uhhhhhh..... a little belated. apparently a little slow around the boards tonight.
these two teams playing has long been my favorite rivalry in hockey. i grew up hating bourque and neely....and being endlessly jealous of them. i miss craig janney. its already 2-2. quick summary:
alberts wants to fight everything thats moves and eric cole is a steamroller. of all the goals eric cole has scored off the wing on the rush - tonights may be my favorite. slides to block a shot, then beats stuart to the puck in nuetral ice, and then shields stuart AND york then waits out thomas. the only one that comes close in my mind was the one against toronto last year when he did the forsberg move late in the game.
when cole is playing the way he is now i wouldnt trade him for anyone. its pure joy watching him. he's also playing too hard and well to remember to occasionally dive - i really like that.
negative - alberts tries to throw cole over the boards and babs steps up like he should....alberts wants to go and babs turtles. i dont care what lavi says, you gotta do what you gotta do. alberts wanted one in the chops and babs shouldve obliged...at least try.
Cole is back in his old form from when he was next to unstopable last year. He's easily the most underrated star player in the game right now, that's about the only way you can put it. Putting him back on the line with Staal is going to keep getting results and frankly balances out our attack a bit more. I can't wait for Stillman to get back to 100% so that teams have 3 lines worth to worry about against us.
Cam looked solid pretymuch all game. The only two goals were due more to defensive breakdown then anything on his part. It's quite difficult for a goalie to keep their focus when they see limited traffic and Cam did a great job of that after the first period.
Let's just hope the guys build off of this on their road trip. I'd be satisfied with 2-1-1 or even 2-2 on this trip, anything less is unacceptable IMO. Time for the Canes to start reasserting themselves as legitimate contenders. When we've been on I say we're as good as anyone in the league, when we're off I thinks the Hartford Wolfpack could take it to us, time to be on more often then not.
oh, and since the boards are acting up to the point that I can't edit, I REALLY like what Andrew Ladd is becoming of late. He absolutely dropped Donovan tonight, I meen that wasn't even a fight, Ladd gets a couple punches in then procedes to take Donovan down. It's good to have someone on the team with a good bit of skill that is willing to drop the gloves every now and then.
edit: it was prety badass running into Vulcan for the game. Seats right behind where I started the night, although the row in front of the seats I ended up moving to (my season ticket seats).
That third period was complete dominance on our part. I would've loved to have seen Staal net the hat trick, Laviolette seemed to want to give him every opportunity on that late powerplay. Fantastic game to watch live. How about Chara's hit on Walker that caused Walker's stick to shatter into four pieces? That was insane.
I've already had my opinion of Tim Thomas before this game. He's a glorified AHL goalie. An AHL goalie who makes the occasional spectacular save. Now, he's given me reason to definitely not change my opinion:
Quote:
Originally Posted by "Time 'Lucky to Be In NHL' Thomas
They're a point-hungry team. I'm not talking about points for the win. The end of the game there, they were all doing a little bit of cheating to get their point totals up, so they can get a bigger contract next time.
Of course, you were the one to give up those 10 goals in 2 games this week against the Canes, big guy. At least you didn't throw your defensemen under the bus, I guess.
I've already had my opinion of Tim Thomas before this game. He's a glorified AHL goalie. An AHL goalie who makes the occasional spectacular save. Now, he's given me reason to definitely not change my opinion:
Of course, you were the one to give up those 10 goals in 2 games this week against the Canes, big guy. At least you didn't throw your defensemen under the bus, I guess.
Yeah. Darn those point hungry forwards. If only I was a real boy. I could be a save hungry goaltender. *sigh*. Only wooden legs for Mr. Thomas.
UR GDT ONLY HAS 9 POSTS!!!?!1? DIDNT U WIN DA STANLY CUP! OMG RECCHI WEIGHT!!!!111
As for Thomas' comment, if we were really trying to run up the score I don't think the following would have happened:
7 WALLIN (D)
3 00:00:40 00:00:00 40 PP
22 COMMODORE (D)
3 00:01:21 00:00:40 41 PP
8 GLEASON (D)
3 00:02:27 00:01:32 55 PP
2 WESLEY (D)
3 00:00:40 00:00:00 40 PP
When defensive defensemen are getting 40+-second powerplay shifts at the end of a game, it's obvious that the team is simply trying to not give up a goal.
Last edited by Amaxing Joni Jokel: 12-03-2006 at 03:38 AM.
It's tough to have a gameday thread for a game that wasn't televised in North Carolina. The arena crowd was awesome however, and I can't believe that any other team's fans who watch a game at the RBC Center could still possibly say that Carolina doesn't know hockey and doesn't embrace the Hurricanes. We gave Mike Commodore a Gretzky-like standing ovation after his Forslund Focus was shown on the jumbotron.
UR GDT ONLY HAS 9 POSTS!!!?!1? DIDNT U WIN DA STANLY CUP! OMG RECCHI WEIGHT!!!!111
As for Thomas' comment, if we were really trying to run up the score I don't think the following would have happened:
7 WALLIN (D)
3 00:00:40 00:00:00 40 PP
22 COMMODORE (D)
3 00:01:21 00:00:40 41 PP
8 GLEASON (D)
3 00:02:27 00:01:32 55 PP
2 WESLEY (D)
3 00:00:40 00:00:00 40 PP
When defensive defensemen are getting 40+-second powerplay shifts at the end of a game, it's obvious that the team is simply trying to not give up a goal.
Laviolette shifted lines around Eric Staal, who was on the ice uninterrupted for about the final three minutes of the game. Just about every pass in the offensive zone was in his direction. However, I wouldn't call that running up the score as much as I would say it's wanting to give your franchise player a hat trick. Any other NHL team would have been attempting the same thing.
That was just awesome. Commodore was on the ice at the time too, watching the jumbotron. I'm curious to what his reaction was.
I was out at the north gate after the game and Commodore was one of the last guys to come down the line (I was amazed how many guys took the time last night as there were a ton of people out back). Someone near me asked him about it, wondering if he realized what was going on because he looked so focused on the game. He said he absolutely knew what was going on and he was extremely appreciative.
I hate to sound like a homerish *****, but I think it's safe to say that we possibly have the best top 6 forwards in the league even without a healthy Stillman. Third line scoring is still an issue but Belanger seems to be solid enough, putting Walker back with him should balance our scoring out a bit.
It's obvious that the guy has the skill to be one hell of a player, he just has no finish. Adding Walker should help that line a lot. I think all we really need is a 3rd line LW at this point, Belanger can cover the 3rd center position just fine for us. Mind you Cullen has a good bit more touch but his linemates had nowhere near the kind of finish that Walker has. It would be nice to pick up another Marc Recchi type for a playoff run but I'm not sure who that is when looking at teams that are strugling. Unfortunitely Knuble just got a long-term extension, otherwise I'd think he would be the perfect fit for us.
How much do you think we'd have to overpay to get a guy like Roberts, Gelinas or Niewendyk for a run... assuming that JR or Jacques would even make such a trade?
I don't think we need to trade for anyone (at least not a forward). Belanger had 7 points in 10 games when Walker (and later Whitney for a brief time) was on his line. He can score at a reasonable level with a support player on his wing, but has a tough time generating offense on his own.
If we compare the "projected" lines with Stillman to last year's playoffs, there isn't really too much difference.
It's a bit of a different makeup in terms of positions, but I think the talent level is basically the same. Obviously Weight > Belanger, but Walker > Cullen and Cole > Recchi. This lineup is unquestionably better than the one prior to the Weight trade that featured all-stars such as Boulerice, Zigomanis and Nordgren.
I'm not one to get upset about unloading draft picks (and I don't think we gave up a whole lot last year), but it's not a good idea to continue doing so year after year.
Now, if Florida wants Tanabe...
Last edited by Amaxing Joni Jokel: 12-04-2006 at 11:12 AM.
LaRose might be another case this year where we can't tell how someone will look until they have a real finisher on their line. Letowski-Belanger-LaRose is a quality energy line but nobody there has any finish. LaRose-Belanger-Walker will likely be another case entirely, and Ladd might be an even better fit in that equation.
kahz, in your lineup id put ladd on that third line with belanger and walker. good amount of skill and finally a line you have to keep your head up a against. letowski or larose on the fourth.
i agree we dont have to add anyone, but i thought that last year as well. i wouldnt mind another top 4 d, but who wouldnt?
