What Irks Me, the Caniac

Why do people hate us!?! I've always been proud to tell people that I’m a Caniac. Win or lose, it’s my team.

Yes, that’s right, I’m a Caniac and damn proud of it. People constantly disrespect my team, passing it off as crap because we are in a southern market. Well, to those of you who have said something like this in Ottawa, Philly, Pittsburgh, Boston, New Jersey, and DC: “I fart in your general direction!”

They are “here to play, here to stay.” And playing they are! The team has chutzpah; it’s an experience for me to watch them play. Staal has improved dramatically in the extended off-season, he’s bigger and he’s got hands sent from heaven. The great thing is, we’ve got much, much more to offer, but that’s not why I’m writing.

Long time hockey fans in Raleigh realize what this team has to offer. We see the improvements, we see the skill, and most importantly, we see the heart. Message-boards are being lit up like a Christmas trees, and appropriately October records are being smashed like pumpkins. We've got a great start and we're all riding the wave. What I love even more, is the fact that Raleigh is back to being a hockey city, its evident because non-hockey fans notice the team is thriving. People know that I’m their go-to guy for hockey news, trivia, and updates. So, naturally it was exciting when “is that lockout thing over yet?” has changed to, “the Hurricanes are playing well, aren’t they?” I no longer need the internet to discuss hockey, but I still love my internet hockey-message-board buddies. In the spring of 2002, Raleigh was absolutely electric. Hockey was everywhere; it was the thing to be into at the time. That gradually faded over the course of the next two seasons and the lockout, but now it’s slowly coming back. About 14,000 fans came to see the Bruins play on a Wednesday night; 12,000 for Monday’s game versus the Senators. Friday drew a near sellout crowd, just shy of about 500. For most teams (yes, I’ve checked the official score sheets, so don’t send me threatening emails) these figures are remarkable. But, we aren’t most teams, and we aren’t any “non-traditional” hockey market.

Hockey is back, and for once, it feels good to be a fan of the game AND a fan of The Carolina Hurricanes.

Puck_it

October Madness

So, it’s been quite a while since I last updated the blog. School has been pretty busy, but I’ve managed to attend most of the home ‘Canes games. Unfortunately, I did miss the scoring fest against Philly on the 28^th.

The Hurricanes are playing extremely well. They aren’t playing well for 60 minutes, but they have the foundation to go very far this year. This team, providing they stay healthy, has enough skill and chemistry to be a powerhouse this year. Let’s start off by saying that Eric Staal has been absolutely incredible. Time after time, he leaves me stunned with the amount he has improved. The guy is simply amazing. Due to a scoring snafu in the Philly game, nobody in the arena realized that Eric had notched his first hat-trick. He didn’t get the traditional hats on the ice, which is rather unfortunate. However, he was able to do the deed in front of his father, as a part of Coach Laviolette’s team/family building atmosphere. As an aside, Eric put up a 4 point night the following night in Pittsburgh.

Coach had decided to make this past weekend fathers’ weekend. About 15 of the guys fathers came to Raleigh to see the Flyers game, then were going to travel to Pittsburg, on the team plane, for the Penguins game on Saturday. It seemed as though the players loved being able to take their fathers with them and share a little bit of their professional career with the guys that took them to practice as kids. Coach Laviolette’s father even came in for the occasion, and I think its really done wonders for the teams chemistry.

The team chemistry is insane right now. They know where everyone is on the ice, they know their moves, they pass well, and it’s quite a sight to see. But not only is there team chemistry, there’s fan chemistry. Raleigh is abuzz with hockey glee right now, its quite a great thing to see. About 14,000 fans came to see the Bruins play on a Wednesday night; 12,000 for Monday’s game versus the Senators. Friday drew a near sellout crowd, just shy of about 500. People are slowly returning, the seats are getting filled, and Raleigh is re-establishing that hockey town feel that was here in April, May, and June of 2002.

The whole league is starting to take notice too. We don’t lead the Eastern Conference and have the leading scorer for no reason. We truly are good. I hope anyone who reads this gets a chance to see the ‘Canes play.

Opposition Notes:

Washington – When I saw them on the 12^th of October, they were not palying smart hockey at all. Ovechkin is a bright spot, but for the love of God, get this guy some support! This team will end up taking Kessel in ’06.

Ottawa – What a great team to watch. They are strong, they are fast, and they’ve got a little bit of flash. Hasek is playing strong, and Spezza is phenomenal. Heatly ain’t half bad either, but we were able to shut him down when he was in Raleigh. The only way to beat this team is to out skate them, which is no easy feat. I doubt any team can out grind them; Chara will pop the lid off just about any takers.

Boston – I sure how the Bruins that I saw aren’t the Bruins everyone else plays. They were getting lucky when they scored on us. They lack real play making, and Brian Leetch carried them on his shoulders in this match up. The only reason they were shutting us down was because we tried to play physical to match their style. Then we decided to just out skate them, and sure enough we won. Boston’s bright spots are that they can dole out punishment, and they also have some great stick tying ability. Tying up our sticks saved them quite a few times.

I’ll post after the Florida game… I’ll be at the Toronto game, but I’ve got a paper due Friday, so I'll be polishing that after I return.

Lemieux, Crosby, Ward, Shootouts!

I went to the Carolina Hurricanes home opener on Friday night, and boy, what a game! The hockey wasn’t so great, but what an exciting night! Well, Crosby was blanked, but I got to see his second NHL assist/point. Don’t think I’ll ever forget that play; it was very simple and very good.

This was the first time I ever saw Lemieux play (in person). WHAT A TREAT. It was just amazing to watch him skate and you could tell how, and why, he’s a Hall Of Famer. It was absolutely brilliant play. I did notice that he lagged behind on a lot of the plays, which I mean he is 40, but I think he was hoping to use the two line pass to his advantage. I’ve seen some excellent plays on the ice, and I’ve seen some brilliant players. Hull was amazing to watch as was Yzerman, Stevens too, but no skater has ever captured my attention like Lemieux did. His vision was absolutely the best I’ve ever seen, I don’t think I can accurately describe seeing him play, it was an experience more than anything really.

Crosby is a good player, but honestly Palffy, Lemieux, and Gonchar out played him. He pulled some amazing moves, but they were too infrequent, and his hockey wasn’t quite as sound as the aforementioned three. Does he have the potential? Oh, you better believe it. There definitely is some sort of adjusting or something that needs to be done. The only thing that made Crosby really stand out was his incredible stick work. It seems as though the stick is an extension of his body, he’s just so fluid with the puck.

Cam Ward… I can’t speak any more highly of this guy. He was very gracious when I met him, and not to mention he’s a killer goalie too. The focus he has is absolutely impeccable for a goalie of his age/experience. I tell all my hockey friends that they need to see this guy play some time soon. Pressure seems to be his ally more than his foe. He may not be the next Roy or Brodeur (yet), but he has the ability to become a championship goaltender.

Canes notes… Most of our defenseman ended up at the goal line of the attacking zone for some odd reason, not sure what Laviolette intended, but it was interesting seeing a guy like Nic Wallin trying to act like Bobby Orr. It was very bothersome to see forwards like Cole have to go to the blue line because a defender was in the net area.

Penguins notes… They have the potential to kill any penalty thrown at them. The first power play the Canes had, the Pens played such an excellent defense on them, that I’m not upset we got basically zero scoring chances on. The defense was that good. Short lived, but it was good. Pens have difficulty generating offense. They can’t pass worth a crap. Crosby can, Lemieux can and that’s about it. Their passing was just horrendous at times; we were intercepting passes left and right. It’s mainly an issue of timing than player placement. For instance, Lemieux on the power play would get crap half the time. The other half, it would be intercepted. Now, I doubt Mario Lemieux was not in his proper position, he just doesn’t do stuff like that. I did notice that the guys doing the passing hesitated a bit too much at times. Other guys would be doing the “one timer” (for lack of a better term) passing and be able to connect with great ease. Olczyk also needs to work on shuffling his lines.

The shootout was incredibly fun. It’s not every day you get to see a goalie block Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Ziggy Palffy. Stillman scored the lone goal in the shootout, which is no surprise because he scored on Caron on a breakaway when he came out of the box and caught a homerun pass.

Also, I love my new mini-Stanley Cup. It’s quite the little knick-knack to decorate my room.

Hockeyeve

So, tommorrow the new NHL hits the ice. My, my, I've waited so long for this. I hope the preseason was an accurate indicator for how well the season is going to go. Hockey is finally exciting to watch. I always enjoyed going to games, but I've often left feeling unsatisfied. Woo hoo, heres to a boring game. Now, I think it will be a challenge to leave feeling unsatisfied. The game is different. And I love it.

Tommorrow is the first time all 30 teams will be in action on the same night. What a crazy day. I wish more games were on television, but then again, ill be watching the 'Canes tackle the Tampa Bay Lightning and have the Rangers-Flyers matchup in picture-in-picture.

I think that trying to accurately portray my emotions with word would be an injustice. So, I'll give you the liberty to deicde what I'm really thinking.

IT'S HOCKEY!!!!!

Canes over Tampa 5-3

Ahhh, Hockey!

So, it's been quite a while since my last blog entry, which I'm going to blame school work on. Being immersed in 3D Schrödinger's equations for the past few weeks has been semi-taxing. But, telling you that would sort of be a lie. Yes, I've been doing school work, but I've been far to busy with other things, including but not limited to, Wolfpack Football. I love my collegiate team, but after a few frustrating failures and lack of discipline, I thought I'd return to my blog and focus solely on hockey. Which is a second lie, because as long as there’s football season, I will be out there in the Fairgrounds Lot tailgating no less than 4 hours before kickoff (the Chapel Hill game was at 12 pm mind you ;-) ).

Before I get to my hockey blabber, I'd like to commemorate the return of Ice Age on NHL.com. The author, Phil Coffey, was a mentor for a hockey project of mine that I did for high school. We've since kept in correspondence and kept each other entertained with amusing volleys of email this past summer, while both of us were stuck at work with nothing to do. Ice Age had always been one of my favorite sections; so, as a fan and friend, I'm giving him free face time to my constituency of exactly three readers.

So, I've been to a handful of preseason games and I've made a few postings on message boards and shot off a few emails about my perceptions. I suppose I'll summarize what exactly I felt about the game.

In short, I love it. I don’t really remember much about the 80's (event wise), because I turned four in 1990, but from what I've heard, this is close to the 80's style of scoring. That extra four feet in the attacking zone is quite an advantageous tool, when used properly. It gives much more room to contain the puck, keep passing simple, and it forces the defenseman to spread out from such a tightly knit box/diamond. Combining all of these factors, your team will HATE being on the penalty kill. In the games that I've seen, the calling of penalties has been very tight to not so tight at all. I love it when it’s called tight. It brings a focus to play making. It’s almost like watching women’s' ice hockey, but at a faster pace. They can't make contact like the men do, so they've resorted to play making and finesse. The NHL still allows contact, but only of the bone crunching variety. I also like the removal of the two line pass. I've seen guys come out of the box and receive a pass from a man in the defensive zone. Then, you've got a breakaway.

I probably could put a little more deliberation about how I feel about the rules, but I'm more eager to talk about my 'Canes. This team is under-rated. They don’t look too great on paper, but let me assure you, there's much more to this team. Something seems to be clicking, guys are passing well, making plays, we've got Cam Fricken Ward... The list goes on. I know that 90% of you will disagree with this, but that 90% probably hasn’t seen them play. I just hope the 'Canes read my blog and help me out by producing ;-). In all seriousness, I'm not being biased toward my team. They have the talent; the question is whether or not they can harness that talent and stay disciplined. If they can stay out of the box, I think that this team could potentially be playoff bound.

I didn't really get into as much depth as I wanted to, but it's late.