On Wednesday, the Hurricanes announced that they have re-signed winger Sergei Samsonov to a three year deal valued at $7.6M. Next season, he will make $2.3, followed by $2.5M in 2009-10 and $2.8M in 2010-11. Last year, he made $3.525 between the Blackhawks and the Canes.
I'm pretty excited. He was an excellent waiver wire acquisition who snapped into place immediately. In 38 games with the Canes, he registered 32 (14/18) points. Only Eric Staal was more productive in that stretch.
The chemistry will be decidedly different in the fall. Rod Brind'Amour will presumably be recovered from knee surgery. Justin Viva Williams will be recovered from his knee surgery. Matt Cullen and Ray Whitney will be recovered from their ailments.
There is some apprehension about this deal from some of my peers, but I'll say that I like it. And I don't feel the need to qualify that with any conditions or caveats.
The cap hit of $2.53 is a damn good price to pay for a guy who won the Calder Award and who has shown the ability to perform at nearly a point a night. He has scored 70 or more points twice in his career, and even when you count the lean years, he still comes in at an average of .69 points a night for his career. His 32 points in 38 games translates to 69 points in a full season.
A lot of Caniacs think that it's urgent that the Hurricanes re-sign Tuomo Ruutu. I'm not one of those. If it doesn't happen, I won't be heartbroken. If it does, I won't be relieved or excited. Jeff "Alexander" Hamilton looks like the early favorite to be the odd man out come spring. With Brandon Sutter a likely candidate to join the big team, there just won't be enough room for everybody.
Chad LaRose will be re-signed, and I would bet that Patrick Eaves will.
If Hamilton, who is still under contract for one year, survives the summer without being traded, he will most likely find himself in Albany.
Carolina's next most important order of business will be to acquire some NHL-caliber defensemen. Bret Hedican will retire. Glen Wesley might also. No matter what, they're in desperate need of some help on the blue line.
Anyway, we're very glad to have Sergei on board as a full-time member of the Hurricanes family.
Showing posts with label Samsonov. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samsonov. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Carolina wins again, widens lead
On Thursday, Carolina continued their fiery month of March with a shootout win over the Panthers. Although they allowed the Panthers to get one point, the important thing is that they got two of their own, padding their division lead.
Carolina's lead is now seven points over Washington and eight over Florida. Both teams have a game in hand. Even if one of those teams runs the table, Carolina can secure the division championship with a run of 3-2-1 down the stretch.
In typical fashion, Florida coach Jacques Martin was whining to the press before the game about how Carolina is a bunch of divers and how the officiating favors Carolina. In this game, though, Carolina had just two power plays. Florida had five. When they had their chances -- and they did -- they couldn't do anything about it.
Trevor Letowski got on the board early with a surprise shot from just inside the Florida blue line. Tomas Vokoun was surprised by it, or didn't see it. Whatever the case, it was a shot that he should have stopped, but it ended up beating him cleanly high on the blocker side. 3:22 was the time of the goal, and it was assisted by Glen Wesley and Nick Wallin.
The second period was filled with penalties against the Canes, but the penalty killers were amazing. Cam Ward was the best penalty killer, and he was sensational in the second frame. He had one save in particular against Olie Jokinen late in the period that was a highlight reel keeper. Ward had to explode from his right to left, stack the pads and made a sensational glove save from point blank range as Jokinen had made the "perfect" shot, getting it over the pads.
Steven Weiss broke up the shutout 22 seconds into the third, assisted by David Booth and Jay Bouwmeester. It was one of the few times all game where Cam Ward's rebound control wasn't great. Booth took a shot from the left circle that Ward knocked down into the slot. Weiss gathered it and deposited it into the far side of the net.
Florida had lots of late chances, including some power play time, but they couldn't take the lead, and on it went to overtime. Nothing notable happened in the overtime, and it went to shootout.
Carolina went first, and Jeff Hamilton was stopped. After the first Florida shooter went wide of the net, Sergei Samsonov scored. The second Florida shooter was stopped by Ward. Eric Staal got a cheap one to trickle through the pads of Vokoun, and the bottom of the third was unnecessary.
The RBH three stars were exactly like the "official" stars.
THIRD STAR Steven Weiss, FLA --- goal
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR --- 36 saves, shootout win
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov --- shootout winner
Carolina will be idle for the next four days, and the word on the street is that Peter Laviolette has told the boys to take some time for themselves. Washington will use their game in hand tonight against the lowly Thrashers. Then, a gigantic matchup in Raleigh on Tuesday.
Carolina's lead is now seven points over Washington and eight over Florida. Both teams have a game in hand. Even if one of those teams runs the table, Carolina can secure the division championship with a run of 3-2-1 down the stretch.
In typical fashion, Florida coach Jacques Martin was whining to the press before the game about how Carolina is a bunch of divers and how the officiating favors Carolina. In this game, though, Carolina had just two power plays. Florida had five. When they had their chances -- and they did -- they couldn't do anything about it.
Trevor Letowski got on the board early with a surprise shot from just inside the Florida blue line. Tomas Vokoun was surprised by it, or didn't see it. Whatever the case, it was a shot that he should have stopped, but it ended up beating him cleanly high on the blocker side. 3:22 was the time of the goal, and it was assisted by Glen Wesley and Nick Wallin.
The second period was filled with penalties against the Canes, but the penalty killers were amazing. Cam Ward was the best penalty killer, and he was sensational in the second frame. He had one save in particular against Olie Jokinen late in the period that was a highlight reel keeper. Ward had to explode from his right to left, stack the pads and made a sensational glove save from point blank range as Jokinen had made the "perfect" shot, getting it over the pads.
Steven Weiss broke up the shutout 22 seconds into the third, assisted by David Booth and Jay Bouwmeester. It was one of the few times all game where Cam Ward's rebound control wasn't great. Booth took a shot from the left circle that Ward knocked down into the slot. Weiss gathered it and deposited it into the far side of the net.
Florida had lots of late chances, including some power play time, but they couldn't take the lead, and on it went to overtime. Nothing notable happened in the overtime, and it went to shootout.
Carolina went first, and Jeff Hamilton was stopped. After the first Florida shooter went wide of the net, Sergei Samsonov scored. The second Florida shooter was stopped by Ward. Eric Staal got a cheap one to trickle through the pads of Vokoun, and the bottom of the third was unnecessary.
The RBH three stars were exactly like the "official" stars.
THIRD STAR Steven Weiss, FLA --- goal
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR --- 36 saves, shootout win
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov --- shootout winner
Carolina will be idle for the next four days, and the word on the street is that Peter Laviolette has told the boys to take some time for themselves. Washington will use their game in hand tonight against the lowly Thrashers. Then, a gigantic matchup in Raleigh on Tuesday.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Canes beat Thrash, widen lead
On Wednesday night, the Hurricanes defeated the Thrashers 5-3 and have gained their 85th standings point. As I am typing, Washington trails Chicago 5-0 midway through the second period. This is also good news.
If the game in Chicago holds up, Carolina will end the night with a five point lead over Washington with seven games (all within the division) to play. The road has just gotten a little easier to hoe.
Carolina's next two games could either put it out of reach, or make it really interesting. They will be in Florida on Thursday and at home against the Caps on next Tuesday. The Cats are smoldering hot and will be rested for Thursday's game. They will have the chance to move into second place in the division.
Although the score of Wednesday's game was 5-3, it wasn't that close. This game was all Canes.
Trevor "The Dude" Letowski started it all off at 4:04 of the first with a shot from the right circle. Patty Eaves made a really pretty cross-slot pass. Ruuty got the secondary helper.
Sergei Samsonov got an unassisted goal at 6:58 after putting on a stick-handling show. His shot came from above the right circle, and the rout was on.
At 13:35, the future captain Eric Staal potted his 35th goal of the season. He came fresh off the bench, created a neutral zone turnover, then took a pass from Jeff Hamilton in the high slot to make it 3-0.
Cam Ward's shutout bid didn't last long, as Bryan Little broke it up just 1:56 into the middle frame. Slava Kozlov and Mark Recchi got the helpers.
Joe Jensen, whose claim to fame heretofore was puking on the bench in his NHL debut, potted the game winner at 3:35 of the second. He was low in the right circle, and received a nice pass from Hamilton from below the goal line. He snapped it in on the far side for his first NHL goal. Tim ("don't call me Tom") Conboy got the second assist.
Steve McCarthy made it 4-2 at 4:56, and it was starting to get a little interesting. He scooped up some loose change out front and deposited it into Ward's net for his first goal. Chris Thorburn and the 1989 Hartford Whalers first round draft pick Bobby Holik got the helpers.
Erik Cole scored his 21st goal of the season at 14:51 of the third. From below the goal line, Sergei Samsonov made a phenomenal no-look, behind the back pass to Cole, who was hanging out in the left circle. He got a couple of whacks at it, and finally beat The Moose, making it 5-2. Bret Hedican, whose wife was apparently very good on "Dancing With the Stars" the other night, got the secondary assist.
Kozlov got a late garbage goal at 19:21, assisted by Little and Recchi.
This game had only four penalties. I guess the referees had tickets to Hanna Montana or something like that. They were in a real hurry to get out of there.
Carolina completely dominated the first, then slacked off in the second, then played well in the third. Good enough to beat the Thrashers, but they'll have to have 60 minute efforts against the likes of Washington and Florida, whom they play twice each in the remaining seven games.
The "official" three stars are a bit loopy. Okay. They're a LOT loopy. Word on the street is that these things aren't really selected by the "local media". Sometimes, it's some intern who randomly chooses names. This seems like one of those. The official stars were Steve McCarthy (third), Eric Staal (second) and Cam Ward (first). None of these were even in my top five stars. I don't get that.
The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Vyacheslav Kozlov, ATL -- 1 goal, 1 assist.
SECOND STAR Jeffrey Hamilton, CAR -- 2 assists.
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 blocked shots.
Carolina will have no time to rest. They're headed to Sunrise for a 7:30 game on Thursday.
A little birdy has told me that Justin Viva Williams is very close to being ready to rejoin the team after missing the last 39 games with MCL/ACL issues. This makes me very happy.
If the game in Chicago holds up, Carolina will end the night with a five point lead over Washington with seven games (all within the division) to play. The road has just gotten a little easier to hoe.
Carolina's next two games could either put it out of reach, or make it really interesting. They will be in Florida on Thursday and at home against the Caps on next Tuesday. The Cats are smoldering hot and will be rested for Thursday's game. They will have the chance to move into second place in the division.
Although the score of Wednesday's game was 5-3, it wasn't that close. This game was all Canes.
Trevor "The Dude" Letowski started it all off at 4:04 of the first with a shot from the right circle. Patty Eaves made a really pretty cross-slot pass. Ruuty got the secondary helper.
Sergei Samsonov got an unassisted goal at 6:58 after putting on a stick-handling show. His shot came from above the right circle, and the rout was on.
At 13:35, the future captain Eric Staal potted his 35th goal of the season. He came fresh off the bench, created a neutral zone turnover, then took a pass from Jeff Hamilton in the high slot to make it 3-0.
Cam Ward's shutout bid didn't last long, as Bryan Little broke it up just 1:56 into the middle frame. Slava Kozlov and Mark Recchi got the helpers.
Joe Jensen, whose claim to fame heretofore was puking on the bench in his NHL debut, potted the game winner at 3:35 of the second. He was low in the right circle, and received a nice pass from Hamilton from below the goal line. He snapped it in on the far side for his first NHL goal. Tim ("don't call me Tom") Conboy got the second assist.
Steve McCarthy made it 4-2 at 4:56, and it was starting to get a little interesting. He scooped up some loose change out front and deposited it into Ward's net for his first goal. Chris Thorburn and the 1989 Hartford Whalers first round draft pick Bobby Holik got the helpers.
Erik Cole scored his 21st goal of the season at 14:51 of the third. From below the goal line, Sergei Samsonov made a phenomenal no-look, behind the back pass to Cole, who was hanging out in the left circle. He got a couple of whacks at it, and finally beat The Moose, making it 5-2. Bret Hedican, whose wife was apparently very good on "Dancing With the Stars" the other night, got the secondary assist.
Kozlov got a late garbage goal at 19:21, assisted by Little and Recchi.
This game had only four penalties. I guess the referees had tickets to Hanna Montana or something like that. They were in a real hurry to get out of there.
Carolina completely dominated the first, then slacked off in the second, then played well in the third. Good enough to beat the Thrashers, but they'll have to have 60 minute efforts against the likes of Washington and Florida, whom they play twice each in the remaining seven games.
The "official" three stars are a bit loopy. Okay. They're a LOT loopy. Word on the street is that these things aren't really selected by the "local media". Sometimes, it's some intern who randomly chooses names. This seems like one of those. The official stars were Steve McCarthy (third), Eric Staal (second) and Cam Ward (first). None of these were even in my top five stars. I don't get that.
The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Vyacheslav Kozlov, ATL -- 1 goal, 1 assist.
SECOND STAR Jeffrey Hamilton, CAR -- 2 assists.
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 blocked shots.
Carolina will have no time to rest. They're headed to Sunrise for a 7:30 game on Thursday.
A little birdy has told me that Justin Viva Williams is very close to being ready to rejoin the team after missing the last 39 games with MCL/ACL issues. This makes me very happy.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Canes rebound, crush Sens
On Sunday afternoon, the Hurricanes put the bad loss in Buffalo behind them by pasting the visiting Senators 5-1. To make things extra sweet, it became even more clear that Carolina got the better end of the February 11 trade.
Joe Corvo, who hated the Canadian press, and who was constantly maligned by the Sens faithful, had a spectacular night. He recorded his first career hat trick, notching goals 10,11 and 12 of the season. He now has 42 (12/30) points on the season. 15 (6/9) have come in 15 games since joining the Hurricanes.
Dany Heatley got the scoring off to an early start when the Sens cashed in on a five-on-three power play situation. Jason Spezza made a very nice cross-ice pass to Heatley, who was parked by the right post. He tucked it in for the early lead, but it would be the Sens only bright spot. Cory Stillman got the secondary assist.
Patrick Eaves, the other part of that Feb 11 trade, got his first goal in a Hurricanes uniform during the Canes first power play of the afternoon. Frantisek Kaberle's hard shot from the blue line was tipped by Eaves at the top of the goal crease. The penalty, by the way, was Mike Commodore's. Officially, the power play goal was at 7:00 of the first, and it was assisted by Kaberle and Scott Walker.
Mike Commodore's night got worse when his second penalty of the game led to Carolina's second goal of the game at 10:24. Joe Corvo fired a cannon from the high slot that the Gerber Baby had no chance on. The game-winning goal was during a four-on-three power play. Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal got the assists.
Scott Walker scored his second goal in as many games, beating Gerber with a nasty wrist shot at 5:56 of the second. After a Sens turnover, Eric Staal fed Tim Gleason, who joined the 3-on-2 rush. Gleason, streaking down the right wing made a beautiful pass to Walker, who wristed it in from the inside hash marks of the left circle.
There was no more scoring in the second, but it was emblematic of the Sens play for the whole game. They only mustered three shots in the second frame, and they committed five penalties. The puck was in the Ottawa end for probably 70% of the period.
At 2:09 of the final stanza, Joe Corvo got his second goal of the night with a laser beam from the top of the right circle. Again on the power play, and again it was assisted by Samsonov and Staal.
To cap a magnificent afternoon, Corvo scored on a nifty backhand goal at 17:50 of the third to finish a breakaway . Tuomo Ruutu got the only assist. It was Corvo's first career hat trick, and perhaps the first one ever by a Hurricanes defenseman.
It's hard to argue with the "official" three stars of Patrick Eaves (third), Eric Staal (second) and Joe Corvo (first). While that's cute to give both former Sens a star, I think I've gotta give SerSam some love on this one. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 assists, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 3 assists
FIRST STAR Joe Corvo, 3 goals, 3 blocked shots
Mike Commodore had a dismal day, and has been nothing but trouble for the Sens. His two penalties today both resulted in Canes goals. He doled out five hits, but has been for Ottawa thus far exactly what he had grown to be in Carolina: a liability. In 17 games with the Sens, he has no points and is a -8.
Cory Stillman had an assist on Ottawa's only goal. In 17 games for them, he has 14 (2/12) points and is a -5.
On the other hand...
Joe Corvo has 15 points (6/9) in 15 games with Carolina and is a +6.
Patrick Eaves has 4 points (1/3) in 9 games with Carolina and is a -1.
Although Carolina took care of their end, they didn't get help from their SE enemies. Both Washington and Florida won their games. Carolina's lead in the SE remains at five points.
Carolina will be off until Wednesday, when they travel to Atlanta.
After this game, what will the Canadian press say about Corvo?
Joe Corvo, who hated the Canadian press, and who was constantly maligned by the Sens faithful, had a spectacular night. He recorded his first career hat trick, notching goals 10,11 and 12 of the season. He now has 42 (12/30) points on the season. 15 (6/9) have come in 15 games since joining the Hurricanes.
Dany Heatley got the scoring off to an early start when the Sens cashed in on a five-on-three power play situation. Jason Spezza made a very nice cross-ice pass to Heatley, who was parked by the right post. He tucked it in for the early lead, but it would be the Sens only bright spot. Cory Stillman got the secondary assist.
Patrick Eaves, the other part of that Feb 11 trade, got his first goal in a Hurricanes uniform during the Canes first power play of the afternoon. Frantisek Kaberle's hard shot from the blue line was tipped by Eaves at the top of the goal crease. The penalty, by the way, was Mike Commodore's. Officially, the power play goal was at 7:00 of the first, and it was assisted by Kaberle and Scott Walker.
Mike Commodore's night got worse when his second penalty of the game led to Carolina's second goal of the game at 10:24. Joe Corvo fired a cannon from the high slot that the Gerber Baby had no chance on. The game-winning goal was during a four-on-three power play. Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal got the assists.
Scott Walker scored his second goal in as many games, beating Gerber with a nasty wrist shot at 5:56 of the second. After a Sens turnover, Eric Staal fed Tim Gleason, who joined the 3-on-2 rush. Gleason, streaking down the right wing made a beautiful pass to Walker, who wristed it in from the inside hash marks of the left circle.
There was no more scoring in the second, but it was emblematic of the Sens play for the whole game. They only mustered three shots in the second frame, and they committed five penalties. The puck was in the Ottawa end for probably 70% of the period.
At 2:09 of the final stanza, Joe Corvo got his second goal of the night with a laser beam from the top of the right circle. Again on the power play, and again it was assisted by Samsonov and Staal.
To cap a magnificent afternoon, Corvo scored on a nifty backhand goal at 17:50 of the third to finish a breakaway . Tuomo Ruutu got the only assist. It was Corvo's first career hat trick, and perhaps the first one ever by a Hurricanes defenseman.
It's hard to argue with the "official" three stars of Patrick Eaves (third), Eric Staal (second) and Joe Corvo (first). While that's cute to give both former Sens a star, I think I've gotta give SerSam some love on this one. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 assists, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 3 assists
FIRST STAR Joe Corvo, 3 goals, 3 blocked shots
Mike Commodore had a dismal day, and has been nothing but trouble for the Sens. His two penalties today both resulted in Canes goals. He doled out five hits, but has been for Ottawa thus far exactly what he had grown to be in Carolina: a liability. In 17 games with the Sens, he has no points and is a -8.
Cory Stillman had an assist on Ottawa's only goal. In 17 games for them, he has 14 (2/12) points and is a -5.
On the other hand...
Joe Corvo has 15 points (6/9) in 15 games with Carolina and is a +6.
Patrick Eaves has 4 points (1/3) in 9 games with Carolina and is a -1.
Although Carolina took care of their end, they didn't get help from their SE enemies. Both Washington and Florida won their games. Carolina's lead in the SE remains at five points.
Carolina will be off until Wednesday, when they travel to Atlanta.
After this game, what will the Canadian press say about Corvo?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Lots of familiar faces in Chicago tonight
For Wednesday night's game between the Blackhawks and the Hurricanes, both teams will see some familiar faces wearing the wrong sweater.
Carolina will see their old friends Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams and Andrew Ladd all playing for the Blackhawks.
Chicago will see Tuomo Ruutu and castoff Sergei Samsonov playing for the visiting Hurricanes.
Craig Adams has been doing nothing all season. It doesn't matter what sweater he wears. Kevyn Adams has been injured most of the year and just returned to the lineup on Sunday. Andrew Ladd has played well since the trade deadline trade. In eight games with the Blackhawks, Ladd has recorded six (2/4) points and is a -1.
Since the Ladd trade, Tuomo Ruutu has played well with the Hurricanes, recording just three (1/2) points, but he's been a very physical and energetic player.
Sergei Samsonov, though, has to be the best acquisition the Hurricanes have made in quite some time. Since being claimed on re-entry waivers from the Blackhawks on January 8, Samsonov has 24 (12/12) points in 27 games and is a +11. In that time frame, he's been the most prolific Hurricanes scorer, and one of the biggest stories in the NHL.
Although these teams don't face each other very often, they know each other pretty well.
The Blackhawks are fighting just to make the playoffs, while the Hurricanes will try to extend their lead in the SE division and build on their longest winning streak of the season.
Game recap to follow.
Carolina will see their old friends Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams and Andrew Ladd all playing for the Blackhawks.
Chicago will see Tuomo Ruutu and castoff Sergei Samsonov playing for the visiting Hurricanes.
Craig Adams has been doing nothing all season. It doesn't matter what sweater he wears. Kevyn Adams has been injured most of the year and just returned to the lineup on Sunday. Andrew Ladd has played well since the trade deadline trade. In eight games with the Blackhawks, Ladd has recorded six (2/4) points and is a -1.
Since the Ladd trade, Tuomo Ruutu has played well with the Hurricanes, recording just three (1/2) points, but he's been a very physical and energetic player.
Sergei Samsonov, though, has to be the best acquisition the Hurricanes have made in quite some time. Since being claimed on re-entry waivers from the Blackhawks on January 8, Samsonov has 24 (12/12) points in 27 games and is a +11. In that time frame, he's been the most prolific Hurricanes scorer, and one of the biggest stories in the NHL.
Although these teams don't face each other very often, they know each other pretty well.
The Blackhawks are fighting just to make the playoffs, while the Hurricanes will try to extend their lead in the SE division and build on their longest winning streak of the season.
Game recap to follow.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Canes down Sabres, widen lead
On Saturday night, the Hurricanes beat Buffalo 4-3 in overtime. It was the second of three things to make this a perfect day for RBH.
Earlier in the day, the Capitals self-destructed in the third period of their game against Boston, handing the Bruins the game. Thing one.
Thing two was this game. Just as I suspected, it wasn't at all like either of the two previous games between the teams this season.
It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but the new guys and the "Rat Pack" were major players in the game. There is no way Carolina would be where they are today without the major contributions from new guys (Sergei Samsonov, Joe Corvo, Patrick Eaves, Tuomo Ruutu) or the "Rat Pack" (Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda, Tim Conboy, Wade Brookbank).
Aucoin got the Hurricanes on the board first with a really nice finish of a well played shift. Ryan Bayda was relentless with his shot and rebound attempts. Finally, a rebound went out to Aucoin at the inside hashmarks of the right circle. He snapped it in at 16:35. Bayda and Corvo had the assists.
As the goal was being announced over the PA, Tim Gleason made it 2-0. Matt Cullen won the draw back to Gleason, who tried a shot from the right point. It was turned aside by Ryan Miller, but Eaves fed it back to Gleason for a second shot. This time it found the net. Officially, the goal was Gleason from Eaves and Cullen at 17:01.
Derek Roy pulled the Sabres to within one goal at 7:46 of the second. Cam Ward made a sloppy play behind his own net and Roy capitalized on it by pouncing on a loose puck in front and sliding it past Ward. The unassisted goal was Roy's 27th marker of the season. He is now tied with Thomas Vanek for the team lead.
Sergei Samsonov continued his skyrocket-like success by notching his 12th goal since joining the Hurricanes 27 games ago. Eric Staal fired a shot from the high slot that was answered by Miller, but Samsonov swatted the rebound out of mid-air and into the net. Dennis Seidenberg got the secondary assist, and the official time was 8:52 of the second.
Drew Stafford again cut the lead to one when he got a tip-in at 18:07 of the second. The Sabres worked hard and created a ton of traffic on the play. There were two unattended Sabres right on the front doorstep, and Stafford just happened to be the one who got his stick on it. Dmitri Kalinin and Derek Roy got the assists.
Both teams really battened down the hatches and everyone knew that the third period would be a good one. The only scoring came at the midway point of the period. Bret Hedican took one of his trademark bad penalties, tripping Maxim Afinogenov. On the ensuing power play, the Sabres created havoc in front of Cam Ward, and in the havoc, Ward lost his stick. Toni Lydman willed the puck in, and there was a brand new game. Officially, the power play goal came at 10:00 of the third. Lydman from Jochen Hecht and Afinogenov.
Late in the third, Ryan Miller was outstanding. He made a dazzling stop on Eric Staal, exploding from his right to left to rob Staal at the right post. Staal had already raised his arms to celebrate, but Miller was better. A few minutes later, he made a fantastic save on Sergei Samsonov, taking away another sure goal.
The game went to overtime, and Miller again robbed Samsonov early in the extra frame. I was thinking that Samsonov was going to have nightmares about Ryan Miller. However, Jaro Spacek was called for hooking, and the Canes were given a 4-on-3 overtime power play.
Near the end of the power play, Eric Staal wristed a shot from the high slot. Scott Walker was parked in front of the crease and tipped it off the right post and in. After a series of remarkable saves, Miller got beaten by a shot that he had no chance of seeing. Staal and Corvo assisted Walker for the game winner.
The "official" three stars went to Eric Staal(third), Sergei Samsonov (second) and Scott Walker (first). That's just not fair. Ryan Miller played a hell of a game. He was on his head for most of the third period and the overtime. I don't feel right not giving him credit for a heroic effort.
Trevor Letowski was an unsung hero of this game. He did some very nice work on the penalty kill, and he had a good night in the faceoff circle. He finished with a -1 rating and had no points, but I need to mention his hard work tonight and throughout the Hurricanes hot streak.
With special mention to Letowski, Matt Cullen and Ryan Bayda, the RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Ryan Miller, BUF --- 31 saves
SECOND STAR Joe Corvo, CAR --- 2 assists
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 2 assists
Carolina now has a seven point lead in the division. They have eleven games to play while Washington has 13. The Caps have two games in hand. One will be expended Sunday against the Penguins. The Hurricanes will be off until Wednesday when they will visit Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams, Andrew Ladd and the Blackhawks.
This game made my night good enough, but to cap it off, UNC held off a furious second half rally by Duke to win the big game 76-68. All the detractors have been saying that UNC doesn't deserve its #1 ranking because they "haven't played anybody". Duke is the #5 team in the nation, and UNC beat them in Durham. That should be good enough. It was an emotional day for both teams. Duke had "senior day", and Carolina was playing the first game since the shocking murder of the UNC student body president earlier this week. Duke was classy enough to observe a moment of silence before the game and hand out Carolina blue ribbons in her honor.
Overall, a very good day for RBH.
Earlier in the day, the Capitals self-destructed in the third period of their game against Boston, handing the Bruins the game. Thing one.
Thing two was this game. Just as I suspected, it wasn't at all like either of the two previous games between the teams this season.
It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but the new guys and the "Rat Pack" were major players in the game. There is no way Carolina would be where they are today without the major contributions from new guys (Sergei Samsonov, Joe Corvo, Patrick Eaves, Tuomo Ruutu) or the "Rat Pack" (Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda, Tim Conboy, Wade Brookbank).
Aucoin got the Hurricanes on the board first with a really nice finish of a well played shift. Ryan Bayda was relentless with his shot and rebound attempts. Finally, a rebound went out to Aucoin at the inside hashmarks of the right circle. He snapped it in at 16:35. Bayda and Corvo had the assists.
As the goal was being announced over the PA, Tim Gleason made it 2-0. Matt Cullen won the draw back to Gleason, who tried a shot from the right point. It was turned aside by Ryan Miller, but Eaves fed it back to Gleason for a second shot. This time it found the net. Officially, the goal was Gleason from Eaves and Cullen at 17:01.
Derek Roy pulled the Sabres to within one goal at 7:46 of the second. Cam Ward made a sloppy play behind his own net and Roy capitalized on it by pouncing on a loose puck in front and sliding it past Ward. The unassisted goal was Roy's 27th marker of the season. He is now tied with Thomas Vanek for the team lead.
Sergei Samsonov continued his skyrocket-like success by notching his 12th goal since joining the Hurricanes 27 games ago. Eric Staal fired a shot from the high slot that was answered by Miller, but Samsonov swatted the rebound out of mid-air and into the net. Dennis Seidenberg got the secondary assist, and the official time was 8:52 of the second.
Drew Stafford again cut the lead to one when he got a tip-in at 18:07 of the second. The Sabres worked hard and created a ton of traffic on the play. There were two unattended Sabres right on the front doorstep, and Stafford just happened to be the one who got his stick on it. Dmitri Kalinin and Derek Roy got the assists.
Both teams really battened down the hatches and everyone knew that the third period would be a good one. The only scoring came at the midway point of the period. Bret Hedican took one of his trademark bad penalties, tripping Maxim Afinogenov. On the ensuing power play, the Sabres created havoc in front of Cam Ward, and in the havoc, Ward lost his stick. Toni Lydman willed the puck in, and there was a brand new game. Officially, the power play goal came at 10:00 of the third. Lydman from Jochen Hecht and Afinogenov.
Late in the third, Ryan Miller was outstanding. He made a dazzling stop on Eric Staal, exploding from his right to left to rob Staal at the right post. Staal had already raised his arms to celebrate, but Miller was better. A few minutes later, he made a fantastic save on Sergei Samsonov, taking away another sure goal.
The game went to overtime, and Miller again robbed Samsonov early in the extra frame. I was thinking that Samsonov was going to have nightmares about Ryan Miller. However, Jaro Spacek was called for hooking, and the Canes were given a 4-on-3 overtime power play.
Near the end of the power play, Eric Staal wristed a shot from the high slot. Scott Walker was parked in front of the crease and tipped it off the right post and in. After a series of remarkable saves, Miller got beaten by a shot that he had no chance of seeing. Staal and Corvo assisted Walker for the game winner.
The "official" three stars went to Eric Staal(third), Sergei Samsonov (second) and Scott Walker (first). That's just not fair. Ryan Miller played a hell of a game. He was on his head for most of the third period and the overtime. I don't feel right not giving him credit for a heroic effort.
Trevor Letowski was an unsung hero of this game. He did some very nice work on the penalty kill, and he had a good night in the faceoff circle. He finished with a -1 rating and had no points, but I need to mention his hard work tonight and throughout the Hurricanes hot streak.
With special mention to Letowski, Matt Cullen and Ryan Bayda, the RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Ryan Miller, BUF --- 31 saves
SECOND STAR Joe Corvo, CAR --- 2 assists
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 2 assists
Carolina now has a seven point lead in the division. They have eleven games to play while Washington has 13. The Caps have two games in hand. One will be expended Sunday against the Penguins. The Hurricanes will be off until Wednesday when they will visit Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams, Andrew Ladd and the Blackhawks.
This game made my night good enough, but to cap it off, UNC held off a furious second half rally by Duke to win the big game 76-68. All the detractors have been saying that UNC doesn't deserve its #1 ranking because they "haven't played anybody". Duke is the #5 team in the nation, and UNC beat them in Durham. That should be good enough. It was an emotional day for both teams. Duke had "senior day", and Carolina was playing the first game since the shocking murder of the UNC student body president earlier this week. Duke was classy enough to observe a moment of silence before the game and hand out Carolina blue ribbons in her honor.
Overall, a very good day for RBH.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Canes trounce Bolts, widen lead
On Saturday, the Hurricanes soundly defeated the Lightning 5-1. With the help of the Maple Leafs, they were able to expand their lead in the Southeast division to five points. Carolina has 14 games to play. Washington has two games in hand and two more games against Carolina. All four of those games are "must win" games for Bruce Boudreau's team.
Carolina got a tremendous team effort to close out the six-game homestand. In those six games, Carolina went 4-1-1. In their last ten games at the big ATM, Carolina has been a very impressive 8-1-1. This will hopefully extend through the rest of the season and into the playoffs. Carolina is poised to win their division and have home-ice advantage, and their recent success at home should be a tremendous advantage.
The most impressive thing about the "total effort" was that every single one of the "new guys" played a huge part in the win.
The scoring started with a "soft" goal given up by Cam Ward. Jeff Halpern tapped in some loose change in front of the goal through Ward's five hole at 7:04 of the first. Michel Ouellet and Mathieu Darche got the assists.
Eric Staal got the equalizer at 10:43. He fought hard for a loose puck in front of the goal, and it looked like he batted the loose puck out of midair to tie the game. Tuomo Ruutu and Timmaaay Gleason got the assists. Time of the goal was 10:43 of the first.
The first period ended with a Carolina power play, which extended for one minute into the second frame. One second after the expiration, Big Joe Corvo had all the time in the world to shoot a howitzer from the high slot, which beat Mike Smith (still wearing a Dallas Stars helmet) high on the blocker side. In what has become somewhat of a recurring theme, the goal was scored while one of the opponents was playing without a stick. This goal came at 1:02 of the second, assisted by Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal. This one would prove to be the game winner.
Sergei Samsonov scored a power play marker at 10:01, assisted by Frantisek Kaberle and Scott Walker. From the top of the left circle, his one-timer beat Smith cleanly for the 3-1 lead.
Samsonov scored his second goal of the night at 4:02 of the third on a nice backhanded tap-in. Patrick Eaves had a very nice chance that was stopped, but Samsonov jumped on the rebound and slammed it home. Matt Cullen got the secondary assist, but this whole play was set up by Samsonov, streaking down the right wing.
Ruutu got his first goal in a Hurricanes sweater at 6:00 of the third by finishing a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play on the left side of the goal mouth. Eric Staal and Erik Cole had the assists. And the crowd chanted "Ruuty! Ruuty! Ruuty!"
It's really nice to see the fans take such a shine to the new guys. Even when Doug Weight and Mark Recchi were brought in during the year of the Cup, we weren't so quick to embrace them. Last year, the Anson Carter thing was a fiasco. Before that, Carolina was always a seller at the trade deadline.
Sergei Samsonov has been far and away the best of the "new guys", and was probably the GM move of the year, league wide. In 24 games with the Canes, he has registered 21 (11/10) points. All that after he scored just four (0/4) points in 23 games with Chicago.
Joe Corvo has also played well since joining the Canes. He's put up six points (2/4) in nine games with Carolina. We're still one game shy of the standard "let's wait ten games to see how we like him", but I'll go ahead and say that we'd rather have Corvo than Commodore any day of the week. And Twice on Sundays.
The other part of that deal, Patty Eaves, hasn't had much time, but he's looked good. He's only played in three games, but has registered two assists, and came very close to scoring a goal in this game.
Ruuty has three (1/2) points in three games. His counterpart in the trade, Andrew Ladd, has also performed well with his new team. Ladd has two goals in three games played for the Blackhawks.
For this game, it was another one where you could pick any three guys as the stars. Except Bret Hedican. He made a boneheaded pass in his own end which led to the lone Bolts goal.
The "official" stars went to Joe Corvo (third), Eric Staal (second) and Sergei Samsonov (first). Mine were only slightly different. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tuomo Ruutu, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 1 goal, 2 assists, +3
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 goals, 1 assist
Carolina will be off until Wednesday. In the interim, Washington will expend one of their two games in hand when they play host to the hot Bruins, who are currently in the sixth playoff spot and would be Carolina's first round opponent.
Carolina got a tremendous team effort to close out the six-game homestand. In those six games, Carolina went 4-1-1. In their last ten games at the big ATM, Carolina has been a very impressive 8-1-1. This will hopefully extend through the rest of the season and into the playoffs. Carolina is poised to win their division and have home-ice advantage, and their recent success at home should be a tremendous advantage.
The most impressive thing about the "total effort" was that every single one of the "new guys" played a huge part in the win.
The scoring started with a "soft" goal given up by Cam Ward. Jeff Halpern tapped in some loose change in front of the goal through Ward's five hole at 7:04 of the first. Michel Ouellet and Mathieu Darche got the assists.
Eric Staal got the equalizer at 10:43. He fought hard for a loose puck in front of the goal, and it looked like he batted the loose puck out of midair to tie the game. Tuomo Ruutu and Timmaaay Gleason got the assists. Time of the goal was 10:43 of the first.
The first period ended with a Carolina power play, which extended for one minute into the second frame. One second after the expiration, Big Joe Corvo had all the time in the world to shoot a howitzer from the high slot, which beat Mike Smith (still wearing a Dallas Stars helmet) high on the blocker side. In what has become somewhat of a recurring theme, the goal was scored while one of the opponents was playing without a stick. This goal came at 1:02 of the second, assisted by Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal. This one would prove to be the game winner.
Sergei Samsonov scored a power play marker at 10:01, assisted by Frantisek Kaberle and Scott Walker. From the top of the left circle, his one-timer beat Smith cleanly for the 3-1 lead.
Samsonov scored his second goal of the night at 4:02 of the third on a nice backhanded tap-in. Patrick Eaves had a very nice chance that was stopped, but Samsonov jumped on the rebound and slammed it home. Matt Cullen got the secondary assist, but this whole play was set up by Samsonov, streaking down the right wing.
Ruutu got his first goal in a Hurricanes sweater at 6:00 of the third by finishing a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play on the left side of the goal mouth. Eric Staal and Erik Cole had the assists. And the crowd chanted "Ruuty! Ruuty! Ruuty!"
It's really nice to see the fans take such a shine to the new guys. Even when Doug Weight and Mark Recchi were brought in during the year of the Cup, we weren't so quick to embrace them. Last year, the Anson Carter thing was a fiasco. Before that, Carolina was always a seller at the trade deadline.
Sergei Samsonov has been far and away the best of the "new guys", and was probably the GM move of the year, league wide. In 24 games with the Canes, he has registered 21 (11/10) points. All that after he scored just four (0/4) points in 23 games with Chicago.
Joe Corvo has also played well since joining the Canes. He's put up six points (2/4) in nine games with Carolina. We're still one game shy of the standard "let's wait ten games to see how we like him", but I'll go ahead and say that we'd rather have Corvo than Commodore any day of the week. And Twice on Sundays.
The other part of that deal, Patty Eaves, hasn't had much time, but he's looked good. He's only played in three games, but has registered two assists, and came very close to scoring a goal in this game.
Ruuty has three (1/2) points in three games. His counterpart in the trade, Andrew Ladd, has also performed well with his new team. Ladd has two goals in three games played for the Blackhawks.
For this game, it was another one where you could pick any three guys as the stars. Except Bret Hedican. He made a boneheaded pass in his own end which led to the lone Bolts goal.
The "official" stars went to Joe Corvo (third), Eric Staal (second) and Sergei Samsonov (first). Mine were only slightly different. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tuomo Ruutu, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 1 goal, 2 assists, +3
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 goals, 1 assist
Carolina will be off until Wednesday. In the interim, Washington will expend one of their two games in hand when they play host to the hot Bruins, who are currently in the sixth playoff spot and would be Carolina's first round opponent.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Carolina solves Brodeur, keeps hot streak going.
On Tuesday night, Carolina defeated New Jersey 2-1 in overtime to get a much needed two standings points. This was a huge test for a team playing without its Captain for the rest of the season. Carolina answered the challenge and then some.
Earlier this month, Carolina lost two ugly games in Newark. They also lost an ugly game at home to the Devils in January. In all, the Canes were 0-3 against the Devils and were outscored 15-3. Carolina was trying to avoid the sweep. They were also trying to protect their five point SE lead. They were also trying to continue their hot streak at home, and their hot streak overall. They accomplished all of that.
Carolina's newest member, Tuomu Ruutu nearly didn't make it. After being traded for Andrew Ladd, Ruutu's flight from Chicago to Raleigh was delayed for several hours. His flight finally landed 36 minutes before gametime. He was given a police escort to the arena, and he was dressed in time for the puck drop.
Right away, he made a mark. He delivered a huge hit in just his second shift. The rest of the first period was chippy. Defenseman Tim Gleason left the game with a "head injury" after being boarded. A scuffle ensued, then later in the period a fight and some other extracurricular activity.
Afer a scoreless first, Bret Hedican got the second period off on the wrong foot. Just as he did against Washington on Saturday, a committed a miscue which led directly to a goal. This time, he deflected a Brian Gionta shot into his own net. Gionta was given credit for an unassisted goal at 1:50 of the second. His "shot" from the right circle would have been well off net, but Hedican's stick redirected it off the left post and in.
Sergei Samsonov leveled the score at 5:57 with a power play goal. After some good stuff at the points from Matt Cullen and Joe Corvo, Keith Aucoin snuck down low and took a shot from the right dot, which was handled by Martin Brodeur. Samsonov jumped right on the rebound and wristed it in from the top of the goalie crease. Ruutu got the secondary assist. His first point in his first game with the Canes.
The rest of the second was a defensive battle, and the third was more of the same.
Ruutu was caught by an inadvertant high stick late in the third, which opened a cut above his nose. If it had been detected by the officials, it would have been a four minute minor. However,it wasn't. Credit the officiating crew for refusing to give a "make-up" call. I'm not, and never have been a fan of that.
The game went into overtime, and the Canes knew that at the very least, they would get one standings point.
Just 1:36 into the bonus frame, Samsonov struck again. He accepted an awkward bank pass from Scott Walker along the right wing, handled the bouncing puck and took a shot on Brodeur. The shot was handled, but the rebound was not. Samsonov tapped it into the left corner for the win. Walker and Hedican got the helpers.
Samsonov was, and continues to be amazing. He's now got five (3/2) points in his last three games. In 22 games with Carolina, he has 18 (9/9) points. He earned the first star.
The "official" and the RBH three stars are identical:
THIRD STAR Tuomo Ruutu, CAR --- 1 assist, 3 hits, 2 blocked shots, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR --- win, 23 saves
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 goals, GWG, 2 takeaways
Washington got ahead early and won their game, which put pressure on Carolina. The big win for Carolina does so many things, but the most important is that it helps them maintain a five point cushion in the SE division with just 16 games to play.
This was the fourth of six straight home games for Carolina. They have gone 3-0-1 in those games. They have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight home games, and they have gone 7-2-1 in their last ten games overall. Right now, they are a flaming hot team. Included in that is the 5-1-1 they have gone since Captain Rod Brind'Amour tore his ACL.
The Canes will take on the Rangers on Thursday, then will finish the homestand against the new-look Lightning on Saturday.
On March 12, there will be a special treat when Carolina visits Chicago. By then, Kevyn Adams is expected to be back in the Blackhawks lineup. If all goes well, the former Canes Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams and Andrew Ladd will be in the lineup. They might even be on the same line.
Earlier this month, Carolina lost two ugly games in Newark. They also lost an ugly game at home to the Devils in January. In all, the Canes were 0-3 against the Devils and were outscored 15-3. Carolina was trying to avoid the sweep. They were also trying to protect their five point SE lead. They were also trying to continue their hot streak at home, and their hot streak overall. They accomplished all of that.
Carolina's newest member, Tuomu Ruutu nearly didn't make it. After being traded for Andrew Ladd, Ruutu's flight from Chicago to Raleigh was delayed for several hours. His flight finally landed 36 minutes before gametime. He was given a police escort to the arena, and he was dressed in time for the puck drop.
Right away, he made a mark. He delivered a huge hit in just his second shift. The rest of the first period was chippy. Defenseman Tim Gleason left the game with a "head injury" after being boarded. A scuffle ensued, then later in the period a fight and some other extracurricular activity.
Afer a scoreless first, Bret Hedican got the second period off on the wrong foot. Just as he did against Washington on Saturday, a committed a miscue which led directly to a goal. This time, he deflected a Brian Gionta shot into his own net. Gionta was given credit for an unassisted goal at 1:50 of the second. His "shot" from the right circle would have been well off net, but Hedican's stick redirected it off the left post and in.
Sergei Samsonov leveled the score at 5:57 with a power play goal. After some good stuff at the points from Matt Cullen and Joe Corvo, Keith Aucoin snuck down low and took a shot from the right dot, which was handled by Martin Brodeur. Samsonov jumped right on the rebound and wristed it in from the top of the goalie crease. Ruutu got the secondary assist. His first point in his first game with the Canes.
The rest of the second was a defensive battle, and the third was more of the same.
Ruutu was caught by an inadvertant high stick late in the third, which opened a cut above his nose. If it had been detected by the officials, it would have been a four minute minor. However,it wasn't. Credit the officiating crew for refusing to give a "make-up" call. I'm not, and never have been a fan of that.
The game went into overtime, and the Canes knew that at the very least, they would get one standings point.
Just 1:36 into the bonus frame, Samsonov struck again. He accepted an awkward bank pass from Scott Walker along the right wing, handled the bouncing puck and took a shot on Brodeur. The shot was handled, but the rebound was not. Samsonov tapped it into the left corner for the win. Walker and Hedican got the helpers.
Samsonov was, and continues to be amazing. He's now got five (3/2) points in his last three games. In 22 games with Carolina, he has 18 (9/9) points. He earned the first star.
The "official" and the RBH three stars are identical:
THIRD STAR Tuomo Ruutu, CAR --- 1 assist, 3 hits, 2 blocked shots, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR --- win, 23 saves
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR --- 2 goals, GWG, 2 takeaways
Washington got ahead early and won their game, which put pressure on Carolina. The big win for Carolina does so many things, but the most important is that it helps them maintain a five point cushion in the SE division with just 16 games to play.
This was the fourth of six straight home games for Carolina. They have gone 3-0-1 in those games. They have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight home games, and they have gone 7-2-1 in their last ten games overall. Right now, they are a flaming hot team. Included in that is the 5-1-1 they have gone since Captain Rod Brind'Amour tore his ACL.
The Canes will take on the Rangers on Thursday, then will finish the homestand against the new-look Lightning on Saturday.
On March 12, there will be a special treat when Carolina visits Chicago. By then, Kevyn Adams is expected to be back in the Blackhawks lineup. If all goes well, the former Canes Kevyn Adams, Craig Adams and Andrew Ladd will be in the lineup. They might even be on the same line.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Canes win barn burner, reclaim SE lead
On Saturday night, the Hurricanes defeated the Panthers 5-4 with a dramatic three goal outburst in the third. The win marked the third win in a row, which matches Carolina's longest winning streak of the season. It is also their fourth straight home win.
Atlanta played a horrible game on Long Island, getting beat 4-1. The Carolina win and the Atlanta loss means that the Hurricanes have sole possession of first place in the division. The Capitals won on Saturday, and they remain two points behind Carolina, tied with Atlanta. The Capitals have one game in hand. Florida is four points back. Tampa is eight points back, but have two games in hand. The division is still anybody's for the taking.
Time-Warner Cable of Greensboro really didn't want me to watch hockey. As I sat down to watch the game, I discovered that my Center Ice package wasn't working. Every channel had a message -- "This channel is temporarily unavailable". Also, the NHL Network was displaying the same message. Then, because my computer is all messed up and the Canes don't have radio coverage in Greensboro, I had to rely on NHL.com for "realtime" updates. It's not the best in the world, but it's a lot better than nothing.
Finally, a few hours later, I got to see the highlights on the NHL Network.
Wade Brookbank, Sergei Samsonov, Eric Staal, Trevor Letowski and Ray Whitney all scored for the Canes. Brookbank, Samsonov and Letowski all got tip-ins by working hard and crashing the net. Staal worked his butt off for his goal after getting knocked down behind the Panthers' net. The game winning goal by Whitney was set up beautifully by a cross-ice backhand pass from Joe Corvo. In two games played, he has two assists, and he's looked pretty good.
Nathan Horton scored twice for the visiting Panthers, including once on a penalty shot.
This was the 14th time in a row the Panthers have lost at the RBC Center. This time, they can't blame the officials. Carolina had a goal disallowed. Florida had a penalty shot goal. They can't blame the "diving" Canes. They have nobody but themselves to blame for blowing a two-goal lead in the third period. The defense allowed some weird angle shots to get through, and Vokoun gave up the juicy rebounds, and Carolina was putting themselves in the right position to get the odd rebounds and tip-ins.
Since I didn't see the whole game, I can't possibly come up with three stars. I'll have to rely on the "official" stars.
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- G
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- G, A
FIRST STAR Ray Whitney, CAR -- GWG
Clearly, Andrew Ladd needs some love. He had two assists, and he's got seven (3/4) points in his last five games. With Brind'Amour and Williams out of the lineup for the season and Cory Stillman traded away, Andrew Ladd is one of the guys who will have to step up. So far, he's seizing every opportunity. Clearly, the onus is on Eric Staal to be "the man", but everyone else is gonna have to get bigger.
Coming down the stretch, Carolina has a good chance to help themselves. They have an overwhelming majority of their remaining games at home, and for the first time all season, they'll regularly have more than one day off between games. This homestretch in the tight SE race will be tough. Injuries are working against Carolina, but the schedule is working with them. If they can dig deep and find some of that "whatever it takes" stuff, they'll be in the driver's seat for the homestretch. I think they can.
Atlanta played a horrible game on Long Island, getting beat 4-1. The Carolina win and the Atlanta loss means that the Hurricanes have sole possession of first place in the division. The Capitals won on Saturday, and they remain two points behind Carolina, tied with Atlanta. The Capitals have one game in hand. Florida is four points back. Tampa is eight points back, but have two games in hand. The division is still anybody's for the taking.
Time-Warner Cable of Greensboro really didn't want me to watch hockey. As I sat down to watch the game, I discovered that my Center Ice package wasn't working. Every channel had a message -- "This channel is temporarily unavailable". Also, the NHL Network was displaying the same message. Then, because my computer is all messed up and the Canes don't have radio coverage in Greensboro, I had to rely on NHL.com for "realtime" updates. It's not the best in the world, but it's a lot better than nothing.
Finally, a few hours later, I got to see the highlights on the NHL Network.
Wade Brookbank, Sergei Samsonov, Eric Staal, Trevor Letowski and Ray Whitney all scored for the Canes. Brookbank, Samsonov and Letowski all got tip-ins by working hard and crashing the net. Staal worked his butt off for his goal after getting knocked down behind the Panthers' net. The game winning goal by Whitney was set up beautifully by a cross-ice backhand pass from Joe Corvo. In two games played, he has two assists, and he's looked pretty good.
Nathan Horton scored twice for the visiting Panthers, including once on a penalty shot.
This was the 14th time in a row the Panthers have lost at the RBC Center. This time, they can't blame the officials. Carolina had a goal disallowed. Florida had a penalty shot goal. They can't blame the "diving" Canes. They have nobody but themselves to blame for blowing a two-goal lead in the third period. The defense allowed some weird angle shots to get through, and Vokoun gave up the juicy rebounds, and Carolina was putting themselves in the right position to get the odd rebounds and tip-ins.
Since I didn't see the whole game, I can't possibly come up with three stars. I'll have to rely on the "official" stars.
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- G
SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- G, A
FIRST STAR Ray Whitney, CAR -- GWG
Clearly, Andrew Ladd needs some love. He had two assists, and he's got seven (3/4) points in his last five games. With Brind'Amour and Williams out of the lineup for the season and Cory Stillman traded away, Andrew Ladd is one of the guys who will have to step up. So far, he's seizing every opportunity. Clearly, the onus is on Eric Staal to be "the man", but everyone else is gonna have to get bigger.
Coming down the stretch, Carolina has a good chance to help themselves. They have an overwhelming majority of their remaining games at home, and for the first time all season, they'll regularly have more than one day off between games. This homestretch in the tight SE race will be tough. Injuries are working against Carolina, but the schedule is working with them. If they can dig deep and find some of that "whatever it takes" stuff, they'll be in the driver's seat for the homestretch. I think they can.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Canes top Rangers in an action-packed game
On Tuesday night, Sean Avery and the New York Rangers came to town for a much anticipated game. Carolina was anxious to avenge their Boxing Day loss to the Rangers, and also to exact some revenge on Sean Avery and Colton Orr for their hits on Andrew Ladd and Matt Cullen, respectively.
I thought it might be physical, but I never imagined it would be anywhere near as violent as it was. Before the game even started, Scott Walker and Sean Avery were in a shoving match. The puck hadn't even been dropped, so both players should have been given misconduct penalties. However, the referees mysteriously gave out roughing penalties and nothing else.
Just a few seconds into the game Tim Gleason was penalized for hooking. On the ensuing 4-on-3 power play, Brendan Shanahan potted a goal at 1:02 of the first. Scott Gomez (down on the goal line) and Jaromir Jagr (in the right circle) played catch for a little while, then Gomez found Shanny in the slot for a nice-looking goal.
Wade Brookbank went toe-to-to with Colton Orr in round one of their two round bout. In the first round, Orr landed a couple of heavy shots that hurt Brookbank, then knocked him down. Round one was decisively Orr's.
Less than a minute after that, Scott Walker made a bad decision that caused all hell to break loose. He boarded Gomez (without getting called for it). Avery came from downtown Apex to go after Walker, then Timmay Gleason went after Avery. There was a lot of other pushing and shoving. Avery was given 17 minutes of penalties (2 for instigating plus five for fighting plus a ten minute misconduct). Walker got five for fighting, and Gleason was given the gate for being the third man in. At the time, I thought it was a really poor choice by Gleason.
Towards the end of the period, Orr and Brookbank went again. Round two was pretty much a wash, with a slight advantage to Brookbank. By the time the period was over, the Rangers had amassed 35 penalty minutes and the Canes had 31.
After they got all that Hanson Brothers stuff out of the way, the Canes settled down and played some "old-time hockey". It suits them much better to play their game than to try to be something they're not.
Sergei Samsonov got the Canes off and running at 6:07 of the second. After a badly missed shot by the Rangers, Ray Whitney was flying down the right wing on an odd man rush with Samsonov. He fed Sams with a nifty pass into the left circle, and Samsonov easily beat Lundqvist, who had overcommitted. It was Samsonov's eighth point (3/5) in nine games since joining the Canes.
Rod Brind'Amour put the Canes in front at 8:24 of the second. After the Rangers committed a sloppy turnover in the Canes end, Brind'Amour and Samsonov were off on a rush. Brindy skated it all the way in, made Lundqvist commit to Samsonov over on the left wing, then slammed it home for the lead. Mike Commodore picked up a phantom assist on the play.
There were just two penalty minutes per team in the second period. In the final minute of the period, the Rangers had some excellent scoring chances when Cam Ward lost his stick and they were able to keep it deep in the zone. Scott Gomez had a golden opportunity on an empty net with a stickless goaltender way out of position, but Nic Wallin and Glen Wesley both pinched in and held the left post. Wesley laid down to take away the shot, and Wallin was there anyway. It was a certain goal. 100%. Somehow, they couldn't hit the net, and the period ended 2-1.
Trevor Letowski notched an insurance tally at 3:40 of the third when Chad "Sharpie" LaRose hit him with a perfect pass through traffic to the high slot. "The Dude" wristed it in from there for his fourth marker of the season. LaRose and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Carolina committed two penalties in the final 75 seconds of the game. Since the Rangers pulled Lundbvist, they had a 6-on-3 situation for the final 20 seconds. During that final minute, and especially that final :20, Cam Ward made some sensational point-blank stops. Three of them in the last 12 seconds. He looked like the old Cam Ward out there. We haven't seen that in a while.
The "official" three stars went to Walker (third), Brind'Amour (second) and Ward (first). I'm not sure where the star for Walker came from. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Nic Wallin, CAR -- 4 blocked shots
SECOND STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR -- GWG
FIRST STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 34 saves, win
The news was even better, as Washington got blanked by Les Habitants, 4-0. That allowed Carolina to push their SE division lead to three points.
Carolina will host the Leafs on Thursday, then begin a five game road trip in the Iron City on Saturday.
I thought it might be physical, but I never imagined it would be anywhere near as violent as it was. Before the game even started, Scott Walker and Sean Avery were in a shoving match. The puck hadn't even been dropped, so both players should have been given misconduct penalties. However, the referees mysteriously gave out roughing penalties and nothing else.
Just a few seconds into the game Tim Gleason was penalized for hooking. On the ensuing 4-on-3 power play, Brendan Shanahan potted a goal at 1:02 of the first. Scott Gomez (down on the goal line) and Jaromir Jagr (in the right circle) played catch for a little while, then Gomez found Shanny in the slot for a nice-looking goal.
Wade Brookbank went toe-to-to with Colton Orr in round one of their two round bout. In the first round, Orr landed a couple of heavy shots that hurt Brookbank, then knocked him down. Round one was decisively Orr's.
Less than a minute after that, Scott Walker made a bad decision that caused all hell to break loose. He boarded Gomez (without getting called for it). Avery came from downtown Apex to go after Walker, then Timmay Gleason went after Avery. There was a lot of other pushing and shoving. Avery was given 17 minutes of penalties (2 for instigating plus five for fighting plus a ten minute misconduct). Walker got five for fighting, and Gleason was given the gate for being the third man in. At the time, I thought it was a really poor choice by Gleason.
Towards the end of the period, Orr and Brookbank went again. Round two was pretty much a wash, with a slight advantage to Brookbank. By the time the period was over, the Rangers had amassed 35 penalty minutes and the Canes had 31.
After they got all that Hanson Brothers stuff out of the way, the Canes settled down and played some "old-time hockey". It suits them much better to play their game than to try to be something they're not.
Sergei Samsonov got the Canes off and running at 6:07 of the second. After a badly missed shot by the Rangers, Ray Whitney was flying down the right wing on an odd man rush with Samsonov. He fed Sams with a nifty pass into the left circle, and Samsonov easily beat Lundqvist, who had overcommitted. It was Samsonov's eighth point (3/5) in nine games since joining the Canes.
Rod Brind'Amour put the Canes in front at 8:24 of the second. After the Rangers committed a sloppy turnover in the Canes end, Brind'Amour and Samsonov were off on a rush. Brindy skated it all the way in, made Lundqvist commit to Samsonov over on the left wing, then slammed it home for the lead. Mike Commodore picked up a phantom assist on the play.
There were just two penalty minutes per team in the second period. In the final minute of the period, the Rangers had some excellent scoring chances when Cam Ward lost his stick and they were able to keep it deep in the zone. Scott Gomez had a golden opportunity on an empty net with a stickless goaltender way out of position, but Nic Wallin and Glen Wesley both pinched in and held the left post. Wesley laid down to take away the shot, and Wallin was there anyway. It was a certain goal. 100%. Somehow, they couldn't hit the net, and the period ended 2-1.
Trevor Letowski notched an insurance tally at 3:40 of the third when Chad "Sharpie" LaRose hit him with a perfect pass through traffic to the high slot. "The Dude" wristed it in from there for his fourth marker of the season. LaRose and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Carolina committed two penalties in the final 75 seconds of the game. Since the Rangers pulled Lundbvist, they had a 6-on-3 situation for the final 20 seconds. During that final minute, and especially that final :20, Cam Ward made some sensational point-blank stops. Three of them in the last 12 seconds. He looked like the old Cam Ward out there. We haven't seen that in a while.
The "official" three stars went to Walker (third), Brind'Amour (second) and Ward (first). I'm not sure where the star for Walker came from. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Nic Wallin, CAR -- 4 blocked shots
SECOND STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR -- GWG
FIRST STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 34 saves, win
The news was even better, as Washington got blanked by Les Habitants, 4-0. That allowed Carolina to push their SE division lead to three points.
Carolina will host the Leafs on Thursday, then begin a five game road trip in the Iron City on Saturday.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Canes crush Oil 7-2
On Friday night, the Hurricanes got a much needed convincing win over the visiting Oilers. After losing four in a row and seven of their last ten, they needed a win. The players needed it, the fans needed it. We all needed it.
The last time the Oilers came to town, I was in the RBC Center for game seven. At the end of it all, I cried like a little girl. Tonight, I cried again.
I'm not kidding.
It was a release of tension. With their poor play lately, I was on the brink of smashing my teevee or something else dumb. This big big win let it all out. It was great.
Carolina is almost to the point where all of their players are back from injuries and illness. Their absences had something to do with Carolina's poor play. Now their job will be to feed off of tonight's huge win and keep playing like they did.
The most important thing as far as the trajectory of the team is concerned is that Eric Staal found some swagger. He broke through with a HUGE game and played with confidence. Frankly, we haven't seen Staal or any of the big-name players display any confidence lately.
It all started at 6:08 of the first. Rod Brind'Amour nailed a one-timer from above the left circle and showed a rare display of emotion afterwards. Sergei Samsonov and Erik Cole got the assists.
Just 3:09 into the second period, Patrick Thoresen tapped a loose puck to make it 1-1. Sam Gagner's shot hit the right goalpost, then Cam Ward's back, then trickled towards the goal line. Thoresen pounced on it before Nic Wallin could sweep it away. Gagner and Andrew Cogliano got the helpers.
Tim Gleason blasted a shot from the right point at 15:43 of the second that found its way past Mathieu Garon. Brind'Amour and Andrew Ladd got the helpers. For the first time in a long time, there was actually some traffic in front. Ladd was setting a nice screen, and would have been all over any rebound situation.
This is how the second period ended. For the first time in I don't know how long, the Canes had a slim lead at the second intermission, and I had no worries. Somehow, I knew that they wouldn't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this time.
I had no way of knowing, and could never have imagined that they would explode for five goals in the third. It was that third frame where Staalsy found his groove. Hopefully, he'll stay on track.
At 4:13, Staal scored his first goal of the night. He attempted a shot from the left circle, which was stopped by Garon. Staal scooped up the rebound and attempted a wrap-around to the right post. Garon got a pad on it, but he was unable to get his left skate flush with the right post. Somehow, Staal found the tiny gap and muscled the third-chance into the goal. The goal wasunassisted assisted by Chad LaRose and Gleason, and would prove to be the game-winner.
Midway through the second, the Canes were enjoying a power play when Staal was hauled down on a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot, which he wasted no time or effort burying into the net. He didn't use any fancy stickhandling or any dekes. Just a hard, authoritative shot from the high slot. 9:48 was the time of the power play penalty shot goal.
It was now 4-1, and this is where the wheels fell off for the Oil. Garon was visibly upset after the goal and was barking at the officials. Presumably, he was upset with the awarding of the penalty shot. No matter what it was, he was shaken, and he wasn't able to move on.
Two and a half minutes later, Sergei Samsonov finished a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play. Erik Cole created a turnover in neutral ice, then head-manned it to Brind'Amour, who in turn hit Samsonov streaking down the left wing. Garon committed to Brind'Amour and it was easy for Samsonov to finish the play into a pretty much vacant net. Officially, it was Samsonov from Brind'Amour and Cole at 12:16. It's Samsonov's second multi-point game since joining the Canes. He now has six (2/4) points in six games with his new team.
Before the goal could be announced in the arena, the Canes struck again. Matt Cullen's shot from low in the left circle was kicked out to the slot, where Chad "Sharpie" LaRose jumped on it and willed it into the goal. The time of this goal was 12:45 of the third and it was assisted by Cullen and Wade Brookbank. That was Brookbank's first point in a Carolina sweater.
At 14:08, Andrew Cogliano made it 6-2 when he banked a shot off Cam Ward and into the net. Gagner and Robert Nillson got the assists.
The best moment of the game came very late. Eric Staal came over the boards on a partial line change for the last shift of the game. He joined Sharpie on an odd-man rush. LaRose had a shooting lane from the left wing, but waited and waited, then passed to Staal at the right dot. Staal blasted it in from there to complete the hat trick at 19:40 of the third. LaRose and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Throughout this slump that the Canes are in, there has usually been one good thing that we could take away from each game. Tonight, everything was good. For the first time in a loooooong time, Carolina's best players played their best. All of them. They were all active and productive.
As the final horn sounded, I wrote my three stars exactly the way they ended up on the "official" three stars. Obviously, Staal was the first star. The official second star was Rod Brind'Amour and the third was Sergei Samsonov. On a night when seven goals were scored, and six guys had multi-point nights, it's hard to ignore the other guys. For example, look at Tim Gleason. He had a goal, an assist, four blocked shots, three hits and a +5 rating. Erik Cole had two assists and five hits. Sharpie had a goal and two assits. It's impossible to ignore all of that, but I'm still going with my original call, which is the same as the official three stars. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR -- 1 goal, 2 assists, 14 of 20 faceoff wins
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- 3 goals, GWG
The news got even better, as Atlanta got smoked by Buffalo 10-1. The Carolina win and the Atlanta loss put Carolina back in first place. The thrash still have a game in hand, but for the time being, Carolina is still in first place with 50 points to Atlanta's 49.
Carolina will be off until Monday, when they'll begin a home-and-home with the Islanders.
The last time the Oilers came to town, I was in the RBC Center for game seven. At the end of it all, I cried like a little girl. Tonight, I cried again.
I'm not kidding.
It was a release of tension. With their poor play lately, I was on the brink of smashing my teevee or something else dumb. This big big win let it all out. It was great.
Carolina is almost to the point where all of their players are back from injuries and illness. Their absences had something to do with Carolina's poor play. Now their job will be to feed off of tonight's huge win and keep playing like they did.
The most important thing as far as the trajectory of the team is concerned is that Eric Staal found some swagger. He broke through with a HUGE game and played with confidence. Frankly, we haven't seen Staal or any of the big-name players display any confidence lately.
It all started at 6:08 of the first. Rod Brind'Amour nailed a one-timer from above the left circle and showed a rare display of emotion afterwards. Sergei Samsonov and Erik Cole got the assists.
Just 3:09 into the second period, Patrick Thoresen tapped a loose puck to make it 1-1. Sam Gagner's shot hit the right goalpost, then Cam Ward's back, then trickled towards the goal line. Thoresen pounced on it before Nic Wallin could sweep it away. Gagner and Andrew Cogliano got the helpers.
Tim Gleason blasted a shot from the right point at 15:43 of the second that found its way past Mathieu Garon. Brind'Amour and Andrew Ladd got the helpers. For the first time in a long time, there was actually some traffic in front. Ladd was setting a nice screen, and would have been all over any rebound situation.
This is how the second period ended. For the first time in I don't know how long, the Canes had a slim lead at the second intermission, and I had no worries. Somehow, I knew that they wouldn't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this time.
I had no way of knowing, and could never have imagined that they would explode for five goals in the third. It was that third frame where Staalsy found his groove. Hopefully, he'll stay on track.
At 4:13, Staal scored his first goal of the night. He attempted a shot from the left circle, which was stopped by Garon. Staal scooped up the rebound and attempted a wrap-around to the right post. Garon got a pad on it, but he was unable to get his left skate flush with the right post. Somehow, Staal found the tiny gap and muscled the third-chance into the goal. The goal was
Midway through the second, the Canes were enjoying a power play when Staal was hauled down on a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot, which he wasted no time or effort burying into the net. He didn't use any fancy stickhandling or any dekes. Just a hard, authoritative shot from the high slot. 9:48 was the time of the power play penalty shot goal.
It was now 4-1, and this is where the wheels fell off for the Oil. Garon was visibly upset after the goal and was barking at the officials. Presumably, he was upset with the awarding of the penalty shot. No matter what it was, he was shaken, and he wasn't able to move on.
Two and a half minutes later, Sergei Samsonov finished a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play. Erik Cole created a turnover in neutral ice, then head-manned it to Brind'Amour, who in turn hit Samsonov streaking down the left wing. Garon committed to Brind'Amour and it was easy for Samsonov to finish the play into a pretty much vacant net. Officially, it was Samsonov from Brind'Amour and Cole at 12:16. It's Samsonov's second multi-point game since joining the Canes. He now has six (2/4) points in six games with his new team.
Before the goal could be announced in the arena, the Canes struck again. Matt Cullen's shot from low in the left circle was kicked out to the slot, where Chad "Sharpie" LaRose jumped on it and willed it into the goal. The time of this goal was 12:45 of the third and it was assisted by Cullen and Wade Brookbank. That was Brookbank's first point in a Carolina sweater.
At 14:08, Andrew Cogliano made it 6-2 when he banked a shot off Cam Ward and into the net. Gagner and Robert Nillson got the assists.
The best moment of the game came very late. Eric Staal came over the boards on a partial line change for the last shift of the game. He joined Sharpie on an odd-man rush. LaRose had a shooting lane from the left wing, but waited and waited, then passed to Staal at the right dot. Staal blasted it in from there to complete the hat trick at 19:40 of the third. LaRose and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Throughout this slump that the Canes are in, there has usually been one good thing that we could take away from each game. Tonight, everything was good. For the first time in a loooooong time, Carolina's best players played their best. All of them. They were all active and productive.
As the final horn sounded, I wrote my three stars exactly the way they ended up on the "official" three stars. Obviously, Staal was the first star. The official second star was Rod Brind'Amour and the third was Sergei Samsonov. On a night when seven goals were scored, and six guys had multi-point nights, it's hard to ignore the other guys. For example, look at Tim Gleason. He had a goal, an assist, four blocked shots, three hits and a +5 rating. Erik Cole had two assists and five hits. Sharpie had a goal and two assits. It's impossible to ignore all of that, but I'm still going with my original call, which is the same as the official three stars. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR -- 1 goal, 2 assists, 14 of 20 faceoff wins
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- 3 goals, GWG
The news got even better, as Atlanta got smoked by Buffalo 10-1. The Carolina win and the Atlanta loss put Carolina back in first place. The thrash still have a game in hand, but for the time being, Carolina is still in first place with 50 points to Atlanta's 49.
Carolina will be off until Monday, when they'll begin a home-and-home with the Islanders.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Canes fall to Avs
On Saturday, the Hurricanes blew three separate two-goal leads against the Avalanche en route to losing their second straight game. The final tally was 5-4 Colorado. This was their fourth consecutive home loss and the seventh loss in the last ten games.
Because of the unbalanced schedule, the last time the Avs were in Raleigh was five years to the day. That was a 3-2 victory for Colorado with Milan Hejduk getting the winner in overtime.
This game started off well for the home team, but it did not end well.
Erik Cole scored his tenth goal of the season at 8:45 of the first. Sergei Samsonov made a wonderfully creative stretch pass, banking it off the right wing wall to spring Colesy on a breakaway. Cole drove hard to the left goal post, forcing José Théodore to overplay. At the last second, Cole tapped it back towards the right post and it crossed the line easily. It was Samsonov's first point in a Hurricanes sweater. Rod Brind'Amour picked up the secondary assist and reached the 1100 point plateau for his career.
Keith Aucoin, taking advantage of a flu- and injury- plague that has knocked NINE Hurricanes out of the lineup, scored his second goal in as many games at 18:01. His slapshot from the top of the right circle easily beat Captain Propecia. Tim Conboy, playing in his first NHL game, got the lone assist.
Earlier in the first, on Conboy's very first NHL shift, he fought with Scott Parker, who threw Conboy around like a rag doll.
Milan Hejduk, the one-time Rocket Richard winner, got the Avs on the board at 0:50 of the second. Andrew Brunette's wrap chance was foiled, but Hejduk was there to shove the rebound in from the doorstep. Paul Stastny got the secondary assist.
Chad "Sharpie" LaRose got his sixth goal of the season by picking up the loosed change of a Keith Aucoin shot from below the left circle. All he did was touch the loose puck as it was scooting along the goal line, but it looks like a one-timer in the box score. Mike Commodore, who also fought in the first period, picked up the secondary assist.
Carolina had three players well on their way to a Gordie Howe hat trick. In the end, none of them got it. Aucoin didn't have a fight and neither Commodore nor Conboy had a goal.
Carolina had restored their two goal lead, and things were still looking good.
Stastny narrowed the margin again with a goal at 10:02 of the second. He worked really hard to gather the rebound of a Jaro Hlinka shot from the right circle. Cam made a pad save, but sent it straight out in front. It kind of handcuffed Stastny, but he found a way to knock it in. Cody McLeod got the second assist.
Again, though, the Hurricanes were able to restore the two goal lead. Cory Stillman rifled a blast from above the right circle that surprised Théodore. Casey Borer got the primary assist and Cam Ward got the secondary. It came on a last-gasp effort with one second remaining in a power play.
The Stillman goal was an example of urgency. It was the first time in a long time I'd seen the boys displaying anything resembling urgency. I thought that it might be a huge confidence booster and perhaps a fulcrum for the season.
The period ended like that, and the first ten minutes of the final period. It looked like the Canes were going to seal it up and get going on the right foot again. That all came crashing down in a five minute sequence of the third.
Cody McLeod scored a wrap-around goal at 10:23, assisted by Cody McCormick and Jeff Finger. As was the case all night long, the Avalanche had bodies in front of the net and the Hurricanes were letting them do it. Frantisek Kaberle looked terrible on the play. He should have been covering the right post, which is where McCleod snuck in. Instead, he was busy screening Cam Ward. All five Hurricanes were overloading the left side of the ice while there were three white sweaters on the right side. It wasn't entirely Kaberle's fault, but he looked bad.
This time, the Canes were unable to restore the two-goal cushion. Marek Svatos banked a shot from the low slot off the post and in at 13:50. Tyler Arnason and Jordan Leopold assisted.
Two minutes later, at 15:57, Svatos notched the game winning goal. after a remarkably poor job by Eric Staal of holding the puck in the Colorado end and an even worse job of backchecking going the other way, the Avs entered the Carolina zone with a 3-on-2 rush. A shot came from the left circle, and Svatos was there to tip in the rebound. Arnason and Wojtek Wolski got the assists.
The Avalanche had scored three unanswered goals to take all of the wind out of Carolina's sails.
The "official" three stars went to Keith Aucoin (third), Paul Stastny (second) and Marek Svatos (first). I had it a little differently. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tyler Arnason, COL --- 2 assists, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Keith Aucoin, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
FIRST STAR Marek Svatos, COL --- 2 goals, GWG
Carolina has a couple of days off before they begin another Canadian road trip. They will visit the Leafs on Tuesday and the mighty Senators on Thursday before returning home for a date with the Oilers on Friday.
The last time the Canes had a streak of Canadian opponents on the road, they flourished. Unfortunately, there are no more visits to Montréal this season.
Because of the unbalanced schedule, the last time the Avs were in Raleigh was five years to the day. That was a 3-2 victory for Colorado with Milan Hejduk getting the winner in overtime.
This game started off well for the home team, but it did not end well.
Erik Cole scored his tenth goal of the season at 8:45 of the first. Sergei Samsonov made a wonderfully creative stretch pass, banking it off the right wing wall to spring Colesy on a breakaway. Cole drove hard to the left goal post, forcing José Théodore to overplay. At the last second, Cole tapped it back towards the right post and it crossed the line easily. It was Samsonov's first point in a Hurricanes sweater. Rod Brind'Amour picked up the secondary assist and reached the 1100 point plateau for his career.
Keith Aucoin, taking advantage of a flu- and injury- plague that has knocked NINE Hurricanes out of the lineup, scored his second goal in as many games at 18:01. His slapshot from the top of the right circle easily beat Captain Propecia. Tim Conboy, playing in his first NHL game, got the lone assist.
Earlier in the first, on Conboy's very first NHL shift, he fought with Scott Parker, who threw Conboy around like a rag doll.
Milan Hejduk, the one-time Rocket Richard winner, got the Avs on the board at 0:50 of the second. Andrew Brunette's wrap chance was foiled, but Hejduk was there to shove the rebound in from the doorstep. Paul Stastny got the secondary assist.
Chad "Sharpie" LaRose got his sixth goal of the season by picking up the loosed change of a Keith Aucoin shot from below the left circle. All he did was touch the loose puck as it was scooting along the goal line, but it looks like a one-timer in the box score. Mike Commodore, who also fought in the first period, picked up the secondary assist.
Carolina had three players well on their way to a Gordie Howe hat trick. In the end, none of them got it. Aucoin didn't have a fight and neither Commodore nor Conboy had a goal.
Carolina had restored their two goal lead, and things were still looking good.
Stastny narrowed the margin again with a goal at 10:02 of the second. He worked really hard to gather the rebound of a Jaro Hlinka shot from the right circle. Cam made a pad save, but sent it straight out in front. It kind of handcuffed Stastny, but he found a way to knock it in. Cody McLeod got the second assist.
Again, though, the Hurricanes were able to restore the two goal lead. Cory Stillman rifled a blast from above the right circle that surprised Théodore. Casey Borer got the primary assist and Cam Ward got the secondary. It came on a last-gasp effort with one second remaining in a power play.
The Stillman goal was an example of urgency. It was the first time in a long time I'd seen the boys displaying anything resembling urgency. I thought that it might be a huge confidence booster and perhaps a fulcrum for the season.
The period ended like that, and the first ten minutes of the final period. It looked like the Canes were going to seal it up and get going on the right foot again. That all came crashing down in a five minute sequence of the third.
Cody McLeod scored a wrap-around goal at 10:23, assisted by Cody McCormick and Jeff Finger. As was the case all night long, the Avalanche had bodies in front of the net and the Hurricanes were letting them do it. Frantisek Kaberle looked terrible on the play. He should have been covering the right post, which is where McCleod snuck in. Instead, he was busy screening Cam Ward. All five Hurricanes were overloading the left side of the ice while there were three white sweaters on the right side. It wasn't entirely Kaberle's fault, but he looked bad.
This time, the Canes were unable to restore the two-goal cushion. Marek Svatos banked a shot from the low slot off the post and in at 13:50. Tyler Arnason and Jordan Leopold assisted.
Two minutes later, at 15:57, Svatos notched the game winning goal. after a remarkably poor job by Eric Staal of holding the puck in the Colorado end and an even worse job of backchecking going the other way, the Avs entered the Carolina zone with a 3-on-2 rush. A shot came from the left circle, and Svatos was there to tip in the rebound. Arnason and Wojtek Wolski got the assists.
The Avalanche had scored three unanswered goals to take all of the wind out of Carolina's sails.
The "official" three stars went to Keith Aucoin (third), Paul Stastny (second) and Marek Svatos (first). I had it a little differently. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tyler Arnason, COL --- 2 assists, 2 takeaways
SECOND STAR Keith Aucoin, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
FIRST STAR Marek Svatos, COL --- 2 goals, GWG
Carolina has a couple of days off before they begin another Canadian road trip. They will visit the Leafs on Tuesday and the mighty Senators on Thursday before returning home for a date with the Oilers on Friday.
The last time the Canes had a streak of Canadian opponents on the road, they flourished. Unfortunately, there are no more visits to Montréal this season.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Canes shut out Bruins
Cam Ward returned to the nets after playing backup to Michael Leighton for the last two games. He hadn't seen any action since last Wednesday. If he developed any rust, he didn't show it. In the end, he earned a 1-0 shutout of the Bruins.
Earlier in the day, Carolina claimed Sergei Samsonov off waivers, and he was supposed to play on the third line. However, the Canes were forced to make a last second scratch of Ray Whitney. This elevated the newcomer to the top line with Rod Brind'Amour and Cory Stillman.
Whitney has the flu. So, too, does Glen Wesley. He was also a last-second scratch. The list of wounded and sick Hurricanes is getting kind of ridiculous. If not for the fact that Andrew Ladd and Nic Wallin both returned to the lineup tonight, they would have been short by a couple of guys.
Anyway...
Eric Staal nearly gave the Canes the lead with about four minutes to play in the opening stanza. However, Tim Thomas made a dazzling save. After making a stick save, he flashed his stick through the goal mouth to catch a fluttering puck just as it crossed the line. There was a brief video review, but even without it, it was easy to tell that the puck had not completely crossed the line.
The only other action in the first period was an early fight. Wade Brookbank keeps throwing down the mitts. I can't say that I like it, but he's letting other teams know that he's there.
Despite being outshot 8-4 in the first period, Carolina looked good. This was only the beginning.
In the second period, they looked fantastic. This is three or four games in a row where they've looked very good in the middle stanza. This is refreshing, because throughout November and December, they played horribly in the second period of every game. Carolina dominated play. They outshot the Bruins 17-6 and kept the puck in the Boston zone for the majority of the period.
Eric Staal had the game's only goal at 18:20 of the second. He and Nic Wallin ran a reverse behind the net, and Staalsy ended up firing a wrister from the right faceoff dot. Thomas was cheating on the short side, and the shot beat him low on the blocker side. Wallin and Chad LaRose had the assists.
Sergei Samsonov looked pretty damn good out there. He was unfamiliar with the plays that Carolina runs, and he was obviously unfamiliar with his new teammates. I don't think he even had a chance to practice with them. In the second period, he was flying. He had a few quality shots and had some great shifts. I think he'll be fine.
Both goaltenders had to make some fine stops down the stretch, but Cam Ward's save with about 30 seconds to go was the best. He had to explode from his left to right across the crease to make a nifty kick save, preserving the lead.
With 17 seconds to go, Wallin took a lazy tripping penalty, and the final few seconds were played six-on-four. Good stuff. Good stuff.
I like that Cam Ward responded to having the week off by pitching a shutout. I also like that for the third straight game, the Hurricanes killed all of their penalties. In this game, there were three, so they've now killed the last ten penalties in a row.
The three game road trip is done, and Carolina took four of six points. Not bad. Meanwhile, the Thrashers and Kitties both lost Tuesday night. Carolina's lead is now back up to five points over the Thrash and seven over the Cats.
Another bit of good news is that Eric Staal is continuing to play like he can. He looks like he's having fun again. He looks like he wants to take control of games again. I like it.
The "official" three stars went to Thomas (third), Ward (second) and Staal (first). Not a lot happened in this game, so I can't really argue with those. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tim Thomas, BOS -- 27 saves
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 19 saves, shutout
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- GWG
Carolina will return home for a two game stand. Thursday, they'll take on the Devils and Saturday they'll host the Avalanche
Earlier in the day, Carolina claimed Sergei Samsonov off waivers, and he was supposed to play on the third line. However, the Canes were forced to make a last second scratch of Ray Whitney. This elevated the newcomer to the top line with Rod Brind'Amour and Cory Stillman.
Whitney has the flu. So, too, does Glen Wesley. He was also a last-second scratch. The list of wounded and sick Hurricanes is getting kind of ridiculous. If not for the fact that Andrew Ladd and Nic Wallin both returned to the lineup tonight, they would have been short by a couple of guys.
Anyway...
Eric Staal nearly gave the Canes the lead with about four minutes to play in the opening stanza. However, Tim Thomas made a dazzling save. After making a stick save, he flashed his stick through the goal mouth to catch a fluttering puck just as it crossed the line. There was a brief video review, but even without it, it was easy to tell that the puck had not completely crossed the line.
The only other action in the first period was an early fight. Wade Brookbank keeps throwing down the mitts. I can't say that I like it, but he's letting other teams know that he's there.
Despite being outshot 8-4 in the first period, Carolina looked good. This was only the beginning.
In the second period, they looked fantastic. This is three or four games in a row where they've looked very good in the middle stanza. This is refreshing, because throughout November and December, they played horribly in the second period of every game. Carolina dominated play. They outshot the Bruins 17-6 and kept the puck in the Boston zone for the majority of the period.
Eric Staal had the game's only goal at 18:20 of the second. He and Nic Wallin ran a reverse behind the net, and Staalsy ended up firing a wrister from the right faceoff dot. Thomas was cheating on the short side, and the shot beat him low on the blocker side. Wallin and Chad LaRose had the assists.
Sergei Samsonov looked pretty damn good out there. He was unfamiliar with the plays that Carolina runs, and he was obviously unfamiliar with his new teammates. I don't think he even had a chance to practice with them. In the second period, he was flying. He had a few quality shots and had some great shifts. I think he'll be fine.
Both goaltenders had to make some fine stops down the stretch, but Cam Ward's save with about 30 seconds to go was the best. He had to explode from his left to right across the crease to make a nifty kick save, preserving the lead.
With 17 seconds to go, Wallin took a lazy tripping penalty, and the final few seconds were played six-on-four. Good stuff. Good stuff.
I like that Cam Ward responded to having the week off by pitching a shutout. I also like that for the third straight game, the Hurricanes killed all of their penalties. In this game, there were three, so they've now killed the last ten penalties in a row.
The three game road trip is done, and Carolina took four of six points. Not bad. Meanwhile, the Thrashers and Kitties both lost Tuesday night. Carolina's lead is now back up to five points over the Thrash and seven over the Cats.
Another bit of good news is that Eric Staal is continuing to play like he can. He looks like he's having fun again. He looks like he wants to take control of games again. I like it.
The "official" three stars went to Thomas (third), Ward (second) and Staal (first). Not a lot happened in this game, so I can't really argue with those. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tim Thomas, BOS -- 27 saves
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 19 saves, shutout
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- GWG
Carolina will return home for a two game stand. Thursday, they'll take on the Devils and Saturday they'll host the Avalanche
Canes claim Samsonov
On Tuesday, the Hurricanes made a move, just as we were warned they would. It was for a forward, just like we were warned. There could not have been adequate warning for the bombshell that was dropped when the team announced that it had claimed Sergei Samsonov on re-entry waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks.
I don't have interwebs at work, so when I need to keep my eye on a story , I depend upon either the ESPN crawl or on the mobile browser on my phone. I used my phone to check in on Lord Stanley's Blog, and my initial reaction was textbook nonplus.
We did...what??? Wait. What??
After a few moments of contemplation, I was bordering on disappointment. Yes. Disappointment.
After I had time to read up a little, my disappointment has settled a little, and I'm just a little skeptical. Part of the thing that made me feel disappointed is that Samsonov is under a $3.525M contract. He's extraordinarily overpaid. Of that, though, Carolina will only be responsible for about $800k. That's not so bad.
Samsonov once scored 75 (29/46) points for the Bruins, but that was seven years ago. In 2005-06, he scored 53 (23/30) with Boston and Edmonton.
The following season, he was picked up out of free agency by Montréal. He was a complete bust and a bit of a locker room problem there. This past summer, the Habs traded him to Chicago for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmonella (yes, I know his name is Salmelainin, but it's funnier this way).
This season, Samsonov has been completely invisible. In 23 games, he totaled just four assists to go with no goals and a -7 rating.
I guess there were no GMs willing to deal a top nine forward. I wasn't really expecting a "something for nothing" trade like they were talking, so this shouldn't be that surprising. JR likes the little guys, and I guess that Theo Fleury is too busydoing coke running a concrete business to lace 'em up again.
Samsonov has some of the things that work really well in the Carolina "system". He's small (5'8"), fast, creative. Finally, Chad LaRose will have somebody he can look down on. This must be the second happiest day of his life.
Unfortunately, Samsanov hasn't enjoyed any success in a while, and he might have forgotten. He'll also be the only Russian on a front line that is entirely North American. Off the top of my head, I can't remember the last time there was a Russian forward on this team. The last time they had a player from the former CCCP, it was Oleg Tverdovsky, and we just won't go there. Prior to that, the only other Soviet-born player I can remeber was Daniil Markov. We have fond memories of Danny, but mostly because he was the player who was traded to Philly for Viva.
Anyway, as odd as it sounds, this might have been the best option for this desperate team. They really need some help up front, and this isn't a terrible gamble. Just keep in mind that the Hurricanes' share is $800k.
Samsonov's flight to Boston was delayed, but he is expected to be with the team and in the lineup tonight. I suspect he'll be on the third line.
Hopefully, we'll see the Sergei Samsonov of 2001 rather than the Samsonov of 2006. If nothing else, he brings NHL experience to the table. Not many of the Albany call-ups would be able to bring that.
Samsonov will be wearing #14, which we will remember as being K-Ads' number, and the one that will eventually be worn by Brandon Sutter.
Like the rest of my fellow Canes bloggers, all I can do now is welcome Sergei to the family and wish him the best. Успехов!
I don't have interwebs at work, so when I need to keep my eye on a story , I depend upon either the ESPN crawl or on the mobile browser on my phone. I used my phone to check in on Lord Stanley's Blog, and my initial reaction was textbook nonplus.
We did...what??? Wait. What??
After a few moments of contemplation, I was bordering on disappointment. Yes. Disappointment.
After I had time to read up a little, my disappointment has settled a little, and I'm just a little skeptical. Part of the thing that made me feel disappointed is that Samsonov is under a $3.525M contract. He's extraordinarily overpaid. Of that, though, Carolina will only be responsible for about $800k. That's not so bad.
Samsonov once scored 75 (29/46) points for the Bruins, but that was seven years ago. In 2005-06, he scored 53 (23/30) with Boston and Edmonton.
The following season, he was picked up out of free agency by Montréal. He was a complete bust and a bit of a locker room problem there. This past summer, the Habs traded him to Chicago for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmonella (yes, I know his name is Salmelainin, but it's funnier this way).
This season, Samsonov has been completely invisible. In 23 games, he totaled just four assists to go with no goals and a -7 rating.
I guess there were no GMs willing to deal a top nine forward. I wasn't really expecting a "something for nothing" trade like they were talking, so this shouldn't be that surprising. JR likes the little guys, and I guess that Theo Fleury is too busy
Samsonov has some of the things that work really well in the Carolina "system". He's small (5'8"), fast, creative. Finally, Chad LaRose will have somebody he can look down on. This must be the second happiest day of his life.
Unfortunately, Samsanov hasn't enjoyed any success in a while, and he might have forgotten. He'll also be the only Russian on a front line that is entirely North American. Off the top of my head, I can't remember the last time there was a Russian forward on this team. The last time they had a player from the former CCCP, it was Oleg Tverdovsky, and we just won't go there. Prior to that, the only other Soviet-born player I can remeber was Daniil Markov. We have fond memories of Danny, but mostly because he was the player who was traded to Philly for Viva.
Anyway, as odd as it sounds, this might have been the best option for this desperate team. They really need some help up front, and this isn't a terrible gamble. Just keep in mind that the Hurricanes' share is $800k.
Samsonov's flight to Boston was delayed, but he is expected to be with the team and in the lineup tonight. I suspect he'll be on the third line.
Hopefully, we'll see the Sergei Samsonov of 2001 rather than the Samsonov of 2006. If nothing else, he brings NHL experience to the table. Not many of the Albany call-ups would be able to bring that.
Samsonov will be wearing #14, which we will remember as being K-Ads' number, and the one that will eventually be worn by Brandon Sutter.
Like the rest of my fellow Canes bloggers, all I can do now is welcome Sergei to the family and wish him the best. Успехов!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Babchuk pitches fit; Samsonov clears waivers
Two pieces of follow-up news today. Both concerning soon-to-be unemployed NHL players.
On Wednesday, after the Canes assigned Anton Babchuk to Albany, he refused to go. As I pointed out, he's the only defenseman with a two-way contract, making him the only blueliner who can be moved. The Canes playoff position is still too unclear to make any trades of large proportion, and Jim Rutherford is unwilling to make any shotgun trades. The ONLY other option was to demote winger Andrew Ladd. That isn't going to happen, so the Canes did the only thing they could.
According to an article in the N&O, Babchuk refused to go, saying he needed to "think about it". This didn't sit well with Rutherford, who quipped:
Ouch. This is diplomatic speak for "Who the eff does he think he is?!?!"
As their riposte, the Canes have suspended Babchuk indefinitely. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him on the waiver wire before the week is out. Rutherford doesn't like whiny bitches. The rest of the league will probably take note of his petulance and allow him to clear waivers. Third pairing defensemen are roughly a dime a dozen, and in fairness, he's only a third pairing guy on a good day. I have a feeling this is Do svidaniya, Anton!
In other news, Sergei Samsanov, who has been a huge bust this season (and last, for that matter) was placed on, and cleared, waivers yesterday. No team in their right mind would pick up the tab on his $3.525M salary for next season and the remainder of the same salary this season. The tiny winger has attended the Alexei Yashin School of inefficient salary/goal ratio and won't be touched with a 47 1/2 foot pole at that price. Since his trade demand was made public yesterday, he's lightened his stance a little. Now he says he wants to remain a part of the Habs big picture. Guy Carbonneau's vague show of support isn't very promising. From a TSN article:
Something about that screams "This dude is so out of here, it isn't even funny". When a guy is being commended on his qualities as a person, it doesn't look good. It's like "No hard feelings, but this is a business, after all." Remember Kevyn Adams? Top notch guy. When he was traded, JR said:
It's almost a mirror image quote.
Babchuk will probably be back in the Ukraine by this time next week, and Samsonov might be back to Russia.
I'm just sayin'
On Wednesday, after the Canes assigned Anton Babchuk to Albany, he refused to go. As I pointed out, he's the only defenseman with a two-way contract, making him the only blueliner who can be moved. The Canes playoff position is still too unclear to make any trades of large proportion, and Jim Rutherford is unwilling to make any shotgun trades. The ONLY other option was to demote winger Andrew Ladd. That isn't going to happen, so the Canes did the only thing they could.
According to an article in the N&O, Babchuk refused to go, saying he needed to "think about it". This didn't sit well with Rutherford, who quipped:
"In his words, he wants to think about it. In our words, Albany has a game in Norfolk tonight and he should be there playing. ... We want him playing, not sitting at home thinking."
Ouch. This is diplomatic speak for "Who the eff does he think he is?!?!"
As their riposte, the Canes have suspended Babchuk indefinitely. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him on the waiver wire before the week is out. Rutherford doesn't like whiny bitches. The rest of the league will probably take note of his petulance and allow him to clear waivers. Third pairing defensemen are roughly a dime a dozen, and in fairness, he's only a third pairing guy on a good day. I have a feeling this is Do svidaniya, Anton!
In other news, Sergei Samsanov, who has been a huge bust this season (and last, for that matter) was placed on, and cleared, waivers yesterday. No team in their right mind would pick up the tab on his $3.525M salary for next season and the remainder of the same salary this season. The tiny winger has attended the Alexei Yashin School of inefficient salary/goal ratio and won't be touched with a 47 1/2 foot pole at that price. Since his trade demand was made public yesterday, he's lightened his stance a little. Now he says he wants to remain a part of the Habs big picture. Guy Carbonneau's vague show of support isn't very promising. From a TSN article:
"I never had problems with Sergei Samsonov as a man," Carbonneau added. "He's been professional. He always works hard. He never moans or comes to my office asking for ice time. His play wasn't up to par and that's why he missed some games, but he's a good person."(emphasis mine)
Something about that screams "This dude is so out of here, it isn't even funny". When a guy is being commended on his qualities as a person, it doesn't look good. It's like "No hard feelings, but this is a business, after all." Remember Kevyn Adams? Top notch guy. When he was traded, JR said:
"Kevyn has been a real role model for our franchise and somebody we all really like," Rutherford said. "That was the most difficult part of this decision. But we almost got pushed into making a decision instead of making it under normal circumstances. His role had changed a little bit."
It's almost a mirror image quote.
Babchuk will probably be back in the Ukraine by this time next week, and Samsonov might be back to Russia.
I'm just sayin'
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Kaberle in lineup, Cole at home away from home
Tonight, the Hurricanes will have two things working for them as they try to end a dismal four game losing streak. The Canes will be in La Belle Provence to visit les Habitants, who are themselves on a bit of a losing skid. Five standings points and four playoff seeds separate the two teams.
(1)Frantisek Kaberle, who has missed every game this season recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in the lineup. To make room for him, Anton Babchuk was sent down to Albany of the AHL. No trade has been orchestrated at this point, but according to sources, Jim Rutherford turned down two offers yesterday. Apparently, one of them was indeed for Foppa. Carolina will wait a little while to plan their course of action. Unless they can right the ship in the next couple of games, they will become a "seller", which will enable them to get some good young prospects and/or picks for an explosive forward like Ray Whitney, who is scheduled to be an UFA this summer.
If the Canes can straighten up and put themselves back on a post-season bound path, they would still be in a position to buy.
Remember that with each day that passes, the cap hit to a "buying" team is decreased dramatically on high-dollar contracts. Waiting till the deadline is the most cost-effective method for a bubble team.
(2) Erik Cole will be playing in theMolson Bell Centre. Cole loves to play in that building. The last time he played there, he recorded four points (3/1) in an 8-2 romp over the Habs on January 31, 2006. He also had a hat trick there on November 23, 2003 in a 7-3 blasting of the Habs. He scored the game-tying goal in the Miracle at Molson (2002 playoffs), and later in that series scored 2 goals and an assist in game 6 at the Molson Centre. In fact, Cole just loves to play the Habs. Last season, in three total games against the Habs, Colesy had eight points (5/3). This season, in two games, he has two goals (both at home).
This is Cole's first visit to the Bell Centre this season, and in fact the first since "the injury".
Montréal will be without Sergei Samsonov, who has demanded a trade, and is (from what I understand) on waivers. Samsonov is grossly overpaid, has been a massive disappointment both this season and last, and has been a healthy scratch more often than not lately. The diminutive left winger, who is roughly 1/3 the size of Zdeno Chara, once had a 75-point season with the Bruins (2000-01), scored 53 (23/30) points last season combined with Boston and Edmonton. This season, he's on pace for a season barely in the mid-30's. His $3.525M salary is in no way commensurate with his performance, so I wouldn't expect anyone to pick him up, even at the pro rata price. He still has one year remaining on his contract, which would make it even less likely for someone to pick him up. Expect him to clear waivers, then be cut. Then you might see some action.
Puck drop will be at 7:30 eastern, and it isn't on Canes TV. I'll have to listen, or go somewhere where I can watch the French feed on Center Ice.
(1)Frantisek Kaberle, who has missed every game this season recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in the lineup. To make room for him, Anton Babchuk was sent down to Albany of the AHL. No trade has been orchestrated at this point, but according to sources, Jim Rutherford turned down two offers yesterday. Apparently, one of them was indeed for Foppa. Carolina will wait a little while to plan their course of action. Unless they can right the ship in the next couple of games, they will become a "seller", which will enable them to get some good young prospects and/or picks for an explosive forward like Ray Whitney, who is scheduled to be an UFA this summer.
If the Canes can straighten up and put themselves back on a post-season bound path, they would still be in a position to buy.
Remember that with each day that passes, the cap hit to a "buying" team is decreased dramatically on high-dollar contracts. Waiting till the deadline is the most cost-effective method for a bubble team.
(2) Erik Cole will be playing in the
This is Cole's first visit to the Bell Centre this season, and in fact the first since "the injury".
Montréal will be without Sergei Samsonov, who has demanded a trade, and is (from what I understand) on waivers. Samsonov is grossly overpaid, has been a massive disappointment both this season and last, and has been a healthy scratch more often than not lately. The diminutive left winger, who is roughly 1/3 the size of Zdeno Chara, once had a 75-point season with the Bruins (2000-01), scored 53 (23/30) points last season combined with Boston and Edmonton. This season, he's on pace for a season barely in the mid-30's. His $3.525M salary is in no way commensurate with his performance, so I wouldn't expect anyone to pick him up, even at the pro rata price. He still has one year remaining on his contract, which would make it even less likely for someone to pick him up. Expect him to clear waivers, then be cut. Then you might see some action.
Puck drop will be at 7:30 eastern, and it isn't on Canes TV. I'll have to listen, or go somewhere where I can watch the French feed on Center Ice.
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