Thank God for Bowling Nights

Unfortunately for me I was not able to catch last night’s game because I am a moron and I did not double check that I had the game scheduled for record, then again that could be a fortunate thing for me as I didn’t have to stay up past my bedtime (11 pm for us 30 something’s) and watch the Canes get skated out of their own building. From listening to the hall of famer this morning on the radio, this game was a lot like the Islanders game, again a game I missed.

Johnny Grahamme “Cracker” was in net for the third straight time and for two of those times has taken the lose. Again, I didn’t see the game so I can’t say if Wardo would have fared any better. All I know is, three games and three starts for Grahamme who now has a GAA in those last three games of 3.00 if my math is correct (broadcast major – no math major so I could be wrong) Wednesday against the Islanders gave up 4 goals, against the Bruins 1 goal, and last night against Ottawa 4 goals – 9 goals/3 games= GAA 3.00.

Now it is on to game two of the home stand against Le Habitants or the Montreal Canadians for us person that don’t speak French or for us who did not know what the “H” stands/stood for on their sweaters. The last time these two teams hooked up, Montreal was all over Carolina like white on rice. The Canadians scored two short handed goals and Christobal Huet shutout the Canes (Carolina’s second shutout lose of the season). All I can say is, at least I will be able to see a Canes game since it has been more than a week since I have seen one. I am drooling like a dog looking at the bone-in-rib eye steak sitting all alone on the table but the master is at the cabinet so I drool. Will tomorrow ever come? Until Thursday!

Back to the Future?

For the Carolina Hurricanes, the beginning of last week sure did remind one of “Back to the Future”. The Canes were outscored 8-2 and shut out in one of those games. Now Cam Ward can’t get blamed for the 4-0 lose to the Rangers and from what I have heard and read, Johnny Grahamme “Cracker” can’t be blamed for the other (I was on a plane at the time of the Islanders game. I was able to go back to Texas for turkey day). So now, we look to the future/present.

The Canes are 3 points back of the Thrash and head into tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators, a team that the Canes let two early goals in before defeating the Canadian Capitol team 3-2 back in October/early November. At that time, it was the Hurricanes going against one of their own in Martin “zee” Gerber “baby” (yeah I know it is still a stretch of a nickname but I like it.) This time, who knows who will be in goal.

That is a good question for P L as well. Grahamme has not played poorly in his last two starts while Wardo was hung out to dry, so to speak, against the Rangers. Grahamme is 2-1 in his last three starts and has come around (even though I still can’t stand the guy). Wardo should do well, if he gets the start, after taking two games off. Speaking souly for myself, I am a little worried about Wardo and the number one position between the pipes. Since PL and Grahamme have a history together and Grahamme backstopped the Providence Bruins to the Calder Cup a few seasons ago with PL as the bench boss, I wonder were the loyalty will rest. That just me starting to play “devil's advocate” (something I love doing).

Remember no television tonight (thank GOD I purchased Center Ice again this season). So if you want to see it, go out to you favorite local sports bar or any place that has Center Ice. As for me, well I have bowling first and then race home to the Labatt Blue and the game. Enjoy!

Still Streakin' -- And streakin' is good!

Rod Brind’amour registered four points last night in the Canes 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals. With the points, Brind’amour has registered a point in every Carolina win and he is still the only Cane player that has done that this season. Erik Cole keeps the official scorer busy when Carolina faces the Caps. In the last two games, Cole has six points (3G, 3A, 6P).

Now its back home with a date against the Dallas Stars team, a team that chased starting netminder Kari Lehtonen after only seven shots in a victory over the Canes Southeast divisional foe Atlanta Thrashers. The Stars come packing a punch with all-star players Mike Madano and Sergi Zubov (two of my favorite players and Dallas is my favorite team from the Western division) and the Big “E”, Eric Lindros is out west this season (one signing I think the Stars could do without but then again that goes back to the whole who had the draft rights thing of Lindros back in the early 90’s when I lost my favorite team the Quebec Nordiques who went to Colorado). Dallas is in third place behind the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific division trailing the Ducks by only five points.

Wanting to talk about points and standings? Don’t look now, but the Carolina Hurricanes only trail the first place Atlanta Thrashers by two points after such a woeful start for Carolina they have won two of their last three games and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

Surprise of the night: Johnny Grahame “Cracker” getting the start in net last night. I thought that with Washington being a divisional game that Wardo would get the start and that Grahame would possibly get the start tonight against Dallas. Not the case.

Tonight’s game could be a battle of two all-star netminders as both Cam Ward (who I presume will start between the pipes) and Marty Turco are on the ballot for this season’s all star game hosted by the Dallas Stars. If rookie netminder Mike Smith starts for the Stars tonight, don’t be surprised by how well this kid can play. In his first NHL regular season start/game, he shut out the Phoenix Coyotes and he currently has a 2-1-0 record and a GAA of 1.92 which turns into a save percentage of .951. The kid is no slouch.

Interesting info for tonight's Canes/Caps game

Coming into the game tonight, both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals have won three of their last five games. Carolina has won three of four with one of those wins coming against the Capitals back in Raleigh earlier this month. The leading scorers for both teams are no surprise or at least no one should be surprised that Eric Stall and Alexander Ovechkin are leading their respected teams. Ovechkin has 22 points in this early season while Stall has 20.
A big question mark on tonight’s game can again be the power play or the penalty kill. Last time these two teams met, Washington was 0-4 with the man advantage and Carolina was 1-7. It seems when the Canes have to kill a penalty early on in the opening period and they do kill it, then they seem to win the game. It just seems to jump start their engines. Maybe that is just me that sees that.
In between the pipes tonight could be a big clue as to who will win and who will lose. Cam Ward has cut his GAA in half against Washington just giving up an average now of three goals per contest (6-3 lose in the first game, 5-0 shut out of the Capitals this last game). For Glen Hanlon, the Caps have used both Olaf Kolzig and Brent Johnson. "Olie the goalie" picked up the “W” and Johnson gave up 5 and earned the “L”.

Other interesting tidbits to note for tonight’s game:

Erik Cole has registered a point in three of the last four games
Rod Brind’amour has at least one point in each of the last six games. He is the only Cane that has a point in each win this season
If this game goes to a shootout, then one time will finally win – Carolina is 0-2 this season while Washington is 0-4 in the penalty shot contest.

Heavy Metal Canes

Just a few weeks ago they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and last night they were so dialed in they hit the goal post on four different occasions. One of those occasions the puck actually went in which was the game winning goal. The scary thing about last night is that Carolina let the Rangers get their legs and get in to the game after New York played New Jersey the night before. I do not believe that the goal from Jagr should have counted as Michael Nylander ran in to Cam Ward and should have been called for goaltender interference, but alas he wasn’t and New York kept the puck in the zone and put one past Wardo. Carolina did shut down the Rangers on the power play last night except for that one goal. New York is 4th in the league with the man advantage.

Now it is on to the nation’s capital and the Washington Capitals. This is also fathers weekend with the team, as many of the dads to the players traveled with the team to Washington and they will be back in attendance on Saturday back in Raleigh when the Canes take on the Dallas Stars. But first, we must focus on the Caps and AO as I shall call him since I can’t spell his last name. This is the third meeting out of eight this season with both teams having won one, with both teams winning on their home ice. This time the Caps should be rested and not coming off a back-to-back like the did when here in Raleigh. Erik Cole scored a hat trick last these teams met and I can see Carolina winning in Washington as long as they keep out of the sin bin. We shall see.

Six of Eight Points?

The last game of a four game homestand for the Carolina Hurricanes and if it were not for a hot Buffalo team coming into the RBC on Monday night (Sabres are 10-0 on the road a new NHL record), the Canes might already have six of the possible eight points from this home stand, but then again, if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his butt when he hopped. Now time to get down to business. The Canes are rested after not playing last night while the N.Y. Rangers had to play last night in MSG against the Devils and that defence.
If (again another if statement) but if the Canes can be like the Sabres (someone shoot me for saying that) and be opportunistic with any lose puck, they can blow the Rangers right out of the frozen ATM. But, if the Canes play like they did in the first period against Buffalo and Carolina allows New York to get their legs, then this game will be closer than it should be. Look for Carolina to come out physical and to use their speed against the Rangers.
Going back to last season, the Canes have won the last two games and three of four from last season. The only lose was a Saturday afternoon contest at MSG with former Carolina netminder Kevin Weekes in net. The Rangers are currently tied for the lead in the Atlantic Conference with the New Jersey Devils, New Jersey has a game in hand. New York boasts a record of 10-7-1 and are 7-3 on the road this season. Carolina is second in the Southeast behind Atlanta. The Canes record currently sits at 9-7-3 (tied in points with the Rangers and Devils, New Jersey has two games in hand while New York has one). Carolina is 4-3-1 at the RBC and they have scored and been scored upon 65 times ( third worst in the NHL - only Phoenix and Philadelphia have allowed more goals).
We shall see what tonight brings and lets hope its not a happy home coming for Matt Cullen and Aaron Ward.

Buffaloed Again

For the Carolina Hurricanes, those Buffalo Saber uniforms must be a nightmare to see. After beating the Sabers in all four contests in the regular season last year and then four out of seven in the Eastern Conference Finals, it seems as if Buffalo has the Canes number. Scoring with 21 seconds left in the opening period, it seemed as if Carolina had the “deer in the headlight” look. And for the Canes to come into the second period, which is their worst period, and score two goals and make the contest an actual game was something I thought was impossible. Then there was that in-field-fly-rule puck that everyone on the Canes side lost site of and before you knew it, it was in the back of the net. So for the Canes, Buffaloed again at least they have 4 out of 6 points and lets hope that when the Rangers come to town the Hurricanes can close out this home stand gaining two more points. More on the Rangers/Canes matchup later.

Wardo still Grasshopper

For this season anyway, as Cam Ward could not out duel Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils. Carolina gave it a valiant effort but they could not get the biscuit in the basket during the crucial last two minutes of overtime – try as they might. Wardo did his best as well and did well. Both goals given up last night by Ward went five hole and it seemed as if they went in when he was sliding back to his right.
The Canes went 1-5 on the power play and they are not in the bottom tier of the league in power play percentage, but they are no where near the top either. Eric Staal’s rocket of a goal last night was Prongeresk like. Brodeur never saw it.
I just wonder what has happened to the Canes and the shootout. No worries yet as they have only been in two, but if the season and the playoffs are missed by two points, then the Canes would have had two chances at the moment to pick up those points.

Unbalanced is the way we shall be

The consensus of all the 30 team general managers is there is no consensus. The gm’s failed to come up with an agreement on the schedule for next season, so at the moment the unbalanced scheduled that is laden with conference games and not much of the other division is still intact. There are some gm’s that would like to see other cities come to town and who blames them. I am from Texas and I get to see the Dallas Stars once every other year here in Raleigh. The Stars and Canes played to a shootout last season being won by Dallas. But come on, I would like to see the Stars on a yearly bases here playing a home and home and maybe not so many of the Islanders or Devils. Then again, last season Dallas had more points in shootouts then they probably did with regulation wins.
On another note, the St. Louis Blues have announced today that Al MacInnis is their new vice president of hockey operations. It’s good to see players joining the front office so that hopefully they can make the game even more fan friendly. Late last week, the Carolina Hurricanes announced Ron Francis as director of player development. Moves like these I think are great for the game.

"Henry the VIII I am" -- Second verse same as the first

For the Carolina Hurricanes we hope this time unlike the “Henry the VIII” song – were the second verse same as the first – since the first verse this season was a 4-0 shutout from the New Jersey Devils. Carolina, coming off a 3-2 win in Ottawa, the guys stayed in the Northeast instead of flying home. With a few days between games, let’s see if the rest will be a benefit to Carolina and let’s see if staying from Raleigh and the home cooking was a good idea (no jet lag from flying hither and yon).
The task for Carolina tonight is to stay off the power play. Not to be mean, but the Canes seem to do better when they are a man or even two down. Their last victory, the win in Ottawa Saturday night, the Senators had two different 5 on 3 power plays and yet could not cash in. When Carolina was in Atlanta last Wednesday, the Thrash went 1-10 in that game and the Hurricanes earned the “w”. Carolina’s last loss, the 4-0 shutout to Montreal on Thursday, the Canes actually gave up two 3 on 5 goals when Carolina had the man advantage.
Trevor Letowsky could be back on the ice for the Canes tonight in Jersey. The last time Letowsky saw the ice was the 5-1 win at Pittsburgh when he was knocked unconscious by Colby Armstrong. Letowsky was out before he hit the ice. Tim Gleason is still out nursing an upper body injury. He is still day to day from the last reports heard.

Monday Minor's Memo 11/06/2006

ECHL Charlotte, NC – The Checkers were an inhospitable host this past Sunday as they defeated the Texas Wildcatters, dropping them in overtime 5-4 in front of 4,313 checkerheads. Kenton Smith notched the game winner a little over a minute into overtime. Charlotte came into Sunday’s contest after a home loss to the Gwinnette Gladitors (the ECHL affiliate of the Southeast leading Atlanta Thrashers). The Hartford WolfPack (AHL affiliate to the New York Rangers) recalled Jakub Petruzalek earlier in the week. For Charlotte, Petruzalek scored a goal and registered seven helpers for eight points before being recalled by the Pack. For the week of 10/30, the Checkers went 2-1-0 and went 1-1-0 at home. With the week completed, Charlotte stands in second in their division with a 5-2-0 record good for 10 points.

The week ahead for Charlotte:

Friday, November 10th – Charlotte @ Johnston Chiefs 7:30 PM ET
Saturday, November 11th – Augusta Lynx @ Charlotte 7:30 PM ET

SPHL Fayetteville, NC – Fayetteville was stung in overtime by the PeeDee Cyclones to end the FireAntz modest two game winning streak. The Antz had been on a scoring tear until they encountered the Cyclones in Florence. The Antz took care of the Ice Bears on Friday in front of their home fans at the AntHill 11-3, but their first trek on the road was a 4-3 over time lose. With the lose, the Antz fall to 2-1-1 on the early season.

The week ahead for Fayetteville:

Friday November 10th Fayetteville @ Huntsville Havoc 8:30 PM ET
Saturday November 11th Fayetteville @ Knoxville IceBears 7:30 PM ET

Power Outage at the RBC

For the Carolina Hurricanes these are some trying times. Going 1 for 13 on the powerplay in two games and giving up two shorties in the same game can make anyone go mad. The problem last night seems to be that the net is just too darn small. The Canes could not hit “the broad side of a barn”. They registered 15 shots on goal last night in the first period, but how many more went wide right and wide left. Their shooting last night was like Scott Norwood’s kicking for the Buffalo Bills back in the super bowl.
The blue line last night looked old and maybe age is catching up to the d-men with all these back-to-back games that they have played so far this season. Ten games to be exact in just about five weeks. Rest or no rest now they travel to meet the Ottawa Senators and their number one net minder from last season Martin “zeee” Gerber “baby”. Okay so a little of a stretch on that one but that is my nickname for the once backup in Anaheim. The Sens are a struggling team as well. Maybe with the “D” man gone (that being Zdeno Chara) that is showing how important he actually was. Ray “I’m gonna knock you out” Emery is back to the back-up roll even though both netminders have played almost as equal time thus far this season.
The bottom line for the Canes (in my honest opinion and yes I am a blogger and no hockey player) consistencey. At the moment, the Canes are like my bowling games. They are consistent at being inconsistent. Maybe, Carolina needs to just “get back to the basics”. I know, I know another clique but what is a simple puckhead to do? The good thing is, at least there is still another game to watch, analyze and have an adult beverage or two.

Lets play Atlanta again

Wow, the Canes own the Thrash and no matter how many cheap shots they throw at Cam Ward, Wardo is steady as a rock in net against this team. This is the second game in a row that the opossing team has pulled their starting goaltender (their number 1 netminder) and put in the back-up.

The Canes are on a roll. Saturday they scored three goals in 43 seconds. Tonight two goals in 40 seconds. And hats off to Scott Walker, the man that would drop the gloves to take up for the hit on Eric Staal that happened in the first period. Yes, Walker was assesed a two minute minor penalty, but at least he stood up for one of the play makers on the team.

And speaking of play makers, how about "Sugar" Ray Whitney? Yes, I know that most call him "The Wizard", but from the two goals he scored tonight and the goal he scored last time in Atlanta back on Friday, October 13th, man those goals have been pretty sweet. Maybe not in how they went in, but in there timing.

Time to focus on Thursday and the Montreal team that will be awaiting the Canes at the RBC Center tomorrow night. This is the first time that these two teams meet since the game 6 winner again by "Sugar" Ray Whitney back at what used to be the "Centre de Molson" the home of the Canadanes. This is the fifth consesctive back-to-back that Carolina has played in five weeks. They are finally over the mendoza line and look to stay that way.

The key to Thursday night's game is the physicality that the Canes present to Montreal. Let's just hope that Wardo is in net and not Johnny Grahamme "Cracker". Again, I am not a huge fan and Cam played staller in net tonight.