UPDATE: Jhonas Enroth will be the 1st star on Puck Daddy Friday AM

(pic via MaineToday.com)

Color me the picture of optimism, but with the Hurricanes' luck against never before heard of goalies, you can probably count on it. Damnit.

UPDATE - Lalime's taking the morning skate and plans to start tonight. Oh well. That means that the backup goaltender can sit below the crowd and you section 123ers can serenade him with Weezer's "My Name is Ja-honas".

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.

More pics from the BRHC finals

ECU Ice Hockey will only lose one player to graduation this year, Donovan Dean, who is headed into the US Marshall's service. In honor of his contributions to the team, he was recognized just before the final game on Sunday. His Grandmother joined him on the ice.


Everybody say "hi" to Ian Falcon...


Face off- ECU and GWU


Nice save...


An emotional win for a team that lost it's coach this season


When celebrating remember....skates are sharp, mmmmmK?


The trophy is all yours, GW, congratulations!

George Washington University, BRHC Champs

Congratulations to the GWU Colonials, who defeated the ECU Pirates 6 to 5 in overtime. More pictures to follow, when my fingers defrost.

Championship Sunday

For the first round this morning we have The Citadel @ Virginia Commonwealth. Its 2-0 VCU at the end of the second period.

Next up at 1:30, we'll have George Washington @ ECU.

Update: Congratulations to Virgina Commonwealth, who defeated The Citadel 2-1.

Lets Go Pirates! or BRHC Saturday Night

End of the first period, ECU and Christopher Newport are all tied up at 2 apiece. The game has been penalty ridden, in typical Pirate fashion, but that's what makes them so fun to watch!


Another ECU goal!


Update: Congratulations Pirates! Final score 7-4. The championship game is tomorrow (2/22) at 1:30pm.

More From Sat. BRHC Semis

The Citadel @ UNCW. Its 4-1, Citadel at the end of the second. The Citadel has manged to chase UNCW's goalie, but its been a good, hard-hitting game, despite the lopsided score.





And pardon me for being a girl for just a second....but UNCW brought the prettiest hockey team in the tournament, so far....Exhibit A:



Update: 4-1 Citadel, final