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..."

In praise of Casey Borer

At a time in last season, the Hurricanes were struggling to muster up any kind of good consistent effort. As they were "circling the drain", forwards and defenseman alike were dropping like flies due to either injury or the "Bucket in front of you - while you're stuck on the toilet - and losing 12 lbs. for 3 days" flu that struck the whole team.

One bright spot among that rather crap-tacular period was the call-up of Albany River Rat and St. Cloud State alum, Casey Borer. There was something about him that Caniac Nation immediately approved of. I myself, was just happy to see team management give someone else a shot. The D-corps seemed either tired, complacent or too old if they weren't on the shelf due to injury/flu.

In eleven games on the Carolina bench, Borer registered 2 assists and 1 goal (I won't forget seeing Roddy Brind'amour go down and snatch the puck up for Casey's souvenir). He may have been a -3, but his 6 goal, 13 assist and +19 in 61 Albany games seem to suggest he's defensively sound enough to cover up for any potential flaws in his game.

In March, Casey was playing a game against the Syracuse Crunch when this happened:
"It was the start of the period, and they didn't let the ice freeze," Borer said. "I was carrying the puck up and it got stuck in the water, and I kind of twisted back for it with my torso, and my knees didn't come with me. The guy was already lining up to hit me, and I was in a vulnerable position. My knee must have been exposed, and we just got twisted up weird." - Wikipedia

Assuming that he can make a full recovery, I'd be surprised if Borer is not a part of the 3rd line D-pairing for the Canes come October.

Besides, with John Grahame banished signing to play in Russia - who is there on the team for the stalkers? Casey has had at least one fan girl vowing for his love since his college days:

Random thoughts

Writing in complete sentences is hard and stuff.

-Is it October yet?

-Bubba @ Canes Country is the Champion blogger. When none of the restavus Canes bloggers have anything to update about - he pulls out all the stops with some full analysis or interviews some V.I.P.'s. Keep up the great work, bud. Something tells me that the team will be embracing your talents soon enough.

-As far as free agents go - don't expect any big splashes. Remember last summer when our big acquisition was (drum roll) - Jeff Hamilton? I just don't see my boy, Jimmy, going over the top for any of the big names. JM Liles would work out well in this system but is probably going to land a much more lucrative deal elsewhere this summer. If I had to gamble on one - I'd put a shiny wooden nickel on Commodore returning. Also expect someone you may have never heard of.. (AKA an affordable guy).

still can't get used to seeing this

-Speaking of Green Eggs & Hamilton - I feel the need to send him off properly. After a kickass start to the season, I was shouting on high how smart JR was for signing this guy. He had a rocket of a shot, he seemed to pickup an assist every time there was a power play goal and by all reviews of him - he was a great character guy.

As his point total started to decline, so did his ice time as other teams started to crack down on the "Five Forward Power Play" that had worked so well. It's unfortunate that heart doesn't win you games - because Jeff Hamilton has plenty of it. Best wishes, Hammy.

(image via Flickr user MaesMama)

-I've been wanting to do a post about the whole free agent frenzy using the dude, "I Need Money" from the movie How High. Oh well. There it is.

-WTD with Chad LaRose? Management wants to get bigger on the 4th line? What does that have to do with The Chuck Norris of Hockey? Why even associate 4th line and Chad LaRose in the same sentence? Come on, dude.

(image via Flickr user [Keith] )

-What's Sergei Samsonov doing this summer? Wodka, Wodka, Wodka?

-Roddie Brind'amour is a beast. Something tells me that next season is going to be a career best for him. Just sayin'.

-$5 bucks says Matt Cullen has more points next year too. Oh yeah! Carolina On Ice is now the sponsor of his page at hockey-reference.com! I can't even remember how long ago that started.

-Darcy Hordichuk can suck one.

-Sure, I spend a good amount of time on hockey blogs and hockey related sites. I think I've seen this girl staring at me - ohhhh - I'll guess about 700 times in the past 30 days.

She's everywhere!!!!

Ruutu's back - the boometh shall be loweredeth for one more year

Fear the Ruutu. I'd type more, but I'm afraid that my computer monitor will body check me across the glass.

The Bag Skate for Tuesday, June 24th

The Chicago Blackhawks have re-signed former Cane Andrew Ladd to a two year deal. Come on Tuomo Ruutu, look out for us here...

Darcy Hordichuk gives a collective "F you" to the Carolina brass. I join my boy Jimmy in saying "well to hell with you too then".

ESPN will show the Paper, Rock, Scissors championship but still can't show hockey? WTF?

Hockey blogger extraordinaire and friend to COI Greg Wyshynski showcases some Anaheim Duckies leaving a tattoo parlor (or bar?) in some skimpy girlie clothes. Caniac Nation appreciates how normal our players truly are.

The Charlotte Checkers release their players "protected list".

The UNC-Wilmington club hockey squad has their own little AV Delight showcasing last year's season on Youtube.

The Fayetteville FireAntz have re-signed their puck-moving defenseman, Lawne Snyder.

The Wolfpack hockey squad needs some positions filled for next season.

YouTubery goodness: The Ron Francis Hartford Whalers days:

Hordichuk the Philanthroper that will also kick your

behind every athlete, there lies the potential to make something of them self outside their sporting arenas. Some choose to use that to their advantage, while others tend to lean towards jackassery. After further research on Darcy Hordichuk, he is obviously a character guy who is making the most of his opportunities in life.

I perused his awesomely nasty website, DarcyHordichuk.com and read about his charitable donations that he does (did) during every Preds game. Similar to what Ward does with "Cam's Champs", but as an offensive player:

For every goal scored: $160

For each assist scored: $116

For each hit recorded: $16

For each standing ovation the crowd gives at home games: $16

Goes towards the Best Buddies program or to help fight Leukemia. And as he puts it "no one is going to mistake me for Mario Lemieux", so he alternated his teammates throughout different months of the season (for example, say the month of October -- every time Staal has a goal, assist or hit... as well).

It is certainly character guys like this that Jim Rutherford has always sought out in his players. Seeing as he's still relatively young (he'll be 28 by the time the season starts), he's a stand-up guy off & on the ice and that he will protect our team against the goons -- this is looking like a shrewd move by Jimmy Rutherford if he can in fact get him signed.

Timmy Gleason is back for four more, Hordichuk a big maybe

Sweet! Some actual news for all of us hockey-starved Caniacs!

Tim Gleason signs to a four year deal & Darcy (tee hee, Darcy) Hordichuk's rights are acquired by Carolina from Nashville for a 5th round pick.

The Tiiiimmmmmmmmaaaaah news is outstanding, for it seemed that all the negotiations on re-signing him were going nowhere. I figured that my boy Jimmy was low-balling him. Young stud defenseman don't just grow on trees these days, nowdon'tyaknow... but the strides he has made in the past two seasons have been great and it's good to know that his reliability is here to stay. Love his toughness too. Favorite moment from this past season was when he body slammed Nathan Horton onto the ice. Looking forward to many more occasions like such. I'm thinking that the 4 year $11.5Mil contract is a number that all sides can live with, though I bet Gleason and his agent were after a bit more.

In another off the wall move today, the Canes brought in Darcy Hordichuk from the Nashville Predators who I'll admit I know very little about. Judging from his stats - he appears to be a hit or miss kind of player who has dealt with the injury bug before (welcome to Raleigh, you'll fit right in!). He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent as of July 1st, but something tells me that Jimmy Boy will get a contract on this cat before that happens. The good thing about this player is that he's the "tough guy" who can actually win a fight. Check out his fight card over at Hockeyfights.com.

So if Hordichuk signs to play on our fourth line, you can pretty much guarantee that Wade Brookbank won't be back... (Darcy loves the ladies, is someone stepping into the Pimp hat role for the departed John Grahame?)