NHL: Tell me about those Canes

I haven't seen any hockey yet this year. Nada, zip, zilch. But I still consider myself a Canes fan by proxy, once removed from Whaler Fandom.

Needless to say the Canes don't get a lot of coverage out here on the West Coast. Small market, usually mediocre to poor in performance. So when I was talking with my buddy from Philly last night, and went online to check the Flyer's Stats I was pretty shocked.

They've sitting at 11-2-1? They're being lead by a Rookie Center, Eric Staal? They've won 8 in a row? I know we have some Carolina GWJ'ers in the house, lets let loose with some details. Is this just the result of playing in a weak division or is something real going on here?

Cue ColdForged in 5...4...3...

They've sitting at 11-2-1? They're being lead by a Rookie Center, Eric Staal? They've won 8 in a row? I know we have some Carolina GWJ'ers in the house, lets let loose with some details. Is this just the result of playing in a weak division or is something real going on here?

They are a strong team and have some very good young players. Staal and Ward are playing amazingly well. However, Staal is not a rookie, he played 82 games last season. Carolina's division is the second weakest in the league (Central is the weakest) but it does have the former Stanley Cup champions.

I said ColdForged. Are you ColdForged?

Anyway, Canes? What. ever. This is pure luck and they should run out of it any time now.

I'll be waiting NC boy.

I said ColdForged. Are you ColdForged?

NO! But I do consider myself somewhat knowledgable in hockey.

You're Canadian, that's a given. But him...

Tells you how long I've been out of this forum, eh? Weird.

Them 'Canes are kicking some tail. Well, up to the 9 to nada beating they took Saturday from Atlanta. I had tickets but had to change plans and the game wasn't televised so I don't have much clue what happened to them. Up to that point they've been doing many things right.

1) Staal and Cam Ward have been excellent. Even Martin Gerber, who I thought was shaky in the preseason, is playing well.
2) Those relatively low-key trades for players like Stillman, Whitney, and Tverdovsky had a lot of foresight and wisdom. They're playmakers and quarterbacks, they get the puck to people and they have excellent game sense. It helps that they can score too.
3) The new rules changes fit our (new) strengths. We've got some people that can skate and shoot. Now that it's opened up, they have room to move. And if they don't get the room they draw penalties. Erik Cole is the king of drawing penalties (and taking dives if you believe the refs) through his hard skating and elusiveness.
4) We can actually score on powerplays. We have a dangerous PP squad that cycles effectively and gets scoring chances. I think we were ranked 3rd in the NHL before Saturday on the PP.
5) For the most part we've been disciplined, taking fewer penalty minutes than our opponents. Combined with the PP threat, that adds up to points. I believe this effect will level out over the course of the season as teams get used to the rules. You can already see it happening on breakaways as defensemen are beginning to stop the hooking and just let them go when they're beat.
6) Laviolette apparently is quite a coach. He had excellent strategies even in the preseason taking advantage of the removal of the two-line pass rule, and they're still improving.

I think this will be a good season for the Canes. Hopefully Saturday wasn't an evil harbinger of ill tidings but a mere aberration.

Thanks for the good information. It looks like many things have changed for the better down there.

4) We can actually score on powerplays. We have a dangerous PP squad that cycles effectively and gets scoring chances. I think we were ranked 3rd in the NHL before Saturday on the PP.

This is in particular quite refreshing to hear. I lost so much hair in previous seasons watching the Cane's get a PP and then see em spend most of it in their own zone.

6) Laviolette apparently is quite a coach. He had excellent strategies even in the preseason taking advantage of the removal of the two-line pass rule, and they're still improving.

That's good to hear. I guess the mourning period for Maurice needs to end and it's time to get Laviolette a chance. I'll put Paul on a bench next to Ted Nolan.

Now if they've only banned the dudes wearing pastel Tuxedoes.

edit: are the old dogs Brind'amore, Wesley and Hedican still kicking?

Fripper wrote:

I guess the mourning period for Maurice needs to end and it's time to get Laviolette a chance. I'll put Paul on a bench next to Ted Nolan.

Yeah, it was a bit sad because I'd still see Coach Mo playing with his kids at a local playground. Felt weird :).

Now if they've only banned the dudes wearing pastel Tuxedoes. :)

Haven't seen them since the Cup run to be honest :). Looks like they give up.

edit: are the old dogs Brind'amore, Wesley and Hedican still kicking?

Oh yeah, they're all there. Brind'Amour has actually experienced a bit of a scoring rennaissance with I think 7 goals so far. He's been a keystone of the power play unit with apparently Maurice had denied him. Wesley and Hedican along with Ward are still our best defensive defensemen, and Wesley even scored a game or two ago as did Hedican. Hedican's in particular was impressive... a little pinch in blaster from the slot that was simply a friggin' laser.

That's another thing that Laviolette is doing to great effect is encouraging the defensemen to get involved in the offensive zone a lot more. There's a whole lot of pinching and quick, sneaky shots from the slot by defensemen these days, and they're not afraid to join the cycle even at the half-boards or sometimes behind the net. Obviously the offensive players cover their asses, but it definitely helps to keep the play alive on the cycle in some circumstances when it would have been lost. It's wild seeing old stalwarts like Wesley, Ward, and Wallin mixing it up and taking shots from somewhere aside from the typical point.

It all sounds good. Effort and talent is an excellent mix. I'll have to make the effort to catch a few games. Hmmm at San Jose December 10th....

Flyers play the Penguins tonight on OLN, that should be an excellent game to see if you can. I've always loved Brind'Amour, being a Flyers fan, and I'm glad to see him and Williams doing well in Carolina.

Watching the Penguins is getting pretty depressing. Ever since they got rid of Scotty Bowman in '93 or so, they haven't been willing to get a coach that the players will actually respect and listen to. As a result, I've seen beer league teams that are better organized than the Pens. It's like watching five (admittedly talented) players just run around out there. They look lost. I think it's time for Lemieux to retire, as I think he's the main problem that they don't have a game plan-- I don't think he's willing to be coached. I don't see how they can go very far like this...

I think another problem with the Pens is a lack of chemistry. There seem to be too many players that are used to being "the guy" or one of the elite on a team; too many players whose careers are winding down, not enough roll players who are willing to get down and dirty, and a lack of actual defense.

Hey Vector, how 'bout dem KINGS!

They are gelling really really well. Labarbera is playing extremely well (you called that one Legion). Visnosky is also playing like a demon. My only beef with the Kings is that they got Avery. He's an excellent checker and agitator but should really keep his mouth shut.

I do get tired of Avery the off-ice chatterbox. I like him on the ice.

Those Canes somehow survived a coronary-inducing game against the Redwings last night. I was ecstatic after the first period ended 3 to zip for the Canes. I was dying of worry when the second period ended with a slim 3 to 2 lead. I paused the game at 1:47 left in the third period with that same score when we got a penalty against the number one power play team in the league, got out of my chair, typed "www.espn.com" into my browser and saw a final score of 3 to 2 for the game and started breathing again and watched the final insane two minutes trying to kill that penalty against 6 skaters when they pulled Legace.

I'm still tense about that game.

Good to hear that they pulled it out. I still haven't been able to catch them on TV. It's been difficult to find the hockey between the showings of big dog racing and Ted Nugent reality shows on OLN.
I'm hoping to catch em live a little bit later on this year.

You think that was close Coldforged, I was at the Canucks against Calgary last saturday and with Vancouver being down 3-1 late in the third Anson Carter scored on the powerplay and then Sami Salo scored with 30 seconds left to go to tie it up. Brendan Morrisson got the game winner in overtime. That was tense and exciting as hell. My cousins were at a Canucks playoff game against Minnesota some years ago and Matt Cooke scored with about 1.0 seconds left to go to send it to overtime.

My heart can't take those kinds of games. I was one of the poor schmoes at game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Canes and 'Wings. The one that went to triple overtime -- and about 1:20AM, if I recall -- before Irbe finally failed to keep it out. That was a heartbreaker, man.

Damn I love hockey :).

I miss Irbe. I remember watching him make it big as a Canuck backup. Such a funny little goalie. I was cheering for the 'Canes the entire playoffs. I'm still cheering for them now actually. I really like Gerber, Staal, Brind'amour, Tverdovsky, Cullen, Adams...etc.

My precious Habs, after having a season start that made me dream of the Stanley Cup parade in the spring, find new ways to lose every god damn night. That's just plain pathetic.

Mr.Green wrote:

My precious Habs, after having a season start that made me dream of the Stanley Cup parade in the spring, find new ways to lose every god damn night. That's just plain pathetic. :cry:

My favorite two teams are the Pens and the Habs... I may just leap off of a bridge.

I don't get to see much of the Habs, but I kind of get the impression that Theodore has become lazy now that Garon isn't there to push him any more. I'm not saying he's lousy, but I do think he could play better. Not that it's just his fault. Seems like the whole team just isn't quite there.

Poppinfresh wrote:
Mr.Green wrote:

My precious Habs, after having a season start that made me dream of the Stanley Cup parade in the spring, find new ways to lose every god damn night. That's just plain pathetic. :cry:

My favorite two teams are the Pens and the Habs... I may just leap off of a bridge.

I don't get to see much of the Habs, but I kind of get the impression that Theodore has become lazy now that Garon isn't there to push him any more. I'm not saying he's lousy, but I do think he could play better. Not that it's just his fault. Seems like the whole team just isn't quite there.

Theodore?

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/mrgreen72/byebyetheo.jpg)

Need I say more?

Poor Jose. I wonder if it would make him feel better if he knew my wife has the hots for him. She was praying for him to take off his mask when they came avisitin' to Carolina recently. I'm personally glad he didn't because I'd rather my beloved not have one of them there "organisms" in public if I ain't involved.

I wonder if it would make him feel better if he knew my wife has the hots for him.

He probably assumes every woman on earth has the hots for him, and he would probably be right. Anyway, twist her arm until she says you're sexier. Works for me!

Green - You should aim the crosshairs to Theodore's five hole. Everyone else shooting at him is.

but I kind of get the impression that Theodore has become lazy now that Garon isn't there to push him any more.

Garon's sure working out well for LA. 10th in GAA, 10th in save percentage.

Even LaBarbara's ahead of Theodore in those stats.

Flyers and Redwings game last night was a great game.. especially in the third period.. Flyers did very much look like a team on the last game of a 11 game road trip..

I may even venture to the game tommorow afternoon.. except I'd have to leave early to get home for football.