Canes talk big but do little

So much for the Carolina Hurricanes to make a block buster deal at or before the trade deadline, instead they signed what hopefully is a 3rd line center that can fit in the system. Unfortunately, Hamilton did not do all that well playing for a struggling Chicago Blackhawk team last year. Could Hamilton be another Scott Walker? A player that came into his own playing for Carolina this past season, Walker was a must sign for JR this off-season.
And what is up with the defense? Rumor, rumor, rumor – Niclas Wallin on the trading block! He is such a “secret weapon” that most teams didn’t even know who he is. Come on JR. Get Peter Karmanos to spend a little money to sure up that defense. We sure can’t count on good ole Johnny Grahame “Cracker” this season (even though I have a feeling that Grahame will play even more games this season then he did last.) Goaltending by committee! Not a good idea!
At least this off-season was not a total lose. Ryan Bayda was resigned and probably will play a handful of games again for Carolina this season. Last season, he played in approx. nine games and the rest of the season he was the captain for the AHL Albany River Rats.
And speaking of the River Rats, this will be the first season that Carolina is fully responsible for the players. The Colorado Avalanche has moved their AHL affiliation to the new Lake Erie Monsters based out of Cleveland, Ohio. The last time Cleveland had a hockey team; it was the AHL Cleveland Barons which had an affiliation with San Jose. They packed up and moved to Worcester, Mass when the IceCats moved the Peoria, IL when the River men jumped from the now defunct United Hockey League (now called the International Hockey League.)