The NHL released the schedules this afternoon. They've gone back to the "balanced" schedule wherein everybody plays everybody at least once and there are fewer intra-division games. As usual, there are a few quirks, and I'll try to cover many of them in this post.
The Western Conference teams that Carolina will play at home are:
Detroit on October 13, Erik Cole and the Oilers on November 1, Phoenix on November 21, Nashville on November 23, Anaheim on November 30, St. Louis on January 2, Columbus on Valentine's Day, Colorado on February 22 and Cal-Gary on March 6.
The Western Conference teams that Carolina will play on the road are:
Los Angeles on October 17, Anaheim on October 19, St. Louis on November 30, Minnesota on December 23, Vancouver on February 3, San Jose on February 5, Phoenix on February 7, Chicago on March 11, and Dallas on March 14.
The schedule features 14 back-to-back games. Five start at home, three start on the road, three are back-to-back road games, and three are back-to-back home games.
There are just two home-and-home consecutive games against the same opponent. Both are in November.
Unlike the past three seasons, the final month is not division-heavy. In fact, Carolina's final seven games are out-of division. Five of the last six are against Atlantic Division opponents.
Carolina will face the Flyers four times in a sixteen day span between November 26 and December 11, and the two teams will be done with each other.
As is usual, Carolina will go on an extended road trip early in the season due to the North Carolina State Fair. This season, that trip will be six games. There will also be a string of games in January where seven out of eight games between the 8th and 27th are on the road. In addition to the six game trip, there will be two four-game trips and three three-game trips.
Carolina's longest home-stand will be four games, and that will happen three times.
The traditional New Year's Eve home game will be against Atlanta.
Matinees are the thing. Carolina has traditionally had just one matinee home game, but there will be seven this year. Six of those will be 3:00 Sunday games. Four of those will be in November.
The Hurricanes will first face the Islanders on October 25, but not again until February 19.
The date of "Glen Wesley night" hasn't been announced, nor have any of the mini-season ticket packages. Even if it doesn't work out for whichever package I choose, count me in for opening night, Edmonton, and "Glen Wesley night".
Showing posts with label Wesley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wesley. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Canes to revamp blueline
On Thursday, the Hurricanes officially announced two things that came as a surprise to absolutely nobody. First, Glen Wesley is retiring. Second, Bret Hedican will not be a Hurricane next season. Carolina currently has three healthy defenseman under contract for next season and will by default be a much younger group in the fall.
Just nanoseconds after the Wesley announcement, it was announced that the Hurricanes will be retiring his sweater number 2 at some point in the 2008-09 season. Wesley played 20 NHL seasons, ten of them with the Hurricanes. He also played three seasons with the Whalers before the team relocated to North Carolina. Before that, he played seven seasons with the Bruins
There are as many as seven former Whalers still in the NHL, but since Sami Kapinen and Glen Wesley both retired this week, just one is a Whaler/Cane: Marek Malik.
In 1994 Wesley was acquired from the Bruins for three first round draft picks. One of those picks would become Sergei Samsonov, who has resurrected his career with the Hurricanes.
Wesley played in 1,457 NHL games, which puts him at 16th all-time and ninth among defensemen. In terms of games played with the Whaler/Canes he had 903, which is second only to some guy named Ron Francis.
Looking at this list, he's in some pretty elite company.
One of my favorite on-ice memories of Wesley is from game one of the 2006 SCF. At the end of the first period and the Canes killing a penalty, Wesley blocked three shots in one shift, and they were all off his body. One on the ankle, one on the knee and one on the thigh. He limped off the ice and into the room, but returned to give everything he had. He ended the game with five blocked shots and a +2 rating.
That summer, he used his day with the Cup to visit wounded US Marines at Camp Lejeune.
The team announced further that it has hired Wesley to be the "Director of Defenseman Development". This is a position that was created out of thin air, but a very classy move by the organ-eye-zation. Wesley's work ethic has never been called into question, and he'll do a fine job developing prospects.
After Ron Francis, Wesley will be just the second Hurricane to have his sweater officially retired. Steve Chiasson's #3 has been "unofficially" retired, and the Canes have honored Hartford's retirement of the #9 sweater for Gordie Howe.
Like Francis, Wesley never cared about being in the spotlight and always deflected praise with class and compliments about his teammates. Whenever that sweater retirement ceremony is, I'll be there to cover the whole thing. "Ron Francis night" was excellent, and I expect "Glen Wesley night" to be just as good.
With Wesley (39) and Hedican (37) no longer in the fold, the Canes will need to pick up at least one defenseman through trade or free agency. Re-signing Tim Gleason is a very high priority. Tim Conboy acquitted himself quite well during his call-ups, so we should hope to get him re-signed as well as Dennis Seidenberg. Still, though, Carolina will need at least one, and probably two young NHL-calibre defensemen. There continues to be a ridiculous amount of speculation concerning a trade involving Erik Cole.
The draft is two weeks away. Then the free agent period begins on July 1.
Just nanoseconds after the Wesley announcement, it was announced that the Hurricanes will be retiring his sweater number 2 at some point in the 2008-09 season. Wesley played 20 NHL seasons, ten of them with the Hurricanes. He also played three seasons with the Whalers before the team relocated to North Carolina. Before that, he played seven seasons with the Bruins
There are as many as seven former Whalers still in the NHL, but since Sami Kapinen and Glen Wesley both retired this week, just one is a Whaler/Cane: Marek Malik.
In 1994 Wesley was acquired from the Bruins for three first round draft picks. One of those picks would become Sergei Samsonov, who has resurrected his career with the Hurricanes.
Wesley played in 1,457 NHL games, which puts him at 16th all-time and ninth among defensemen. In terms of games played with the Whaler/Canes he had 903, which is second only to some guy named Ron Francis.
Looking at this list, he's in some pretty elite company.
One of my favorite on-ice memories of Wesley is from game one of the 2006 SCF. At the end of the first period and the Canes killing a penalty, Wesley blocked three shots in one shift, and they were all off his body. One on the ankle, one on the knee and one on the thigh. He limped off the ice and into the room, but returned to give everything he had. He ended the game with five blocked shots and a +2 rating.
That summer, he used his day with the Cup to visit wounded US Marines at Camp Lejeune.
The team announced further that it has hired Wesley to be the "Director of Defenseman Development". This is a position that was created out of thin air, but a very classy move by the organ-eye-zation. Wesley's work ethic has never been called into question, and he'll do a fine job developing prospects.
After Ron Francis, Wesley will be just the second Hurricane to have his sweater officially retired. Steve Chiasson's #3 has been "unofficially" retired, and the Canes have honored Hartford's retirement of the #9 sweater for Gordie Howe.
Like Francis, Wesley never cared about being in the spotlight and always deflected praise with class and compliments about his teammates. Whenever that sweater retirement ceremony is, I'll be there to cover the whole thing. "Ron Francis night" was excellent, and I expect "Glen Wesley night" to be just as good.
With Wesley (39) and Hedican (37) no longer in the fold, the Canes will need to pick up at least one defenseman through trade or free agency. Re-signing Tim Gleason is a very high priority. Tim Conboy acquitted himself quite well during his call-ups, so we should hope to get him re-signed as well as Dennis Seidenberg. Still, though, Carolina will need at least one, and probably two young NHL-calibre defensemen. There continues to be a ridiculous amount of speculation concerning a trade involving Erik Cole.
The draft is two weeks away. Then the free agent period begins on July 1.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Canes win big game, lose Captain
On Thursday night, the Hurricanes defeated the visiting Penguins by the score of 4-2. Incidentally, I predicted this final tally, and won four shots for my soothsaying awesomeness.
On a much darker note, Carolina may have won the game and reclaimed first place in the Southeast division, but they have lost their Captain. On the first shift of the first period, Rod Brind'Amour sustained an injury to his knee which turned out to be a torn ACL. He's done for the season. By the time this season is done, it's likely that Carolina will have 300 or more man-games lost to injury. I'll get to work on finding an exact number, but I'm guessing that it's somewhere at or above 200 already. Justin Williams, Chad LaRose and now Rod Brind'Amour are done for the season. Matt Cullen has been on the IR for some time and his return is not looking that great right now.
On top of all that, the Hurricanes are dealing with a second bout of the flu. After six or more Hurricanes had the flu back in January, it looks like it's reared its ugly head again. Tim Gleason and newcomer Joe Corvo have contracted the flu and sat out on Thursday.
No matter.
The Hurricanes played with the hand that was dealt them, and they played it well. With no less than four AHL-quality players already in the lineup, they lost Rod Brind'Amour in the game's first minute, but rolled with the punches and emarged with an impressive 4-2 win over a weary Penguins team.
The game was not a part of my season ticket package, but a friend of a friend hooked me up with some corporate box seats with free food and booze. It rocked. So there I sat in a corporate box with two friends of mine who are both Penguins fans and a complete stranger (the one who hooked us up) who is a Sabres fan. I enjoyed.
We got an extremely late start on our drive, but I was very impressed with the Sabre fan's ability to make a one hour drive take about 38 minutes. We missed the first minute of the game, and Brindy's injury.
Erik Cole got the good guys off and running at 3:13 with a tip-in of a right point shot from Ray Whitney. With Jordan Staal in the penalty box for kneeing, Carolina won the faceoff and Whitney's shot was directed in by Cole. Jeff Hamilton got the secondary assist.
Public Enemy #1 Brooks Orpik evened the score at 13:00 of the first. He uncorked a shot from the outside hashmarks of the left circle, and it beat Ward cleanly. Colby Armstrong and Jarku Ruutu got the helpers.
In the second frame, the Penguins took the lead at 2:38 when Evgeni Malkin notched his 33rd goal of the season. His shot from the left circle apparently caromed off Frantisek Kaberle's stick. The goal was unassisted, but I thought Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar deserved helpers.
At 10:36, Eric Staal got the equalizer while his little brother was in the box again. Ray Whitney's point shot was tipped by Andrew Ladd and stopped by Dany Sabourin, but Staal picked up the loose change in the low slot and wristed it home. Originally, the helpers went to Whitney and Kaberle, but in the end, Ladd was given the primary assist and Whitney the second.
The third period was all Canes.
Ray Whitney put the home team in the lead at 3:49 of the final stanza when he made a really nifty maneuver through the slot and beat Sabourin for another power play goal. Maxim Talbot (not Jordan Staal) was the party in the box feeling shame this time. Eric Staal and Frantisek Kaberle got the assists.
At 11:39, Ryan Bayda (who is one of many Albany River Rats call-ups) notched his first goal of the season by firing one in off the right post and in from the slot. Scott Walker and Glen Wesley assisted on the even strength goal.
Earlier in the day, I commented to my Penguins fan friend that the Hurricanes power play was listless. I even said to him that they could do whatever they wanted to us and we wouldn't capitalize on our power play chances. Boy was I wrong. Carolina cashed in on three of their six chances.
To start the game, Carolina was already missing three key defensemen and two forwards. Then they lost Brind'Amour for the season. They still put up one of the best outings of the season against an admittedly tired team. Carolina put 46 shots on net, blocked an amazing 22 shots and laid out an eye-popping 32 hits.
The "official" three stars went to Frantisek Kaberle (third), Eric Staal (second) and Ray Whitney (first). I didn't quite see it that way. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Glen Wesley, CAR --- 6 blocked shots, 4 hits
SECOND STAR Ray Whitney, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists, 2 takeaways
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist, 59% faceoff wins
Eric Staal is going to have to do more of what he did tonight. He took the game on his shoulders. He took the faceoffs that Brindy would have taken, and he won them. He scored a key goal and assisted on the game winner. From this point forward, with the Captain out of the lineup, the team is Staal's.
When the Canes and Penguins met last week, Jordan Staal had one assist and Eric had nothing. This time, Eric had the much better game. Eric's goal came while Jordan was in the box, and Jordan was in the box for one of Carolina's other goals. He finished with an abysmal 24% (4 out of 17) faceoff win percentage.
On a different day, I'll plan to post about how I think Canes fans need to get over the Orpik hatred.
On another different day, I'll plan to updated the Staal v Staal v Staal points race.
On another different day, I'll plan to outline the Hurricanes injury woes.
I'll probably get to those posts in reverse order.
For now, the Canes are happy that they're in first place, but devastated that they've lost their Captain for the remainder of the season.
On a much darker note, Carolina may have won the game and reclaimed first place in the Southeast division, but they have lost their Captain. On the first shift of the first period, Rod Brind'Amour sustained an injury to his knee which turned out to be a torn ACL. He's done for the season. By the time this season is done, it's likely that Carolina will have 300 or more man-games lost to injury. I'll get to work on finding an exact number, but I'm guessing that it's somewhere at or above 200 already. Justin Williams, Chad LaRose and now Rod Brind'Amour are done for the season. Matt Cullen has been on the IR for some time and his return is not looking that great right now.
On top of all that, the Hurricanes are dealing with a second bout of the flu. After six or more Hurricanes had the flu back in January, it looks like it's reared its ugly head again. Tim Gleason and newcomer Joe Corvo have contracted the flu and sat out on Thursday.
No matter.
The Hurricanes played with the hand that was dealt them, and they played it well. With no less than four AHL-quality players already in the lineup, they lost Rod Brind'Amour in the game's first minute, but rolled with the punches and emarged with an impressive 4-2 win over a weary Penguins team.
The game was not a part of my season ticket package, but a friend of a friend hooked me up with some corporate box seats with free food and booze. It rocked. So there I sat in a corporate box with two friends of mine who are both Penguins fans and a complete stranger (the one who hooked us up) who is a Sabres fan. I enjoyed.
We got an extremely late start on our drive, but I was very impressed with the Sabre fan's ability to make a one hour drive take about 38 minutes. We missed the first minute of the game, and Brindy's injury.
Erik Cole got the good guys off and running at 3:13 with a tip-in of a right point shot from Ray Whitney. With Jordan Staal in the penalty box for kneeing, Carolina won the faceoff and Whitney's shot was directed in by Cole. Jeff Hamilton got the secondary assist.
Public Enemy #1 Brooks Orpik evened the score at 13:00 of the first. He uncorked a shot from the outside hashmarks of the left circle, and it beat Ward cleanly. Colby Armstrong and Jarku Ruutu got the helpers.
In the second frame, the Penguins took the lead at 2:38 when Evgeni Malkin notched his 33rd goal of the season. His shot from the left circle apparently caromed off Frantisek Kaberle's stick. The goal was unassisted, but I thought Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar deserved helpers.
At 10:36, Eric Staal got the equalizer while his little brother was in the box again. Ray Whitney's point shot was tipped by Andrew Ladd and stopped by Dany Sabourin, but Staal picked up the loose change in the low slot and wristed it home. Originally, the helpers went to Whitney and Kaberle, but in the end, Ladd was given the primary assist and Whitney the second.
The third period was all Canes.
Ray Whitney put the home team in the lead at 3:49 of the final stanza when he made a really nifty maneuver through the slot and beat Sabourin for another power play goal. Maxim Talbot (not Jordan Staal) was the party in the box feeling shame this time. Eric Staal and Frantisek Kaberle got the assists.
At 11:39, Ryan Bayda (who is one of many Albany River Rats call-ups) notched his first goal of the season by firing one in off the right post and in from the slot. Scott Walker and Glen Wesley assisted on the even strength goal.
Earlier in the day, I commented to my Penguins fan friend that the Hurricanes power play was listless. I even said to him that they could do whatever they wanted to us and we wouldn't capitalize on our power play chances. Boy was I wrong. Carolina cashed in on three of their six chances.
To start the game, Carolina was already missing three key defensemen and two forwards. Then they lost Brind'Amour for the season. They still put up one of the best outings of the season against an admittedly tired team. Carolina put 46 shots on net, blocked an amazing 22 shots and laid out an eye-popping 32 hits.
The "official" three stars went to Frantisek Kaberle (third), Eric Staal (second) and Ray Whitney (first). I didn't quite see it that way. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Glen Wesley, CAR --- 6 blocked shots, 4 hits
SECOND STAR Ray Whitney, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists, 2 takeaways
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist, 59% faceoff wins
Eric Staal is going to have to do more of what he did tonight. He took the game on his shoulders. He took the faceoffs that Brindy would have taken, and he won them. He scored a key goal and assisted on the game winner. From this point forward, with the Captain out of the lineup, the team is Staal's.
When the Canes and Penguins met last week, Jordan Staal had one assist and Eric had nothing. This time, Eric had the much better game. Eric's goal came while Jordan was in the box, and Jordan was in the box for one of Carolina's other goals. He finished with an abysmal 24% (4 out of 17) faceoff win percentage.
On a different day, I'll plan to post about how I think Canes fans need to get over the Orpik hatred.
On another different day, I'll plan to updated the Staal v Staal v Staal points race.
On another different day, I'll plan to outline the Hurricanes injury woes.
I'll probably get to those posts in reverse order.
For now, the Canes are happy that they're in first place, but devastated that they've lost their Captain for the remainder of the season.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Canes destroy Toronto
On Tuesday night, the visiting Hurricanes soundly defeated Toronto 7-1.
I'll take the over on bad puns appearing in newspaper headlines tomorrow. The most common will be:
Everything went right for the Hurricanes. Almost everything. Aside from Erik Cole missing an empty net.
12 Ten different gentlemen graced the scoresheet for the Hurricanes.
Cory Stillman, who played his first game of the season, and Justin Viva Williams led the way with a goal and two assists each.
Eric Staal had a goal and an assist.
Scott Walker had a goal and an assist.
Erik Cole had an assist.
Rod Brind'Amour had two assists.
Bret Hedican had an assist.
Glen Wesley had an assist.
Matt Cullen had a goal andan two assists.
Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist.
Jeff Hamilton had a goal.
Dennis Seidenberg had an assist.
Four goals came on the powerplay, and the only goal against was during a shorthanded sequence.
The "official" three stars went to Ray Whitney (third), Justin Williams (second) and Matt Cullen (first), but I'll give mine this way:
THIRD STARJustin "Viva" Williams, CAR --- 1 goal, 2 assists
SECOND STARCam Ward, CAR --- 27 saves
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists
I won't bore all two of my readers with a rundown of the scoring. For that, refer to the official scoresheet.
This was Cory Stillman's first game this season after playing one-man demolition derby in the RBC parking lot on October 2. He played an amazing game. Maybe he should wreck his car more often.
I kid because I care. And because nobody got seriously hurt.
This game was characterized by the Canes playing aggressively. Going all the way back to the "Chairman Mo" years, the Hurricanes have been too passive on the power play. Tonight, they were very aggressive, using five forwards during some of the sequences. This is, allegedly, an innovation suggested by Ron Francis.
The game was also characterized by a lazy and listless Maple Leafs team. They were forced to take a lot of penalties because they were unable to keep up with the speedy Canes forwards. Erik Cole created a few power plays by drawing penalties to the Leafs defense.
Ray Whitney's goal, which made it 4-1, epitomized the Leafs play. They had turned aside a Canes scoring chance, and the puck was going the other way. A neutral zone turnover later, the Leafs players were all still going the other way and Whitney was allowed to waltz in unmolested. As the crappy Versus commentators said, it looked like they were out for a Sunday skate. Meanwhile, Whitney didn't miss his mark. That was 17:23 of the second. After that, the Leafs were done. They simply folded. Aside from a pathetic attempt by Darcy Tucker to start a fight at the expiration of the second, the Leafs showed no energy at all after that.
Curiously, Chariman Mo decided to "dance with the one who brung him", leaving Vessa Toskala between the pipes the entire game.
Speaking of Mo, let's not forget that he promised the Leafs would make the playoffs, and slighted the Hurricanes of yore by saying "This will be the most talented hockey team I've ever coached".
The Hurricanes six game road trip continues through Canada. They'll be in Ottawa on Thursday and Montréal on Saturday.
I'll take the over on bad puns appearing in newspaper headlines tomorrow. The most common will be:
Hurricanes blow Leafs away
Everything went right for the Hurricanes. Almost everything. Aside from Erik Cole missing an empty net.
Cory Stillman, who played his first game of the season, and Justin Viva Williams led the way with a goal and two assists each.
Eric Staal had a goal and an assist.
Scott Walker had a goal and an assist.
Erik Cole had an assist.
Rod Brind'Amour had two assists.
Matt Cullen had a goal and
Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist.
Jeff Hamilton had a goal.
Dennis Seidenberg had an assist.
Four goals came on the powerplay, and the only goal against was during a shorthanded sequence.
The "official" three stars went to Ray Whitney (third), Justin Williams (second) and Matt Cullen (first), but I'll give mine this way:
THIRD STARJustin "Viva" Williams, CAR --- 1 goal, 2 assists
SECOND STARCam Ward, CAR --- 27 saves
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists
I won't bore all two of my readers with a rundown of the scoring. For that, refer to the official scoresheet.
This was Cory Stillman's first game this season after playing one-man demolition derby in the RBC parking lot on October 2. He played an amazing game. Maybe he should wreck his car more often.
I kid because I care. And because nobody got seriously hurt.
This game was characterized by the Canes playing aggressively. Going all the way back to the "Chairman Mo" years, the Hurricanes have been too passive on the power play. Tonight, they were very aggressive, using five forwards during some of the sequences. This is, allegedly, an innovation suggested by Ron Francis.
The game was also characterized by a lazy and listless Maple Leafs team. They were forced to take a lot of penalties because they were unable to keep up with the speedy Canes forwards. Erik Cole created a few power plays by drawing penalties to the Leafs defense.
Ray Whitney's goal, which made it 4-1, epitomized the Leafs play. They had turned aside a Canes scoring chance, and the puck was going the other way. A neutral zone turnover later, the Leafs players were all still going the other way and Whitney was allowed to waltz in unmolested. As the crappy Versus commentators said, it looked like they were out for a Sunday skate. Meanwhile, Whitney didn't miss his mark. That was 17:23 of the second. After that, the Leafs were done. They simply folded. Aside from a pathetic attempt by Darcy Tucker to start a fight at the expiration of the second, the Leafs showed no energy at all after that.
Curiously, Chariman Mo decided to "dance with the one who brung him", leaving Vessa Toskala between the pipes the entire game.
Speaking of Mo, let's not forget that he promised the Leafs would make the playoffs, and slighted the Hurricanes of yore by saying "This will be the most talented hockey team I've ever coached".
The Hurricanes six game road trip continues through Canada. They'll be in Ottawa on Thursday and Montréal on Saturday.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Canes report card .... part 1 of 5
Now that we've reached the half-way point of the season, it's time for the midterm grades. This isn't going to be easy, but I'll go down the Canes roster numerically and grade them all. Feel free to bust my chops if you disagree with a grade. Please note that some of these grades will be given based on rash decisions.
#2 Glen Wesley -- B+
The ancient defenseman is still extremely reliable. He seldomly makes mistakes in the defensive zone, and does an outstanding job on the penalty kill. Offensively, he leaves a bit to be desired, and has had a tiny bit of difficulty with his infrequent opportunities to run the point on power play. A great player, but slowing down with age.
#6 Bret Hedican -- B-
A very sound defenseman, who, like Wesley, is letting his age and injuries catch up to him. He's a phenomenal skater with good passing skills. He's on pace to have a good season in terms of assists, but he's not active enough in that whole "joining the rush" thing to make any waves in goal scoring. He's doing a good job, but he can't be as physical as he used to be, and occasionally it hurts the Canes.
# 7 Nick Wallin (aka "Nicky", aka "Secret Weapon") -- B+
The defenseman has been set back by a couple of injuries, and had one or perhaps two "bad games", but aside from that, he's been very solid. Since last season, he's picked up his level of physical intensity, and has really cranked up the hit-meter. He does a good job of finding the right place to be when the goaltender is out of position. Although he has an uncanny knack of coming up with some clutch plays, he doesn't bring much to the table offensively, and really can't be trusted to handle the puck.
#8 Tim Gleason -- incomplete -- B
Gleason has been a very pleasant surprise for the Canes. Acquired over the summer from the Kings in the "Jack Johnson deal", there weren't many expectations for him. Right away, he was forced to be a major blue line player, and he didn't disappoint. He's been victim to a few injuries, keeping him out of about 14 games so far, and he played hurt in a few others. When he's been healthy, he's been very good, but we really don't know. No offensive skills, but he's a very physical defenseman, and has displayed the ability to take over the defensive zone. By the time he's done developing, he should be an outstanding defenseman. It's not really fair to give him a grade since we haven't seen enough of him playing healthy, but I sure have liked what I've seen.
#11 Justin Williams (aka Viva)-- A+
Viva has been arguably the Canes best player this season. He may still be developing, but he tallied 76 (31/45) points last season, and is on pace to match that this season, with more points coming from goals. He's on pace for 37 goals, but I think he'll have no trouble reaching 40. A power forward with explosive speed, good puck handling skills and a nose for the front of the net, he's always in the right place at crucial moments. It's no surprise to me that at the halfway point, he's leading the entire League in game winning goals (6) and leading the team in shorties (2). He still commits more stick fouls than we'd like, but he more than makes up for it with his point production and his high level of "team toughness".
That's it for now. This is tougher than I imagined, and I'll have to do these five players at a time.
#2 Glen Wesley -- B+ The ancient defenseman is still extremely reliable. He seldomly makes mistakes in the defensive zone, and does an outstanding job on the penalty kill. Offensively, he leaves a bit to be desired, and has had a tiny bit of difficulty with his infrequent opportunities to run the point on power play. A great player, but slowing down with age.
#6 Bret Hedican -- B-A very sound defenseman, who, like Wesley, is letting his age and injuries catch up to him. He's a phenomenal skater with good passing skills. He's on pace to have a good season in terms of assists, but he's not active enough in that whole "joining the rush" thing to make any waves in goal scoring. He's doing a good job, but he can't be as physical as he used to be, and occasionally it hurts the Canes.
# 7 Nick Wallin (aka "Nicky", aka "Secret Weapon") -- B+The defenseman has been set back by a couple of injuries, and had one or perhaps two "bad games", but aside from that, he's been very solid. Since last season, he's picked up his level of physical intensity, and has really cranked up the hit-meter. He does a good job of finding the right place to be when the goaltender is out of position. Although he has an uncanny knack of coming up with some clutch plays, he doesn't bring much to the table offensively, and really can't be trusted to handle the puck.
#8 Tim Gleason -- incomplete -- BGleason has been a very pleasant surprise for the Canes. Acquired over the summer from the Kings in the "Jack Johnson deal", there weren't many expectations for him. Right away, he was forced to be a major blue line player, and he didn't disappoint. He's been victim to a few injuries, keeping him out of about 14 games so far, and he played hurt in a few others. When he's been healthy, he's been very good, but we really don't know. No offensive skills, but he's a very physical defenseman, and has displayed the ability to take over the defensive zone. By the time he's done developing, he should be an outstanding defenseman. It's not really fair to give him a grade since we haven't seen enough of him playing healthy, but I sure have liked what I've seen.
#11 Justin Williams (aka Viva)-- A+Viva has been arguably the Canes best player this season. He may still be developing, but he tallied 76 (31/45) points last season, and is on pace to match that this season, with more points coming from goals. He's on pace for 37 goals, but I think he'll have no trouble reaching 40. A power forward with explosive speed, good puck handling skills and a nose for the front of the net, he's always in the right place at crucial moments. It's no surprise to me that at the halfway point, he's leading the entire League in game winning goals (6) and leading the team in shorties (2). He still commits more stick fouls than we'd like, but he more than makes up for it with his point production and his high level of "team toughness".
That's it for now. This is tougher than I imagined, and I'll have to do these five players at a time.
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