We were thinking about renting a car to drive to Charlotte for the game Oct 15 to keep from putting too many miles on the new car.  Then I thought, if we're going to rent anyway - why not see if there's anyone that wants to carpool with us, get a mini-van and split the costs.  I did a little pricing and it looks like the rental would be in the $100-120 range.  They mini-van seats 7 people.  So it would work out to $15-20/person. We have a party of 2, potentially 3 already.  So that's 4 more folks that could ride with us.

Plus we won't be drinking alcohol at the game, so we wouldn't have to worry about drinking and driving.

Also - Bob's email cancelling the bus rental brought up the idea of doing a caravan.  That might be fun, too.

A few thoughts have been expressed about sitting together for the Oct 1 game since it's General Admission.  I proposed starting a FanPost to help us organize the plans.  It's definitely open to suggestions and comments from all.  Here's a starting place to begin the planning:

Doors open for Season ticket holders at 12:00pm  The doors for everyone else open at 12:30pm.  If you're like us, we have a mix of STHs and non-STHs in our group - so this may take some coordination. 

A good first step might be to agree on a section or sections to meet and find seats.  Those that are STHs can save seats for the non-STHs.

The floor is open for discussion:

**UPDATE** As LTD mentioned in a comment - the team will be leaving for Helsinki from the RBCC.  We need to plan for a big send-off and after-game party/tailgating as well.

Seidenberg ready for Olympics

Nice to know Seidenberg is getting some recognition.  Sure wish he was still with the 'Canes, but he's probably glad he's not here this season.  We'll have a lot of teams to follow this Winter Olympics.  Will be a nice change of pace from what we fans have been going through the last couple of months.

Hrm - I need 12 more words to post. Hope this is enough. :)

Since the game is only being shown on Center Ice tonight, which we don't have, Raccoon Fink and I are going to watch it at Backyard Bistro.  Anyone else want to join us?  We have a pretty good track record for Canes Country gatherings at the BB for away games.  Well, 1-0 is as good as a track record we can hope for this season.  We'll get there around 6:30 pm.

via gallery.raccoonfink.com

We just received our 09-10 Season Tickets.  The packaging is a simple folder / envelope, not a box like past years.  The parking passes are vibrantly colored.  The tickets are in a nice, spiral bound booklet.  The "It's A Caniac Thing" theme is used through out.  No surprises inside this year.  But who cares.... TICKETS!! Opening night is in 3 weeks, can't wait. Guess training camp will have to be enough to appease the hockey withdrawals for a few more weeks.