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Thread: Retired - Carolina Hurricanes

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    Default Retired - Carolina Hurricanes

    Fellow Dobberites, please allow me to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Sami and I will be your source for all things Carolina.

    I have played semi-professional and varsity soccer, varsity football, and varsity rugby. Sadly, I only started skating later in life so my hockey has been limited to house leagues. Still, the good ol' hockey game is by far my favourite sport to watch, especially come spring. Two years ago I set a goal for myself: to see a game in each of the NHL's thirty cities. So far I have been to Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Florida.

    Fantasy sports became a part of my life about six years ago. Oddly, I only started playing one-year pools after I was about three years into my first keeper. I am now the commissioner of my own pool (in sig) as well as playing in six others, including the DTDL where I compete against such Dobber legends as Praba and GMGates.

    Well that will be all for now. I hope to have my first hockey-related post up for you within the next couple of days. I am not yet decided on the structure for this section but I suspect that it will be primarily game recaps, line combos, and fantasy observations. I hope to intersperse the foregoing with news tidbits and prospect reports as well. If you thirst for knowledge regarding a specific aspect of Canes' hockey, or if you feel that this section could be improved by a different approach, please PM me and I will do my best to follow up within a reasonable time frame.

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    Welcome to the team Sami!

    Glad to have you
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    My best advice for a structure for this thread: don't have one. Do what your heart tells you do to and speak your mind in whatever way you want. Over time you'll develop your own style and structure.

    Best of luck!


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    Welcome Aboard KK. Looks like you have a lot to offer and the Canes' organization is one of the most interesting ones in the NHL. Their prospect cupboard is stocked full of talented kids and it should be interesting to see who comes out on tough.

    Good luck

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    Welcome aboard Sami

    Now with that said, tell me what the hell I should do with Drayson Bowman, I feel I have owned him forever...

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    I like Jussi Jokenin, dissect everything about his game for me and tell me he's a 60+ player for years to come
    Gates Imbeau
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    Welcome aboard. Will be great to get some Carolina perspectives
    would love to hear about eric staal. Seems like we see awesomeness every other or every 3 games. I say this for fantasy aspect

    Also what happened to dwyer?
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    Hopping on quickly and figured I'd reply to your messages! I'll be posting a couple of game recaps tonight so if you're interested in the Canes, do check back later tonight or tomorrow.

    Quote Originally Posted by ericdaoust View Post
    My best advice for a structure for this thread: don't have one.
    Thanks for the advice, Eric. Much appreciated.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dean Youngblood View Post
    the Canes' organization is one of the most interesting ones in the NHL. Their prospect cupboard is stocked full of talented kids...
    Bang on Deaner. That's precisely what got me following the Canes in the first place. While they lack high-end talent in terms of forward prospects (Skinner excepted), they have some very intriguing options on the blue line and a decent crop of goalies in the system. And that's not to knock their forwards. I could see quite a few of the boys down in Charlotte making the transition to the NHL, though in what capacity remains to be seen. Given the make-up of this team (from the major roster there are only three forwards, three D-men, and two goalies under contract for next year), I plan to spend a considerable amount of time digging up information on the Hurricanes' youth.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shakedown View Post
    tell me what the hell I should do with Drayson Bowman, I feel I have owned him forever...
    haha I too feel that way. My advice to you would depend a lot on your league format. Check back here periodically as I plan to give an update on Bowman in the next couple of weeks. Two quick comments for now though: he's been playing well but has generally been unlucky this year, and his numbers have taken a serious hit since he hurt his knee in early December.

    Quote Originally Posted by GMGates View Post
    I like Jussi Jokenin, dissect everything about his game for me and tell me he's a 60+ player for years to come
    I would love to tell you that Jokinen is a 60+ player for years to come. Do I think that he has the talent to do it? Yes. Do I think that he will? That's tough to say... who knows if he'll even be in Carolina next year? He's certainly due for a significant raise from his current 1.7M. Not only is he scoring at a seventy-point pace, he's capable of lining up at centre or on the wing, plays PP and PK, AND he's been defensively dependable as evidenced by him recently playing on the third line with Sutter and Dwyer (before Dwyer got hurt). I can't imagine that there are many players with that versatility hitting the FA market this summer...

    Quote Originally Posted by newper114 View Post
    eric staal. Seems like we see awesomeness every other or every 3 games. I say this for fantasy aspect. Also what happened to dwyer?
    Well I'm not sure why the beef with Staal? He's had points in fifteen of his last twenty, with eleven goals, nine assists and twenty-six penalty minutes over that span. Aside from the -5, what's not to like?

    As for Dwyer, I can't find much info on him. All that's being disclosed right now is that the injury happened against Pittsburgh and it is a "lower body" injury. He has previously torn his MCL so hopefully it's not his knee. I'll continue to scour though and post if/when I find something. I'll also try to re-watch the Pittsburgh game tonight to see if I can spot where it happens.
    Last edited by Kudelskis Krushers; January 25, 2011 at 4:48 PM.

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    Glad to see someone cover the Canes. Not one of my favorite teams or anything, but I really do enjoy watching some of their players (Ward, Staal, Skinner, McBain) and they've got a great looking future.

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    Canes are one of my favourite random teams to watch. This is probably due to the fact that I've been absolutely smitten with Eric Staal ever since he helped rip the Cup away from my Oilers. I also like that while they are never dominant but always seem to play a good brand of offensive hockey. They also have some big time clutch performers when they do make the playoffs.

    Anyways, I've got a question here somewhere... Ahhh, yes... Jeff Skinner, better on the wing or at center? I know he's played both but I'm curious if you, Sami, noted where he performed the best.

    I'm also curious what happened to the 4 forward PP unit they used for a while with Staal playing the right point and Skinner on the right half boards. That unit was dominant in the couple games I watched with Staal and Skinner showing particularly good chemistry. Where'd it go?
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    Quote Originally Posted by metaldude26 View Post
    Jeff Skinner, better on the wing or at center? I know he's played both but I'm curious if you, Sami, noted where he performed the best.
    For me, Skinner is most useful on the wing. His biggest strength, as I'm sure you've heard people state ad nauseum, is his skating ability. Last night Skinner gave a perfect example of how he can use this to his advantage on the wing: he gained momentum across the Leafs' blue line, drove wide on Schenn and then cut in and around behind the net. From there he used that hips-open, inside-edges turn that only a few hockey players (and of course figure skaters) can actually pull off. With the pressure from Schenn he wasn't quite able to come all the way around the net but he still managed to throw the puck to the crease with enough conviction that it sparked an eight-minute review to determine if the puck crossed the line (which I still think it did but the call on the ice was no-goal so I understand the result).

    Quote Originally Posted by metaldude26 View Post
    I'm also curious what happened to the 4 forward PP unit they used for a while with Staal playing the right point and Skinner on the right half boards. That unit was dominant in the couple games I watched with Staal and Skinner showing particularly good chemistry.
    Well that seemed to click a bit back in November but then the Canes gave up a shortie against Philly and went ice cold going 0/20 (or 21, can't remember) after that. Meanwhile, it's hard to argue with their recent PP success. Back in November they had the 28th best power play; now they have the 13th. Their power play at home is now second-best in the East with a 22.1% conversion rate.

    Plus, from a personnel standpoint, it makes sense to play to your strengths. From the major roster down through the pipelines the Canes have a bevy of puck-moving talent from the blue-line. When you're icing a D-corps that includes Pitkanen, Corvo, McBain and White, not playing them on the power play would be foolish.

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    Default Game Recap: Canes vs. Rangers

    I had extensive notes on this game which sadly got lost on the road. As a result, this won't be so much of a game recap as general comments that stuck in my head:

    1) Hits. The Canes really came out to play the body tonight. They are not an overly big team but recently they have been playing big. This game was no exception. The Canes outhit the Rags who, if I'm not mistaken, lead the league in hits. While none of the Canes' hits were individually impressive, the team commitment to finishing their checks was a pleasure to watch. In particular, the SLR line (Sutter-Larose-Ruutu) were absolutely tenacious on the forecheck and were the ones initiating physical contact as often as possible. Of course, you cannot mention hitting and Hurricanes in the same paragraph without talking about Tim Gleason. While he wasn't as noticeable physically today (more on that below), he is usually the physical presence on the blue line.

    2) Shut-down D. The top pairing of Gleason-Corvo were often dragged out of position. They simply didn't have the speed to keep up with their assignments (Gaborik's line). Then again, not many guys in the league can keep up with Gaborik. While the pair had a couple of miscues that resulted in some solid opportunities for the Rags, nothing ever came of it and Gaborik ended up with a goose-egg and minus-1 on the night. A large part of this result had to do with point #3.

    3) Cam Ward. Man was he good tonight. A .975 save percentage and he just looks unflappable while doing it. I am no goalie expert but he looks to me like he has calmed down quite a bit in terms of his movements, resulting in far more efficiency. His rebound control was, for the most part, great in this game as well. There were a couple of stretches where he was simply delightful to watch. The only goal he allowed was a fluke: Prust took a shot that Harrison blocked (with his face). Nobody tracked the puck until Prust found it in the slot and fired home his own rebound.

    4) The SLR line. I mentioned their physicality already but in general these guys were buzzing. Larose continued his strong play and is there a more underrated player right now than Tuomo Ruutu? He notched two assists to give him his thirtieth point in the previous thirty games, and eleventh point over the past ten. The chemistry and energy on this line is infectious and Ruutu is in line for a career year as a result. Oh yeah, that Skinner guy had two points as well.

    5) Miscellaneous. Pitkanen had an impressive game and looks like he has fully recovered from injury. He logged 27:04 and was a plus-1 with 2 SOG and 2 PIMs.

    Brandon Sutter found his scoring touch again with a beauty goal on Lundqvist. I can't find it on youtube anywhere but I'll try to dig it up somewhere else if possible. I really love this kid. His defensive game is already more refined than many of his older colleagues and he brings that hard-working, Sutter approach to the game. He also has a great deal of untapped offensive potential. He's kind of in that gray area in terms of getting a fantasy read on him. After seeing Kesler's progression offensively, I wouldn't write him off simply because he's a great shut-down centre. At the same time though, I don't see him ever hitting the point-per-game numbers that Kes is putting up.

    Troy Bodie has impressed me since being claimed off waivers from the Ducks. It's really no surprise that the Ducks had him in the first place. He's a big guy that plays the body and is practically impossible to beat along the boards. If he can work a little bit on his play away from the puck I could see him develop into a reliable third-line player. Not much fantasy upside (aside from hits) but his real life impact could be huge.
    Last edited by Kudelskis Krushers; January 25, 2011 at 8:56 PM.

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    Default Game Recap: Canes vs. Leafs

    First off, apologies. I missed the game against the Pens for an engagement party. I also realise that this recap is very late. All I can offer as an excuse for that is that my job takes up way too much time and pays way too little. Sorry. Anyway, better late than never and I should be able to get all caught up with the ASG going down this week and all. Btw, kind of crazy that Staal, Ward, Skinner, and McBain will all take part this weekend. I got a chuckle when I saw someone (can't remember who) tweet that Bodie would be the next injury replacement. haha

    Canes vs. Leafs in what was the 1,000th game in franchise history, and what a weird game it was. Very little flow, lots of penalties, an eight-minute pause for video review, and a 5-3 Canes victory. Coming into this one the Canes were an astonishing 16-0-0 when leading after two periods and just 2-17-2 when trailing after two periods. If you want to beat the Canes I guess you have to do it early!

    Yet again, the Hurricanes engaged physically all game long. The game started with a physical tone when Ruutu took a run at Phaneuf. On the same shift Phaneuf drilled Ruutu with an open-ice hit that has to be a candidate for hit-of-the-year. Grabovski dinged Corvo pretty badly when the puck was nowhere near either of them and then on that same shift Ruutu put Kulemin into the Leafs bench. In the second period Bodie stapled Kaberle against the boards and Ruutu followed up by drilling Grabovski, which resulted in a decent scoring opportunity. And those were just the notable hits. Not really a hit but I have to at least mention that Gleason broke Kulemin's face after Nikolai bit off more than he can chew. What on Earth made him think that Gleason was the right guy to antagonize? Foolish.

    Cam Ward was less than stellar this game but made some big saves when it mattered. He stoned Bozak on a SH opportunity in the first and came up huge on a 5-on-3 PK near the end of the second. Ward coughed up a bit of a softy to Brent as he lost his net a bit after McBain misplayed the entry (though I was very taken aback to see Brent slot such a hard backhand off the far post and I'm sure Ward was a bit surprised as well).

    Yet again I thought that Bodie and Carter looked solid on the fourth line, though with all the penalties in this game they did not get much ice time.

    As much as I don't like Corvo, he really stepped up his game tonight. He ate a TONNE of minutes once Gleason got the game misconduct and he was fairly solid for most of the evening, even if it was only against the Leafs. He kept up his recent point production giving him nine in ten games after this one.

    The SLR line was buzzing again tonight. Skinner's goal came on the PP after a bit of a broken play. At even strength though the line was responsible and energetic, as usual. During a stretch of four-on-four play, Skinner put his awesome skating abilities on display (see my post two above for description of the play).

    Boychuk started the game on the first line with Staal and Cole but by the ten-minute mark he had been demoted to the fourth line, with Samsonov moving up to the first and Tlusty to the third line. Boychuk didn't look bad but when he had a great scoring opportunity and missed the net entirely, you got the feeling that Maurice would make a change and he did just that the next opportunity he had. Boychuk got a shift back on that line in third period and it was actually the best shift I've ever seen from him. He threw his (undersized) body around a bit and made it clear that he has the hands to play at this level. The jury is still out on whether he can stick as a first line player, though I could see him replacing Cole on that line if they can get a big body to play the right side next year.

    The best line by far was Tlusty-Sutter-Jokinen. Jokinen, somewhat surprisingly, has established a bit of a net presence recently, especially on the PP. In this game he drove the net on a first period PP dragging Phaneuf with him as a double-screen. Corvo's point shot ended up hitting Phaneuf in the leg before squeezing by Giguere. While he didn't get a point on the play, it's small contributions like that make me love Jussi. He had two apples and a plus-one in this game.

    I should also say that I am VERY high on Sutter. This kid is ridiculously heady. He is defensively responsible, makes smart and safe plays, and is incredibly unselfish. His first goal was pure hustle: he dumped the puck into the zone, won the race against Phaneuf and threw the puck back to White on the point who unleashed a slapper. Immediately after playing the puck to White, Sutter went to the net and was rewarded with a rebound opportunity that he converted. His second goal came when he stepped up on Schenn who was playing the puck at the Canes blue-line. He managed to poke the puck out of the zone and eventually wound up with the puck on a 2-on-1 on his off-wing. He snapped the shot far post to beat Giguere (who was way too deep in his net). Finally, in the dying minute Maurice throws him out there with the empty net for the chance at a hat trick. He's not even twenty seconds into the shift when the puck gets thrown into the Leafs end toward the lane he was skating and, without even hesitating, he peels off and changes. He was the first person to change on that shift and from the far end of the ice. Incredibly unselfish play to ensure that they protected the lead. Maybe fifteen seconds after Cole replaced Sutter, he got the empty-netter.

    Wow this post has gotten long and I still have so many notes. OK, one final comment: if the Canes are serious about the playoffs they have to improve their blue line. The third pairing of White-Harrison is simply not going to cut it when the games are on the line. Their PK in the third period was atrocious and led to Brown's goal. Granted it was the PP but they should not get pulled apart that easily and Harrison looked like he was sleeping standing up on the play. Throw in the fact that Corvo is less than stellar defensively and McBain is still a rookie... even with the great forward group the Canes have going right now, they won't be able to go very far unless they shape up on D.

    Hopefully I'll get my thoughts on the Islanders game up tomorrow. If not, Saturday for sure.

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    Few follow-up comments:

    1) Still can't find anything on the Dwyer injury. However, I did see speculation leading up to the game against the Isles that he might be back in the line-up (which he wasn't) so I gather that his "lower-body" injury is not serious. News bit #2 makes me wonder about this too.

    2) Boychuk has been re-assigned to the Charlotte Checkers. This could be an indication that Dwyer is ready to return or it could simply be a cap/development move to get Boychuk back in the AHL over the All-Star break.

    3) Gates, I realise that I didn't break down every facet of Jokinen's game for you in my answer to your question above. I hope to be able to give you a more detailed report at a later date.

    As always poolies, let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to know about the Canes!

    Sami out.
    Last edited by Kudelskis Krushers; January 29, 2011 at 1:08 PM.

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    Default Game Recap: Canes vs. Isles (26 Jan '11)

    A solid 4-2 win over the Isles, and the star of the night was unquestionably captain Eric: 2G, 1A, 4 PIMs, 10 SOG (that's not a typo, he had TEN shots on goal)! 'Sure made his owners proud in this game.

    This game had a crazy start with a video review being needed just nineteen seconds into the first period when the puck and DiPietro crossed the goal line simultaneously. What had at first appeared to be a Jokinen goal was properly waived off once it was determined that Jussi had pushed the puck against DiPietro's pad, causing both to go in the net.

    An interesting variation that Maurice tried on the PP tonight at times tonight was Skinner-Staal-Ruutu, with Ruutu being the net presence. Even when this combination was varied, Ruutu was still getting prime opportunity, and he finished second among forwards with 4:33 of ice time on the PP. While the unit failed to convert in four attempts, they did generate some quality scoring opportunities so this might be something to keep an eye on this situation going forward.

    Boychuk-Staal-Cole were re-united as the top line and they looked great tonight. Boychuk played with a great deal more confidence in this game. I love this kid's hands and his energy but I am concerned about his lack of size, especially since he doesn't shy away from playing the body. If he adds some muscle to his frame he could become a very effective, complimentary winger (much like Staal's current linemate Cole).

    He's not a cane but Michael Grabner's speed is tantalizing. The first Islanders goal was all Grabner as he simply blew past McBain on the rush and then chipped the puck past Pitkanen into the corner. Nielsen was quick to retrieve the puck and when he threw it back out in front, Grabner was johnny-on-the-spot to put away his seventh goal in the past seven games. Grabner's speed was also the major contributing factor to MacDonald's goal in the third period.

    Soon afterward the big-bodied Bodie took on Zenon Konopka. While Konopka won the tilt by decision, this was a great trade to get the Islanders' top face-off man off the ice in exchange for a fourth-liner that doesn't see much ice time.

    Within minutes following the fight the Canes' top line was out and buzzing. Boychuk knocked down Comeau with a big hit. Later, Staal manged to strip MacDonald of the puck just inside the Canes' blue line. He got it up to Cole and the two went in two-on-one on Hamonic. Cole found Staal on the left side though it looked like the pass had taken Staal out to wide. With very little to shoot at, Staal showed great patience out-waiting DiPietro and eventually flipping the puck up and over him into the net.

    Less than two minutes later Corvo fired a knuckle-puck that would have made Russ envious. Staal amazingly manged to reach back behind him and just tip it enough to fool DiPietro. This gave Corvo a point for the fifth consecutive game and thirteen in fourteen over the past month!

    The Canes fourth goal came when Jokinen won the puck in his own zone and passed quickly to Tlusty who was supporting through the middle. Tlusty showed great awareness recognizing that Sutter had sprung in behind the Isles' D and connected the stretch pass right up the gut. Sutter cruised in alone, showed forehand but then pulled it to his backhand and put it over DiPietro (who went down a little too early and was visibly upset with himself about that poor reaction).

    Not a super-exciting game but chalk another W up for the Canes as they continue to roll...

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