Canes to be Weight-less for game 6.

The Canes and Oilers will play game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Edmonton tonight at 8:00. Again, the Oilers are on the brink of elimination and the Canes on the brink of winning their first Stanley Cup. However, the Hurricanes will have to play without one of their most important puzzle pieces -- Doug Weight. Weight was injured early in the third period on Wednesday after a couple of Edmonton skaters finished what looked like routine checks.

Weight, who scored 13 points (4/9) in 23 regular season games with the Canes, has been a key element of the Canes success in the postseason. He has accumulated 16 points (3/13) in 23 games. Two of his goals have been on the power play. It isn't his scoring, though. He is, and always has been, a playmaker. Although he won't always get assists, his passing is crisp and precise. He's usually the guy who gets a scoring play started. If the NHL gave tertiary assists, he's have a boatload of those. He's also very good at generating traffic in front of the net and creating screens, which both give the goaltender fits. That kind of thing can't be replaced.

I'm not sure what the details of his injury are. They'll only say that it's of the "upper body" variety. Some reports suggest that he left the rink with his arm in a sling on Wednesday night. Nothing has been said other than he won't be available for game 6.

In other news, Carolina blueline stalwart Aaron Ward will be in the lineup. He left the game in the first period on Wednesday, missing about half of the game. He returned late, and no details were given as to the nature of his absence. He'll be in the lineup, as will Glen Wesley, who has seen declining ice time as a result of being banged up.

With Weight out, and the defense a little banged up, there's some question as to how the lines will pan out. I'm almost inclined to say that we'll dress Oleg Tverdovsky as a seventh defenseman rather than inserting Chad Larose back into the lineup. Another option for seventh defenseman would be Anton Babchuk, who provides some offensive upside and a blisteringly hard shot. However, he's somewhat of a defensive liability. Ditto for Andrew Hutchinson.

What I'm expecting, then, is a slight change in the lines, with maybe Josef Vasicek getting increased ice time as a center. The Adams line will probably see that seventh defenseman skating with them.

I'll stick to my prediction that the first period will be the arbiter. Edmonton will come at Carolina hard, trying to exploit their attrition. Carolina will have to answer that call, accentuating their skill. We should see a very fast paced period, and my guess is that whoever wins the first period wins the game.

Puck drop is again at 8:00.

Oilers win in OT, head home down 3-2

On Wednesday night, the Oilers staved off elimination in most dramatic fashion. Fernando Pisani scored a shorthanded goal (his second goal of the night) just 3:31 into the extra session. The win prevented the Canes from winning the Cup on their home ice, gives the Oil some life, and most importantly, gives the Oil some momentum.

Pisani, who also scored just 16 seconds into the first, took advantage of a horrible turnover by Eric Staal only 31 seconds into a Canes power play deep in Carolina's zone. He broke in alone on Cam Ward and did not miss. I suppose this was some sort of cosmic payback for the Jason Smith error in game one of this series.

Initially, Chris Pronger was given credit for the first goal, but I suppose they changed it because they detected a redirection of Pronger's left point shot. I haven't reviewed the game, and this post is late enough as it is, so.... Pronger and Torres with the assists.

Eric Staal tied the game with his eighth goal of the playoffs at 5:54 while on the power play. Doug Weight and Bret Hedican got the assists.

Later, Ray Whitney would give the Canes a 2-1 lead, and lots of excitement. His goal, at 10:16 was another power play. He got a piece of an Eric Staal shot, tipping it past Markkanen. Staal with the primary assist (his 18th), and Mark Recchi with the second (his eighth).

However, this lead would be shortlived. The thing I was fearful would happen did. The Oil finally cashed in on a power play chance, and there was nothing the Canes could have done. Ales Hemsky slapped a one-timer from the left circle in at 13:25 of the first. Tanrnstrom and Staios with the assists.

With the first period winding down, and the teams on a four-on-four, I ran to the bathroom to avoid the intermission crowd. While I was gone. Michael Peca put the visitors ahead. Time of the goal was 19:42. Assists from Alex Hemsky and Chris Pronger.

At 9:56 of the second, Carolina tied it on another power play goal. Staalsy had a few whacks at a loose puck down low after a wrap-around. He finally beat Jussi, and again the emotions were running high. It was Staal's ninth goal. Added to his 18 assists, he has 27 points, tops in the league. On the goal, Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman assisted. Now Stillman's point streak is at 13 games.

No scoring for the remainder of the second, or during the third.

I had a feeling that once the first penalty of the overtime was called, that would be the game. I was partially right on that. The power play started off looking really lethargic, even lazy. They weren't able to get a play going, then the really lazy pass from Stillman to Staal. Pisani spotted the laziness, stole the puck from Staal, and beat Ward. Instantly, all the air in the building was sucked out.

Although Carolina converted three of seven power play chances, and they killed six of seven chances for the Oilers, it was a special teams gaffe that cost them that game.

I'm hoping that the loss will be a slap in the face to the Canes. It should wake them up and tell them that they can't just coast the rest of the way. This isn't quite like heading into the Champs-Élysée with a four minute lead. This is quite different.

Game 6 will be in Edmonton on Saturday night, and I'm sure the building will be more electric than it ever has been. Carolina will have to play a nearly perfect game, or they will find themselves in a very scary winner take all game. The only upside of that is that a potential game 7 would be in Raleigh.

Where I had an arrogant confidence before game 5, I now have a little bit of worry. I know that this is nowhere near over.

Canes win 2-1, lead series 3-1

In a hard-hitting game Monday night, the Canes took a well deserved win, and will head home with a chance to win the series on Wednesday night. See the previous post for my thoughts (sort of) as it happened.

Although it wasn't so in the first period, Carolina controlled most of the game. In the second period, they were completely dominant, and it was mostly due to the stellar play of Jussi Markkanen that the game was close going into the third. He earned the third star of the game. I think it's safe to say that he has far exceeded the expectations of him.

Early on, the referees indicated that they were going to allow a physical game. No ticky-tacky stuff on hard hits. It looked early like Edmonton was going to control the game with physical play, but it in the third period, it was Carolina who was dishing out the hits.

Quickly, I'll rehash my pregame "needs" for Carolina.

• BE AGGRESSIVE Check. They were aggressive with the forecheck, with the shots, and just in a "general sort of way".
  
• Continue stellar work on the PK Check. Carolina killed all five penalties, including a lengthy 5-on-3. For the series, Carolina has killed 25 of 26 penalties (96.2%).
  
• Get the PP going again Check. Sort of. The power play looked good all night long, and they cashed in on one of six chances. For the series, Carolina has converted five of 26 power plays. (19.2%)
  
• Wake Eric Staal out of his coma Check. Assists on both goals. We'd still like to get him back in the "goals" column, but we can't really complain at this point.

It was a hard fought win, and we'll be glad to get out of there.

Cory Stillman has been a beast. When he came to Carolina, people hailed it as a "good pickup", but everyone said the same thing. "He'll disappear in the playoffs." I don't think so. He's got 24 points (9/15), tying him with Eric Staal (7/17) for tops in the playoffs.

Carolina's defense was outstanding. Nic Wallin made some amazing plays, and the whole unit did a great job.

Wednesday night puck drop will be 8:00. I might not make it to work on Thursday.

Game four -- not quiteliveblogging

This isn't going to be liveblogging. This will be "blogging during intermissions". Alas, I am the last remaining person on Earth who doesn't own a laptop, and my computer and tv are on opposite sides of the apartment.

Anyway...

Sergei Samsonov got the Oilers going at 8:40 with a REALLY pretty goal. Jarrett Stoll made a stunning behind the back cross-ice pass to Radek Dvorak. He then fed Samsonov on the front porch, and there was nothing Ward could do other than watch it go by him. A perfectly executed play.

Just 29 seconds later, however, Cory Stillman knotted it up. Raffi Torres was in the box for two minutes, all by himself, feeling shame. The Canes had all the time and space in the world to rotate the puck as they wished. And they did. Stilly shoved one in from the right circle. Frantisek "I might have been the game 3 goat" Kaberle and Eric "I have been in a coma for this series" Staal got the assists. Stilly's streak is now at 12 games.

There was a lot of heavy hitting, mostly by the Oilers. Carolina will not be able to withstand that abuse, so they will have to exert some aggression themselves, or hope that the Oilers get a little too amped up and start to hit illegally.

All penalties so far have been hooking or other stick-related minor penalties. Kind of surprising with the blistering hits we've seen.

Carolina's pk has been amazing, and they got the pp going again. These are both good things.

SECOND PERIOD

Wow. Jussi Markkanen was awesome in the second period. Carolina wanted chaos, and they got it. They were able to sustain a ton of pressure on Edmonton, and Jussi rose to the occasion. He kept it from being a 5-1 game.

Early on, when the Canes had a couple of power plays, Jussi made a series of highlight reel saves, none bigger than the blocker save on Brind'Amour at ~4:00. At that point, it could have easily been 2-1 or even 3-1.

Carolina was dominating the period, but not finishing the chances. However, at 15:58, they finally did. Mark Recchi from below the left circle, down near the goal line. It was all started by Stillman forcing a turnover in the Oiler zone. Eric Staal made a smart and pretty pass to Rechhi, who hit his mark from a pretty sharp angle.

After that, there was a sequence of penalties that resulted in a 4-on-3 advantage for Carolina which will spill over to the third frame.

Carolina will have to maintain their level of energy, which will mean keeping Vasicek off the ice. He's lethargic at best.

I have to tip my cap to Markkanen, seriously. He's been amazing.

Back at the end of the game.

END OF GAME.

No scoring in the third. Actually, there were only a few shots in total.

There was a LOT of heavy hitting. Most of it by the Canes. There was one really heavy hit by Eric Staal. Frankly, I'm not sure that it wasn't boarding. Throughout the game, though, there was a lot of heavy hitting that might have been penalized in the regular season, or in game one of the conference quarterfinals. Not tonight. As I hinted at before,10 of the 12 penalties called (six per team) were of the holding/hooking variety.

Okay... So it's 3-1, and we'll have a chance to win on home ice. Two chances to win on home ice, if we need them.

Game four and my beard

With the puck drop for game four about an hour away, I'd like to offer a few thoughts.

Carolina will have to be a bit more aggressive with their shots and they'll have to be better on defense.

While the Canes were able to maintain some long periods of offensive pressure, they weren't able to get a lot of good shots off. Some of it has to do with their shot selection. Some of it had to do with the good defense played by the Oilers. Some of it has to do with the vanishing act from Eric Staal. Winning this game would be a huge step for the Canes, and I think it starts with being more aggressive with the forecheck, taking more shots, and generating more flow in front of the net. The Canes were successful in those endeavors in game two. Edmonton made good adjustments. Carolina will have to make an adjustment of their own to reclaim that aggressiveness.

Defensively, Carolina was good. On the penalty kill, they were awesome. No complaints there. However, all series long, they've been a little soft in their own slot. Too many times, I've seen Ryan Smyth all alone in front. Sure, he's not as much of a threat as Horcoff or Pisani, but they're leaving him alone way too much. And he will score if he's left alone too much. On Saturday, he was allowed to come to the net unimpeded for his game winner. If Frantisek Kaberle had made any attempt to stand him up, the outcome might have been different.

I know these won't be original or groundbreaking in any way, but Carolina's needs for tonight are:

• be aggressive. B-E aggressive. B-E A-G-G R-E-SS-I-V-E
  
• continue the stellar work on the pk
  
• get the pp going again
  
• wake Eric Staal out of his coma

I'll be looking forward to an excellent game.

More than that, though, I'll be looking forward to the conclusion of this series. My freaking beard is KILLING ME. As you can see from the picture, I look neither distinguished nor sexy. I look like a freakin terrorist, or a Boxcar Willie or some other such miscreant. In light of Ben Roethliberger's accident, I won't be including him in that lot. Seriously.... Best wishes for a speedy and healthy recovery for Ben. I can't stand the Steelers, but I don't like to see anyone hurt like that.

Anyway, my beard is getting out of control. Thankfully, it'll be gone in a week (maximum). I might get mistaken for a Hasidic Jew or a member of ZZ Top if I let it go any longer. Whenever this series ends, the beard goes immediately. I'll try to document the beard removal process. If it means bringing the clippers in my car to the game, so be it.

Oilers win game 3, trail series 2-1

On Saturday night, Edmonton did what they had to do. They played a well-rounded game, avoided penalty trouble, and ultimately, were better than the Canes. In a game that looked to be headed to overtime, they got a late goal that was a little less than gorgeous, but an ugly game-winning goal is still a game-winning goal.

At 2:31 of the first, Shawn Horcoff got the Oil out to a 1-0 lead. It was the first goal they'd scored since the 13:31 mark of the third period in game one. Exactly 69 minutes. Jaro Spacek fired a shot from the blue line, which appeared to go straight in. However, Horcoff had a very slight re-direction from the low slot, nudging it through Cam Ward's five hole. Ales Hemsky got the second assist. Even with the redirect, it was a shot that should have been stopped.

The remainder of the first, and the entire second period was kind of quiet. There were a handful of penalties to each team. Each side received some questionable calls, and in the end it evened out. I still don't think Macgeough should be out there. I'll admit I had a wrong preconception of him as a good ref. In game one he certainly proved otherwise. Although he wasn't horrible in game 3, he was less than "good".

About midway through the first, Justin Williams had a fantastic breakaway chance, but his attempt to go to the upper right corner of the net was foiled. Markkanen got just enough of it with his glove to prevent a goal, sending the puck over the net.

Rod Brind'Amour leveled the score at the 9:09 mark of the third. Cory Stillman worked behind the net, getting the puck to Brindy in the left circle. He attempted a shot, which was blocked by Jason Smith, but bounced right back to Brindy. He finally got a shot through, and it beat Markkanen high on the stick side. Stillman got the only assist, and extended his playoff scoring streak to 11 games.

With the period winding down, Ryan Smyth got the game winner on a somewhat controversial goal. Smyth weaved his way through a rather lax defense and went to the net. He took a shot that was initially blocked by Cam Ward, but the rebound glanced off Smyth, who was by now well inside the crease (practically inside the goal) and past Ward. Although there wasn't any significant contact with the goaltender, the argument was that Smyth interfered with the goalie's ability to defend his crease. Rule 78g:

If an attacking player establishes a significant position within the goal crease, so as to obstruct the goalkeeper's vision and impair his ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

After a bit of a review, the officials declared the goal to be good. Hemsky and Spacek with the assists.

Carolina can't feel too bad about that, though. Late in the second, Ethan Moreau seemed to have scored a goal. He had created a turnover deep in the Carolina zone, and took several point blank shots on Ward. Referee Mcgeough lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle. Just after the whistle, Moreau took another whack at it, sending it past Ward. Although the light went off and the horn sounded, the goal was immediately wiped off. If the puck was under Ward, it was only for a fraction of a second, and I guess that's what Mcgeough saw. No goal. It was a great break for Carolina on a really short whistle. One of many times that Mcgeough made questionable calls in this game. Also remember that in game one, he made some questionable calls, including the penalty shot play. I don't know how he saw the puck the whole time on that one, and lost the puck on this one.

All in all, Carolina wasn't terrible, but wasn't great. They had a load of scoring chances that didn't go that well. A few shots directly at Markkanen, a few bad shots, a few bad passes. Markkanen was amazing, though. The "save" on the breakaway was pretty nice, and he saw a lot of shots late in the third. On the other end, I don't think anyone can take anything away from Cam Ward either. He made some sizzling saves, and stayed very well focused in his homecoming.

All three goals were even, full-strength goals. Carolina killed off seven penalties, including 1:27 of five-on-three. Edmonton killed off five penalties. Neither team was really able to do much on their respective power play.

Although I didn't like the outcome, it really was a great game. Highly entertaining. Great goaltending on both ends. Good defense on both ends. And clean.

I watched the game at my friend Bill's house. He acquired a high-def projection system, and projected the game on his garage door. That was a lot of fun. I recommend it for everyone.

Game four will be Monday with an 8:00 puck drop. No matter what happens in that game, Carolina will still have "home ice". Edmonton, by the way, did a great job of using home ice to their advantage. They made the right "last change" line changes, ensuring that they always had the right personnel. This, frankly, is something that Carolina hasn't really used to their advantage so far.

One statistic definitely worth mentioning is that Rod Brind'Amour only won 37% of his faceoffs. Shawn Horcoff, on the other hand, was on fire. He won 61% of his, including three of his four defensive zone draws. I would expect those numbers to be closer to 50% for each guy in game 4. Something else worth noting is that Georges Laraque, after playing the role of villain in game 2, was only given 24 seconds of ice time in game 3. From the looks of the shift chart, he had two shifts of seven seconds each in the first period, and one ten-second shift in the second. Nothing in the third.

One question I have for Edmonton fans. This is a serious question. Why was Doug Weight booed so lustily by the Oiler fans every time he touched the puck? I was under the impression that he was a fan favorite when he was there and that he left without dishonoring the team. Is there something I don't know about that he did on his way out the door?

Game 4 Monday night. Have fun.

For some Canes, a sort of homecoming.

By now, everyone has heard that some of the Hurricanes players are from the Edmonton area and grew up watching the Oil. Of course, in the case of Glen Wesley, Edmonton didn't even have a WHA team when he was born. That though, is another issue.

Wesley, 37, was born in Red Deer, Alberta, about 100 miles from Edmonton. He played one year with the Red Deer team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Cam Ward, 22, grew up in Sherwood Park, which is a suburb of Edmonton. He played midget hockey in Sherwood Park for a few years. From there, he went on to star for the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, twice winning the league's goaltender of the year award.

Mike Commodore, 26, is from Fort Saskatchewan, about 25 miles from Edmonton. He played one season of junior hockey there.

All these guys grew up with the Oil. They went to games there, they probably all have fond memories of seeing Grant Fuhr, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and the like. Of course Glen Wesley played against these guys, and Cam is probably too young to remember Fuhr, but you get the point.

Doug Weight spent many years playing with the Oil, wearing the C.

The cool story about all this, though is Ray Whitney. He's 34 and also hails from Fort Saskatchewan. He probably has more ties to the Oil than some players who are currently on their roster. When he was a kid, he was the stick boy for the Oilers. His dad, Floyd Whitney, has been the practice goalie for them for about 25 years. He has two Stanley Cup rings to show for it. He's a policeman in Edmonton, and has also served as security guard for the Oilers' dressing room.

Until now.

When it became clear that the Oilers' opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals would be the Canes, that part of it had to be temporarily halted. Both Floyd Whitney and the Oilers decided it would be better if he didn't work this series, so as to avoid the "conflict of interest". This little story tells it all.

Floyd had already planned to skip this one so he could watch his son play...

I'd already made the decision that I was going to leave my duties to my backup

but they beat him to the punch. They've actually banned him from the room. They didn't simply ask him to take those days off. They banned him from the room.

Well, there went our plan. That was our undercover secret agent. It was an incredibly elaborate set-up, but it's all for naught. Now we've lost that. Although Floyd says he was kind of hurt by it, I'm sure there's no hard feelings on either side. It does make sense on both sides for him to be as out of the official picture as possible.

Speaking of being "in the picture", maybe this will give Floyd an opportunity to be like his son. Ray has made it a habit of popping his head into the camera shot of pre-game interviews, hamming it up, and staying in the shot as long as he can. He'll be somewhere in the background, or in a corner, but he was there every time. All season long on FSN, Ray managed to do some little thing to hijack the pregame interview with another player. He's had success with this in the NBC playoff games, too. I'm hoping that we'll see more of it. I think he was having some difficulty with the OLN crew, but we are officially done with them.

Anyway, during the pregame on-ice interviews with Canes players, keep your eyes peeled for Ray Whitney in the background doing something goofy. Also keep your eyes peeled for Floyd Whitney. When the Canes were having a father-son week, FSN was interviewing somebody's father, and sure enough, Floyd popped his head in the shot. Like son, like father.

In my search for a picture of Ray and Floyd together, I found the picture you see here, which accompanied this article about Floyd, who was pressed into emergency service over in Europe during the lockout. He played two minutes, made two saves, allowed zero goals. He also told of one time when he nearly had to enter a game for the Oilers a few years ago. Take the time to read the article.

There are no Oilers with any ties to the Raleigh area, unless somebody has some relatives here. If they do, nothing's been said of it. Of course Chris Pronger was a Whaler. He was traded to St. Louis for Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan (along with other players) was traded to Detroit for Keith Primeau and other players. Primeau was "traded" to Philly for Brind'Amour. So those two have a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" thing.

Puck drop Saturday will be 8:00 on NBC in the United States.

Another msm gaffe

All season long, bloggers all over have enjoyed pointing out gaffes by the mainstream media's NHL coverage. Usually, the errors have been in the scoresheet. Sometimes they credited a player with an assist who doesn't even play for said team. Sometimes, they gave goals to players who are only in junior hockey. Sometimes, a game summary will feature several misspellings of the same player's name.

I just found one concerning the Canes on espn.com. Shawn Horcoff has been complaining about Rod Brind'Amour, saying that he cheats in the faceoff circle and that he gets "special treatment" from the linesmen.

Whatever makes you happy.

Anyway, the article features a headshot of Horcoff and the caption "Brind'Amour".

Classic.

Laraque to miss game three with league suspension.

Because he has been handed two game misconduct penalties for boarding this playoff season, Georges Laraque will be facing an automatic league suspension for game three. Why is nobody talking about this? EDIT 12:08 am. The reason nobody's talking about it is that it isn't going to happen. As Chris skillfully pointed out in the comments, they get a clean slate at the start of the finals.

By the way, if you do a google image search of "georges laraque boarding", this image comes back. It's from a game a couple of years ago. That Anaheim skater he's crushing? Matt Cullen.

According to rule 44c of the NHL rulebook:

Any player who incurs a total of two (2) game misconducts for Boarding under Rule 44 (b), in either Regular Season or Playoffs, shall be suspended automatically for the next game of his Team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.

In game three of the Oilers' Western Conference Semifinals, Laraque was guilty of boarding Jonathan Cheechoo of the Sharks. He was given a major penalty, a game misconduct, and the gate.

In game two of the Stanley Cup Finals, Laraque was again handed a major boarding and a game misconduct.

Although I haven't seen anyone report this yet, these are the rules. The suspension is "automatic", and I presume, not subject to appeal.

So if any Canes fans are looking forward to seeing some retaliatory hits on Laraque, they'll have to wait until at least game 4. I don't think we'll see anything of the retaliatory nature. There's no point in that. In the regular season maybe, but there's too much on the line to resort to Federal League tactics.

Rules is rules. I'm not making this stuff up. Section c of rule 44 is the important part, but you can read the whole rule for yourself here.

You want animosity? You got it!

The other day, one of the guys at the brilliant Covered in Oil was lamenting the fact that there's not enough hate in this series. He jokingly tried to stir up some hate by saying a really nasty thing about Ron Francis. He didn't mean it. He just wanted us to stop being such an agreeable bunch.

Well, I think the Oilers did their part to stir up some animosity on Wednesday night. Heck, they made their own fans hate them.

I don't know whether these were coaches' orders or what, but with about 2 minutes gone in the third period, and Carolina clinging to a four goal lead, the Oilers changed abandoned their game plan. Their new goal was to commit stupid penalties and attempt to injure their opponents. It all started with a play by Ethan Moreau at 2:47 of the third. Things went steadily downhill from there. Moreau came from North Durham to suckerpunch Glen Wesley at center ice. The puck was in Wesley's skates headed into the Carolina zone, and Moreau came high and hard at his face with a closed hand. That play served absolutely no purpose, and if referee McCreary could do it all again, he would seize control of the game right then. However, he had no way of knowing that the game would spiral out of control from there.
Carolina scored on the ensuing power play, taking a 5-0 lead. At that point, the Oil gave up, and it was clear.

Just a few minutes later, Ryan Smyth high-sticked Aaron Ward. It looked really bad at first, but there was no injury, and in my mind it was completely unintentional. However, it was still a product of overly aggressive play.

At 11:14, Laraque was called for tripping Nic Wallin. I guess there wasn't much else the referee could have called, but it looked suspiciously like he was intentionally leading with the knee. Wallin avoided most of the contact, but ended up being tripped. After spending two minutes in the box, he decided that he wasn't through.

At 16:44, "GG" Laraque committed a textbook example version of a boarding major. Andrew Ladd was facing the glass, trying to play the puck. He wasn't skating fast, didn't make any sudden moves. Laraque came at him very hard and intentionally used his elbows and forearms to shove Ladd's head into the board. The fact that he never tried to plead his case, and that Craig MacT looked very calm as his player was being ejected speaks volumes. That was no "mistake". It's almost as if MacT decided the game was a lost cause, and sent GG (who has a history of goonish play in these playoffs) out there to do his worst.

Am I mad? You bet! Am I overreacting? Maybe. Am I trying too hard to demonize MacT and his players? Probably. Point is, you got what you want. Now we hate the Oilers.

I doubt very much that we'll see such garbage in game three. In fact, I think it'll be a very clean game with a much better performance by the Oilers.

flag waving 101 (remedial level course)

Odd Joe, over at oddsnark.com is having a difficult time understanding the waving of an American flag at last night's 5-0 Canes victory. There's no way to post a comment over there, and no obvious way to send them e-mail, so I have to do it this way.

He says

Speaking of fans, did anyone else spot the ‘Canes supporter waving the American flag at RBC Center last night? I don’t mean to get all high and mighty here, but maybe a reality check is in order.... There are, in fact, just eight Americans on the Hurricanes roster and the only one who can claim any kind of Southern heritage is Matt Cullen, because he’s from Virginia, Minnesota. (And just for anyone who doesn’t know, RBC — as in RBC Center — is short for Royal Bank of Canada.) In reality, this Stanley Cup finals, like most, pits Canadian against Canadian, so maybe y’all should tone down the flag-waving patriotic fan fervor.

His attempt at geographical humor (Virginia, Minnesota being a southern city) falls short. There's some issues with the state of Virginia that have a little to do with that, but really it falls short for the same reason that an attempt to call Paris, Texas a European city would fall short. It's lame.

If the reference is to the fan who sits in the first row near the penalty benches, you don't have much of a frame of reference on that if all you saw was a teevee shot of it. If you were in the arena, then you weren't paying attention. Actually, if you've been watching hockey for more than 12 minutes, you should have understood what was going on.

The American flag was waved after Doug Weight (Detroit, Michigan) scored Carolina's fourth goal. It was a tribute to Dougie that's done for every goal-scoring player. That fan carries a flag for every player's nation, and waves the appropriate flag when a goal is scored. It isn't that uncommon.

I'm surprised you didn't tell us to get a "reality check" when the Czech flag was waved for Frantisek Kaberle's goal.

I still don't get why everyone thinks it's hysterical that our arena had its naming rights purchased by a Canadian bank. The arena in Edmonton is named after a pharmaceutical company based in Boston. Vancouver plays in GM Palace, also an American company. What exactly is your point?

Maybe you should tone down your snarkiness, Joe. But then again, that's the whole point, isn't it?

Canes throttle Oilers, take 2-0 series lead

On Wednesday night, the Canes shut out the Oilers 5-0, and took a 2-0 lead in the best of seven Stanley Cup Final series. On Monday night, Edmonton was the better team for 40 minutes, but ended up losing. On Wednesday, it was a different story. Carolina dominated almost the entire game. They dominated the special teams battle, they dominated the face offs, and (although the league doesn't keep these stats anymore) they dominated the time of possession in the opposing team's zone

Of all people, Andrew Ladd got things started for the Canes at 6:21 of the first. At 20 years, he's the youngest player in this Cup Final, and he's been looking like anything but a rookie. His two-way play has been extraordinary, and he's been really close on some other scoring chances. He came in on an odd-man rush with Eric Staal and Frank Kaberle. It really amounted to a 2-on-1. He was at the top of the right circle, with Staal charging in on the left. Instead of dishing to the superstar, he went ahead and took the shot from the top of the circle. Frank Kaberle made a great play in the Carolina zone to knock the puck away from Steve Staios, then head-manned it to Staal. Staal nudged it to Laddy, who had a notion to return it to Staal, but instead let a wrister go that easily beat Jussi Markkanen. It was his second goal, and Staalsy's 15th helper of the post-season. There was no way of even imagining it at the time, but this turned out to be the game winner.

Although there was no scoring for the rest of the period, Carolina controlled. Even during the three power plays Edmonton had, Carolina warded off (pun intended) any threats.

While Raffi Torres was gone for interference, Carolina converted a power play, giving the Canes a 2-0 lead at 10:28 of the second. The Canes were doing some routine puck-rotation stuff when Frantisek Kaberle fired a shot from the slot. It hit Markkanen, then trickled through his equipment and in the goal. Ray Whitney and Matt Cullen got the helpers.

In the waning seconds of the second, and the Canes applying insane pressure on the Finn, Cory Stillman got a hard-working, hard-earned goal. Nic Wallin fired a shot from the top of the right circle, which Jussi barely stopped by sliding to the near post. Stillman got a crack at it from in close, to the goaltender's left. Stillman's stuff-in was thwarted, but he corralled the rebound and wrapped all the way to the goalie's left. With a backhander, Stillman got another crack at it. This time, he lifted the puck over Markkanen's left shoulder . The even-strength goal, at 19:57, put the Canes way out front 3-0. Wallin and Viva got the assists.

The final period was characterized by some lazy, careless play by the Oilers. They committed six penalties, most of them the result of undisciplined overly aggressive play. Carolina converted two of five power play chances in the period.

At 3:25 of the third, Doug Weight made it 4-0. He was at the front of the crease and was able to re-direct a Mark Recchi shot. The puck glanced off his right skate, his stick blade, then in the goal. There was a brief review, where they were looking for a kicking motion by Weight. The power play goal was ruled good. Recchi and Cully got the assists.

At 4:12, Mark Recchi closed out the scoring with another power play goal. Matt Cullen made a completely insane no-look pass to Kaberle at the right point. Frankie attempted a one-timer from there, and it was redirected by the Recchin' ball out front.

As the period wore on, and it became more clear that the Oilers were not going to mount a comeback, things nearly got chippy. "G.G." Laraque took three consecutive penalties, and they were all of the "dumb" variety. Even "thuggish". Laraque, who has been used sparingly as a bit of an aggressor, was called for tripping at 11:14, and was ejected from the game after being given a five minute boarding major (plus game misconduct) at 16:44. With the goon ejected, and a major penalty on the board, this gave the Canes an opportunity to pour gasoline on the fire. However, they simply used the clock as their ally, melting the remaining 3:16.

With three assists (10, 11, 12), Matt Cullen got the third star.
With a goal (3) and two assists (7, 8), Frantisek Kaberle got the second star.
With a 25-save shutout, Cam Ward earned the first star.

There were certainly doubts about Marranen, and his performance didn't help matters. Although his defense was less than spectacular, he allowed five of 26 shots to go through. To you and me, that's a save percentage of .808.

Indeed, the special teams were a huge factor tonight. Carolina converted three of ten power plays while Edmonton failed to convert any of their six power plays.

Carolina will head up to Edmonton on Saturday with a commanding two-game lead. Anything less than a sweep by the Oilers would spell doom for them. I'm guessing that the Oil will bounce back for a game three win.

B LIST CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: 5
Kid Rock
Carolina Panthers wide recievers Steve Smith and Ricky Proehl
ESPN's Chris Berman
Mia Hamm.

Puck drop will be at 8:00 on Saturday. I haven't reviewed the game yet. When I do, there may or may not be some commentary about Laraque.

you know what it takes to sell real estate? it takes brass orbs of power.

On Monday, The Globe and Mail ran a little piece about Chris "Orbs of Power" Pronger and the well known fact that he's a former Whaler.

The author of the article, David Shoalts, is generally regarded as a toolbox around here, but it's actually a halfway decent article. Shoalts, who is a Leafs beat writer went all Mitch Albom on us back in January. He was witness to an RBC Center security person who didn't instantly recognize Bret Hedican's father-in-law during the morning skate, which is not open to the public. While most people have a hard time keeping their own in-laws straight, somehow Shoalts thinks that it was this man's task to instantly recognize the IN-LAWS of 20 complete strangers. The arena security is employed by the arena, not the team. Their job is to know tha arena, not the private lives of other people who work there. Anyway, Shoalts chose to take a pot shot at Carolina in general, calling the conversation that ensued between the guard and Mr Yamaguchi "REASON No. 437 THAT CAROLINA IS NOT A HOCKEY MARKET." Puh-leeese. Do you really think the hot dog vendors at MLG could pick out Darcy Tucker's in-laws from a crowd? Obviously, the guy is still bitter about 2002.

Moving on, though. Shoalts' little article focused on a line Pronger delivered when he was asked about his time with the Whale. Said Pronger:

"The biggest thing I remember is the Brass Bonanza. I can't get it out of my head."

Indeed, the song (RealAudio player required) is catchy, haunting, bordering on annoying. But it truly is fantastic. I wasn't a Whaler fan, and I can't lay claim to any sentimental value of the song, but I think it's a really neat part of my team's heritage. Even if it does have the feel of a 1970's game show, I love it. The Canes have truthfully done very little in the way of recognizing their Hartford roots. That's thanks in part to the fact that the city of Hartford to all logo trademarks. They won't give anyone permission to use them. This is why you can't buy a "vintage-style" Whalers sweater from NHL.com or any of those. Anyway, the only thing the Canes have done is to play Brass Bonanza over the PA once in a blue moon.

Gale Force Media (the jumbotron/PA people) missed a golden chance to mess Pronger up the other night. While the game was on pause before Orbs' penalty shot, they could have totally gotten in his head by playing a snippet of Brass Bonanza. Would it have made him miss the shot? Probably not. Would it have made any difference? Probably not, in all honesty. But it would have been funny.

For everything related to Brass Bonanza, visit the website devoted to the song. I've said it before, and I'll say again, there's good stuff going on over there.

Andy Grabia, over at Sports Matters, has the dilemma of his two favorite teams facing each other in the Final. Ultimately, he's more tied to the Oil than he is to the Whale. Thusly, he has actually changed his Final pick, and has changed his horse in midstream. However, he admitted that he can't stop humming Brass Bonanza in the shower.

I'm really hoping we get to hear it again inside the arena at some point in these playoffs.

Canes take game one with a bizarre finish.

On Monday night, the Hurricanes had a four-goal third period to outlast the Oilers 5-4. They have taken a 1-0 series lead, and will remain home for game two on Wednesday.

Of course I tempted fate by calling Mick McGeough a "good official" and predicting that Paul Devorski would make some questionable calls. You'll have to forgive me. Being an Eastern Conference fan, I have only seen McGeough about four times in my life. I had forgotten that he has more in common with Kerry Fraser than being lidless. They both enjoy taking the spotlight away from the players with overdramatic gesturing and showboating. They both make some lousy calls at critical moments. Today was no different.

Early in the game, it looked like Edmonton was going to dominate the game and run away with it.

While they were controlling the pace of the game and drawing penalties against the Canes, the Oilers scored first at 8:18 of the first. Fernando Pisani scored his 10th goal of the post-season. He picked up a loose puck out front and slammed it past Ward right after two Edmonton skaters cancelled Eric Staal behind the Carolina net. Raffi Torres and Jaro Spacek got the helpers.

I was surprised to see that at the end of the first, the shots were even at 8 apiece. It seemed like the Oil were totally dominating. Perhaps, though, that was because the Oil enjoyed a full two minutes of five-on-three. That segment was bookended by other power play time, so it seemed like an eternity with a man advantage. Fortunately, the Canes did a superb job of killing it all off.

The big controversy came midway through the second period. While there was a mad rush in front of the Canes net (south end of the arena during the second), the Canes Nic Wallin was penalized for smothering the puck in the crease. From behind the north goal, some 240 feet away, it looked like the puck had vanished from sight and play should have been whistled dead about three seconds prior to the penalty. However, some friends on the south end said they could see the puck the whole time. They still questioned the call, but were sure that the official never lost sight of it. Clearly, if the ref never lost sight of it, AND the Canes player covered the puck inside the crease, then the right call was made. Penalty shot. Because MacT had his fourth line out there, he thought that Chris ("former Whaler") Pronger would be his best bet for the PS. It turned out to be the right call, because Prongs abused Wardo on the shot. It was apparently the first successfully converted penalty shot in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals. The last time a PS was awarded was June 7, 1994 when Pavel Bure (then with the Nucks) came up empty against Mark Richter of the Rangers in game 4.

At 16:23, the Oil got what seemed at the time like a coffin nail. Ethan Moreau beat Ward on a long bomb shot from the right circle. The shot went through an Aaron Ward screen and glanced off Cam Ward's equipment before finding the back of the net. Defenseman Matt Green got the only assist.

Only 54 seconds later, the Canes got on the board with a very numerically appropriate goal. If you're into all that numerology crap, by the way, today's date is 06.06.06. Anyway, the goal came from Rod Brind'Amour (#17), and the time of the goal was 17:17 of the second. As the Canes came in on a semi-break, Cory Stillman beautifully set up Viva with a pass from the right circle to the left. Viva's shot was turned away, but Roli gave up a big rebound to his left. Brindy jumped on the loose puck and shoved it in from there. Although the Canes were still down 3-1, and had been outworked and outshot in that period, something about that goal screamed "momentum shift". Although it never factored into a scoring play, the period ended with an Oiler in the box, which made things seem much better than they really were.

Just 1:40 into the third frame, Ray Whitney one-timed one from the left circle past Roli to trim the lead to 3-2. Dougie Weight and Andrew Ladd got the helpers.

Indeed, the momentum had shifted. The Hurricanes got an equalizing goal on the power play at the 5:09 mark. Again it was Ray Whitney. He attempted a snap shot from the top of the right circle, which was stopped. Mark Recchi took a stab at it, but Roli made another stop. Whitters crept in on the front doorstep and beat Roli high over the left shoulder. The arena nearly erupted. Recchi had the first assist and Eric Staal, who had been held pointless two games in a row, got the secondary.

However, that was nothing compared to the euphoria of the next goal. The Oil were on a power play, and the Canes attempted a clear that should have been held in by Fernando Pisani Steve Staios on the left point. However, he slipped, the puck sailed through the neutral ice zone. Viva was able to break away with it and beat Roloson on the stick side from the high slot. The shorthanded goal, Carolina's second of the playoffs, was the fourth unanswered goal, allowing the Canes to take a 4-3 lead. Chad "Sharpie" LaRose, whose clearing attempt started the whole play, got the only assist. It was Sharpie's first career playoff point. Aaron Ward got the second assist.

At 13:31, things settled down a little when Ales Hemsky knotted the game at 4 with a power play goal. He made a dazzling move to explode through the slot and force a shot past Cam Ward as he charged in on him. It took an acrobatic move to avoid contact with Ward AND to score the goal. Somehow, he pulled it off. Jarrett Stoll and Chris Pronger got the helpers.

Just when it felt like it was going to overtime, the Oilers got a bit of a bad break. At 14:06, as the Canes were applying pressure in the Edmonton end, there was a collision that resulted in injury to star goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Andrew Ladd was streaking towards the net and was hit hard by Marc-Andre Bergeron. The hit drove Ladd into the goal, knocking the net off the pegs and Roloson to the ice. No replay was shown in the arena, but I was able to catch a glimpse of CBC's monitor. That replay (the only one I have seen) showed that it was not an incidence of goaltender interference, but one of a bad turn of events. Roloson was very slow to get up and had to be replaced by Ty Conklin, who hasn't played since the regular season. At this point, I don't know any details of the injury other than it was to Roli's knee. In the post-game presser, Craig MacT announced that Roloson would be lost for the rest of the series with an injury that is "the same thing as Radek's". This refers to a knee injury that kept Oilers right wing Radek Dvorak on the shelf for eight games earlier in this playoff season. This means that the Oil will have to start Ty Conklin or Jussi Markkanen in net. I don't know a thing about either one of these guys except that the Oilers faithful don't seem to have very much faith in them.

Carolina didn't get very many shots off against the rusty Conklin. The first shot against him yielded a huge rebound, but no second chance. I thought Carolina would make an effort to throw everything at him, but they didn't get much of a chance. Fortunately for the home team, they didn't need very many chances.

At 19:27, Brindy scored the game winner unassisted. Jason Smith made a tremendous mistake leading to it. I won't say it was like Steve Smith in game seven of the 1986 Smythe Division finals, but it was a huge mistake that cost his team the game. After Conklin went behind the net to play a puck, Smith attempted to make a pass, but barely nudged the puck a few inches to Rod Brind'Amour who was staring at a completely vacant net. He easily backhanded it in for what would prove to be the game winner.

The last :30 were furious, and Edmonton actually had some quality chances, but Cam Ward stood tall every time, holding out for the win.

With a goal (6) and an assist (10), Viva was the third star.
With two goals (7, 8), Ray Whitney was the second star.
With two goals (10, 11), including the game winner, Brindy was the first star.

Game two will be Wednesday night at 8:00.

Devorski and McGeough

Tonight's referee tandem will be Paul Devorski and Mick McGeough.

I despise Devorski. We should expect to see some questionable, even BAD calls on both ends of the ice. From what little I've seen of McGeough, he's a good official, but I've seen way too much of Devorski and his marginal calls. Hopefully it won't be that bad.

Puck drop is at 8:00. I don't think I'll have my "MY BEARD BELIEVES" sign, but I might make a new one while I'm drinking beer in the parking lot.

GO CANES!!!!

pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain. or the blonde girl.

I know I just said I wouldn't be doing this, but I feel obliged to offer this bit of advice to Oilers fans.

Please, please, for the love of Lord Stanley, ignore Raleigh News and Observer columnist Ned Barnett.

Every newspaper has one or two writers that are, to be kind, sub-par. Usually, these writers are relegated to the ranks of "local interest" columns about old ladies and kittens, or police blotter stuff. The kind of writers who would have a very difficult time writing their way out of a wet paper bag.

Every newspaper in every city has at least one of these dreck spewing clowns on their sportswriting staff. Ours is Ned Barnett. Apparently, he got his J-school degree by sending in 1000 proofs of purchase from Weetabix box tops. For a professional journalist, his writing is very bad. From a stylistic standpoint, it's a nightmare. Every article he writes is full of one-sentence paragraphs and bizarre analogies. He makes it worse because his sports knowledge is less impressive than his journalistic skills. His hockey knowledge is nonexistent.

I think the only reason he's kept around is so the rest of the fellas can have somebody to pick on, and because the editors have some elaborate drinking game they play using his submissions. If you happen to stumble upon one of Barnett's articles, or a quotation by him, please know that he's widely regarded as a tool around here. He might think he represents us, but we don't claim him.

Instead, I might recommend reading the work of Luke Decock, who is a good writer, a "tell it like it is" guy, and an Ivy League graduate.

Also, the Caniac Nation apologizes in advance to all Edmonton fans, and to all Canadians. Your beautiful anthem will be horribly disrespected by our "singer", Holly Wilver. Please understand that we don't like her, either. I'm hoping that the Canes have hired a professional singer to do the anthems since we'll be on the big stage. If not, please accept our sincerest apologies.

the fun begins tomorrow

Since there was a little down time, I decided to change it up a little around here. Nothing drastic. I just wanted to make a few slight changes to the page. I've said a million times, and I'll say again, this page is intended for use with the mozilla firefox web browser. You can still use MSIE if you want. You can still have your mother pick your clothes out for you, too, if you want. Just know that if you're using MSIE, the page won't look the way I intend it to look.

I've moved the "canes blogs" to the top of the right sidebar. Just beneath that, I've made a special section for "oilers blogs". Some of these have been in the blogroll anyway, while others are new here. There are scores of other blogs covering the Canes or the Oilers, but I can't highlight them all. For instance, Sports Matters is an excellent blog that has provided lots of insight into the Stanley Cup playoffs, and specifically the Oilers. I recommend the site, but they talk about baseball a lot, and according to recent posts, it might become a World Cup '06 blog. It's in the blogroll now, but it's not "all Oil, all the time".

I will not be issuing any threats, writing any open letters to Oilers fans, or otherwise intentionally baiting anyone into a sparring contest. That isn't my style. Sure, I might (probably will) write some things that wrinkle some feathers, and I expect to be criticized when I do.

I'm hoping for a really exciting series and lots of dialog here, and on the other blogs.

Also, look for me and mudcrutch at the CBC hockey bloggers roundtable.

Stanley Cup Finals -- the intangibles

The Stanley Cup Finals will start on Monday night. Until then, everyone will have a chance to analyze, prognosticate and make stuff up about this series. Most painfully, we will have to wait. For the city of Edmonton, they will have time to replenish their beer supplies after their highly publicized beer outages.

A lot of sites, professional and otherwise, break down their previews positionally. I won't get into depth on these, because I have a different point here. Most are in agreement that Carolina's forwards are slightly better than Edmonton's. All are in agreement that Edmonton's defense (so long as Chris(t) Pronger remains healthy) is better than Carolina's. Most say that Edmonton has better goaltending. Most say that Carolina's special teams are better. The coaches are about even.

The category that still remains is the mystical "intangible" category. I'm going to actually give the edge to the Oilers on this one. Because of spelling. In the recently concluded 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Finola Hackett, a 14-year old girl from Toefield, Alberta (near Edmonton) took second place. Before anyone cracks wise, she DID NOT get booted on the word "center" (centre) or "color" (colour). After 19 rounds, including a seven round knockout bout with eventual champ Katherine Close, Finola misspelled the word 'weltschmerz'

The winner of the bee is from New Jersey. Who cares?

The second place finisher is an Albertan. The significance of that? The third place finisher is a North Carolinian. 14-year old Saryn Hooks from Taylorsville, North Carolina (which isn't really anywhere near Raleigh at all) was the last speller to be eliminated in the sudden death rounds. She misspelled icteritious.

It was Hooks' third trip to the national bee. In 2005, she finished in seventh place. It was Hackett's second time, after finishing 11th in 2005.

So Albertan 14-year old girls are slightly better at spelling than 14-year old North Carolina girls. And in four or five years, they'll be better at taking their shirts off in public, too.

The "intangible" edge has to go to the Oil on this.

holy sweet mother of pearl!!!!

On Thursday night, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2, allowing them to win the best-of-seven series four games to three. For the second time in the last four seasons, the Canes have won the Prince of Wales trophy and will advance to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop will be at 8:00 on Monday.

Sadly, my tickets might not arrive until about 5:00 that night. Fortunately, there will be a backup plan instituted by the team if the tickets are not delivered on time.

I am having a hard time containing myself. I know I promised a gloriously detailed post about the thrilling game seven. I'm afraid that for the time being, I will have to take a pass on that. I hope you'll forgive me. At some point on Friday, a full post will come. For now....

Mike Commodore gave the Canes an early lead at 12:05 of the first, assisted by Dougie Weight and Viva.

Things went silent for a while, but Doug Janik gave the Sabres life by scoring a 4-on-4 goal at 15:50 of the second. Jochen Hecht gave the Crossed Swords the lead at 19:57 of the second on a bit of a fluky goal. At the time, it looked like it might have been the series clinching goal, but it turned out to be something else.

At 1:34 of the third, Dougie Weight knotted it up, giving the Canes new life. Ray Whitney and Nic "Secret Weapon" Wallin assisted.

At 11:30, the Captain put the Canes up for good with a power play goal. Viva and Cory Stillman got the helpers on what proved to be the series winner.

Before the Sabres could pull Ryan Miller for the extra attacker, Viva gave the Canes an insurance goal at 19:08. Brindy got the only assist.

After the conclusion of the game came the customary handshake line, then a very brief ceremony in which the Prince of Wales trophy was awarded. Thankfully, this time (unlike 2002), the Canes refrained from touching the trophy. In a very nice gesture, Erik Cole was sitting on the bench and was one of the first guys to don the "Eastern Conference Champion" hat.

And to sweeten the pot, according to reliable sources, I, my beard, and my sign proclaiming that "MY BEARD BELIEVES" were shown on both TSN and OLN.

I apologize for the lack of statistical depth and hard analysis. I promise that'll come later.

nervous.....

I think I'm gonna barf.

I didn't work today, and I've been trying to distract myself all day long so I don't worry myself into a coma. So far, nothing has worked.

Puck drop will be at 7:30. I'll get there around 5:00.

Depending on the outcome, my next post will either be a long, detailed post with multiple photos or a terse one without pictures.

Wish me (us) luck.

KFC's dog's breakfast

I've been thinking about writing something about this anyway, but then last night, I got this text message while I was working during the game:

That KFC 'meal' looks like a poultry abortion

Actually, what I was going to write was just about the ludicrousness of the commercial itself. You all know exactly which commercial we're talking about. However, now I feel obliged to write about the product advertised as well. Here's a cruddy copy of that commercial, which I snagged from youtube for your viewing pleasure. Below the clip will be my thoughts.


Right from the beginning, this commercial is a mess. Nobody walks into a KFC and says "What's good here?". Unless you've been living in a cave for the last 70 years, you pretty much know what you're getting yourself into when you walk through those doors. To borrow and modify a line from the fantastic film Glengarry Glen Ross, "A man don't walk in the store lest he wants to buy chicken." That's point number one.

Point B is the cashier. If someone asks a dipshit question like that, chances are they wouldn't get the answer he got. They'd get a very terse, sharply worded response like "Chicken". Her answer started off innocently enough, but by the time she got to "should I top it off with gravy and a three cheese blend?", she had skipped right past the mildly flirtatious stage straight to the point where she's practically taking her shirt off. And that dude's a married man, for cryin' out loud!

Then there's the meal itself. It might be tasty. Certainly I'm a fan of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy and cheese, but I'm not sure that I want them all mixed together like that. However, it is our uniquely American mentality to take any two or five items that are good, and put them together as one item. Or put them in a drinkable format. In this case, they made no effort to make the thing look appealing. I guess they're relying on our fascination with the combination of things, or the comfort of eating out of a bowl. Or our misguided hope that we, too, will be greeted by an attractive and flirtatious cashier.

This whole campaign, from the meal itself to the commercial, is a complete mess. As annoyed as I am by this commercial, I'd still rather watch it ten times than watch that horrifyingly annoying "BEEP BEEP" commercial once. I don't even want to talk about that one.

Sabres win in overtime, force game 7

On Tuesday night in Buffalo, the Sabres did exactly what they needed to do. Perhaps it wasn't exactly the way they drew it up, but they got the result they needed. They won game six 2-1 on a power play goal just 4:22 into the overtime period. Home ice still belongs to the Canes, though. The two teams will duke it out on Thursday night for the right to play Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Finals.

I was working, and even though we were slow, I didn't get to see much of the game. Very little of the first, almost none of the second. I did get to see most of the third, and almost all of the overtime. My point is that I didn't see the "whole" game, so I don't think I can represent it fairly. My impression from what I saw was that Buffalo controlled the game. Carolina was having a hard time getting anything going, and their power play didn't look good at all.

As I wrote before the game, Buffalo needed to be disciplined to win this game. They were. They were penalized three times in the first period, and none after that. I also said that they would have to capitalize on their power play chances if they wanted to win. They did. They cashed in on one of their five power play chances, and it was the only one that mattered. Doug Weight went to the box for boarding at 2:28 of the fourth frame. At that point (I was watching), I had a very bad feeling that the Crossed Swords would do something about it.

Because I haven't seen the entire game, I can't really give thoughtful analysis other than that.

Eric Staal had his 15-game scoring streak snapped. Cory Stillman was able to extend his to seven games with an assist on Carolina's lone goal.

Carolina will enjoy home ice on Thursday in the deciding game. Aside from having the crowd on their side, the Canes will always be awarded the last line change during a stoppage of play. This, if exploited properly, can be of immeasurable worth.

Carolina is going to have to come out early and play aggressively. They will have to avoid the penalty box. They will have to take an early lead to get the crowd into it.

Puck drop will be 7:30 on Thursday. I wish it was already over.

Game six tonight

Tonight, it's win or stay home for the Buffalo Sabres. They played much better on Sunday than they did on Friday, and in order to win tonight, they'll have to dig even deeper. Carolina was a bit off on Sunday, and will be expected to be ready for the Sabres' best effort.

Cam Ward will be in net.

Early word on the street is that Teppo Numminen will still sit out with the injured groin.

The biggest key to the game for both teams will be discipline. The team that is in the box feeling shame the least will most likely emerge victorious. Carolina has been outstanding on the power play, and will need to keep that up. Buffalo has been a little soft, and will need to pick it up. Seriously, though, Buffalo will have to stay out of the box if it is to have any chance.

I'll be working tonight, but I'll have chances to sneak peeks at the game.

Puck drop will be at 7:30. GO CANES!!!!!!

response to "this is the worst cup playoff EVAH"

The Edmonton Oilers have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and are eagerly awaiting the conclusion of the Buffalo-Carolina series. Many people including crotchety old Tom Benjamin and what's-his-name over at The Puck Stops Here have been screaming about how unfair it is that the league didn't automatically hand the Stanley Cup to the Detroit Red Wings. True, neither one of them ever actually suggested that, but they're both loudly complaining about the "quality" of the remaining teams in the race for Lord Stanley's mug.
Take, for example, the opening argument over at TPSH:

The Stanley Cup playoffs (especially the later rounds) are supposed to be epic battles between great teams. This year, this doesn't seem to be the case. None of the four truly remaining playoff teams look to me as great teams that win Stanley Cups.

A truly great team can be measured by a few metrics. I will choose two are examples (which I think demonstrate the problem). A truly great team has an elite goalie who is one of the best in the NHL. A truly great team (one that wins the Stanley Cup any year in recent memory) has at least four or five (and in many cases even more) players who are clearly on Hall of Fame tracks in their career.

In other words, don't even bother playing a regular season. Or have a playoff season. Piece together some sabermetrics, throw some 12-sided dice, and hand the Cup to the best team on paper. The sad news for TPSH is that this isn't a game of Strat-o-Matic baseball. This isn't Dungeons & Dragons. Games are played on the ice. By real players. The better player is only the better player if he is the better player. Likewise for the better team. And to suggest that a team isn't Cup-worthy unless they have five or more "players who are clearly on Hall of Fame tracks in their career"? That's complete garbage. There's another problem with that line of thinking, and it's that people seem to think that the Hall can induct an infinite number of players. That's another post for another day. During the off-season, maybe.

There's a reason that the NHL, and NBA and MLB use a playoff series format. They want to eliminate fluky upsets by inferior teams. They want to take "bad nights", or "playing above one's head" or "lucky bounce" out of the equation. To advance in the playoffs, you have to prove that you deserve to. Detroit finished the season with the best record in the league. With their future HOF roster, certain folks would award them the Cup right then. But when it counted, they couldn't win. You want a marquee matchup with marquee players? Don't blame the league. Don't blame Carolina and Buffalo and Edmonton. Blame Detroit. Blame Montréal. Blame New Jersey. Those are the teams that couldn't, despite their clout, get it done.

As for Tom Benjamin,(who is probably still mad because the Baltimore Stallions won the 1995 Grey Cup during the CFL's failed attempt at expansion into the USA) with his "we want the same four teams to win the Cup over and over" drone, I suggest that he watch the NBA instead. I don't buy into the "it's bad for ratings" or "it's bad for the overall health of the league" garbage. The sad reality is that our sport is a niche one anyway. True fans will watch the Cup final no matter who's in it. Casual fans don't know the difference anyway, and non-fans will continue to not care. While it's true that none of the remaining teams are dynastic, we may be witnessing the beginning of a dynasty. Or not.

In short, Edmonton is there because they deserve to be. They won three best-of-seven series to EARN the right to play for the Stanley Cup. Carolina and Buffalo deserve to be where they are, and by Friday morning, one of them will have earned the right to be playing for the Cup. Anyone who thinks that these teams are "mediocre" or thinks that they don't deserve to be where they are just hasn't been watching. Look, I'm sorry that the Canucks had an epic collapse at the end of the season, playing themselves out of the playoffs and allowing Edmonton to slip in the back. I really am. That doesn't mean that Edmonton didn't help themselves, nor does it mean that they're "lucky". Sure they had some luck to get the eighth seed, but there's a lot more than luck involved when you win three best-of-seven series.

Get over it. The league has more than six teams now, some of them are in non-traditional markets, and most of them are competitive.

Canes take game 5, lead series 3-2.

On Sunday night, the Hurricanes defeated the visiting Sabres 4-3 in overtime. The Canes now have a 3-2 series lead, and will have two chances to close out the Sabres. Game 6 will be at the HSBC Arena on Tuesday night. If Buffalo wins that game, there will be a game 7 back at the RBC Center on Thursday.

Although Carolina won the game, and looked dominant for stretches of the game, they were nowhere near where they were on Friday. Some will say that Carolina got lucky. Some will say that they "stole" the game. Some will say that the referees "handed them the game". Some will say that Buffalo had countless opportunities to put the game away, but couldn't. Some will say that Carolina took advantage of their breaks much better than Buffalo did theirs. Nobody will say that Carolina dominated the game. No matter what your take is, the Canes have put themselves in the driver's seat for this series. They are one win away from their second Prince of Wales trophy in four years. They are one win away from a date with the Edmonton Oilers. Five away from .... well...

It was hardly a surprise that Martin Gerber remained in net to start game five. However, he barely made it into the second period. Three goals on his first 11 shots. Two of the goals weren't his fault, but they still count. Chris Drury got the Swords off to an early lead at 7:08 of the first. Taylor Pyatt made a gorgeous pass from the Buffalo zone to all the way to the Carolina blue line, where Drury received the pass, beat the Canes defenseman one-on-one, and ripped one over Gerber's right shoulder. It was, for all intents and purposes, a breakaway. Aaron Ward was the only Cane anywhere near the play, and Drury blew right past him.

Fortunately, the Canes were able to level the score just 17 seconds later. After carrying the puck in the Sabres zone and dumping it down in the corner, Viva was left all alone in the right circle. Somehow, Nic Wallin had drawn all the Sabres' attention as he nudged the puck to Cory Stillman just behind the goal line. Stillman saw Viva all alone, who made no mistake firing one from the right dot through a triple screen of Sabres and past Miller.

Late in the first was the only goal that I would blame Gerber for. Derek Roy stole the puck from Cory Stillman at the half-wall, skated to the high slot and ripped one past a diving Mike Commodore and into Gerber's net. Even with Commy diving through the slot, Gerber had time to get a good read on it. It was a fantastic individual effort, and a great goal by the second-year player, who earned his 13th postseason point (5/8) on the unassisted goal. He would add an assist on the Sabres third and final goal. He should have been the game's third star, but it wasn't so.

At 1:55 of the second, the Canes defense again left Gerber out to dry. Commodore made a bad play at center ice that allowed Toni Lydman to spring free for a breakaway goal. Jay McKee and Derek Roy got the assists.

Mark Recchi got the Canes back in it at 5:21 of the second. Dougie Weight went behind and to Miller's left of the Buffalo goal, and made a sensational backhanded pass to the Recchin' ball, who was all alone right in front of the crease. Meanwhile, Jay McKee was standing around with his thumb in his ass. There was nothing Miller could have done about that. Every game, Doug Weight impresses me more and more. He and Recchi have been playing really well together, and they get better as a unit every time out.

The Captain knotted it up at three at the 10:04 mark with a power play goal. Frantisek Kaberle, running the point, flipped it to Eric Staal at the top of the left circle. He slid it across to the right circle, where the unmolested Rod Brind'Amour blistered the one-timer off the left post and in. There's no way in the world Miller was going to stop that one. In a rare goal-celebration, Brindy pumped both fists and thrust his arms upward. The momentum was now clearly on Carolina's side, and everyone in the building could feel it. With the assist, Staalsy extended his streak to 15 games. He now has 20 points (7/13) in 16 games played.

There was no scoring for the rest of the second. Or the third. At the end of the third, Bret Hedican took a hooking call, which made everybody nervous as all get-out. The penalty occurred at 19:19, and would obviously spill over into the overtime period. Of course, in the playoffs, we skate five-on-five, but nobody likes to begin a period on a penalty kill. The fresh sheet of ice is almost like having a sixth skater for the attacking team. However, the Canes were able to kill it off.

At 8:46 of the OT, Cory Stillman got the game-winner, setting off a huge celebration inside (and outside) the RBC Center. Admittedly, it was a lucky play, but the bottom line is the Canes finished a golden opportunity whereas the Sabres didn't finish their golden opportunities. Matt Cullen fired a shot from the left circle that was well wide of the net, but took a funny bounce to the front of the net. Ray Whitney couldn't get a stick cleanly on it, but it bounced out to Cory Stillman, who was hanging out in the low slot. He wasted neither time, nor opportunity in slamming it past Ryan Miller. It was his seventh goal and his league leading third game-winner of this playoff season. He is second on the team, and sixth in the league with 16 points (7/9).

Stilly earned the first star, while Cam Ward earned the second star, and the win in relief of Gerbs. Buffalo's Brian "Soupy" Campbell got the third star.

Game five in Buffalo on Tuesday night at 7:30. Game 7 of the ECF, or possibly game 1 of the SCF will be Thursday night back at the RBC Center.

Written while listening to To the Moon by Monster Movie.

Canes win in overtime, take series lead

On Sunday night, the Hurricanes defeated the Sabres 4-3 in overtime. They have taken a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series, which returns to Buffalo on Tuesday night.

I'm WAY too tired to make a serious post. I promise I'll get up in the morning and make a solid post before I go to work. For now:

Chris Drury gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 7:08 of the first. 17 seconds later, Viva tied it.

Ten minutes later, Derek Roy gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead.

1:55 into the second, Toni Lydman put the Sabres up 3-1 during a four-on-four sequence.

Mark Recchi scored for the Canes at 5:21 and Brind'Amour tied it up at 10:04.

The next 30 minutes were scoreless, taking us to overtime.

At 8:46 of the first overtime, Cory Stillman won the game for the Canes.

Eric Staal assisted on the Brindy goal, extending his scoring streak to 15 games.

Cam Ward replaced Gerber in net during the second period, and ended up getting the win.

Real post sometime tomorrow morning.

Numminen possible for game 5, Connolly doubtful, Briere on thin ice.

Word came from Buffalo this morning that Teppo Numminen participated in the Sabres morning practice and felt good afterward. There will be some game-time decision tomorrow on that front, and Teppo indicated that if the game were today, he would take the pre-game skate. This is something he has not done since getting injured in game one of this series. His is of the "lower body" variety. Actually, they're a little more specific, saying it's either a groin pull or a hip flexor injury. At any rate, he might be ready to go in game five, which would give the Sabres blue line a big boost.

Tim Connolly, on the other hand, has been all but ruled out for this series. There was some early hope that he would be able to return to the ice after having concussion-like symptoms resulting from a hit in game two of the series with Ottawa.

Fourth-line center Adam Mair, also out with a concussion, has been ruled "possible" for a return to the ice. There may just be a spot for him, too. In a "he said, she said" battle of newspaper quotes between captain Daniel Briere and Lindy Ruff, Ruff practically threatened to bench Briere. You can read the story about all this here , but here's the bare-bones:

Briere said he and the other forwards were having to work too hard because they were bailing out the rookie defensemen:

Maybe the coaches won't agree with me, or some of the other players, but the feeling I have is that early on we just sat back a little too much, we wanted to make sure our new defencemen would have a chance and we wanted to support them in our zone. ...

To which Lindy snapped a thinly veiled threat:

That's a bunch of crap. I'm sorry they feel that way... If in their minds they feel they overcompensated, then it's my job to get their minds set in the right place... If that's where they were at, they won't be there tomorrow.

I don't think he's bluffing, but I don't think it's going to be a problem, either.

Even before this came out, one of the writers for the Buffalo News, Bucky Gleason, had already decided to bail on the Crossed Swords. The impression I get is that this guy is Buffalo's answer to Ned Barrett. In his article, though, he brings up a point about the Sabres trade deadline inactivity that I brought up back in March. He thinks the Sabres should have traded goaltender Martin Biron for a quality defenseman instead of trading third-string goalie Mika Noronen to Vancouver for a case of stick tape and the third season of "Eight Is Enough" on beta video cassette. There has been a good deal of similar criticism hurled the Sabres way in light of their blueline plight. Sabres management, meanwhile, insists that it tried hard to get a good blueliner.

In case you're too lazy to click on the link to my post from March 9, here's the stuff you need to see that's pertinent to this post:

Edmonton shored up their goaltending situation, but not in a way that I expected. I sort of thought that Buffalo would ship Marty Biron out there. Anyway, a good pickup in Dwayne Roloson from the Wild. Roloson is a much better keeper than his numbers would indicate. The Oilers didn't really give up very much in that exchange. A first round pick and a conditional pick. However, that leaves Minnesota with only Manny Fernandez. They certainly don't have a stockpile of goalies at their AHL affiliate Houston Aeros. So Minnesota needs to do something.

And then this other snip:

I expect the Sabres to deal one of their goalies for some D. Ryan Miller will stay for sure, but I don't know whether they'll deal Biron or Mika Noronen. They might not get any takers on Noronen, but Biron would be a great asset to a team like the Wild, who now have only one keeper. EDIT -- 1:02 PM <<< as I was writing this, Noronen was dealt to Vancouver for a second round pick <<<<

I encourage you to jump in the time machine, though. It's just two and a half months. I said some poignant stuff in that post. Of course that post was made an hour before the Mark Recchi trade, and I said I thought the Canes were done. So I was wrong on that.

Anyway, back to the point. The last thing in the world the Sabres need now is infighting and wavering support from the fans. I think they'll have a strong showing on Sunday unless Briere is in Ruff's doghouse. In no uncertain terms, that would spell disaster for Buffalo. With the series tied 2-2, this is a critical game. Puck drop at 7:30 Sunday.

Canes dominate Sabres in game 4, restore home ice.

On Friday night, the Hurricanes did exactly what they needed to do. They won the game, and more importantly, they did it in dominant fashion. The final score was 4-0, but it wasn't really even that close.

Right out of the gate, there was a little (very little) bit of controversy about the Canes choice of goaltender. Martin Gerber got the start, which I thought was the right thing even before the game started. Gerbs (or as JP of Japers' Rink likes to call him, "Baby Food") was great in relief on Wednesday, and deserved the start.

Carolina got the scoring started at 6:54 when Mark Recchi got a redirect of a Frank Kaberle point blast. It looked like it bounced off a defender (which would turn out to be a recurring theme), but it was clean. AWard got the second assist.

Just three minutes later, Carolina scored again on the power play. On their first shot of that power play. Eric Staal wristed one in from the right dot that squeezed through a postage stamp sized window over Miller's right shoulder and just inside the left post. He extended his playoff point streak to 14 games, which becomes a new franchise record with each game. Bret Hedican got the primary assist and Ray Whitney got the second. Staal continues to lead the playoffs with 19 points (7/12) through 15 games.

The next few minutes featured a lot of end-to-end play and several good chances for each team. Somewhere around the 12 minute mark, Chris Drury made an amazing move that created a very awkward but excellent scoring chance as he came in the Carolina zone 1-on-2. Gerber made a great save to thwart that. Two minutes later, Max Afenogenov had a pretty good opportunity on an essentially open net, but he couldn't pull the trigger.

What came next, though, may have been the defining moment of the game. Mike Grier drew two penalties against the Canes. The first was defenseman Glen Wesley for holding at 14:48. The second was Martin Gerber for interference at 17:46. During the four minutes of power play, the Sabres failed to get any shots off. And they lost every power play faceoff in which Rod Brind'Amour participated. I thought the Canes defense looked fantastic during those segments. In particular, Bret Hedican was a monster during the penalty to Gerber. He shut down everything. Everything. The Crossed Swords weren't able to even generate any chances.

Very early in the second, Rod Brind'Amour had a clean breakaway chance, but Miller made perhaps his best save of the game to keep it 2-0. However, that wouldn't last long. Andrew Ladd scored his first ever Stanley Cup playoff goal at 2:10. It was a garbage goal on a rebound, but he'll take it anyway. Dougie Weight fired a one-timer from the right circle that Miller kicked right out front to Ladd, who easily slid it inside the left post for the 3-0 lead. Glen Wesley got the secondary assist.

Not much happened in the third. The Canes just tightened the screws and went about their business.

At 16:03, Bret Hedican closed out the scoring with a really odd goal. He and Brindy were coming in on a 2-on-1, Heddy on the right and Brindy on the left. From the top of the right circle, Heddy attempted a pass to Brindy, but it got caught in Brian Campbell's skate, and slid through Miller's five hole. Viva and Stillman got the assists.

We saw a complete effort by the Canes, and at least in this game, the Sabres looked off. The mounting injuries surely had something to do with it, but credit should be given to the Canes.

There is no doubt in my mind, nor in the mind of The Acid Queen, that Tinu will be the starter in game 5. And game 6. And (if necessary) game 7. You usually don't change your horses mid-stream like we did, but when one of your horses looks like Man O' War, you've gotta ride him. And keep riding him.

The Buffalo media handed out the stars thusly: 1 -- Gerber; 2 -- Staal; 3 -- AWard. Obviously I have no beef with Gerbs getting the first star. I'm not sure, though, how Heddy gets left out. He played an amazing game defensively, had a goal, had an assist. I don't know what else one has to do to earn a star in a 4-0 game. AWard was good, but I thought Heddy was better. And making the scoresheet helps, too. If I were picking the stars, I would have gone 1 -- Gerbs; 2 -- Heddy; 3 -- Staal. Of course, this is another academic issue.

With the key win, the series is tied 2-2. Now it's a best of three series, and the Canes have home ice. I expect the Sabres to look sharper on Sunday, and they might have the services of Teppo Numminen, but that's 50-50. Or, as he said, "50-60". Whatever that means. The Canes will have to keep up the excellent play that they exhibited tonight, and they'll have to get help from the crowd. I'm hoping for a less prevalent Sabres turnout than we saw for game one.

Puck drop on Sunday will be 7:30. I'll be tailgating in the RBC parking lot starting around 4 if anyone wants to meet up.

Written while listening to Ancient Melodies Of the Future by Built to Spill.

Cole won't make return this year.

The results of Erik Cole's CT scan are in, and it's now official. As the News and Observer reported today, Colesy is done for this season. Although the C5 vertebrae fracture is healing nicely, it hasn't progressed far enough for doctors to clear him for contact. With a minimum of three days and a maximum of 20 days remaining in the season, there won't be enough time.

Lots of folks were hoping that Cole would make a triumphant return to the Canes lineup if they make it all the way to the Cup final. Many other folks have been insisting that he stay out, even if he gets cleared. The people in that camp claimed that it would only put his health at risk to rush back like that.

The "non-clearance" makes it all academic anyway.

Cole will remain a presence in the room and in the stands, providing the team and the fans with a spark. He will absolutely be ready for training camp in the fall. I've given this matter a great deal of thought, and I think he should wear an A on his sweater next season.

My thinking is that Glen Wesley, who will turn 64 38 years old next October, will retire. With his retirement, the Canes will look to replace Wesley's longtime A. The logical choice on the blueline would be Bret Hedican, who despite playing the best hockey of his 49 17-year career, is also rumored to be a retiree-to-be.

Erik Cole is the best logical choice on the forward lines. He had a tremendous season prior to the accident, scoring 60 points in 60 games. In addition, he's actually one of the most tenured Canes, and has always been a very positive influence in the room. He certainly deserves to wear the A, and some day, the C.

This really should be the talk of the off-season, but I couldn't help it.

While my feelings about whether he should or should not return were mixed, everyone is in the same boat in that we are more concerned for Erik's health than his return to the ice. Coach Peter Laviolette sums it up perfectly:

"Everybody was holding out hope he'd be able to come back and play, but in the big picture we were worried about his life and career and that's going to be OK," Laviolette said. "It's disappointing he won't be with us, but that was really third on my list."

Sabres-Canes puck drop in 30 minutes. GO CANES!!!

More media love for red and black hockey.

Yesterday, I was contacted by a writer for the Christian Science Monitor, who was doing a piece about the rookie goaltenders in the NHL playoffs.

I know. I know. You're probably in the know about the fact that CSM isn't actually a religious publication. You probably know that it's a well-respected international daily newspaper with in-house writing rather than wire feeds. But you're probably thinking the same thing about them that most people think about the Wall Street Journal. They write about sports?!?!? Yes. They do. Once you know all that, you probably wonder why the CSM doesn't change their moniker since there are so many misconceptions about them. They've been in business for 98 years, and their founder insisted that the name stays.

Anyway, you can read the article here.

No hotlink, but at least I got a plug.