Kate Shefte ·
5 Dec 2009, 5:11 PM ·
Comment
Carolina survived a late mini collapse and got a hard-earned sixth win at home Sunday afternoon. Erik Cole’s sixth career hat trick – second all-time in franchise history – lifted Carolina over the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3. The ‘Canes made it hard on themselves yet again but didn’t surrender the equalizer and cooled the streaking Canucks, who had won four of their last five.
The win came at the end of a relatively busy week for past, present and future Hurricanes. Rutherford executed a minor deal, sending the rights to 2009 first round pick Philippe “Ron Francis Jr.” Paradis to Toronto in exchange for forward (and amateur porn star - Google fiends will know what I’m talking about) Jiri Tlusty. Tlusty will probably spend must of his time in the minors this season but could join the big league next year.
In addition, Carolina will not have longtime assistant coach Kevin McCarthy calling the shots in practice as he rejoined Peter Laviolette, who finally got hired by an NHL team. The duo will try and pick the Philadelphia Flyers up out of their slump (those who have watched the ‘Canes this season will snort derisively. “Please, you call THAT a slump? We haven’t even won on the road…”) McCarthy was relegated to a box far above the action after Francis came along and will probably take a more active role with the Flyers, not to mention rejoin several old buddies. Break out the Dubble Bubble and hair gel, because Laviolette is back in business. If history repeats, the Flyers will probably win the cup this year.
But now, back to Raleigh. The ‘Canes looked surprisingly fresh after a five day break between games.
“Typically when you lose five in a row, you don’t want to have four days off because it means your coach is going to hand it to you,” Ray Whitney said. “Thankfully, he was good to us. I think it helped give some guys who were laboring for a few weeks some time off. We had five days to think about it and we responded.”
Manny Legace was pretty incredible in turning away 33 shots on goal Sunday, many of them tough looks. He started things off with an incredible block during a penalty to Aaron Ward.
Continue reading »
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 5-3, Andrew Raycroft, Erik Cole, Flyers, hat trick, hatter, Jiri Tlusty, Kevin McCarthy, Peter Laviolette, Philippe Paradis, Ray Whitney, road trip, Vancouver Canucks
Kate Shefte ·
15 Jun 2009, 2:51 PM ·
Comment
Mo has staked out his turf behind the Carolina bench for the next few seasons. Photo by Dreier Carr, IndyWeekBlogs
‘Canes GM Jim Rutherford took a calculated risk on the cheap (he was still receiving handouts from Toronto) and tested Paul Maurice midway through the 2008-2009 season when Carolina was floundering. Mo plucked the team out of a landfill and under his tutelage, the ‘Canes went 33-19-5 and made that unexpected trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Though his team ran out of gas and was swept handily by eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, Maurice went above and beyond expectations and was rewarded with a three-year contract of an undisclosed amount.
This contract, though it was hardly unexpected and justly rewarded, is a little longer than I expected. Maurice didn’t even coach for a full season, and it seems you’d rather test drive your new car before throwing down a wad of cash, especially in these hard times everyone keeps talking about. Will Maurice be able to light the same fire under his aging team, which Laviolette was never able to do after 2006? Will his players lose faith in him and his coaching methods become obsolete? Well, the ‘Canes put together a solid coaching staff to back him up in case he needs it. A five-person staff is a little high for an NHL team, but it seems to be working.
Continue reading »
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey coaches, contract, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Maurice, Ron Francis, three year, Tom Barrasso, Tom Rowe
Kate Shefte ·
13 Sep 2008, 3:03 PM ·
Comment
The Carolina Hurricanes held a dinner last night on the floor of the RBC Center to thank the “group leaders,” or those who bought tickets in mass quantities last year. After the plates were cleared and autographs were signed, John Forslund, the ’Canes’ TV personality, conducted a long Q&A with assistant coach Kevin McCarthy. Much of it was fluff—throwing out thank-you’s to the audience, making vague connections between 2006 and the upcoming season—but McCarthy and Forslund brought up several interesting points.
Continue reading »
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Brandon Sutter, Cam Ward, Jeff O'Neill, John Forslund, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Leighton, new icing rule, New rules, Preseason
