov would score 89 goals this season? Doh. He'll get it kicked back up soon enough. My guess is that once Brind'amour gets back to playing at a + rate, Sergei will be right behind him.
Scotty Walker is back but needs to be paired with Ryan Bayda to get their cycle-game on. Any chance he can just use Pronger-style elbows if needed since he can't punch anybody?
The fact that we haven't heard any updates on Brandon Sutter is unnerving. WTF is going on with him? Can he walk? Drive? Skate? See straight?
Seeing Dwight Helminen skate so fast in a #63 jersey just doesn't look right. Quite used to seeing a big slow Czech wearing that number for the red & white.
Big game Thursday night at the Verizon Center. Its the most important game of the season so far. Here's a juicy reason why:
"I would expect the Capitals to begin to pull away from the crowd soon and leave their divisional opponents in the dust. Their collection of talent eclipses that of any other teams in this division." - Ted Montgomery @ USA Today
Not so fast, Ted. The Caps do have the collection of talent, but who has led this division for the majority of the previous three seasons? The game will be a great early test for both squads. Ovechkin is primed for a breakout game. He's got 29 points in 24 games vs. Carolina. Washington is 9-0-1 in their last 10 at home. Something's gotta give. It is beyond obvious that the Hurricane squad that can kick ass for an entire game will need to show.
First of a home & home today with the farewell game to the Philadelphia Spectrum. Not sure who the Flyers plan on icing for this game, but it probably won't match the number of minor-leaguers that the Canes are playing. You see stuff like this and wonder just how successful of a year Carolina can have when two games in, these are the injured:
Corvo, Wallin, Whitney, Brind’Amour, Williams, Samsonov, Babchuk, Gleason, and Ruutu a big WTF there. Is it possible for them to fake injuries so that they don't have to play the vets in the pre-season?
Even though Brindy is hurt, I'm wondering if he was invited to participate in any the of Flyers festivities today. He played a butt-load of games at the old Spectrum and it would be a fitting tribute to at least show him on the jumbo-tron waving from the press box. Or maybe instead of a wave, he could do some push-ups.
After these bad boys came in this week, I set the display case up with the other Canes figurine stuff on my already crowded blogging desk. Now considering I write the majority of the posts from this said "Man Room", these bobbleheads that came out around 2001 from Hardee's restaurants fit in quite nicely. I still can't pat myself on the back enough for finding these on Craigslist for $15 (Thanks again, seller!). They were all in the original boxes and plastic wrapping even.
The bobbling heads are certainly getting put to work here though. I'm what they call an "agressive typer". My co-workers know when I'm busy or not by the sound of my keyboard being abused. So as I log in to blogger and pull things out of certain orifices for Hockey-related material on COI; Jeff O'Neill, Ron Francis, Arturs Irbe & Rod Brind'amour all sit here smiling and staring me down. It can get downright creepy actually:
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.
Luke posted a lengthy blog entry tonight which was great to see in this dead time of hockey and sports in general. For the Caniacs deprived, almost any news is good news right now. Almost that is, until you see a headline like this:
The team is interested in talking contract with the one and only Jeff O'Neill.
I'll admit that I had to make sure my contacts hadn't fallen out upon first reading that. Out of all the free agent possibilities for the Hurricanes to be talking to - they're back in cahoots with the Diva himself? Sure, he was one of the team's all-time leading scorers - but it's no longer 2001 and there are reasons why he wasn't playing in the NHL last season.
My boy, Jimmy mentioned that if he were to join the organization - it would be as a depth center. Is this a sign of how confident the team is regarding the health of Matt Cullen? They're so concerned that Cully hasn't/won't recover from his two concussions last year that Jeff O'Neill playing out of position would be an effective emergency alternative?
I can't wait to read what the Acid Queen has to say about this.
Well, as you can see, the Cam Ward bobblehead was clearly modeled after Barack Obama. There's just no denying it. But what the hell? Given Obama's popularity back then, I guess it helped marketing. But I wonder if there was not some backlash over this.
