All posts by Kate Shefte
Kate Shefte ·
18 Mar 2010, 10:35 PM ·
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Whitney won the goal-that-mattered award tonight, though there were several other qualified candidates. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
RBC CENTER/RALEIGH - Joe Corvo’s two-goal effort…Chad LaRose’s late heroics….Ray Whitney’s overtime wrister led his team to a 4-3 win over Thursday night. There we go.
If all the Washington goals had counted, the ‘Canes wouldn’t have even made it to overtime. But thanks to a Whitney tally in overtime, Carolina won just its second game of the year after going into the second period down a goal. Corvo’s pair couldn’t save the league-leading Capitals, who clinched the Southeast Division last week.
There were two noticeable absences on the ice tonight. League points leader Alex Ovechkin was serving the back end of a two-game suspension for another illegal hit. The ‘Canes announced today that Tim Gleason would miss three weeks with a broken bone in his foot, even though he’d already played two games with the injury. Oh, that Gleason.
“Gleason’s probably the leader of our back end,” defenseman Brett Carson said. “He battles night after night. Obviously not having him in meant some other guys had to step up and play some minutes and I thought we did a pretty good job.”
Carolina got an early break when an apparent goal off the hand of Mike Knuble was waved off immediately with a few minutes left into the first period.
Scott Walker and Corvo have both seen dramatically different and ever-shrinking roles with their new club, the Capitals. Walker sat as a healthy scratch for Washinton’s last two games, but due to injury and suspension, he was called upon to suit up tonight. Corvo got things started when he picked up a rebound to make it 1-0 and Walker got the secondary assist. Corvo memorably scored a hat trick the first time he faced the Ottawa Senators after they traded him, and obviously that was the start of a trend of sorts as he wound up close to another tonight.
“[Corvo] played well. It’s kind of a habit for him to score against his old teams, and I read in the paper today that he wasn’t even pissed off at us,” Whitney said. “If he was, we really would have been in trouble.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Alex Ovechkin, Brett Carson, Chad LaRose, injury, Joe Corvo, overtime, Ray Whitney, Southeast division, suspension, Tim Gleason, Washington Capitals
Kate Shefte ·
17 Mar 2010, 2:07 AM ·
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The Wizard couldn't make the magic happen tonight against the Bruins. Photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
Just when it looked as though the Hurricanes were turning the corner in the recovery process, the team reverted back to its old tendencies in back-to-back smarting losses against the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-0, and more recently, the Boston Bruins, 5-2. The Bruins looked like a hungry team barely hanging on to eighth place in the Eastern Conference while the Hurricanes looked like a bunch of guys that thought, hey, it might be nice to beat the Bruins tonight maybe…if it doesn’t take too much effort. Carolina sank to ten points back from eighth, in other words, not exactly mathematically eliminated but circling the drain.
Despite these dramatically different outlooks on the rest of the spring, the ‘Canes kept it close through two and a half periods, largely thanks to Erik Cole, who scored goals seven and eight of the year to keep Carolina within reach. But the Bruins cracked the game open midway through the third and never looked back.
“There were a lot of uncharacteristic things that we haven’t been doing the last several games,” Cole said. “It feels as bad as it did early in the year at the moment, and it’s a feeling we haven’t had in this room for quite a while.”
Carolina lost its second straight on home ice after rattling off eight in a row in Raleigh. Saturday night, it was clear the ‘Canes really missed center Brandon Sutter, who sat out the game while nursing a “lower body injury.” Indy was at the game and probably should have posted a game recap, but honestly, it would have been really short and pretty boring, something along the lines of four paragraphs describing each of Phoenix’s goals and one about how listless Carolina was beneath the headline “Bryzgalov 4 Vezina!!!” Even starting goaltender Justin Peters, who absorbed the 4-0 loss, called it a boring game. He would know.
The ‘Canes have fallen back into that bad habit of letting in a few deflating goals early and it happened again Tuesday. Patrice Bergeron deflected a puck past Manny Legace 23 seconds in with assists from two ex-Hurricanes, Mark Recchi and Dennis Seidenberg.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Boston Bruins, Eastern Conference, Erik Cole, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jamie McBain, Johnny Boychuk, Manny Legace, Mark Recchi, playoffs, Tuukka Rask
Kate Shefte ·
11 Mar 2010, 10:27 PM ·
1 Comment
LaRose had a scary moment tonight, but came back for the remainder of the 'Canes' 4-3 overtime win against the Penguins. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
Newbie Brian Pothier and call-up Justin Peters were the heroes tonight as Pothier scored his first Hurricane goal in dramatic fashion 23 seconds into overtime against the defending Stanley Cup champs. Peters backstopped the ‘Canes to a 4-3 win with a 37-save performance.
I’m sure you all enjoyed Jeff Hamlin’s Ottawa recap last week (and David’s far less ridiculous headline) and I have to say, it gave me a little hope. Had I really been so out of it that I hadn’t realized how far this recent surge propelled the Hurricanes forward? No other team can top the ‘Canes’ 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games. But no – still fourth to last in the league. But wait…eight points back? How is that possible? History says all but one team in the top-8 in the Eastern Conference will make it to the postseason. But it’s okay to dream, right?
Peters said the team is going to keep going until it’s mathematically eliminated, and probably well afterward.
“We’re just going to keep fighting,” Peters said. “There’s no quit in this locker room.”
The Penguins pounced on the tired-looking ‘Canes early. Carolina left Jordan Staal alone with plenty of time and space less than two minutes in and he wristed a puck past Justin Peters. Later, on a Patrick Dwyer penalty, Peters couldn’t find the puck and Bill Guerin was happy to assist him.
“At times we looked tired tonight, but we battled through it,” Pothier said.
Sergei Gonchar had a blonde moment and checked Chad LaRose headfirst into the boards. It turned out to be far less nasty than it looked because LaRose popped right back up with an indignant look on his face. 10 seconds into the penalty, Ray Whitney sent a long Joni Pitkanen one-timer whistling past Brent Johnson to make it 2-1.
Jussi Jokinen was felled by a high stick behind the Pittsburgh net and went to the bench with a bloody nose. Somehow that one escaped the referees’ attention. But on the next play, Zach Boychuk made the Pens pay with a nasty, unassisted backhand that seemed to completely befuddle Johnson. I hope even as an NHL regular, Boychuk doesn’t lose that youthful appreciation for each and every goal, because he celebrated his latest as though it was his first.
“It feels nice to score a good one, especially against Sidney Crosby and the Pens,” Boychuk said. “It’s been a lot of fun – one night [Alex] Ovechkin, the next night Crosby.”
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Brent Johnson, Brian Pothier, concussion, elbow, Justin Peters, Matt Cooke, overtime, Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Whitney, Washington Capitals, Zach Boychuk
Kate Shefte ·
3 Mar 2010, 3:50 PM ·
1 Comment
There still may be a few buzzer-beater deadline trades the ‘Canes haven’t announced yet, but right now it seems as though the team has traded away everyone…except those it said it was trading away. As of right now, Ray Whitney is still a ‘Cane despite rampant trade rumors to the contrary. Scott Walker and Joe Corvo are now members of the NHL-leading Washington Capitals, Aaron Ward is a Duck, Andrew Alberts is reportedly a Canuck and Stephane Yelle is floating out there in nowhere land, but he’s not with Carolina anymore.
Jim Rutherford did what he wanted – dumping dead weight and salary for draft picks. Carolina now owns the second round of the 2010 entry draft. Through various trades, the team now has at least 10 second-round picks. The Ducks re-gifted Justin Pogge to Carolina (wasn’t he a Maple Leaf, what…two or three weeks ago?) and the surging Hurricanes got Brian Pothier for Corvo. Poor Scott Walker got pawned off for what might very well be the last pick in the entire draft this year, but he’s off to a team with a very real chance of winning the cup. They might as well have called it “future considerations” for all the value a seventh-round pick usually has.
In minor news, every player Carolina signed in the offseason is now elsewhere except for Tom Kostopoulos. Ward and Yelle never seemed to mesh well with the team and were always a step behind, so chalk the whole Bruins exodus up to a failed experiment. Alberts was exactly as billed. He added needed grit but turned the puck over frequently, and wasn’t somebody the Hurricanes couldn’t stand to part with. The writing was on the wall for the perpetually injured Walker, but no one will ever forget his contributions to the ‘Canes’ 2009 playoff run.
The buzz on the web is that Rutherford wanted more for Whitney than anyone was willing to give – a first rounder and a solid NHL player, not a prospect. Maybe it just didn’t work out. We’ll know for sure in a few hours.
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 2nd round, Aaron Ward, Andrew Alberts, Brian Pothier, Joe Corvo, Justin Pogge, salary, Scott Walker, Stephane Yelle, trade, trade deadline, Washington Capitals
Kate Shefte ·
25 Feb 2010, 2:29 AM ·
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Three out of four of the teams containing ‘Canes players are headed to the 2010 Olympic semifinals. Woah.
In case you’re severely behind or can’t stay up late enough to catch all the action from Vancounver, Carolina’s representatives have thrived on the international stage so far. Unless something very strange happens (more than likely involving time travel,) at least one ‘Cane is assured of a medal. Tim Gleason is the only one without a goal but has been as advertised, doing exactly what Team USA called on him to do. He’s been physical, solid and consistent, but rarely flashy. Ruutu seems to have fully recovered from his injury and, I would argue from a totally biased perspective, has been one of Finland’s best players on the ice so far. And yeah, he’s good, but who would have thought Eric Staal would be on Canada’s top line? Staal got his foot into the revolving door of Sidney Crosby’s linemates and might stick there. He has a goal and five assists, tallying one most recently tonight in a 7-3 rout of AO and the Russians. As everyone undoubtedly saw (hurrah for ratings!) Staal had the first goal in one of the most widely-watched and anticipated hockey games of the decade: USA vs. Canada in the prelims. He then lost his cool, decided to get scrappy and earned an almost devastating penalty toward the end of the second period after attempting a flying bear hug. But Canada survived. Staal went crashing into the boards awkwardly tonight and Raleigh held its breath, but he looked to be fine.
Even though it’s several days too late, can we talk about “that” game? Staal’s Canada and Gleason’s USA have surprised for several reasons. Canada was a dream squad, a team only 14-year-olds with a game console and no salary cap could dream up. America, while stacked, seemed more like a list of players who just happened to be American. A lot of the guys on that roster aren’t household names. And yet somehow, the scrappy underdogs beat the high-scoring juggernauts at home and looked good doing it (was that not the most beautiful empty-netter you’ve ever seen?) Could they do it again? I’m not sure. But that game was definitely one to remember.
And then…of course…Pitkanen. Joni Pitkanen isn’t exactly known to be disciplined – he takes needless penalties quite a lot, but Carolina doesn’t seem to hold it against him. But the other night, Pitkanen got mad! He elbowed Sweden’s Patric Hornqvist in the head and incurred an automatic one-game suspension, which is already taken care of. His team did fine without him in dispensing the Czech Republic tonight.
The only thing that’s gone truly wrong with these games so far from a local perspective? Finland hasn’t yet been forced to realize how much better it would be with a certain clutch-scoring, Brodeur-angering shootout specialist on its roster. There’s still time.
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Eric Staal, Joni Pitkanen, Olympics, Tim Gleason, Tuomo Ruut, Vancouver 2010
Kate Shefte ·
13 Feb 2010, 10:30 PM ·
Comment
There were many different ways I could have gone with this headline, but if you’d put them all together they would have been longer than the post itself. Zach Boychuk scored his first NHL goal on the winningest goaltender in league history, Ray Whitney and Jussi Jokinen each had a pair of goals, call-up goaltender Justin Peters outdueled Vancouver-bound Martin Brodeur with 24 saves, all four Olympians got spiffy new banners and the Hurricanes won their season-high fifth in a row heading into the two week break.
As good as he was at opening the door to the bench during his various call-ups, 23-year-old Peters is much better between the pipes. He now has two wins in two NHL starts, and he said besting Brodeur was a memorable experience.
“He’s someone I grew up idolizing. He’s the best goaltender in the world,” Peters gushed. “I’ve watched him play a lot and he’s going to represent Canada. I’m Canadian, so I wish him luck in the Olympics.”
The ‘Canes got into some penalty trouble early but were saved by seamless play by the PK. The ‘Canes almost went ahead with an apparent power play goal by Jussi Jokinen was immediately waived off because the play was dead when the puck crossed the line.
2008 first rounder Zach Boychuk scored his first NHL goal, and it was a weird one, with assists from fellow erstwhile River Rats Brandon Sutter and Brett Carson. Boychuk barely got a stick on the puck while it was being batted around by the Devils defense. It got behind Brodeur and while D-men Mark Fraser and Anssi Salmela tried to get it out of harm’s way, both wound up helping the puck get into the back of their own net.
Boychuk was spun around as he got his shot off, but he knew it was his goal and yelled his approval. He told the press happily that he wanted Martin Brodeur to be the goaltender on record for his “first time.”
“Before the game I was saying, ‘I haven’t gotten my first goal yet. I think I’m going to save it for Marty,’” Boychuk said. It’s funny that it worked out that way and I got the monkey off my back.”
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 2010, 5-2, Brian Rolston, first, Justin Peters, Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils, NHL goal, Olympians, Olympics, Vancouver, Zack Boychuk
Kate Shefte ·
12 Feb 2010, 3:22 PM ·
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Two Hurricanes apparently not long for this franchise celebrate Cullen's goal Tuesday against Florida. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
Jim Rutherford is true to his word. Just this week, he vowed that Matt Cullen would be gone before the Olympic break and Ray Whitney would depart right afterward, and today he pulled the trigger on a trade that send Cullen packing for third-place Ottawa just before the trade freeze took effect at 3 p.m Cullen will get a cushy role as possible second-line center in Ottawa and he’s almost assuredly playoff-bound.
Carolina allowed Cullen to head north once before, only that time in free agency, due to money issues. Neither party liked how that one worked out. Cullen is like the lost puppy who keeps finding his way home, and like Niclas Wallin, once Carolina gets its act together no one would be surprised to se him come back. He’s a free agent this summer and could easily be back if Ottawa doesn’t offer him a contract extension. But if he doesn’t return, at least he gave us this beauty – his last goal in a ‘Canes sweater – to remember him by.
In return, the ‘Canes collected another second-round pick and second season NHL defenseman Alexandre Picard. There are actually two guys by that name in the NHL, but this one is 24 and an Ottawa native. He’s already suited up for three teams in his short tenure, and one stat that stands out is that he scored all six of his goals on the power play in 2008-2009. Not a bad sign. It seems as though he’s sort of fizzled out during his last two city stops, with Ottawa ganking many of his minutes this season before finally trading him. Perhaps he’ll find his happy place here in Carolina.
So now we know. It doesn’t matter how well the Hurricanes do down the stretch; JR his put the kibosh on this season and is moving forward, pawning off role player for picks. I don’t know that I see the Hurricanes continuing to excel (as they did in last night’s convincing 4-3 overtime victory over fifth-place Buffalo) after the Olympic break with Whitney gone, but this team has finally found the chemistry it so desperately needed in the first half of the season, so perhaps it doesn’t matter. Jussi Jokinen seems perfectly willing to do it all himself anyway.
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Alexandre Picard, Matt Cullen, Olympic break, Ottawa Senators, Ray Whitney, trade, trade freeze
Kate Shefte ·
10 Feb 2010, 3:54 AM ·
Comment
Staal couldn't add that Finnishing touch tonight, but his European teammates were more than capable of getting the job done. Photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
RBC CENTER/RALEIGH - Right on the heels of the announcement that their team would be starting next season in Helsinki, Carolina’s Finnish representatives had one heckuva night at the Florida Panthers’ expense. The ‘Canes’ solid road play held steady as they weathered the storm in an up-and-down first period and then converted three times before recently returned Tuomo Ruutu added an empty netter.
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was shown numerous times on the Jumbotron, sitting sulkily and sporting a Flyers jersey. Late in the third period, two brave Storm Squad members presented him with a ‘Canes’ third jersey. I was secretly wondering whether managed to find one that would fit his “dimensions” without special ordering it, but while it looked a little snug, Ryan seemed happy with his new threads.
Another sidenote that captured my interest was how quickly the ‘Canes struck Niclas Wallin from the record book. The affable, longtime ‘Canes defenseman was shipped to the playoff-bound San Jose Sharks Sunday for a second round pick under good terms. By Tuesday, his picture was off St. Baldrick’s ads (he supported the charity several years in a row) and all clips of him or promotional videos involving him were gone, at least as far as I could see. I understand the value in moving on, but…man, that’s efficiency.
It was a ho-hum first period until Tim Gleason and Gregory Campbell – the league disciplinarian’s son, go figure – dropped the gloves 6:12 in. Gleason threw Campbell around and got in a few good hooks before the fight was broken up.
Florida stood up in the first period and didn’t allow Carolina many scoring chances and even fewer good ones. Manny Legace, who is manning the nets for Cam Ward while the starter’s back injury is being evaluated (I find it hard to believe they’d be taking so many precautions if it wasn’t serious and probably season-ending) had to be solid, but not spectacular, on the other side of the night.
Steven Goertzen had his first Hurricane fight late in the first when he squared off with Bryan Allen. He got his behind handed to him. Tomas Vokoun robbed Ray Whitney when the ‘Canes winger came in on the back door. The pass was clearly going to happen, but he had to stretch out as far as he could to get over in time to meet Whitney.
On the next play, Tim Gleason, who seems to have gotten more than his fair share of facial injuries this season, was hit in the face with the puck and skated off immediately, bleeding profusely from his forehead. Right afterwards the Jumbotron flashed a screen congratulating Gleason on his addition to Team USA entitled “Red, White and Blue.” The fans didn’t seem to know what they should do with that one.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 4-1, Carolina Hurricanes, Finland, Florida Panthers, Helsinki, Joni Pitkanen, Jussi Jokinen, Matt Cullen, NHL, Tuomo Ruutu, win, winning streak
Kate Shefte ·
30 Jan 2010, 10:25 PM ·
1 Comment
Jussi Jokinen has been practically demanding that Team Finland hand over a roster spot with a letter of apology. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
RBC CENTER/ RALEIGH—Tonight was the seemingly tall tale of how the second-best team in the NHL lost to the second-worst in front of 6,896 of the Hurricanes’ and Blackhawks’ most faithful Triangle fans…or at least, those with four wheel drive. Despite being outshot 41-24, Carolina won its fourth straight, 4-2, over a powerhouse Blackhawks team off Brandon Sutter’s go-ahead goal midway through the third period. Cam Ward played out of his mind to keep the Blackhawks off the board.
“It’s been a fun game,” Ward said. “Tonight we were playing against arguably against one of the best teams in the league and to be able to grab a win is a big confidence booster. We’ll be in good spirits going out west.”
When I say there was no one there to see it unfold, I really mean no one. Even the ‘Canes’ usual goal announcer didn’t brave the mess on I-40. Under seven thousand fans, approximately a third of what the building holds, made the trip while the rest will cash in their tickets at a later date with the approval of the ‘Canes’ brass.
Should they have canceled the game outright? It would have been costly and probably very difficult. Only once, at least as far as I can remember, has an NHL game been scrapped due to weather. That was in Denver, and no one was getting anywhere during that blizzard. The only unfortunate thing was that most North Carolinians were ill-equipped to get out and see a good West-East match-up and what proved to be an exciting game.
The fact that Carolina wasn’t down in the first ten minutes was an accomplishment in and of itself. The Blackhawks were up on the best team in the league, the San Jose Sharks 3-0 Thursday night. However, the Sharks came back to tie it and the ‘Hawks had to close it out in overtime, so perhaps a bit of that sloppiness carried over. In addition, Carolina has jumped out to uncharacteristically early leads in its last several games – all wins. Fancy that.
The first period included some excellent rebound control by Cam Ward and his defensemen even though their team was being out chanced. Ward stretched to deny Chicago from close in and Joni Pitkanen played some smart, legal defense stopped John Madden on a partial two-on-one.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey blizzard, Cam Ward, Chicago Blackhawks, doorstep, four game, Jussi Jokinen, Olympic break, Patrick Kane, RBC Center, road swing, snow, winning streak
Kate Shefte ·
28 Jan 2010, 10:22 PM ·
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Ward has had to scoop far fewer pucks out of the back of his net lately. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
RBC CENTER/RALEIGH - There’s something fishy going on at the ol’ RBC right now…like, alternate dimension fishy. Carolina won its third in a row and fourth of five, the latter two of which were on back-to-back nights with commute. In addition, Eric Staal and Ray Whitney stretched their points streaks to seven games apiece and Staal reached a nice personal and franchise milestone with his assist on the empty-netter. The ‘Canes have tapped into some long-dormant potential and can’t seem to stop scoring, early and often.
Now, I’m someone who doesn’t mind admitting I’m wrong. It’s a good skill, I think, especially when it’s been known to happen. Chad LaRose is nowhere near the worst thing to happen to hockey since the “glowing puck” fiasco of the mid-90’s. Getting those free agents from Boston didn’t turn out to be quite the boon I thought it would be. And Staal seems quite taken with this whole captaincy thing, even though it initially appeared to be a no-win situation. The ‘Canes don’t seem to mind having him at the helm either. Staal scored the game’s first goal off his own rebound, his eighth in five games since donning the ‘C.’
And he’s not the only one. From the bottom up, Carolina looks better. All of the sudden, when any hope of recovery has all but gone the way of the dodo and players are just about to start being pawned off for draft picks, someone flipped the “on” switch on the back of the ‘Canes’ helmets. Three straight explosive starts, 21 goals in five games, some pretty decent numbers for Ward…maybe Taylor Hall shouldn’t be picking out red-and-black wallpaper just yet.
Ward says he sees the guys in front of him “making plays and not second guessing themselves.”
Let’s say it all together, folks: “Where has this team been all season?!” It’s not a matter of players coming back or a trade shaking things up. The exact same squad that stunk to high hell a few weeks ago is now looking like its posturing for home ice advantage. Could Staal really have had that much of a difference? Naaaah. (Right?)
Ward certainly thinks so. “He’s picked everyone else up. He’s the leader of this team and he’s playing at the top of his game right now,” he said.
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Uncategorized Cam Ward, captain, Eastern Conference, Eric Staal, hot streak, Jim Rutherford, Jussi Jokinen, Matt Moulson, New York Islanders, Rick DiPietro, standings, streak, trade
