Tanabe situation gets murkier

On Friday, Chip Alexander reported that David Tanabe is still suffering from concussion-like or post-concussion symptoms. It has now been seven months since his mysterious injury and two since the Canes attempted to buy out the remaining year on his contract.

I have openly questioned the validity of his situation, and I have been unimpressed with the "details" that have emerged. This doesn't accord with my outspoken support for taking concussions very seriously, but I'm just not making heads or tails of this situation.

The occurrence of the injury itself can't be pinpointed, but we know that he was taken out of the December 18 game against the Leafs and never returned during the 2007-08 season. Had he been injured previously and some mild collision put him over the edge? Perhaps. That's the consensus. His refusal to go to team meetings and exit interviews has been well documented. His decision to clean out his own locker has been well documented. What has not been documented has been his medical status. The only details we have been afforded have been shady at best. Usually, injury status updates are more frequent and more detailed, but we went months without hearing a single word. Even now, we get some very unspecific news that Tanabe is "unfit to play".

Unfortunately, we haven't been given any details. When someone has an issue with their foot, we usually get lots of details, such as with Ryan Whitney:

Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Ryan Whitney will be out three to five months following surgery to correct a chronic problem with his left foot... Dr. Robert Anderson operated Friday in Charlotte, N.C. The newspaper described the surgery as an osteotomy, defined as a procedure to shorten, lengthen or realign a bone or bones.

(via Canadian Press)
When Matt Cullen was out with a concussion, we were given nearly daily updates with specific details about what kinds of specialists he was seeing and what his specific problems were. Take this one for example, from the N&O on Feb 2:

In addition to Mike Peters, the team's eye doctor, Cullen is also working with concussion expert Kevin Guskiewicz at the University of North Carolina and Cary neuro-optometrist Susan Durham.

So why now do we get the vaguest of details? All we know is that Tanabe went to an anonymous doctor at an anonymous clinic in Buffalo who gave the very broad prognosis: "not a clean bill of health".

Anyway, Jim Rutherford has announced that he expects for Tanabe to report to camp and be monitored by official team doctors. This might help shed some light on things. I know concussions are hard things to work with because of the complexity of symptoms and the fact that they aren't as easy to diagnose and monitor as, say, a broken bone. Still, it's very frustrating to not know anything about the status.

Wild waive their only native son

On Tuesday, the Wild announced that they were placing right wing Mark Parrish on waivers. If he and his three-year $8.35M salary commitment aren't picked up on Wednesday, he will be bought out. At which point the Kings (or whomever) can get him for much less than the $2.85M he was scheduled to get this season.

I can't pretend to know everything, or really anything about the Wild, but it's a bit sad to see this happen. Parrish is the only native Minnesotan on the team. GM Doug Risebrough said that Parrish was simply a "victim of the salary cap". Based on this story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and the comments, Parrish was a bit of an enigma for Wild fans. He used to be a good player, but wasn't playing up to his potential. There's a common sentiment that he just wasn't "fitting in" and spent a significant amount of time in coach Jacques Lemaire's doghouse. Fans wanted to like him for a number of reasons. One of them was that he is a native son. However, it just wasn't working out.

I looked around the Wild blogosphere for reactions to this. Sadly, I don't have any of these fine bloggers in the blogroll, but that'll change soon.
Kirsten from Land of Lakes and Hockey, is one of Parrish's biggest fans, and is pretty irritated about the matter. She went the extra mile by cursing Risebrough's name (and Lemaire's) in both English and French.

Fellow Wild blogger Hitting the Post chimes in with a little "Don't drink the kool-aid" action:

As neat as it is to have "one of our own" on the squad, perhaps we should apply a little perspective to their on-ice contributions to-date before we yell ourselves hoarse clamoring for DR to sign another one.

Fair enough, but it's just odd to see a guy go from being the Wild's Captain during the 2007 playoffs and one of the alternating Captains this season to the waiver wire.

There's no way any team picks him off waivers. Instead, he'll become a free agent and will likely end up in the City of Angels. By the way, has anybody told the Kings that it's damn near August? When are they gonna sign anyone?

Checking out the Wild's salary commitments for the 08-09 season, they don't have a whole lot of wiggle room, and they don't have a full roster either. If they feel the need to sign a Minnesotan on the cheap, there's two perfectly good, um ...good, er ... serviceable, uh ... available native Minnesotan blueliners who have just left Carolina's fold. If they want Kristy or Snuggles, they're both there for the taking.

Speaking of Snuggles, it's been a full month since we've heard a single word about him and his NHLPA appeal of the Canes buying out his contract. I wonder what's going on there. He's disappeared from the Canes page, and the NHLPA lists him as "unsigned". Has anyone heard anything?

Tanabe challenges buyout

On Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes officially bought out the contract of Jeff "Green Eggs and " Hamilton. David Tanabe challenged his buyout.

This comes as no surprise. Tanabe's official status is "injured", but the Hurricanes believe that he is fit to play. I suppose the next step is to call in an independent, non-biased physician to examine Avi.

We are not surprised at this turn of events, and we want to reiterate this one point. Tanabe repeatedly failed to show up for numerous meetings with coaches and other Hurricanes front office staff. He repeatedly failed to do these meetings via conference call. He repeatedly failed to make any effort to meet with the team. He found time, though, to drag himself out of bed to remove all his gear from the RBC Center way before this buyout stuff happened. He also found time (very quickly, I might add) to meet with the NHLPA to protest this buyout attempt.

Call me a jerk or whatever, but I still say that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Ruutu signs; Tanabe and Hamilton clear

On Tuesday, David Tanabe and Jeff Hamilton both cleared waivers. The Hurricanes will set the buy-out ball in motion. Tanabe will have to be examined and deemed healthy before this can take place, but the Hurricanes are taking the position that he is in fact healthy.
Jeff Hamilton seemed like a nice guy, and he got off to a roaring start here. However, after he settled down, things just weren't working. After notching 12 (4/8) points in the first 15 games of the season, he only mustered 12 (5/7) in the next 44 games. He also spent some time in the press box and some time soldiering away up in Albany. He had nine (3/6) points in nine games with the River Rats. Sadly, he and his smoky visor won't be back in Raleigh.

Tanabe's health continues to be a mystery. While I have certainly suggested that he's milking the injury for all (or more than) it's worth this move has nothing to do with Tanabe's injury. The CBA is quite clear about buying out injured players. Even when healthy, Tanabe would be scratched while guys like Tim Conboy were recalled from Albany.

Fortunately, fans of Tuomo Ruutu were able to finally stop holding their breath. Sort of. Today, he was signed to one of those dreaded one-year contracts. He'll get $2.25M. Ostensibly, this was done because it was, as Luke put it "the path of least resistance". The two sides have been unable to find a common ground on salary and duration of contract, so they just did this to get something done. Next July 1, he will be eligible to become a RFA. That aspect of the deal works out better for Carolina, but they had to pay a little more up front than they really wanted to.

After being acquired via trade with the Blackhawks, Ruutu quickly became a crowd favorite and he put up 11 (4/7) points in 17 games.

Coincidentally, Andrew Ladd (whom Ruutu was traded for) re-signed with the 'Hawks yesterday. In 20 games with Chicago, Ladd notched 12 (5/7) points. He was signed to a two-year deal, which will pay him $1.45M in 08-09 and $1.65M in 09-10.

With Ruutu signed and Hambone gone, Carolina still has 10 forwards and four defensemen signed. I suppose Chad LaRose will be the next to re-sign. Then defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. There are several free agents-to-be who need to be signed for Albany's sake, but they are all RFAs, so there's really no rush.

After LaRose and Seidenberg, the next order of business will be to wait till July 1, then go after a name-brand blueliner in the FA market. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Brandon Sutter will be the last piece of the puzzle, and he'll be snapped (forced) into place after the pre-season exhibition games.

The David Tanabe plot thickens

On Monday, the Hurricanes placed winger Jeffrey Hamilton and defenseman David Tanabe on waivers. Presumably, they will both clear, and the idea is to buy out both of their contracts. Each player has one year remaining on his contract.

As you probably know, the CBA does not allow a team to buy out the contract of an injured player. David Tanabe has been out since December with concussion-like symptoms. He's failed to show up for any year-end interviews or other meetings with team staff. While his camp is still saying that he's not well enough to even leave the house, the Hurricanes are confident that if it comes down to it, a doctor will deem him "healthy". If that turns out to be the case, the buyout will be legal and Carolina can move on.

It's no surprise that Carolina is buying out Green Eggs and Hamilton. Even when the Canes were banged up with injuries last season, he was finding himself in the press box as a healthy scratch pretty frequently.

This Tanabe thing has been a mystery. The "injury" itself is mysterious enough. Nobody was ever able to ascertain exactly when or how he sustained the concussion. All we know is that it happened in "the Alexei Ponikarovsky game" wherein the Canes made a miraculous comeback from two goals down with 85 seconds to play to win the game. He left that game at some point in the first period and never came back I reviewed and reviewed the game tape, and there was never any hit that would have caused a massive concussion.

I'm not saying that he made the whole thing up. I'm not saying that he had a major row with coach Laviolette. I'm not saying that there was a false injury. I'm just saying. This whole thing is pretty weird.

When Snuggles didn't show up for the team photo at the end of the year, everyone thought it was a little weird. When he didn't show up for his exit interviews, everyone thought it was even weirder. When he repeatedly missed meetings and didn't return phone calls, everyone started to wonder what the heck was going on. All along, we were fed the same line that he couldn't even see straight, let alone play hockey.

This talk of buying out Tanabe came up a few months ago. Of course it all went by the wayside because the CBA forbids the buying out of an injured player's contract.

Today, Luke Decock reports that the Canes are gonna do it anyway. He says that the Tanabe buyout will cost the Canes $600k and the Hambone buyout would cost $533k. For 2008-09, if both players are bought out, Carolina would take a salary cap hit of $416,667.

Tanabe has been nothing but trouble. After being selected 16th overall in the 1999 entry draft, Tanbe had two tenures with the Hurricanes, but never quite lived up to the high expectations. Instead, he lived up to the nicknames "Snuggles" (for being soft) and my personal favorite "Avi" (David - D = Avi). His second time through, he was easily Carolina's worst defenseman on a very bad blueline. Even when he turned the corner around Christmas of 2006 and showed marked improvement, he was still pretty bad and extremely soft.

Immediately following the game in which he was injured, I pointed out that I couldn't tell how he got hurt and I joked:

"At some point in the first period, "Avi" Tanabe suffered a concussion, but nobody knows how or when. I assume he concussed himself when he considered actually hitting someone."

There is no doubt in my mind that Avi will be well enough to file a grievance with the NHLPA. As of today, we're getting a "no comment" from Tanabe's camp.

If this saga were going on with some other team, I'll admit that I would be crying about how unjust and callous it is for the team to try to buy out the injured player's contract. However, this has gone on long enough, and has had so many odd turns that I'm having very serious doubts about the magnitude of Tanabe's injury. I'm not at all suggesting that he has personal problems and cried "injury" to cover them up. I'm just saying.

Other teams will have until noon on Tuesday to pick up Tanabe or Hamilton. After that, we might see some fireworks.

CrAdams banned for two games; Larose and Tanabe concussed; Albany has the flu

The Carolina Hurricanes have been called a lot of things by a lot of people. "Dirty" has never been one of them. Prior to this season, the last time a Hurricanes player was handed an NHL suspension was in the 2002 playoffs. Suddenly, in the last four games, two Hurricanes have been suspended.

Scott Walker was given a one game suspension for headbutting the Senators' Mike Fisher.

Against the Leafs last night, Craig Adams was penalized for high-sticking Alex Steen late in the third period before the Leafs' monumental collapse. As I watched the game, I wondered why the call was "high sticking" rather than "cross checking". It was a high hit, and it was to the head. The league is doing its part to make sure hits to the head are kept to a minimum. Today, the league handed Craiggers a two game suspension.
However, Luke Decock wants to know (and so do I) why that player was singled out. In the first period of that game, Nik Antropov clipped Erik Cole in the face, opening a cut. No penalty. Occasionally, the refs miss stuff, but even the Leafs announcers wondered where the call was.

In the third, Alex Ponikarovsky (who would later become the goat) checked Chad "Sharpie" LaRose from behind into the end wall, giving him a concussion. No penalty there either, but the ref was right on top of it and let it go.

At some point in the first period, "Avi" Tanabe suffered a concussion, but nobody knows how or when. I assume he concussed himself when he considered actually hitting someone.

Both Tanabe and LaRose failed baseline tests and did not travel with the team. This is not good news. The Albany River Rats have the flu. Got that? The whole team. Has the flu. They won't be of any help. Just yesterday, they themselves called up seven players from the ECHL Elmira (NY) Jackals. The Jackals are somehow affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but ECHL affiliations are loose at best.
The River Rats can ill afford to be without any of their players -- they already have THIRTEEN players out with flu or injury -- but Carolina will be missing two forwards and possibly will continue to miss Rod Brind'Amour with the flu. No moves yet, but I'm itching to get a look at RW Jerome Samson who has 18 (11/7) points in Albany or LW Brandon Nolan (son of Ted), who has 21 (10/11). Neither have made their NHL debut, but both are playing better than Keith Aucoin and Dave Gove.

The suspension isn't that much of a surprise, but the news of two concussions was unwelcome. Carolina does not have enough healthy extras to fill those voids. Someone is gonna get a call from somewhere.

Canes bounce back, destroy Blueshirts

On Saturday, the Sabres worked up a Number 6 on the Hurricanes. As it turns out, it was just what the doctor ordered. Carolina righted the ship against the Rangers with a 4-0 shutout. It was far and away their best total game this season, and maybe the best I've seen.

Scott Walker opened the scoring at 5:22 of the first. After two Rangers turnovers deep in their own end, Walker was in on a mini-break and beat Henrik Lundqvist from the low slot. Matt Cullen and Chad "Sharpie" LaRose had the helpers.

After a particularly nice penalty kill, the Canes made it 2-0 when Matt Cullen beat Lundqvist from the top of the crease. Although Cullen had two guys draped all over him, Cory Stillman played the part of Tom Brady to Cully's Randy Moss. He threaded the needle and Cully simply tapped it in. Time of the goal was 19:45. Assists to Stillman and Justin "Viva" Williams.. After an hour and a half, the scoring was changed. They declared that the puck went in off Marc Staal's stick. Therefore, Stillman got credit for the goal. Viva and Cullen got the helpers.

There was no scoring in the second. The Rangers had the majority of the scoring chances, and Cam Ward looked very sharp turning them all away. More importantly, both Frantisek Kaberle and Bret Hedican played very responsibly in their own zone. I have routinely called both of these guys out all season, and I've been clamoring for the Canes to ship Kaberle out of here. Those two really stepped up. Dennis Seidenberg also played very well in the second, blocking shots and dishing out hits.

The third period was again all Canes.

There were a few questionable calls each way in the third frame. One of them put David Tanabe in the box for tripping after he made a great recovery to thwart a breakaway chance by the Rangers. Although he got to the puck before the player, the referee saw it another way and put Snuggles in the box to feel shame for two minutes.

All the same, there was justice. The hockey gods made sure that the tables were turned. Snuggles came out of the box to meet a rink-wide pass, and he was in all alone on Lundqvist. Tanabe looked like Matt Cullen out there, forcing the goaltender to guess glove side, then beating him badly on the blocker side. Dennis "Baron Von" Seidenberg had the only assist. Time of the goal was 11:30.

The icing on the cake came at 13:56. Cory Stillman tapped one in after a great individual effort. He worked the puck behind the net, then found Williams, who fed Staal out front. Lundqvist answered the bell, but Stillman was back around front to knock the rebound in. Viva and Staal had the assists.

Down the stretch, there wasn't much gas left in the Rangers' tank and Carolina pretty much waited out the final buzzer.

This was the first game of the season between these two teams, so it was the first time Eric and Marc Staal played against each other. With about one minute to play, they got in a little jostling bout down in the corner. It was probably just for the sake of doing it.

This was polar opposite from Saturday's heartless effort up in Lackawanna. Thanks very much to the Sabres for getting the Canes back in shape.

Seriously, though, coach Laviolette shook up all of the forward lines and the defense pairings. It worked like a charm. I suppose it was a combination of the ass-whipping and the line changes. Whatever it was, it did the trick.

The "official" three stars were Matt Cullen (third), Cam Ward (second) and Cory Stillman (first). I have a hard time disputing that.

The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Matt Cullen, CAR --- 2 assists, 71% faceoff (5/7)
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR --- 28 saves, shutout
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- 2 goals

Honorary mention I goes to Eric Staal. He had an assist and led all players with 6 hits.
Honorary mention II goes to every single defenseman. 11 blocked shots. Good PK. Very responsible play all the way around. And David effing Tanabe shed the "Avi" moniker by having his best game of the season.

This was a complete game. The only time all season that Carolina has played a 60 minute game. This feels so good compared to the debacle that Saturday night was.

The five game road trip will pause for a few days. The Canes play again on Thursday in the City of Tampa. In the interim, they'll return to Raleigh for a quick visit.

Tanabe back in the fold

On Saturday morning, the Hurricanes came to terms with defenseman David "Snuggles" Tanabe on a two-year two-way contract. Tanabe will be joining the team for the third time in his career and should be available for tonight's conference tilt with the Washington Capitals.

Tanabe will earn $600K this year at the NHL level and $900K next year. At the AHL level, he would earn $100k each year.

Tanabe was maligned early last season for being "soft" and "lazy". He was often referred to on this page as "Avi" (David minus the D) and was the target of much criticism from fans. In the second half of the season, he really turned it on, though, and became one of the most dependable blueliners on the team. There was speculation that he had been playing hurt early on and was a bit timid with respect to physical play.

I was surprised that the free agency period came and went and Tanabe didn't get picked up by anybody. He was rumored to be in the Canes training camp, but never was. He showed up at the Blues camp, but was released in the final cuts.

"Snuggles" registered 17 (5/12) points last season, the bulk of them coming in the second half. He had two power play goals and finished the season with a +5 rating.

Bret Hedican is out with an "illness". Although he looked good on Wednesday, I still think he should retire. Mike Commodore played with a deep contusion on his leg Friday night. Props to him for that. There was some talk of calling up one of the boys from Albany. This move sure sounds like it's more than a stopgap thing.

My guess is that we'll hear something about Hedican within a couple of days.

This isn't a blockbuster move, but this is a hell of a good deal on a veteran defenseman who is still young. Pending his physical and approval by the NHL, Tanabe will be availabe tonight in our nation's capital.

He will wear his old familiar #45.

Hurricanes to move on without Walker

I guess you can say it's official that the Carolina Hurricanes are done with Scott Walker.

An article in today's News & Observer covers the fact that there are just a few pieces remaining in the Hurricanes puzzle. It points out that Walker has rejected offers from the Hurricanes, but does not suggest ongoing negotiations. The subtle suggestions over the last week are that the Hurricanes have made a final offer. In part, and in a nutshell, the article says:

"That leaves only the decisions on David Tanabe and Josef Vasicek, both potential free agents."

Luke Decock suggests that the Hurricanes have a few names on a shortlist for filling the third line center position. That shortlist consists of Todd White from the Wild, Michal Handzus from the Blackhawks and Mike Peca from the Leafs. Peca and Handzus both had significant injuries last season, forcing them to miss huge chunks of the season. They're both still serviceable, but at their age, and at Peca's price tag, you have to wonder if it's worth it. Like "Bubba" from Canes Country, I'm pretty into the idea of Todd White. He could be had for under $2M, and he had good third line numbers last season, amassing 44 (13/31) points and a +8 in 77 games. I say go for it.

It still leaves the right wing question up in the air. Now that Taylor Pyatt has re-signed with the Nucks, the UFA market is about dry. I like Scott Cason's idea about Jason Blake. I hadn't really thought about it until I read his post, but it's a fantastic idea. Again, he could be had for less than $2M (probably right around $1.75), and he's coming off a very good 69 point (40/29) season with the Isles.

Neither Todd White nor Jason Blake is a spring chicken, but they're both good players and could be valuable additions to the third line, which struggled all season in 2006-07.

The Hurricanes have around $5M to play with, and if they get one or the other of these guys (or hopefully BOTH) for around $1.75M for one year, they should be in good shape. If defenseman David Tanabe re-signs with a home team discount, it'll make a guy like Andrew Hutchinson expendable. There was some talk late in the season that the Oilers were interested in Hutch, so maybe we could enter negotiations with them for a depth guy.

There would still be around a million and a half to pick up at least one more winger. All this would fit under the Hurricanes self-imposed budget of $45M.

Who's got any thoughts on this matter?

Oh. Game four of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight.

Canes edge Kings

On a cold wet Tuesday night, the Hurricanes emerged from their barn with a 2-1 victory over the visiting last place Kings. This gives the Canes an opportunity to gain ground on Atlanta, who is playing a late game in Calgary, getting crushed early. Carolina will also be keeping a close eye on Toronto, who is also battling for the eighth spot in the East. The Leafs are, as I write, tied with the Islanders midway through the third lost to the Islanders in the shootout.

One important thing happened, and I can almost guarantee that nobody else will mention this. It'll take me a little ways to get there, so bear with me. According to the Mirtle Model, 95 points will be needed for a team to qualify for the playoffs. Los Angeles is now in a position where the most they can accrue is 93 points. They're out. James Mirtle isn't god, I know, but his model seemed to work last season. He predicted 95 would get you in, and that's exactly what Edmonton had with the eighth seed in the West.

Bear with me. I'm getting to the point.

The Kings are out. They won't be winning the Stanley Cup. Center Patrick O'Sullivan won't be getting his name etched on the Stanley Cup come September. Who? Patrick O'Sullivan. He's the only native North Carolinian playing in the NHL right now. Or ever, for that matter. He was born in Winston-Salem while his dad was playing for the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds of the defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League.

Why is this important?

Chris Huffine, video coach for the Hurricanes, became the first native North Carolinian to have his name etched on the Cup last year. The fact that the Kings are realistically eliminated and O'Sullivan isn't high on anyone's trade priority means that Huffine won't have to share that distinction with anyone. At least for one more year.

Okay... the game. I didn't go, it wasn't on Canes TV, I don't have Center Ice, and I had no desire to be in a bat. I had to listen on the webradio.

Ray Whitney got the Canes off and running late in the first to continue his sizzling pace. His power play goal was assisted by Rod Brind'Amour and David Tanabe.

Alex Frolov tied it for the Kings midway through the second with a power play goal.

Scott Walker got the game winner midway through the third, assisted by Josef Vasicek and David Tanabe.

Tanabe didn't earn an "official" star, but the RBH stars go to:

THIRD STAR David Tanabe, CAR -- 2 assists
SECOND STAR Ray Whitney, CAR -- goal
FIRST STAR Scott Walker, CAR -- GWG

Ray Whitney continues to be absolutely incendiary. He's got a three game goal streak and a five game point streak during which he has totaled 10 (5/5) points. He's got 68 points, and with 23 games remaining, he's just 8 shy of his career best. Somehow, a guy who's in the top 10 in the League, and is on pace for 94 points is completely under the radar. Go figure.

The Canes will stay at home and will face the Rangers and their legion of ex-Canes on Thursday. I'll be donning 63 for the first time since game 7.

Canes lose in shootout

On Saturday night, the Canes dropped a very important game to the visiting Thrashers. The Canes had a one goal midway through the third, but couldn't hold it. As the end of regulation ended, I feared that it would go to shootout, and I didn't like our chances against Atlanta's snipers. I was justified in fearing the shootout, as Carolina was destroyed 2-0 in the fifth frame.

Scott Melanby got things started at 2:54, much to the delight of the 100 or so Thrashers fans sitting at the top of section 112. He stuffed in a rebound near the right post after Garnet Exelby's shot was stopped by Cam Ward. Jon Sim got the secondary assist.

Viva notched his 22nd goal of the season at 5:38 to tie it up. He wristed one in from the right circle assisted by Anton Babchuk and Eric Staal.

At 18:58, Glen Metropolit put the birds ahead 2-1 on a power play goal from a very tough angle. Erik Cole was in the box all by himself feeling shame for his second holding penalty of the period. Greg DeVries and Steve Rucchin assisted on the play.

Ray Whitney tied the game at 9:39 on nifty close range goal. As Rod Brind'Amour was being held up in front of the net, Erik Cole worked it behind the net and slid a backhand pass through the goalmouth to The Wizard, who had snuck in undetected. David "Snuggles" Tanabe got the second assist.

During a four-on-four sequence early in the third, newcomer Dennis Seidenberg gave the Canes a 3-2 lead at 0:27 of the third. He and Erik Cole were on a two-on-one break, Cole sent a nifty pass through the slot and Ham Pizza shot a wrister from the right circle. Kari Lehtonen got a bit of it, but it still trickled through his gear and into the net. It's his first goal as a Cane, and topped off a very good night for him. Cole had the primary assist, and Staal got the secondary.

Bobby Holik knotted it up at 10:27 of the third on a long bomb from the blue line. It was a rising and curving shot as it approached the net, and Cam got a good look at it, but it beat him cleanly top shelf.

As the minutes wound down, and overtime seemed imminent, there was a feeling that we wouldn't be able to take the overtime either. I didn't like the idea of a shootout against these guys, so I was really hoping for a late goal, but that didn't happen.

Nothing happened in the overtime, and the Thrash owned the shootout. Both Slava Kozlov and Maid Marian Hossa beat Ward badly on the stick side. Ray Whitney tried to get too fancy, and Justin Williams couldn't convert his attempt. With the Thrash up 2-0, there was no need for the final shooters, who I assume would have been Ilya Kovalchuk and Erik Cole.

I really think it's worth mentioning that Dennis Seidenberg had a great game. He's a big dude who takes the body when he needs to, and has a very good stick. He laid out five hits. He did a very good job shutting down passing lanes and canceling scoring opportunities. Added to that, he scored a goal by joining the rush and quickly switching to an offensive mindset.

Also, "Snuggles" Tanabe continued to play well. Now there's some speculation that his poor play early was because he was hurt. He's skating well, playing responsibly, and is active as hell offensively. Since returning from a groin injury, he's got five points in eight games, and has been averaging around 22 minutes TOI a night. Also, in his last four games, he has a cumulative rating of +7. He's, suffice to say, looking better. I'm dropping the Avi moniker.

The official three stars and the ones named in the arena were the same:
Garnet Exelby (third), Bobby Holik (second) and Maid Marian Hossa (first)

I didn't quite see it like that. The RBH three stars:

Third Star: Garnet Exelby, ATL -- 2 assists
Second Star: Erik Cole, CAR -- 2 assists
First Star: Bobby Holik, ATL -- goal

Carolina's run of Southeast games continues on Monday night at the Panthers. Then three out of four against the Caps. Meanwhile, the first place Thrashers will be battling the Atlantic division.

Canes report card .... part 4 of 5

Here's part four of the Canes mid-season report cards. I'm almost done with the whole thing.

#27 Craig Adams (aka "CrAdams", aka "Craigassaurus Rex" aka "Craiggers", aka "Hands of Feet", aka "Hands of Stone") -- D+
CrAdams, like the unrelated Kevyn Adams, is not doing much to provide energy to the "energy line". He's looked bad at times, and has a cumulative -9 rating for the season, ranking him second to last on the team. Expectations were pretty low for the Brunei native, but even with increased ice time due to injuries, Craig has failed to meet the low expectations. He's appeared in every game this season and has accumulated just 9 points (6/3), which means he's behind defensemen Mike Commodore (16 points) and Anton Babchuk (10 points). He's also behind Cory Stillman, who has 10 points in just 12 games. He's slow-footed and lacks offensive ability, but he's very good on the backcheck and at battling for loose pucks. Not enough to get him a better grade, though. Craiggers will have two more years in Carolina.

#28 Andrew Hutchinson (aka "Hutch")-- B-
Due to a couple of long visits to the injured reserve last season, Hutch failed to meet the criteria for getting his name etched on the Cup -- 41 regular season games played OR 1 game in SCF), the Canes petitioned the League to have Hutch on there. The league approved. This season, the injuries have been to just about every one else, and hutch has seen his ice time and his role on the team increase. He went from being a seventh defenseman or healthy scratch to being an every night starter. He hasn't disappointed, but he hasn't exactly shone either. Neither a horrifying liability nor a tremendous asset. One thing the coaches asked him to work on last year was putting more pucks on net. He does a good job of running the power play, but they wanted him to shoot more. He's getting better, but he's not exactly what anyone would call an "offensive threat". That said, he's on pace to set a new personal best point production. Thanks to increased ice time.

#30 Cam Ward (aka "Wardo") -- C
The Conn Smythe winner got off to a really slow start this season, and has faltered at times. Still, he has a winning record (19-12-3), and his GAA (2.78) and his SV% (.901) are somewhere around 20th in the league. Not terrible. One mitigating factor in the grade here is that there has not been one single game this season where he has had a full, healthy blue line in front of him. Most nights, two or more defensemen are hurt, and right now, there are four out. When one of the few available defenseman is Avi Tanabe, there's trouble. Given that, I think he's done a fine job. We'll see what happens when Frantisek Kaberle et al return and Ward can focus on goaltending.
Defensive help or no defensive help, there's still the problem with Cam's rebound control, which has been spotty. I contend that this will get better when the Canes better defensemen are back on the ice, and they can deal with the rebounds.

#45 David Tanabe (aka Avi, aka "Snuggles") D-
Last night's game against the Islanders notwithstanding, Tanabe has been pretty bad. He's been irresponsible in his own end, sloppy in neutral ice, and non-existent in the offensive zone. He has tremendous speed, and should be a more active player in the Canes "everybody in" offensive system. He's made some horrible mistakes that have led directly to goals against, and some other plays that have indirectly led to goals against.
He has had a few moments of brilliance, which gives false hope that he's developing better skills. However, those hopes are quashed when he does something dumb on the next shift, or the next period, or the next game. He can be good in all aspects of the game, but he does it with such infrequency.

#47 John Grahame (aka Crackers, aka "Johnny Crackers", aka "Johnny G") -- D+
Carolina allowed Marin Gerber to head off to Ottawa, promoted Ward to the #1 spot, and went out and got John Grahame. Grahame had struggled a bit in Tampa, and was sort of in John Tortarelli's dog house. Peter Laviolette, however, has a good relationship with Crackers after having coached him a few times on Team USA. It was a gamble, but Canes fans were okay with having him as a back up.
Grahame is a very big dude with a completely different style from Ward, which probably gives the defensemen fits the same way a wide receiver struggles with a quarterback who throws the ball differently from the normal guy. Okay, it's nowhere near the same, but the way he sets up and the way he plays the shots and handles rebounds is so different from Ward's style that the players have to adjust when Grahame is in the pipes.
In limited appearances, Grahame has been inconsistent. That's to be expected when you only play once every ten games or so. Unlike some former Canes goaltenders who had been relegated to backup, he's not sitting there sulking and pouting, though. He wants to help the team, and is always one of the first guys out there to congratulate Ward after a win.
One thing that is disappointing is his focus. He gets rattled and stays rattled when he makes a mistake.
Honestly, I'd like him to get some more starts so he can have a chance to improve on the things like rebound control and concentration. It's hard to simulate that in practice. With a thinner schedule in the second half (fewer back-to-backs) there won't be so many obvious chances for Crackers to start.

Canes defeat Ducks 4-2

Carolina played a very solid game on Friday following the frustrating loss to Buffalo on Thursday. The result was a 4-2 win over the Ducks. They were injury riddled, but the Canes will offer no sympathy in that department, as they are also depleted. What follows is the period-by-period updates done during intermissions. It'll take the place of my usual game recap. I left the comments (I was the only one playing along) in.

FIRST PERIOD:
The Canes tested Wall early and often. He answered the bell a couple of times in the first minute, and looked much better than his inexperience would suggest.

--7:42 Ray Whitney scores on a beautiful one-timer from Justin Williams. Avi Tanabe got the second assist. Tanabe (playing for the first time in weeks) started at the right point, worked his way across the ice, then dropped it back to Viva. He made a perfect tape-to-tape pass to The Wizard, who blasted the one-timer past Wall on the stick side.

Formally speaking, it was a power play goal at 7:42 of the first. Whitney from Williams and Tanabe.

Moments later, Carolina was on another power play and had a couple of great chances denied by Wall. In particular a really nice one on Scott Walker.

Late in the first, Carolina had another great chance turned aside by the rookie. Cory Stillman had a great breakaway chance that Wall made a really nice glove save on.

After 20 minutes, I like the way things look. Carolina will have to avoid the second period lull that has plagued them lately, and they will need to continue to play well on the kill.

A BUSY SECOND PERIOD:
Just :41 into the second, Teemu Selanne unleashed a howitzer from the high slot that beat Ward badly on the glove side. Ward didn't have a chance on the play. Scott Niedermayer and Mike Wall got the assists.

At 3:22, Selanne struck again. During a Ducks power play, he slapped one in from the left circle, beating Ward stick side. Chris Pronger and Andy McDonald got the assists.

At this point, it looked like Carolina might have been slipping, hitting the "lull". Fortunately, they were able to right the ship quickly.

Rod Brind'Amour evened the score at the 4:31 mark on a power play marker. Ray Whitney made a really nifty move to work his way through traffic in the high slot, then wristed a shot that was ever so slightly deflected by Brind'Amour. I thought it was Whitney's goal, but the replays got a good look at the deflection. Avi Tanabe got the second helper.

At 6:57, Viva put the Canes in front with his 19th goal of the season. He let one go from the inside hash marks of the left circle. Brind'Amour and Whitney got the helpers.

So far, the Wizard has three points while Viva, Brind'Amour, and Avi each have two.

I'd still like to get Cole involved, but so far, so good.

THIRD PERIOD
A quick period. The only goal was an empty netter at 19:30 by Erik Cole. Chris Pronger was gone for a double minor high sticking, and Wall was gone for the extra attacker. Carolina managed to work the puck to center ice, but missed two shots from that distance. After the second, Cory Stillman raced down to battle for the puck. An attempted clear by the Ducks went right to Colesy high in the slot. He wristed it in with authority from there to seal the deal.

Officially, the last goal was unassisted, and was a power play goal into an empty net.

Carolina has done something that only five teams had done thus far: beat the Ducks in regulation.

Unfortunately it came at a cost: Nic Wallin had to leave the game with an "upper body concern". Now we have THREE of our top six defensemen out. Tonight, Carolina had seven defensemen dressed, so it was okay, and they'll be able to dress Keith Aucoin (scratched tonight) as the twelfth forward on Sunday night. Nothing catastrophic.

The "official" three stars of the game were Viva (third), Ray Whitney (second) and the Captain (first). This was a perfunctory gesture on "Rod Brind'Amour night" (celebrating his reaching 1,000 career points), but he was still one of the best players on the ice. As homerish as I love to be, I can't quite play it that way. There's no way to ignore the performance of Teemu Selanne, who, by the way, has 1088 points in 999 career games (counting tonight).

The RBH three stars:

Third Star: Justin Williams, CAR. GWG on 1 shot, assist, GWG, 24:02 TOI
Second Star: Teemu Selanne, ANA. 2 goals on 2 shots
First Star: Ray Whitney, CAR. 1 goal on 1 shot, 2 assists.

Carolina's power play should actually be named the game's first star. They converted three of their six chances, and in reality, it should be more like three of five. Cole scored on the front end of the double minor to Pronger, and the back end still had 1:30 remaining when time expired.

Honorary mention goes to David Tanabe, whom I have given a really hard time. He had a great game both ways, picking up two assists on the night.

At times, Carolina looked the way they did in June. Their passing was crisp, their d-men were really stepping up, they were getting to loose pucks. All of that. They deserved this huge win.

On New Year's Eve, Carolina will play host to the floundering Flyers with the traditional Dec 31 start time of 8:00 pm eastern.

Canes win thriller, move into first place.

On Saturday night, the Canes defeated the visiting Stars 5-4 behind an Eric Staal hat trick. Elsewhere in the Southeast division, Atlanta lost to the Caps. Carolina moves into first place in the Southeast. Technically, the two clubs have identical records at 12-7-3. However, in head-to-head games, Carolina has earned six points and Atlanta just one. Carolina has now won three in a row and gone 7-2-1 in their last 10. They're starting to look more like the defending Cup champs.

In other Eastern Conference play, the Sabres lost to the Sens again, for the second time in four days. Not sure what's going on there, but even after that, the Sabres are still comfortably atop the entire Eastern Conference with 33 points.

This Stars game was in my 24-game pack, but something came up at work, and I didn't go. I probably could have gotten out of the work thing, but I took into consideration that the last four times we've played Dallas, it's been a complete disaster. To wit:

• December 22, 2002. Stars @ Canes.
  Carolina wins a very boring game 1-0. Even if I use the Wayback machine, I can't find any proof of what the standings were, but memory tells me that the Canes were tied for first with the Caps in the Southeast after that game. However, the Canes went into a horrible tailspin, losing 19 of their next 22 games. Obviously, when you lose like that, you have no chance.
  
  Included in that 22 game skid was the second in this list.
  
  
• February 11, 2003. Canes @ Stars
  Dallas wins 2-1 in overtime. Sergei Zubov scores the game winner with one tenth of a second remaining in overtime. As a side note, it was in this game that one of the most ridiculous and famous fights in my memory took place. Click here (or on the embedded player below) to view Aaron Downey's one punch knockout of Jesse Boulerice.
  
  
  
• December 22, 2003. Stars @ Canes
  Dallas wins 3-1. Two words to describe the horror of this game. Clay Aiken. He sang the Anthem and "performed" during the intermissions. As if that weren't enough, Kerry Fraser was one of the officials that night. That's always enough. And the Stars decimated us behind a great night from Jere Lehtinen, who scored two goals and assisted on the other. The game-winner was a shorthanded goal. Yuck.
  
  
• December 2, 2005. Canes @ Stars
  Dallas wins 5-4 in a thrilling shootout game. During the overtime period, with just :46 seconds to play, Dallas committed a deliberate illegal substitution (too many men on the ice) penalty. According to some rule or other, since there wasn't enough time for the penalty to be served in its entirety, this should have resulted in a penalty shot. The refs weren't aware of that rule, and no such call was made. Mike Modano got the difference making goal in the shootout. There was also some matter of debate about the legality of his shootout goal. Read all about the game here.
  
  Earlier that very day, an inexperienced driver made an illegal left turn in front of me, and the end result was that my car (paid in full) was totaled. I had to buy a new (to me) car, and my descent into poverty began. Read about the accident here.

There was nothing disastrous about tonight's tilt with the Stars. There was a really loud car crash right outside my house, but I wasn't in it.

The Canes emerged victorious thanks to an Eric Staal hat trick, the return of defensemen Nic Wallin and Tim Gleason, and the resultant disappearance of Avi Tanabe.

Since the game wasn't televised, my man Bill Purdy was on the job, giving me text message updates from inside the arena. Unfortunately, my VZW service likes to jerk me around sometimes, and I got all of his updates at once, after the game. Oh well.

As expected, Andrew Hutchinson and Avi Tanabe became healthy scratches, and I strongly suspect that Tanabe will find himself in New York's capital city in a matter of days.

Since I didn't get to see the game at all, I can't give out stars. The official stars were Ray Whitney (third), Justin Williams (second), Eric Staal (first)

Canes defeat Blueshirts, take 6 of 8 points on homestand.

On Wednesday night, the Hurricanes closed out their four game home stand with a 2-1 win over the Rangers. The boys took six of a possible eight standings points during the home stand and have closed Atlanta's lead in the Southeast to four points. After getting off to a very rocky start, and taking some time to find itself, the team was told by coach Laviolette that they needed to win all four games. Unfortunately, the Sabres had other plans on Monday night. "Three out of four," said Laviolette, is "okay".

There was a lot of talk about how the Canes needed to come out with at least six points, and that certain players were already on the proverbial trading block, and that certain players who wear an "A" on their chest would have a chance to keep their job. All of this talk, of course, was coming from message boards, bloggers, and Bucky Gleason, who is the Buffalo News' answer to Ned the Head.

In an article in the News on Tuesday, Gleason pointed to one game of insignificant ice time for Kevyn Adams and suggested that it was a trend spelling the end for him. I could go into detail about how Gleason is missing the boat on this, but I doubt that Gleason actually watched the game in question, or even referred to the shift chart, or is even aware of the fact that K-Ads is a fourth line center.

There's all sorts of crazy rumors flying around, though. I've heard so many different trade scenarios. Every one of them involves David Tanabe and either John Grahame, Kevyn Adams, or a pick. One completely insane nonsensical rumor I heard was David Tanabe and Kevyn Adams for Daniel Alfredsson. You see how crazy that is?

One really interesting rumor (really just an idea, I suppose) was David Tanabe and parts to the Flyers for Freddy Meyer. I like that idea.

All the trade talk aside, the Canes knew that they had to win on Wednesday. Although it wasn't pretty, they did it.

We thought we were being given a break from Holly Wilver when they announced that Miss North Carolina was singing the National Anthem. I actually thought that Miss NC did a pretty lousy job. She tried too hard to opera it up. I don't know what ever happened to just singing the damn song straight up without being all showy.
The guys from 850:The Blog were there, and in their liveblog of the game, they pretty much hit it on the head:

she ain’t winning the big crown unless the plans on singing while twirling flaming batons and riding a unicycle.

Due to the fact that the Rangers had played the night previous, Henny Lundqvist got the night off and we got to see our old pal "Shady 80" in the pipes. It became a sort of homecoming party, as there were five former Canes and two more former Whalers on the Rangers squad. Matt Cullen and Aaron Ward both played last season in Carolina. Kevin Weekes played between 2002 and 2004. Defenseman Marek Malik played here for almost five seasons, and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh played a season and a half.

Craig Adams got the Canes on the board early, and it looked like we would be off to the races. He picked up a short rebound of an Anton Babchuk shot and sent it past Kevin Weekes at the 2:51 mark. Babs with the first assist and Chad "Sharpie" LaRose with the secondary.

I think this officiating crew was in a hurry to get back to the hotel to watch a Seinfeld rerun or something. They missed a bunch of calls on both sides in the first period, and they only called a total of seven penalties. Only three against the Canes. Carolina has been terribly undisciplined lately, and although I believe they were cleaner and more focused, they weren't that clean. There was a lot of clutching, grabbing, punching and tackling by BOTH teams that went unpenalized. Whereas last season the officials did a great job with being consistant, they're not so much this season. One night, they call ticky tacky stuff, and the next night, there's more clutching and grabbing than a high school prom.

Midway through the first, Cam Ward showed why he won the Conn Smythe and why he's the clear #1 goalie in Carolina. He was staring at one of the most feared things in all of hockey: Jaromir Jagr was barreling down the center of the ice on a breakaway, no Canes in sight. Cam was patient and calm, forcing Jagr to make his move first. Jagr waited too long and ended up putting it right in Wards pads. Cam was as steady as could be, where a lot of other goalies would've panicked and overcommitted.

Late in the first, a tiny little skirmish developed in the southeast corner. It wasn't that big of a deal. No punches, no penalties. The only reason I bring it up is that nine players jumped in. The one player who didn't jump in to defend his teammates: David Tanabe. It's little stuff like that, and getting in Brindy's way the other night. Then there's the big stuff. The lazy penalties, the missed assignments, the times that he screens Ward out causing goals against. I'll get to that later.

Nothing at all happened in the rest of the first. The first penalty of the game wasn't called until the 20th minute, and it was when Malik flat-out tackled Erik Cole in neutral ice.

At 3:40 of the second, the refs had no choice but to blow their whistles when Anton Babchuk shot the puck over the glass for delay of game. The next 10 minutes, nothing happened. The teams each took one obvious hooking penalty. One more blatant hook by the Canes, and we finally got some action.

At 16:02 of the second, Jaromir Jagr scored his 599th career goal on a pretty one-timer from the left face off dot. Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka got the assists on the power play goal. On the play, David Tanabe was terrible. Jagr was all by himself at the top of the left face off circle, and Avi positioned himself at just the right spot to make it impossible for Cam Ward to see the shot.

Right on the third period face off, we saw the game's sixth penalty. It was a double-minor to Eric Staal for high sticking Matt Cullen. Inadvertent, but still careless, and a no-brainer of a call. There was only one more penalty in the game, and it was a marginal trip called on Jagr.

At 13:55 of the third, after the Canes had hit four posts earlier in the game, Rod Brind'Amour hit another post, but the puck bounced in that time. Off a draw that Brind'Amour lost down in the Rags end, Viva got control of the puck behind Weekes. Instead of attempting a wrap-around, Williams spotted Brindy alone in the high slot, and Brindy beat Weekes high on the stick side from there. That was the only assist, and the goal turned out to be the game winner.

Once again, Erik Cole was hitting everything in sight. This time, however, he did it all within the rules of the game. Sometimes it actually scares me, but there was nothing dangerous in this game.

With our continuing injuries to the blue line, and the shaky play of David Tanabe, Anton Babchuk has seen a huge jump in ice time. He's been really good, too. Much more than just a "fill-in", he's seen increased responsibilities and is doing just fine as a #3 or #4 defenseman. He's very seldomly in the wrong place, is very positionally sound, and is showing to have a ton of offensive upside. On the CrAdams goal, he made it happen by joining the rush and getting the initial shot on Weekes.

The "official" three stars went to Cam Ward (third), Chad LaRose (second) and Rod Brind'Amour (first). I didn't quite see it that way, and it was really hard to pick, but mine are more like:

Third Star Anton Babchuk, CAR. 20:10 TOI, +2, 3 blocked shots, 1 assist.
Second Star Jaromir Jagr, NYR. 24:49 TOI, 5 SOG, 1 goal, 599 career goals.
First Star Cam Ward, CAR. 23 saves, Win.

Make that two Gatorades, Jordan.

On Saturday night, the Penguins came to Raleigh for a game that had quite a lot of buzz. Before the game, there were quite a few little story lines developing. Staal v Staal. Cole v Orpik. Our first look at Malkin. What could have been quite explosive ended up having no drama at all. The Canes ran away with a 6-2 victory, and Jordan Staal now owes his older brother two Gatorades. The first time these two teams played, Eric and Jordan wagered a Gatorade on the outcome of the game. Eric won, and I think it's safe to assume that he offered a "double or nothing" bet.

Because the Pens had played on Friday night, Jocelyn Thibault got the start between the pipes. Carolina, who has already played five sets of back-to-back games, would not offer any sympathy in that department.

While there was never any rough stuff with Orpik, he got a not-so-warm welcome from the Raleigh faithful. The first time he stepped on the ice, and every single time he touched the puck, he was greeted with a thunderous chorus of boos.

At around the 7:00 mark of the first period, a fight erupted that had nothing to do with Orpik. Mike Commodore and Chris Thorburn. Call it a tone-setter, call it a tension breaker, call it "getting that out of the way". Call it whatever you want, but there was no more of that for the rest of the game.

Viva got the game's first goal at 12:51 while Carolina was enjoying a five-on-three sequence. Brind'Amour fired a backhand shot at Jocelyn Thibault that was blocked, but Williams was there to stuff in the rebound. Erik Cole got the secondary assist. That assist was the 100th of Cole's NHL career.

At 17:41, Ray "The Wizard" Whitney made it 2-0. Erik Cole set him up from behind the net for a wrister from the low slot. Cole got one assist ans Commy got the other.

Just 24 seconds into the second frame, the Pens' Sergei Gonchar, who is arguably their best defenseman, and a crucial penalty killer, took a penalty for roughing. This gave the Canes a power play and a fresh sheet of ice. They took advantage when Rod Brind'Amour finished a beautiful play by tipping one past Thibault at 1:29. Eric Staal and Scotty "Remo" Walker had the assists. On that particular play, Pittsburgh looked like a tired team. That play was way too easy. Staal made a nifty pass to Brind'Amour, who was all alone in the low slot for the easy tip-in. It looked like one of those plays you run in practice like a billion times. This is why you run it so much. We had no way of knowing it at the time, but this turned out to be the game winning goal.

Just when we thought it was looking like a romp, it started to get interesting. John Leclair scored one for the Pens at the 3:48 mark, ending Cam Ward's shutout streak at 84 minutes 48 seconds. "Avi" Tanabe was absolutely terrible on that play. It started when he couldn't handle a pass down in the Pens zone, then lost a footrace with LeClair, on whom he had a four stride head start. After the Pens had control of the puck in the Canes zone, Tanabe played some form of matador defence that you would expect to see in a 40 and over rec league. Surprisingly, it was Leclair's first goal of the season. Jarkko Ruutu (whose name I just love to say) got the only assist.

At 16:42, our old pal The Recchin' Ball scored another one for the Pens to make it really interesting. Avi Tanabe was in the box as the play was being set up, but the penalty expired before the goal. Technically, it's an even strength goal, but Tanabe wasn't back in the play yet, and his stupid lazy holding penalty gave the Pens the power play opportunity. Nils Ekman and Dominic Moore got the assists. Recchi got a really nice ovation, as everyone in the barn was glad to see him.

Early in the third, there was a lot of drama, but nothing to do with Cole/Orpik. The Penguins were applying a lot of pressure down in Carolina's end, and in a mad scramble, it looked like they had scored a goal. The red light never went on, and the referee was emphatically waving it off, but from my POV, directly behind the net, it looked like it might have been in. The game wasn't on teevee here, and I can't find a replay of it, but it looked to the naked eye like Ward made a stop from behind the line, then pulled it back over the line. I dunno. Anyway, play continued until a Penguins penalty was committed about a minute later. By NHL rule this is the way it has to be done. They can't review the goal situation until the next stoppage of play. We were all wondering what would have happened if they called it a goal. Would they re-set the clock and cancel the penalty? What if Carolina had scored before a play stoppage? After a looooooong review, during which Rod Brind'Amour didn't look happy, they let the on-ice call stand: no goal.

Eric Belanger, who has been a very hard working guy lately got a goal at 8:00 of the third to give us some breathing room. From a very sharp angle at the bottom of the left circle, he threw it at the net, and it kind of surprised Thibault. I thought at first that it must have glanced in off a defenseman's skate or something, but it was just that Thibault was looking for a pass and was horribly beaten. I think it actually went behind him on the short side, but he was looking at Anton Babchuk, who was streaking down the right side as part of a 3-on-2 break.

At 16:42, Eric Staal interfered with a Penguins player, and was sent to the box. In a strange way, this helped the Canes. Michel Therrien decided to go the unorthodox route and pull his goaltender for a six-on-four power play with 2:30 still to play. As soon as Thibault went to the bench, the Pens turned the puck over in neutral ice and Kevyn Adams hit the bulls eye from the top of the right circle for the shorthanded marker. Two seasons ago, K-Ads was third in the league with five shorties. This was his first so far this season.

As if this was a game I was playing on NHL '04, the Canes scored another shorty on the same penalty. Chad "Sharpie" LaRose, who is one of my favorite players because of his hard work, got one past Thibault at 18:28. Maybe the Pens had given up hope, but they turned it over in the Canes zone, and Carolina was off on a two-on-one shorthanded break. Trevor "The Dude" Letowski fed Sharpie for a one-timer from the top of the left circle. The only Penguins skater back on the play was Orpik, who had a really rough night. Anton Babchuk got the secondary assist

Mike Commodore, who doesn't get nearly enough love, did a sensational job neutralizing the big Malkin. Malkin was only able to get two shots off, and neither of them was of the "quality" variety. He spent most of his night fighting off Commodore. Mad props to Commy on that. Added to that, Commodore had two assists.

Sid the Kid had some great chances, but Ward rose to the occasion every time.

Despite having a piecemeal defensive corps in front of him, Ward really hasn't had to work that hard in the past few games. They're minimizing quality chances, which makes life easier. For the third straight game, Wardo has faced exactly 20 shots. That sounds like a pretty good day at the office if you ask me.

The "official" three stars went to Cole (3rd), Brindy (2nd) and Whitney (1st). I don't get that.

With six different goal scorers, and 13 different players with at least one point, it's a little more difficult than most nights. The RBH stars of the game:
Third Star Rod Brind'Amour, CAR. 1 goal, 1 assist, GWG
Second Star Mike Commodore, CAR. 2 assists, stellar defense, +3
First Star Erik Cole, CAR. 2 assists, 6 hits

The Tevvy, which hasn't really been given out at all this season, definitely goes to "Avi" Tanabe, who finished with a -2.