SB Nation - Ray Whitney

Tuomo Ruutu Nets Hat Trick to Lead Carolina: Hurricanes 5, Stars 3

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:36:22 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

about 15 hours ago: Carolina Hurricanes' Tuomo Ruutu (15), from Finland, and Ray Whitney (13) celebrate following Ruutu's hat-trick goal against the Dallas Stars during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009. Carolina won 5-3. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Dallas Stars by a score of 5 to 3 on Wednesday night at the RBC Center in Raleigh. The Canes jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period, and held on for the win.

Tuomo Ruutu scored a hat trick in the victory, the first of his NHL career. His third goal came with just five seconds left in the game, after Ray Whitney set him up perfectly for an empty netter. It did not come easily though as Whitney tried to set him up for an empty net chance a minute or so earlier, but ended up losing the puck.

The Stars took the puck, attacked the zone, and scored themselves, making the score 4-3. Whitney took a little flak on the bench, but had a better opportunity later on and the Hurricanes ended up with a happy ending, one of the few so far this season.

The Canes jumped out to a 3-0 lead with the help of Jussi Jokinen, who started things off with a powerplay tally on a rush. He received a nice pass from Bryan Rodney, who was just recalled from Albany. Rodney had a very good game and finished with two assists on the night.

Tuomo Ruutu scored his first of the contest just 1:44 later. The Finn backhanded the puck toward the crease, it hit off of Marty Turco, and then went in the net. It was not the best of nights for the Dallas goaltender as that looked like a soft one.

Eric Staal scored goal number three on yet another powerplay when Jussi Jokinen fired a pass across the crease and Staal knocked it in with perfect timing.

Steve Ott put in a powerplay tally for Dallas later in the period and the teams went into the first intermission with the score 3-1.

The second period was a sluggish one for the Canes as Dallas took control. They out-shot the home team 12-4 and scored another goal, this one by Brenden Morrow, making the score, 3-2.

But the Hurricanes came on strong in the third and used a consistent forecheck to keep the Stars hemmed in at their own end. About four minutes in, Ruutu would score his second goal as an apparent pass by the winger bounced in the net off of a Dallas defenseman's skate. Brett Carson earned his first career NHL point on the play.

The Stars would make things interesting when they scored after Whitney's failure to bury the empty netter, but Ruutu closed things out with his "hattie", and the Canes won for just the eighth time this year.

Next up will be the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida on Friday night.

Game Notes:

The three Finns, or "Three Amigos" were the three stars of the game. Ruutu was first star, Jokinen was second, and Joni Pitkanen, who had two assists and played a solid defensive game, was named the third. Was the news about them possibly opening next year in Europe a factor to their success?
Whitney could joke about his mistake after the game, but if the Stars would have come back to tie the game and then win after he failed to shoot at the empty net, people would not have been laughing. Still, it's hard to blame someone for being a consummate team player. It's an unselfish act for him to turn away from two chances to score an easy goal so that he could help a teammate get a hat trick. Especially in a contract year! Whitney gets a star in my book.
The Canes were given credit for 29 hits in the game. Andrew Alberts led the way with five while Tom Kostopoulos and Rod Brind`Amour each had four.
The fourth line came close to scoring a few times and Brind'Amour had a couple of prime chances. If he keeps getting good chances, you have to believe that the scoring will eventually come.
The team also had 29 shots on goal led by Ray Whitney with five. Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu had four each.
Staal had a very good game and chipped in with a goal and two assists. He has 13 points in his last 10 games since returning from his injury.
Carolina had 13 blocked shots. Joni Pitkanen had the most with three. The defenseman led both teams with 27:33 of ice time, which is a bit more settling than over 31 minutes like he had against Ottawa.
The Hurricanes are now 6-3-1 when leading after two periods. They are 7-2-3 when scoring three goals or more and 1-17-3 when scoring two goals or less.

Here is some video of Tuomo Ruutu in the dressing room after his first career hat trick:

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UPDATE: For those wanting to attend practice on Thursday, it has been moved back to noon at the Rec Zone. (It was previously scheduled for 11 a.m.)

The Return of Ray Whitney

Mike MacLean — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:48:13 -0000

More photos » by Karl B DeBlaker - AP

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Disclaimer- the intention of this post is to create conversation, I am not trying to fabricate rumors, I am just putting a thought on paper (or on screen?).

Here's what I'm thinking- trade for Ray Whitney. It's not because we need more scoring- this incarnation of the Jackets can certainly do that. The reason I want to bring The Wizard back to Columbus is two-fold:

1) He's a veteran, and he's won a cup. He can be the kind of voice in the room this team could use right about now. A guy who's been in battles before, who can work with the young guys and bring them back to buying-in to the coaching staff.

2) He's familiar with the organization, mind you there are a new coach and GM running the show now, but the fact remains he is a familiar site for Columbus fans. He's also played with Rusty and Nasher before as a Jacket, and won a cup with Mike Commodore. Nash, Rusty and Commie are part of the leadership group that Hitch uses to communicate, so adding a player who already knows those three and who is a veteran himself would just add to the leadership in the room.

The Hurricanes are more than likely in sell-mode. Nothing will happen over the Christmas break due to the roster freeze, but I think in the new year this is a move that would benefit the Jackets immensely. Again, the issue with the Jackets isn't scoring, but it doesn't hurt to have a player like Whitney in the lineup. Last year he led the Hurricanes in scoring, he finished with 24 goals, 52 assists for 77 points. He also played in all 82 games. He's an unrestricted free-agent at the end of this season, so the Jackets won't be on the hook for anything past this year if it doesn't work out. He's making a reasonable 3.55 million this season, and with half of it off the books by January, the Jackets would only need to take on about 1.75 million, something I'm willing to bet the ownership would agree to. My guess, and I could be way off-base, is that he could be had for a second round pick and maybe a later pick. I'm not talking about trading Nikita Filatov or any other major piece, or the first round pick for that matter. A second and fifth should get it done. It would help the 'Canes by adding some picks, which are much-needed to stock their weak prospect pool.

This isn't an earth-shattering move, but it could pay off in a huge way for the Jackets. Sometimes all it takes to turn a team's season around is a move like this- to bring in a new voice (or in this case, an old voice) who can help deliver the coach's message. With Rusty out for a long period of time, Whitney could fill the leadership void and also contribute to the offense. He can run a powerplay as well, taking some heat off of Brass, allowing him to simplify his game.

I'd love to hear what folks have to think about my proposal, good move, bad move? Fire away in the comments!

Poll

Do you think acquiring Ray Whitney woud be good for the Blue Jackets?

Kovalev and Spezza power Senators to 4-2 win over Hurricanes

PeterR — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:14:27 -0000

I didn't get to see the Ottawa Senators' Saturday night 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, but I did get to see the in-game reaction from the best commenters in all the land, and also got to watch the highlights of the game. And it sounds like Alex Kovalev scored some overdue and perhaps lucky goals, and Jason Spezza put on in off Manny Legace's pads. Whatever the case, it's the same measure in the standings: A full, and very important, two points.

Sens heroes: Alex Kovalev, Jason Spezza, Nick Foligno
Memo to Sens fans: This is what it's like when you have to lines that can score. I'd forgotten what it was like, but now I know. Some might say Kovalev's goal weren't of the difficult variety, and he definitely benefited from his linemates' hard work, a lucky bounce, and the fact that there was no goalie. But on his first goal, he drove to the net hard against a check, potting Foligno's centring pass, and he finally shot the puck for the second.

Spezza scored his fourth of the season, but perhaps more importantly had six shots on net--a welcome change. He's a set up man, of that there is no doubt, but there's also no denying that he can shoot the puck, too. There's a balance he'll get to, between passing and shooting and defensive and offensive presence. He's just finding it now.

As for Foligno, second very strong game in a row, and he's getting the points to show for it: Another two assists tonight. On his way to those two helpers, Foligno had five shots and was rewarded with plenty of powerplay time. He's traditionally been a streaky scorer, and the benching no doubt woke him up, but hopefully he can find some measure of consistency through to the end of this season.

Silver Seven Heroes: Mark Parisi, Dany Hea-Traitor
These guys just brought it. Bomb doors open. They kept the GameThread going for the better part of the game. Anyone else who wasn't able to watch it, you can read their thoughts on the game as it happened, without the benefit of retrospect.

(Sens zeroes, Sens killers, Hopefully back on track, There when needed, In our hearts, Mysterious injury update of the night, and game highlights after the jump... )

Sens zeroes: Alex Picard
According to the in-game testament of Mark Parisi, Picard was a non-factor tonight. He was one of few Senators on the minus side of the ledger tonight, was tagged with two giveaways (but that's a pretty subjective stat, to be honest), and only had the one shot. He also brutally lost a race for the puck against Eric Staal on Carolina's second goal, let Staal pass the puck to the slot, and stood there and watched as Ray Whitney scored to tie the game. All of which might combine to be a good omen for Chris Campoli, who was scratched tonight in favour of Picard.

Sens killers: Ray Whitney
Again, Parisi said Whitney was on his game tonight, and could easily have had even more than the two goals he did score tonight. He heeled a strong chance on a 2-on-1 in the second, and had five shots and four hits before the night was out. Sounds like a strong game for one of the Hurricanes' prime deadline-day fire sale assets.

Hopefully back on track: Senators powerplay
Ottawa was a better-than-respectable 2-for-3 on the powerplay tonight, with Kovalev and Spezza each getting goals with the man advantage. Some keys, looking at the highlights: Net presence, as was the case with Milan Michalek pissing people off in front of the net for Spezza's goal, but was also noted from Nick Foligno and Mike Fisher; better puck movement at the points, including from Erik Karlsson, whose cross-ice feed to Kovalev set him up for the game-winner; and getting the puck on the net, as Ottawa had nine shots on their three powerplays.

There when needed: Brian Elliott
Elliott may wish he could get a mulligan for the goals he did allow, but his play when the Hurricanes were really getting their chances in the third period--in which he stopped all 12 shots he faced--made a strong statement for his ability to brush off weak goals and play well when the team really needs him. Highlight of that third period was a sick left-pad save on Ray Whitney, but there were a couple of other strong chances, too.

Not on the scoresheet, but still in our hearts: Chris Kelly
I'm usually one of the first people to rag on Kelly for his stone hands, but there's no doubting his value to this team as the go-to penalty killer and the anchor of Ottawa's fourth line. He had more penalty-killing time than anyone on the night, defencemen included, and is keeping it real. He does have to get his faceoff skills back up, though, although he was 5-for-10 tonight.

Mysterious injury update of the night: Alex Kovalev's previously unreported injury
In a Team 1200 post-game interview, Kovalev mentioned that--although he didn't want to blame injuries for his lacking production--he did have something nagging him that was keeping him from shooting the puck as much as he normally would. As a result, he was passing a lot more. Maybe if he's over it, we'll see an increased shot total from Kovalev (note to poolies) and the increased production that one assumes would follow from that.

Game highlights:

Team Carolina Falls Again: Senators 4, Hurricanes 2

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:09:11 -0000

More photos » by Pawel Dwulit - AP

4 days ago: Carolina Hurricanes Jiri Tlusy, right, of the Czech Republic, attempts to swat the puck past Ottawa Senators goalie Brian Elliott, left, as Senators' Erik Karlsson, center, of Sweden, defends during second-period NHL hockey game play in Ottawa on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Pawel Dwulit)

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The Ottawa Senators, (16-11-4) defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, (7-19-6) on Saturday night by a score of 4-2 as Alex Kovalev netted a hat trick for the home team. Ray Whitney scored two goals for Carolina in a losing effort as his team fell deeper into last place with the loss.

The Senators doubled up Carolina's shots on goal in each of the first two periods, (10-5, 16-8) but the Canes held on, tied the score 2-2, and were in a good position to at least earn a point for the second night in a row before a key penalty was called with three minutes and change left in the game.

Ottawa took advantage of the penalty by scoring a goal off of a Carolina defenseman's skate, then put in an empty netter to seal the win.

The Hurricanes came very close once again, only to find a way to lose at the end of the game.

Kovalev started off the scoring in the first period as he beat defenseman Andrew Alberts to the net and tipped in a pass from Nick Foligno.

Ray Whitney would tie the score early in the second on a powerplay blast from the point. The Canes were on an extended, four minute man advantage which carried over from late in the first period when a Mike Fisher high stick to Tom Kostopoulos drew blood.

Later in the second, Jason Spezza put the Sens back ahead with a powerplay goal of his own on a shot from the side, slightly behind the net. That might have been one of the only questionable plays goalie Manny Legace made all night, but the bad angle cost him.

But with less than three minutes in the period, Ray Whitney would score again with a perfectly placed floater which somehow beat Sens' goalie Brian Elliott.

With the score tied 2-2 throughout the third period, the teams battled evenly before Joni Pitkanen was called for holding as he used his free hand on a Senator behind the Carolina net. Kovalev scored his second goal during the ensuing powerplay when his shot bounced off Jay Harrison's skate, making the score 3-2.

Then Kovalev completed his hat trick with an empty netter with just 29 clicks left.

The loss gives the Canes just three points on this four game road trip, certainly a disappointment after starting off with a win in Pittsburgh. They remain the last place team in the league and also happen to have the league's worst road record.

Next up is a home game against Dallas on Wednesday night.

Game Notes:

It's easy to blame Joni Pitkanen for the penalty at the end of the game which ended up resulting in the go-ahead goal, but the defenseman had been on the ice for over thirty minutes at the time. He finished the game with 31:11 of ice time. When you compare those minutes with the league leader in that category, Dan Boyle at 27:06, those are quite frankly, too many minutes for anyone to be on the ice. Couple that with the 29:52 he played the previous night in Washington, and him taking the penalty is more understandable. When the body is fatigued, not only is there going to be a physical letdown, but a player will make mental mistakes as well. Maurice has got to figure out how to keep the big defenseman's time under 30 minutes, especially in the last game of a back-to-back or you have to expect the mistakes.
After the game, Ray Whitney was quick to blame the refs. He thought it was a marginal call at that point in the game and the refs should have let play go on. The replay did show use of the free hand which is a penalty, but NHL referees certainly pick and choose what they want to call and when they call it. It was a lightly called game as the Canes ended up with three penalties and the Sens had two.
The Hurricanes need to generate more shots on goal or scoring chances. This is the second game in a row where their opponent has dominated in the Carolina zone for much of the game. You usually can not win if you are getting doubled up on shots and scoring chances most of the game.
The team finished with 25 shots on goal as Ray Whitney led the way with five. Ottawa finished with 39.
The Canes were credited with 35 hits compared to 25 for the Sens. Rod Brind`Amour might have played his most physical game of the year and led the team with six hits.
Carolina had 10 blocked shots led by Joni Pitkanen with three.
Manny Legace played another solid game and had 36 saves on 39 shots which will help his save percentage.

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In other notes, the Hurricanes sent Michael Leighton to Albany before the Ottawa game so that they can eventually put him on re-entry waivers. Teams can now claim him at half price, with the Canes picking up the rest of the tab.

The Albany Times Union has the latest with quotes from Leighton at this link.

"The plan was I was going to go on re-entry waiver. That’s what went on today, but the league refused it, so tomorrow I’m going to be on re-entry. It’s kind of wait and see. If I don’t get picked up, I go back up to Carolina, and they’ve got to figure something out from there. If I don’t clear, then I’m going somewhere else."

"I know Carolina’s got their thing sorted out. I’m not going to get many games there. I’m a free agent after this year, and I just want to find somewhere where I can play some hockey. Whether it’s in the NHL or the AHL, I’ve got to find the right fit for me. Whether I get picked up by another team or get loaned to another AHL team, it just comes down to playing hockey, and that’s all I want to do right now."

Pens comeback falls short, lose to Carolina 3-2

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:22:34 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Did you know these guys are.......both sponsored by Bauer?

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Hurricanes vs Penguins coverage - Canes Country

For the opening goal, Andrew Alberts (he of 2 goals in his 291 NHL game career before tonight) walked in and had a lot of room when BFF's Erik Cole and Brooks Orpik were tied up right out in front. The Canes would extend the lead to 2-0 when Jussi Jokinen took a great pass by Joni Pitkanen and drove right past Jay McKee and Mark Eaton. Carolina would take a three goal lead when notorious Penguin-killer Ray Whitney dangled around in the offensive zone while no fewer than three Penguins (Ruslan Fedotenko, Kris Letang and Max Talbot) remained stationary.

The tide would turn though, Letang made an excellent pass up to Bill Guerin, who flipped it over for Sidney Crosby. Crosby made one of those unique plays where he kinda chopped at the puck and it winded up in the net. The next shift the Noted One buried it to make the deficit just one.

And just like that, there would be no more scoring. The Penguins pressed and pressed but Carolina goalie Manny Legace was up to the task and wouldn't allow any more. Almost unbelievably, two months into the season this is the Hurricanes first win away from the RBC Center.

Guerin did a good job waking the Pens up with a fight against Gleason. Gleason's hands must be sore after ringing a lot of punches of Guerin's helmet.
The difference of the game turned out to be the power-plays. The Pens anemic PP went another "0 fer" night, this time 0 for 3. Carolina was 1-5. Also the fact that the Canes were able to earn two more PP's by their hard work and puck possession helps too.
Marc-Andre Fleury had an odd night. Didn't seem like he was seeing the puck too well. His defense wasn't helping him out much either in the early going. The whole team was in something of a funk or haze for a while there, it was strange.
If you didn't know Sidney Crosby missed last game with a sore groin, you'd never know based on his play. A solid 26:32 of icetime, he fired 4 shots on goal, a hit, a blocked shot, a takeaway, a giveaway and a 55% winner on 22 faceoffs.
In fact, every member of the Pens (except Jay McKee) was credited with at least a shot on goal. It wasn't for a lack of throwing rubber at Legace that Pittsburgh didn't win.
Credit Carolina for blocking shots; 17 in all. They knocked down six of Letang's efforts. They may be in last place, but they certainly didn't roll over and die.
Not many signs of life (again) from guys like Max Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko. The wingers have to come through and these guys aren't having much luck.
0-1-1 since waiving Chris Bourque, is the glue of the team gone? (Kidding, kidding).

Being the defending Stanley Cup champs means you catch efforts like this. Doesn't matter if the team across the ice is in first place or last, they're looking to take down the Pens. Luckily for Pittsburgh they have a few days to figure things out and get ready to go to Montreal; where guys like Crosby, Letang and Pascal Dupuis always love to play. Hopefully that shot in the arm can carry through.

Erik Cole Breaks Through with Hat Trick: Hurricanes 5, Canucks 3

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:32:16 -0000

More photos » by Karl B DeBlaker - AP

11 days ago: Carolina Hurricanes' Erik Cole (26) looks up at the replay following his third goal of the game during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. Cole notch his sixth hat trick of his career in the 5-3 Hurricanes win.(AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

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The Carolina Hurricanes, (6-17-5) put an end to their five game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks, (16-13-0) on Saturday afternoon at the RBC. Erik Cole netted the first hat trick of the season for the last place club. It was Cole's sixth hat trick of his career and his first in two seasons.

Manny Legace earned the victory and now leads all Carolina goalies with three wins.

The Canes had a lot of jump and for the most part played a very good game as they surged to a 4-1 lead after two periods, but fans got nervous as the Canucks would pull within a goal later on. With the score 4-3 and visions of another meltdown on many minds, the Canes killed an incorrectly called penalty, added an empty net goal, and hung on for just their third regulation win of the season.

The first period seemed to be a fairly even one, although the 'Nucks outshot the Canes 14-7. Keep in mind the home team had to kill two penalties during that time frame as well. Vancouver started the scoring off when Jannik Hansen would squeeze one by Manny Legace.

It looked like a softie, but Legace said afterward that the puck ticked Joni Pitkanen's stick and just got by him. He called it "bad luck".

It didn't matter though as Ray Whitney roofed a backhander past Andrew Raycroft just 20 seconds later to tie the score. Whitney had a great game, chipped in with two more assists, and was a pest all over the ice.

Eric Staal had a beautiful point blank chance during the period, but tried to over-fake and ended up too close to the crease as Raycroft stopped him easily. Staal had a very good game, but that was a move which seemed to indicate that he has little confidence in his shot. Normally, he would try a wrister in that situation from 10 to 15 feet out.

Steve Yzerman and a couple of others from Team Canada's brain trust were in the press box monitoring Staal's game. They could not have been too disappointed as the Carolina center finished with two assists, four shots on goal, and a +1.

The Hurricanes came out with a vengeance in the second period and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. At one point, they were out-shooting the visitors by an 8-1 margin.

Erik Cole started things off with his first goal, a perfectly placed wrist shot on an odd man rush. He had a similar chance in the first period as well, but just missed. Ray Whitney and Tim Gleason had the assists.

Sergei Samsonov then found himself all alone with the puck in front of Raycroft. He faked the goalie and also roofed his shot to make the score 3-1. Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen worked to get a turnover at the blue line and created the opportunity.

Cole would get his second goal of the night on a strange play as the Canucks lost track of the puck in the crease and ended up putting it into their own net. It looked like defenseman Willie Mitchell might have kicked the puck in, but it was hard to tell. Raycroft might have put it in himself.

Number 26 joked afterward that while he took his buddy out to dinner the night before, "it was not that expensive of a dinner."

The third period started out all too familiar for the home team. The last time they took a 4-1 lead into the third period eight days ago against Atlanta, the Thrashers lit the lamp five straight times and won the game 6-4.

Once again, the Canes appeared to go into defensive mode and the Canucks were able to hold the puck in the Carolina zone for what seemed to be minutes at a time. Ten minutes into the third they scored their first goal of the period, then would score again less than five minutes later.

The Hurricanes called timeout to re-group, but faced real adversity as Sergei Samsonov was called for high sticking on a freak play as a Vancouver player was hit in the face with the puck. Samsonov tried to hit the puck in the air but missed and replays showed that he never touched the Canuck. But the ref didn't see it that way and the winger went to the penalty box with just 2:57 left in the game.

Last month or even last week, the team might have allowed the adversity to overcome them and submit to a tying goal, but not so on Saturday. They killed the penalty and as Vancouver pulled their goalie to keep the pressure on, Cole would score the empty netter to seal the deal.

The Canes now go on a very rough four game road trip as they will visit Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Washington, and Ottawa before returning home for a rematch against the Dallas Stars on December 16.

Game Notes:

Carolina is now 5-2-2 when they score three goals or more. The problem? They have scored two goals or less 19 times this season and have a record of 1-15-3 when that happens.
Matt Cullen has now scored in five consecutive games. He displayed a couple of breathtaking moves and played another overall solid game.
Legace made several tough stops as Vancouver would periodically put heavy pressure on him. Coach Paul Maurice was happy with his game and said that the goalie is a real battler. "But, he has to be", the coach added. The Canes will need to make a big decision this coming week concerning their goalies when Cam Ward returns. Let me just say that opinions were mixed in press row on what will happen. More about this soon.
The team didn't have many chances with the man advantage but converted one of two opportunities. They remain at 29th in the league at that important statistic.
Carolina was given credit for 41 hits although it did not seem to be that physical of a game. The 'Nucks only had 20. Tom Kostopoulos led the way with seven and Scott Walker looked no worse for wear with five.
The fourth line of Brind'Amour, Yelle, and Walker looked good although that might be the oldest line in the NHL. (someone said the average age is 36).
Joni Pitkanen led the way with very reasonable 24:43 of ice time. Low ice time for the team was just over 10 minutes for Walker. Maurice will probably need to continue to spread the ice time and play four lines as the games come up fast and furious next week.
Jussi Jokinen was scratched although Maurice said that the Finn wanted to play. The coach held him out because he was not 100% and probably the worst injured of the forwards. But while Chad LaRose had good jump this game, the coach might want to switch places between these two.

Here is some post-game video of Manny Legace meeting with the press.

Hurricanes 5 Canucks 3: Sloppy Seconds

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:04:59 -0000

I said in the game preview: Should be an automatic win, right? Nope. That depends on how lightly the Canucks take these guys. They have to go out there and pretend those guys are wearing Devils jerseys.

Didn't happen.

A so-so first..outshooting the Canes 14-6 but not capitalizing on 2 power play chances, and bagging one past Manny Legace (Jannik Hansen).

An atrocious 2nd period..getting outshot 13-6, coughing the puck up, hanging Andrew Raycroft out to dry (which Alain Vigneault alluded to after the game), and surrendering 3 goals. Yeah, the refs should have blown the play dead on that Mitchell-Raycroft fiasco, but really, the score could have been 6-1 at that point anyways.

The 3rd period was all Canucks,

as they put the heat on Carolina, who have had a terrible time in 3rd periods this year. It almost worked. The Canucks almost erased a 4-1 deficit and pulled within a goal, but Erik Cole, who, thanks to us, has awoken from his slumber and bagged his hat trick goal into the open net to seal it.

Final shots: Canucks 36 Canes 27.

8 points combined for Erik Cole, Eric Staal and Ryan Whitney.

Can you believe that Christian Ehrhoff finished a +3?

I thought Kyle Wellwood looked alright out there today. He was rewarded with over 15:00 of ice time. His line kickstarted the Canucks in the 3rd, and I thought dominated that period.

You almost can't fault Andrew Raycroft on any of those goals. But then...as myself and others have said many times before: he goes down into the butterfly position so quickly all the time. The Canes picked corners on him. Maybe a tremendous save or 2 were in order. I think it's fair to say that. None came.

BOXSCORE (bring barf bag)

HIGHLIGHTS (stab your eyes out first)

My 3 Stars:

1. Erik Cole. (Rise from your grave)

2. Ray Whitney (1 goal and 2 assists)

3. Manny Legace (Yeah, yeah, 3 goals against but I'm going to throw him a bone for giving his team a chance to win it especially in the first)

What's Next? You Make the Call

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:38:53 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

18 days ago: Carolina Hurricanes goalie Michael Leighton, left, rests during an intermission after letting in the fifth of the Buffalo Sabres goals during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. Buffalo scored five goals in the third period to defeat Carolina 5-1. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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The Carolina Hurricanes are not only in last place in the NHL, they have scored the fewest goals, (60), allowed the most goals, (97), have a poorly rated powerplay, have the worst rated even strength play, and are a full nine points behind Florida, the team closest to them in their division. While the team has played well in spurts, it's hard to find any statistic which can be praised as being positive.

While some of the other bottom feeders in the league have a decent offense but bad defense, or vice versa, the Canes seem to be doing everything poorly with no end in sight.

If they continue at the current pace, they will end up in last place by a landslide.

So what's next?

You don't want to cut off your face to spite your nose. It's bad business to give away assets, just to make a trade. Players of value with expiring contracts, like Matt Cullen, Joe Corvo, and Ray Whitney will all be very valuable bargaining chips closer to the trade deadline. It would be foolish to move them now unless you get equal return.

Players who are under-performing are nearly impossible to trade. You could put them on waivers and hope they get picked up so you can save salary space, but chances are they do not get claimed, then what?

You could strip Rod Brind`Amour of his captaincy, but then you create more problems than you already have in the dressing room.

Or you do what most teams do when a team is underachieving, you change coaches. That is one thing probably everyone can agree on, this team is tremendously underachieving, especially in relation to their salary structure.

While everyone knows that Peter Laviolette is still under contract and is getting paid by the team, the Hurricanes are in a unique position where they do not necessarily need to spend more money to make a coaching change. They already have several coaches under contract, they could just make them play musical chairs. Give Ron Francis a chance, or Tom Rowe. If neither want the position then go to Tom Barrasso or Jeff Daniels.

It wouldn't be the same as bringing in fresh blood like many fans want, but it would be doing something and it would be cost effective. There is no need to "fire" Paul Maurice. Simply move him to another position upstairs. Call it a "reassignment", and that way everyone saves face.

The organization seems to have been grooming Ron Francis for the head coaching job anyway. How many other "Associate Head Coaches" get introduced before every home game? He may or may not be the answer, but what harm is there in trying now? And doesn't the franchise at least owe him the opportunity before they go elsewhere?

Making a move like this will most likely not save the season, but it might keep a large portion of the fanbase from committing mutiny. It might help sell a few more tickets until they have a chance to move some contracts and bring in some youth next offseason. At least it gives the appearance that they are trying to appease fans.

What do you think should be done?

Poll

What should the Hurricanes do this week?

Put some dead weight players on waivers

88 votes

Replace Paul Maurice with Ron Francis or Tom Rowe

96 votes

Replace Paul Maurice with someone from the outside

53 votes

Do nothing. Continue to lose so that they can earn a high draft pick

107 votes

Make a major trade, for good or bad

56 votes

Strip Brind'Amour of the captaincy and have no captain until someone steps up and deserves it

58 votes

I have no idea what they should do. No opinion

47 votes

None of the above

19 votes

524 votes | Poll has closed

Still Winless On The Road: Stars 2, Canes 0

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:02:20 -0000

More photos » by Mike Fuentes - AP

Dallas Stars left wing Steve Ott (29) levels Carolina Hurricanes right wing Patrick Dwyer (39) with a check during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Dallas. There was no penalty for charging on the play. Apparently, Ott never left his feet.

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The Carolina Hurricanes had another disappointing game on the road Monday night and lost to the Dallas Stars, 2-0. The Canes remain the only team in the NHL that has not won a single game on the road. The team is once again tied with Toronto for last place in the league.

The visitors came out flat in the first period and were dominated at times by the home team. They were out-chanced 8-1, out-shot 11-8, and took three minor penalties in that opening period. More importantly, it seemed like Dallas kept the puck in the Carolina zone most of the time. The score was 1-0 when the 20 minutes was over, but it could have been much worse.

Manny Legace deserves kudos for fine play and was given third star of the game.

Dallas scored both of their goals on powerplay opportunities. The Canes on the other hand were 0-5 with the advantage and had almost a minute and a half of a 5 on 3 that they squandered. While most other teams seem to be able to form a triangle around the crease area, then attempt to pass the puck to openings across the crease, the Canes just pass the puck around the perimeter over and over until someone decides to fire a puck on net from the outside.

Using that strategy, not surprisingly the team has not had much luck with the two man advantage all season long.

The Canes thought they tied the game up in the second period when Ray Whitney used his skate to kick the puck to his stick, and guide it to the net. The puck beat Marty Turco and was called a goal by the on-ice officials, but replays apparently showed that the puck never touched his stick and it was ruled no goal. Whitney was upset after the game because he felt that the rule stated that you had to lift your skate off the ice to institute a kicking motion.

Regardless, the score remained 1-0.

Brad Richards scored early in the third during another powerplay when his shot hit Joe Corvo and flipped over Manny Legace into the net.

Carolina took a total of five minor penalties in the third period alone, more or less killing any chance they had at a comeback.

Next up for the Canes is another roadie, this time in Anaheim on Wednesday night.

Game Notes:

Manny Legace made 27 saves on 29 shots and deserved better than this outcome, but it seems like we said the same thing regarding Cam Ward a few times earlier in the season as well.
Tuomo Ruutu left the game early with a lower body injury. He had 11:44 of ice time.
Tim Gleason and Brenden Morrow both got fighting majors just 25 seconds into the game. The Dallas captain was sending an early message to his team, that this was going to be a physical affair and they followed his lead.
Dallas out-shot Carolina in every period and ended up with a 29-22 advantage.
This is the fourth time Carolina has been shutout so far this year. They were shutout once the entire season last year.
The Canes were called for a total of nine minor penalties, including two, too many men on the ice calls. The Stars were called for five minors.
Carolina was credited with 45 hits, led by Chad LaRose with six. Tim Gleason and Brandon Sutter each had five.
Rod Brind'Amour was back on the ice for powerplay time, (2:11), after having minimal powerplay time the last two games.
The team had 17 giveaways led by Joe Corvo and Niclas Wallin who each had three.
Joe Corvo led the team with five shots on goal.
Erik Cole was called for two selfish crosschecking penalties late in the game, negating any possible chance for comeback. Check that, the first one was technically a high stick, but it was delivered in a crosschecking fashion.

It's difficult to say much positive about the game. The team will have to put it behind them and play much better in California.

Dallas Stars Shut Down Hurricanes 2-0

Brandon Worley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:07:42 -0000

More photos » by Mike Fuentes - AP

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It wasn't always pretty, but overall, it was a solid game for the Dallas Stars as they took care of business against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes in shutting them out and ending their five-game point streak. The Stars received power play goals from Jamie Benn and Brad Richards, while Marty Turco was perfect as he recorded his 38th career shutout.

While he only had one assist, there's no doubt that Brenden Morrow was the best player on the ice for the Stars tonight. Seven big hits, three shots, a perfect screen on Richards' goal and a nice fight in the early minutes of the game. He seemed determined not to allow his team to come out flat against another opponent below them in the standings and when the Stars began to let up in the second and early third periods, Morrow was right there again to inject energy and attitude into the game. It infected everyone on the ice and at one point you even saw Mike Ribeiro getting into a scrum as he came to the aid of a teammate.

Before the game Ribeiro talked about how this team needs to play a full 60 minutes, yet they failed to do that tonight and nearly allowed the Hurricanes to get right back into the game. The Stars failed to cash in on several very close chances to go up by two or three goals in the first period.

And early in the second, it appeared those blown chances had come back to bite the Stars when Ray Whitney appeared to have tied the contest at 1-1. But replays showed he had kicked the puck in and video review took a second look and determined the kick was a distinct kicking motion, thus, nullifying the apparent score.

It was also a turning point in the contest as Carolina never really threatened to score until after Richards' third period goal gave the Stars some breathing room. Penalties to Krys Barch and Karlis Skastins gave the Canes an elongated 5-on-3 advantage and a big chance to get back into the game.

But the offensively-challenged outfit from Raleigh were foiled by some big stops by Turco, some big plays by the Stars' penalty killers, and some missed chances. A tickle off the post off a late shot by Whitney was the only thing that threatened to go in and Turco picked up his 37th career shutout.

Some more thoughts from Brandon BIbb after the jump.

First off, I think there was a raison d'tante for the Morrow fight in the opening minute of the contest. This was the fourth opportunity this month for the Stars to put two consecutive wins together and they started slow in the other three. Morrow was intent on not allowing that to happen tonight and it paid off later in the period when Jamie Benn put the Stars up 1-0.
This is the best I've seen the Stars' power play look all year. They moved the puck all over the ice tonight with the man advantage and I'd be remiss if I didn't give a ton of credit to Stephane Robidas. Last year when he was thrust in the role as a top defenseman on this team thanks to injuries, Robi looked like he was pressing a lot on the blue line. This year, he's looked far more comfortable and confident with the puck on the point.
On the flip side, Jeff Woywitka looked like a number 6 defenseman tonight. At one point, it appeared Chad LaRose made him look like a pylon in the second.
The hit Joni Pitkanen put on Stephane Robidas behind the Carolina net in the third period was worse than the hit that got James Neal suspended. Just sayin'.
Now as for the disallowed goal, they got the call right by the letter of the law. Still, in a league that supposedly sells offense as much as the NHL does, I can't really understand why goals that are kicked in should be disallowed. There's no safety threat on kicked pucks because the skate almost always stays on the ice. And it takes skill to directionally kick the puck.
Clearly, Daryl Reaugh is the key to this all-time series. In games in Dallas at least. The Carolina Hurricanes have never won in Dallas since moving down from Hartford. And when they were in Hartford, they only won once in Big D when Brenden Shanahan was playing for them and Razor was doing color on their' television broadcasts. Razor joined Ralph in 1997 and the the rest, as you know, is history.
Wednesday night, the Stars will hold a pre-game ceremony commemorating Brett Hull's induction into The Hockey Hall of Fame. If you're going to the game, the Stars ask that you be in your seats by 6:50 so you don't miss the ceremony.