Bleacher Report - Articles by Robert McGee

Carolina Hurricanes: An Interview with Michael Leighton

Robert McGee — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:25:06 -0400

This is the last of a four part series of interviews taken after a prospects practice on Thursday, July 10.

Michael Leighton recently signed a two year deal with the Hurricanes. He had a tremendous season for the Albany River Rats last year, setting franchise records in many different categories. He was also voted as goaltender of the year for the entire AHL.

Michael volunteered to help out at the prospects conditioning camp and was available to the press after practice, along with the prospects. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really as prepared as I would have liked to have been to interview the goalie, but the opportunity presented itself so I gave it a shot. This is my first ever NHL player interview.

CC- Can you tell me about that wild five overtime game against Philadelphia in the playoffs last season when you made 98 saves? Were players on oxygen in the dressing room during the intermissions or what?

ML- It was pretty crazy. Players were exhausted by the third OT and it got to the point that when someone gained possession of the puck, they would just dump it in and make a line change. We had plenty of energy bars and drinks between periods and some fruit. They ordered some pizza for us for after the fifth overtime period, but unfortunately we lost in that period and ended up eating the pizza at the end of the game.

CC- How does it feel to have the stability of a two year contract?

ML- I couldn’t be happier. I was really hoping to be able to work something out with the Hurricanes this off-season, and for them to have the confidence in me to offer a two year deal is very satisfying.

CC- Stephanie, from Eyecandyair sent me an email informing me about the new mask they airbrushed for you toward the end of last season. Do you have any plans to get another new one?

ML- Not really, I hadn’t thought much about it. Although, I am kind of waiting to get word back from ITECH so something might be coming up. I’m not really sure.

CC- Who has the toughest shot that you faced in the AHL last season?

ML- The AHL? That’s tough. I really don’t think about recognizing the players too much, I am concentrating primarily on the puck.

CC- What has been the proudest achievement in your career so far?

ML- Well, my very first game in the NHL was with Chicago and we were playing against Phoenix. The game went to the end of regulation in a 0-0 tie. We ended up losing, which was very disappointing, but I was very proud to have a shutout in regulation in my first ever NHL game.

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Michael offered to shake hands after the interview which was pretty classy. Hopefully, I’ll have another opportunity with him sometime down the road when I have some better questions.

High Enough - New Law Will Increase Ticket Prices

Robert McGee — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:49:47 -0400

Last Friday, the North Carolina State Legislature passed a new bill which would allow the legal scalping of tickets in North Carolina, effective August 1st, 2008. The bill is expected to be signed into law by the Governor but will need to be renewed again next year in order to stay on the books.

The current law made it illegal to resell tickets for more than $3.00 over their face value. While that mandate was outdated and almost impossible to enforce online, it did help to keep a lid on the prices of tickets resold locally. That will soon change with the stroke of the Governor’s pen.

The Carolina Hurricanes, Carolina Panthers, and the major colleges in the area supported the bill, claiming that it would somehow help curtail the sale of counterfeit tickets. But it seems to me that counterfeiters will still exist, they will just be savvier and will sell for higher prices now.

The way that I see it, if the ticket resellers are legally allowed to sell their tickets for higher prices, they will want to buy even more tickets from the Hurricanes, or other teams.

This is also a huge victory for Ticketmaster because when compared to most ticket brokers, their absurd handling and shipping fees suddenly don’t seem so unreasonable.

Ticketmaster was probably behind this whole thing. (I love a good conspiracy theory.)

Admittedly, out of state ticket brokers have been selling overpriced tickets online for quite some time now. One benefit of the new law would be to level the playing field for in-state brokers, who now can compete with their rivals.

But what many fans fear is that these brokers and scalpers will stand in line or pay others to stand in line, so that they can hoard all the best seats for special events.

After they capture the bulk of the tickets, the brokers can dictate whatever prices they want to. The average fan that can’t stand in line at 10 a.m. because they are working, or who doesn’t have 50 to 100 computers at their disposal to lock in tickets online when they go on sale, ends up getting priced out of the event.

I can see some good and some bad in this bill. Look at it this way, at least the resale value of season tickets just went up, especially for the playoffs.

Mats Sundin: Hockey's King of Drama

Robert McGee — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:55:39 -0400

About a week before July 1, the Montreal Canadiens were given permission to speak to Toronto captain Mats Sundin regarding a new contract. Most fans and experts alike felt that this was going to be a done deal, the Swede would soon be wearing a Habs sweater. But nothing happened.

Then word came out that Mats was waiting until July 1 for a sweet offer from yet another team from Canada, probably the Ottawa Senators. But July 1 came and went, and nothing became of that.

About a week or so later, a confirmed report came out of Vancouver that Sundin was offered a contract by the Canucks worth $20 million for two years. That’s correct—$10 million bucks per year.

He couldn’t possibly turn that much money down, could he? Well, believe it or not, but nothing came from that either.

Since then, there have been almost daily rumors about where Mats might play. This weekend, Vancouver again came into the mix as a report came out that he had actually signed a contract with the Canucks. But this report was quickly squashed by Sundin’s agent, who said that Mats hadn’t signed for anyone yet.

What’s next? A tearful press conference stating that he is retiring? Or better yet, will he accept a contract offer in the newly formed KHL and play in Russia?

Make up your mind, Mats. What is it that you want?

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In other news, the Islanders officially reported that they were interviewing Paul Maurice, something that we mentioned here at Canes Country last week. Good luck to Maurice—he’ll be up against some quality competition, including Bob Hartley and John Tortorella.

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The Buzz’s own Bomani Jones has officially entered into the now infamous North Carolina Sports Survey debacle. Just the mention of Bomani’s name invokes the wrath of some Caniacs, who will never forget his controversial article about fans of the Hurricanes back during the 2006 playoffs.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I question why Bomani only seems to discuss negative news concerning the Canes. On Wednesday afternoon’s show, that all might change.

More about that later.

Finally, kudos and a thank you to the Puck Daddy Blog for noting that our take on that silly survey was “rather interesting”.

Carolina Hurricanes: Survey Says…Marketing Needs a Boost

Robert McGee — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:14:32 -0400

The talk of the town right now is about a little ol’ survey that an intern for Public Policy Polling recently took concerning sports in North Carolina.

The results for a couple of the questions asked should be eye-openers for the Hurricanes organization—that is, if they want to be known outside the friendly confines of the state capital’s area code.

When residents were asked if they knew that there was a hockey team named the Carolina Hurricanes in the State of North Carolina, 18 percent of respondents answered no.

Lord Stanley’s Blog called the results “weird”—but are they really?

If we take a closer look at the survey results, they don’t seem weird to me.

The survey results are broken down into sub-categories by area code, gender, political affiliation, and race. Since, in my opinion, the location of respondents is most important, we will compare the area codes first. The area codes included 252, (Rocky Mount), 336, (Greensboro), 704, (Charlotte), 919, (Raleigh/Durham), and 910, (Wilmington and the coastal area). Obviously, the 919 area code had the most favorable results for the Hurricanes.

Now if we return to the question and compare the results by region, things make perfect sense. Only 6 percent in the Raleigh area say that they didn’t realize the Hurricanes existed. Let’s face it, 6 percent of the public wouldn’t be able to tell you the color of the sky if you asked them in a poll, so that number is meaningless.

But the results are alarming when you look at the remainder of the state. In Charlotte, the most populated region of the state, 19 percent don’t know about the team. In Greensboro, a major city just 45 minutes away, 17 percent say they didn’t know.

But, worst of all—in the Rocky Mount area, 28 percent responded that they hadn’t heard of the Hurricanes. Rocky Mount is about 45 minutes away from downtown Raleigh.

What do these results mean? Is this an indication that hockey can’t survive here because people hate the sport? Of course not. In my opinion, this simply means that the Hurricanes' marketing attempts and results have been feeble outside the Raleigh area code.

I believe that the Canes do a pretty good job of marketing in the local area. They take players to schools, they invite various local groups to open practices, and they are heavily involved with youth hockey in the area. But what do they do in Greensboro? How about Charlotte or Rocky Mount?

Perhaps they just don’t care about those areas? Puck Daddy got a hold of this story and called up the Hurricanes Director of Media Relations, Mike Sundheim for his take. Of course, Sundheim downplayed the results, saying that part of the problem is that the state is so big. People in the mountains, five hours away, don’t know or care about the Canes.

While I’ll agree with that point, what about the residents in Greensboro, Rocky Mount, and Charlotte? Are the Canes focusing any energy on them at all? Most Caniacs in those areas would tell you that they don’t. I’ve had fans email me to complain that they can’t listen to Hurricanes games on the radio in Greensboro. I don’t believe the Hurricanes “Radio Network” exists in Rocky Mount or Charlotte either.

If fans can’t even listen to their favorite team’s games on the radio in those areas, is it really that shocking when a survey comes back indicating that a large percentage of people didn’t know the team existed? I don’t think that there is any question that the Hurricanes' effort in those areas needs improving, if the market is to grow there.

Since the team’s attendance numbers are down last year from the year before, I wouldn’t ignore the immediate surrounding areas if it was my team. Perhaps owner Peter Karmanos agrees with me. He stated earlier this offseason that the marketing department needed a push, and he vowed to get personally involved.

Sundheim also brought up the point to Puck Daddy that the local paper—the News and Observer—dedicated almost the entire front sports page to a story detailing the upcoming schedule.

But if the Canes are relying on the News and Observer to do their marketing for them, therein lies the problem, not the solution. Is it a big surprise that people outside the News and Observer’s typical distribution area know little or nothing about the schedule?

And what about people who don’t read the paper? The News and Observer has been making cutbacks and laying people off because readership is down. The impact of front sports page coverage in the local paper isn’t as meaningful as it once was.

What happens if the N&O cuts back their hockey coverage when the college football and basketball seasons start? It could be slim pick’ns for Hurricanes related news, even for fans in the local area.

So what can be done about regional marketing? In the short term, it would be nice to at least have state-wide radio and television coverage. I’m not talking about the mountains. I would concentrate on the immediate surrounding areas first, as well as Charlotte.

Hurricanes games are broadcast on television by Fox Sports South, which has also signed on to broadcast Carolina Bobcats games this season. Since some Bobcats games run simultaneously with Hurricanes games, the network will be forced to show regional coverage—which will probably mean that fans outside the triangle will be shutout on hockey coverage again. We will have to see how that works.

In the long term, it would be great if at sometime in the future the Canes' minor league affiliate was located in state. The Charlotte Checkers have a huge following and play in the Bobcats' arena.

How nice if fans could track prospects in state and follow their activity as they moved between Raleigh and Charlotte? You would have Hurricanes fans traveling to Charlotte to watch the Checkers, and vice versa. Perhaps that scenario makes too much sense?

If Charlotte isn’t feasible, than how about Greensboro? I think the Canes undervalue and underestimate the potential success that this type of partnership could have on marketing the team throughout other regions in the state.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the other poll results.

Statewide, 10 percent of residents said that if given free tickets, they would attend a Hurricanes game over a Bobcats game, UNC basketball, Duke basketball, NASCAR race, or Carolina Panthers game.

The Canes beat out the Bobcats, who only had 5 percent, and came pretty close to Duke, which garnered 13 percent. I don’t think these are bad results at all.

In the local area code, the number jumps to 23 percent, second only to the Tarheels' 27 percent. The NFL Panthers dropped to 13 percent. Again, in my opinion, these are very respectable numbers for the Hurricanes.

Finally, one result in the survey which seemed to surprise a few people was that more women enjoyed hockey than men. It was by a slim margin, but females held the day.

Judging from the emails, comments, and messages that I receive related to this blog, I have long suspected that the margin was about 50/50 between men and women hockey fans in the area.

Yet, several hockey blogs and sports blogs in general seem to focus only on the male demographic. They continually show “girlie” pics as some sort of marketing strategy to enhance site popularity.

While I enjoy looking at scantily clad women as much as the next guy, why take the chance of offending half of your audience on your so-called “hockey” blog? I don’t get it, and don’t partake in that here. Lady hockey fans are just as welcome as the guys at Canes Country, and always will be.

I have probably upset enough people for one article, so it’s time to sign off. Happy Weekend!

Carolina Hurricanes Release Schedule, Excitement Ensues

Robert McGee — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:45:13 -0400

The 2008-09 NHL schedule has been released and even though the puck has yet to drop, things are already looking better for the Hurricanes.

In 2007-08, the Canes were scheduled for 18 back-to-back games. The always grueling second game of those duets was at home six times and was away twelve times.

Carolina fared very well at home during those contests and finished with a 5-1 record, but it was a different story on the road as they finished with just three wins and nine losses for the second game of those back-to-backs.

Even during the year prior to that in 2006-07, they had 17 back-to-back games with 11 of them on the road. The Canes finished with a similar record of 3-8 on the back end of those games away from home.

Now for the good news. This season they only have 14 back-to-backs scheduled, with a much more favorable six home games and eight away for those dreadful second games.

And the good news just keeps on coming.

Last year I ranted a bit over the fact that the Hurricanes only had seven home games on Saturday nights while they played on the road 15 times that same night.

We wonder why attendance was down last year? The other weekend times weren’t much better as they played 10 Friday night home games and just one Sunday matinee for a total of 18 home contests played on the weekends.

This season, they will have a total 21 weekend home games as they play seven Friday nights, seven Saturdays—six nights and one matinee—and an amazing seven Sunday afternoons/evenings. That fact alone will automatically boost the attendance numbers over last year.

Let’s take a look at some home games that you probably don’t want to miss.

Oct 10—Florida (opening night, plus the revenge factor, plus Stillman returning, equals a sell out)
Oct 13—Detroit (the Stanley Cup Champs are in town, need I say more?)
Nov 1—Edmonton (Erik Cole returns)
Nov 12 - Washington (Ovechkin and the division champs come to town for the first time)
Nov 16—Tampa Bay (you’ve got to see Barry Melrose, don’t ya?)
Dec 4—Pittsburgh (Crosby, Malkin, and Staal, oh my!)
Dec 31—Atlanta (what else are you going to do on New Year’s Eve?)
Jan 15—Toronto (come watch the team everyone in the NHL wants to play for)
Feb 14—Columbus (take your sweetheart to watch Mike Commodore earn his $3.75 million)
Feb 22—Colorado (3 PM Sunday start is probably scheduled immediately after a State basketball game. Come join the traffic jam)
Feb 26—Buffalo (time for those relocated Yanks to dust off their Sabres jerseys)
Mar 6—Calgary (two words- Dion Phaneuf)
Mar 9—NY Rangers (Cullen gets revenge with a hat-trick)
Mar 21—Washington (could be a big game)
Apr 4—Pittsburgh (brother against brother)
Apr 9—Buffalo (last home game of the regular season and Lindy Ruff’s comb-over falls out of place)

This year, each team will only play their inter-divisional rivals six times instead of eight. That means the Canes will be playing more teams from the Western Conference than they have in the past couple of years. As a matter of fact, they play each team from the Western Conference at least once, and will play Phoenix, St. Louis, and Anaheim twice as “wild cards”.

There are only two home games the entire month of October because of the State Fair conflict, so the Canes will be hard-pressed to start off with a winning record that first month. On the other hand, the team closes out playing four out of their last five games at home.

It’s not going to be easy, but this schedule seems much more favorable than the one last year or the year before.

A link to the Hurricanes schedule is here and a link to the entire NHL schedule is here.

Tom Petty

Ted Nolan Out, Blog Box In with the New York Islanders

Robert McGee — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:54:23 -0400

Those of you who have followed the Canes Country blog for awhile know that I have been somewhat infatuated with the concept behind the New York Islanders' Blog Box since it’s inception. I still keep tabs on it from time to time.

After the season-ending resignation of its creator, ex-Director of Media Relations Chris Botta, there was a question in my mind whether or not the “Box” would be open again next season.

My question has been answered.

Apparently, the Blog Box was such a rousing success that not only will it be continued next season, it will be expanding. The Islanders recently put out a notification with the good news, which also requested that more folk apply for additional blogging opportunities.

It’s kind of funny. Some of the current bloggers have not updated their blogs in months, while others, like B.D. Gallof and the 7th Woman, are very active and are usually a very good read. Good luck to the New Yorkers and keep up the good work!

While the team bloggers have been renewed for another season, Head Coach Ted Nolan was not so lucky. Apparently, he and Garth Snow had “philosophical differences,” and Nolan was sent packing with a year still left on his contract.

So what’s going on in New York? Was Nolan quoting Plato while Snow preferred Socrates?

The word on the street seems to be that the GM wanted to stock the team with youth, while the coach preferred some more veteran presence. How about a mixture of both, boys?

Now the search is on for a new coach, with ex-Leafs and Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice in the mix. Perhaps Snow can find a coach who sees everything the exact same way that he does? Heaven forbid a coach and GM disagree about anything.

Canes Country has always liked Ted Nolan and we respect him as a coach. He seems to have a bit of an attitude, so it might be tough for him to land another gig right away. But we wish him the best.

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In other brief news around the league, the NHL officially announced that the Winter Classic, Part Two will be held at Wrigley Field on January 1. The game between the Red Wings and Blackhawks will be televised by NBC, just like the contest in Buffalo was last year.

If this was Bettman’s idea, it’s the best one that he’s come up with since he’s been commissioner. Now if the bigwigs can just keep it at one outdoor game per year, everyone should be happy.

But how long before they start calling it the Gary Bettman Winter Classic?

Now there is a happy thought to end the article with.

Carolina Hurricanes to Open Season Against the Florida Panthers

Robert McGee — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:47:50 -0400

Mark your calendars, Caniacs. Remember the team that knocked the Hurricanes out of the playoffs in the last game of the season back in April? They will be returning to the RBC on October 10 for Carolina’s season opener.

Revenge should be on more than a few players' minds.

The Florida Panthers will be sans ex-captain Olli Jokinen, but will be filled with hope for a successful new season. They also will be touting a new coach. But more analysis about them later.

The Canes are also scheduled to play a home-and-home series against three wild-card teams in the West—Anaheim, St. Louis, and Phoenix.

The remaining schedule is scheduled to be released tomorrow afternoon.

Beyond the Bleachers: Interview with Carolina Hurricanes Prospect Mike Murphy

Robert McGee — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:21:14 -0400

This is Part Three of a four-part series of interviews taken with Hurricanes prospects after practice on July 10.

Mike Murphy was selected by the Hurricanes in the sixth round of this year’s draft with the 165th overall pick. He played as goalie for the Belleville Bulls of the OHL and had a career year, accumulating an outstanding record of 36-7-4.

Scouts say that he is a bit small for the position and he has an unorthodox style, but no one will compete harder than the Kingston, Ontario, native.

Murphy seemed to have the time of his life while in Raleigh and drew his share of “ooooh's” and “ahhhhh's” from the crowd, especially when he made one particular save against Hall of Famer and Hurricanes Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Development, Ron Francis.

He also absorbed every tidbit of information that Goalie Coach, Tom Barrasso tossed his way.

Murphy seemed very easygoing and was extremely cooperative and approachable for this interview.

CC: What do you attribute to your huge success to last year at Belleville?

MM: It was a combination of things, but most importantly I would have to say that it was because I had a general manager and a coach who believed in me. I never had much of an opportunity to play before last year. Also, we had a championship caliber team at Belleville. There was a lot of talent all up and down the roster.

CC: Who would you say had the toughest shot that you faced last year in the OHL?

MM: I think that it would probably be Johnny Tavares. When he is coming at you with the puck, you have no idea what he will do with it. I should point out though that I never had to face Stamkos. I’m sure that he would be tough as well.

CC: What’s been your proudest moment so far in your career, on and off the ice?

MM: Off the ice, no doubt it is being drafted, especially by a class organization like the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a dream come true for me and I can’t say enough good things about the Hurricanes. They are first class in everything they do. I have learned so much at this camp I can’t even begin to tell you, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to come here and learn.

On the ice, I am most proud of setting the record for most wins ever for a goalie in a single regular season at Belleville.

CC: On the other end of the spectrum, what would be your most embarrassing or humorous moment on the ice?

MM: Well, we were playing a game in Saginaw, Mich., and it was pretty early in the season and I hadn’t played very many games yet. I was pretty nervous and I wasn’t used to the American anthem being played. So when they started playing the anthem after warm-ups, I forgot to take my mask off. I was just standing in front of my net, trying to focus on the game which was about to begin, and it hadn’t occurred to me to take off the mask.

About halfway through the Anthem, the crowd really started giving it to me, they were heckling me big time, and I was thinking to myself what is their problem? Then I realized, oh my gosh, I forgot to take off my mask. So I quickly took it off and kind of flicked it off to the side. Then after the anthem was finished, the crowd got even louder and they heckled me more than ever. I admit that I got even more nervous at that point.

But then the worst thing that happened was that Saginaw scored against us just about a minute into the game. Thank goodness we ended up winning in overtime.

CC: That’s a good story Mike, thanks for sharing and best of luck to you.

MM: Thank you, and thanks for your time.

_______

I wouldn’t ask just anybody about their “embarrassing moments,” but he was so down to earth and easygoing that I didn’t think that he would mind, and I was right. He was actually amused while sharing the story with me.

One couldn’t help but walk away from the interview liking that young man. Hopefully, he will have another outstanding year for Belleville again this coming season.

Josh Hamilton, Clay Council Heroes Tonight

Robert McGee — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:20:01 -0400

I very rarely stray from hockey talk, but I’m making an exception for this article. There is a local hero doing the right thing tonight and it deserves recognition.

Several years ago, Josh Hamilton made a promise to his American Legion batting practice coach back while he was still in high school. Most of us would have forgotten about it or deemed it unnecessary to keep at this point, but Hamilton didn’t forget.

About three weeks ago he contacted his old coach, Clay Council, to see if the old friend who used to toss batting practice had anything left in that rubber arm of his. The 71-year-old accepted Hamilton’s invitation and is expected to throw for him in tonight’s All-Star home run derby.

You see, the promise was that if Hamilton ever made it to the home run derby, he would take Council along to pitch to him.

That moment probably seemed like a lifetime ago to one of the current American League’s leading candidates for MVP honors, but the slugger wasn’t able to turn his life around by taking promises lightly.

After being the first selection of the 1999 MLB draft, Hamilton suffered one horrible injury after another, only to sink into the deep, dark abyss of drug abuse. But thanks to faith and hard work, he has risen above all of his old demons and is now on top of the baseball world.

Tonight he will step back in time to when Council used to throw to him on the well-used turf in Cary, North Carolina. They both have evolved since then, from a typical volunteer coach tossing batting practice to a promising youngster, to one hero pitching to another hero on a world stage.

I wouldn’t bet against Hamilton winning it tonight.

Carolina Hurricanes: Updates and Loose Ends

Robert McGee — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:00:53 -0400

I spent some time over the weekend updating a few things on the site and testing some new templates. I have not found the perfect one yet, but I will keep trying. The only thing that really bothers me about this one is that if you are using Internet Explorer, the right sidebar looks like a mess. Sorry about that!

The Canes Country Salary Chart has been updated and the total payroll that the Hurricanes have committed to so far this season is over $48 million. This does not include Hamilton (buyout) and Tanabe (wannabe buyout), but it does include Brandon Sutter, who most likely will be on the team.

A permanent link to the chart can be found on the left sidebar. If anyone sees a mistake on it, please let me know.

Jim Rutherford has alluded more than once to the fact that he is trying to trade a defenseman and we still think Frank Kaberle is the bait. Many teams are all set on their blue line, but there are a few teams still looking.

Speaking of defensemen, Bret Hedican is still looking for work. I received an email from a CC reader, Julia, at the end of last week asking me about Bret.

As most everyone knows by now, he and Kristi moved to the West Coast where the defenseman was going to try to find a team who needed him. The bad news for Hedican is that there are not as many franchises to choose from out there, and it looks like most of them are all set. San Jose, Vancouver, and Anaheim have their respective blue lines pretty much ready to go.

Los Angeles is the one place where I think he has his best shot to play because they are short a couple of bodies and they also have plenty of room with their cap to work with. Will they get together? Your guess is as good as mine, but at this point it doesn’t look like he will be getting top dollar, so it also wouldn’t surprise me to see him retire.

With the preseason schedule announced last week, I also thought it was time to update the Canes Country Calendar. You can check it to see Hurricanes current events as well as see the schedule in a more reader friendly format than just the listing like you see on most sites. The permanent link to the calendar is also listed on the left sidebar.

I will be updating the calendar again when the full schedule is released later this week. If anyone has other Hurricanes related events that you think should be on the calendar, please let me know.

There are two interviews from last week that still need to be put together and I will gather my notes and type them up soon. I also have a couple of other articles that I am working on.

Finally, the Hurricanes opened a new section at the Marbles Kids Museum and over 1,000 Caniacs attended on Saturday morning for the opening ceremony. Many of the fans hoped to get an autograph or photo of team Captain Rod Brind’Amour, who made an appearance. See photos here.

So much for no one being interested in hockey during the dog days of summer! It will be interesting to see how many fans show up for the fun fest next week Thursday.

For now, Happy Monday!

Brandon Sutter: Q&A

Robert McGee — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:30:10 -0400

I was able to attend the prospects practice session at the Rec Zone on Thursday night. They spent about an hour doing various drills under the guidance of Ron Francis, Tom Barrasso, Jeff Daniels, and Kevin McCarthy.

With the best of intentions, I brought a new video camera with me, but was unable to get any decent footage. Perhaps with more practice, next time I’ll have better luck. (Photographer, I am not)

After the practice was over and the worn out skaters left the ice, the Hurricanes opened up the dressing room to the media and there was a brief time allowed for some questions.

Many thanks to the Hurricanes media relations staff for allowing Canes Country access to this session. Also, a big thank you to the players for taking the time to answer all of the questions thrown at them.

I had an opportunity for four quick interviews. First, we will start out with Brandon Sutter-

CC-Do you feel any extra pressure having to live up to the family name?

BS- No, not at all. I just think that I am another player, like everyone else. My family has helped me with a lot of things growing up, and I try to use that to my advantage, but like I said I’m just another player out there.

CC- There has been a bit of a debate among some Hurricanes fans about your development. Some say that you would be better off going back to Red Deer for another year, but others say that playing in the NHL would be better, even if it is playing fewer minutes on the fourth line. What do you think would be best for your development?

BS- Well, I want to make the team, that’s my goal. I can’t see a better way to develop than playing in the NHL. I think that I have done all that I can to get here, but it’s kind of a tough situation. This is not an easy team to make, by any means. I’m going to come to camp and try my best to make it and leave it up to them to decide. If something happens that I don’t, then I’m willing to do whatever is best for my development and the team.

CC- Do you have any superstitions, or specific things that you do before every game?

BS- I’m not very superstitious, no. Everyone has a routine in terms of what you eat and when you sleep, and what you do when you get to the rink. But, I try to leave myself open to about anything. I just try to stay loose and get myself ready.

CC- What has been the highlight of your career so far?

BS- Well, obviously being drafted. That was very special. That was a dream come true. In terms of on-ice, coming to camp last year was a lot of fun and I got to play in the World Junior Championships last year and that was amazing.

Carolina Hurricanes Announce Summer Fun Fest

Robert McGee — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:53:47 -0400

The Carolina Hurricanes announced yesterday that they will host a “Summer Fun Fest” at the RBC Center on Thursday, July 24. There will be live music, street hockey, reduced food prices, and a showing of the “Miracle at Molson” on the front lawn.

The event will also be used as a marketing tool to drum up some season ticket sales, so bring your checkbook and credit card just in case you happen to see a seat that you just can’t say no to. Apparently, anyone who wants to will be allowed in the RBC to check out available seats during the festivities.

The official schedule is as follows

6 - Lawn opens with street hockey, discounted food and beverages, inflatables for kids, and live music.
6:30 - Select-a-seat for general public begins
8-9 - Guest speakers from the Hurricanes will address audience.
9-11 - Replay of the memorable 2002 playoff game against Montreal which was dubbed the “Miracle at Molson”

Hurricanes players and coaches are scheduled to appear.

The “Miracle at Molson” will bring back some fond memories.

Montreal Coach Michel Therrien screaming at referee Kerry Fraser and drawing a bench minor.
Hab-killer Erik Cole scoring the tying goal with just seconds left, then chest bumping the glass much to the dismay of the Montreal faithful.
Secret weapon Nic Wallin scoring the game winner in OT.
Hab goalie Jose Theodore’s meltdown, which in my opinion adversely affected his confidence for a good part of his career after that game.

Some people will probably attempt to use this “Fun Fest” as a cheap excuse to do some tailgating. Why not?

In somewhat related news, apparently Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in Iowa has changed their team name and logo. In recognition of the regional pork industry, the team is calling themselves the Iowa Chops.

Of course, Puck Daddy and James Mirtle are all over this one.

Caniacs should hope and pray that their lovable ice hog and team mascot, “Stormy” stays out of Iowa!

J Geils Band

NHL: Weird Timing of Coaches Hired and Fired

Robert McGee — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:37:31 -0400

There were a couple of transactions announced yesterday in the NHL where the timing (sort of) defied logic.

First of all, the Toronto Maple Leafs officially announced the hiring of Ron Wilson as their new head coach. Wilson was just fired from the same position in San Jose a couple of weeks ago.

What makes the timing of this signing questionable is the fact that the Maple Leafs have been shopping for a new General Manager for awhile now. They supposedly fired their last coach, Paul Maurice, so that a new GM could choose his own man. What happened to change that thought process?

As I mentioned in a previous posting, this is kind of like putting the cart before the horse. That is, unless there are other plans in motion. Some fans, like Canes Country reader, Jay Bear, think that interim General Manager Cliff Fletcher already has someone in mind to take over his duties.

The word “collusion” is being thrown around because many think that the Leafs have made some type of behind the scenes deal with Brian Burke, who is currently under contract with the Ducks.

This could be a very interesting story to watch unfold. If Burke is eventually hired for the position, watch the accusations and lawsuits fly. Only in Leafland….

In another somewhat surprising move, the Los Angeles Kings fired their head coach, Marc Crawford. I think the timing of this decision is weird in that it was announced just a week before the NHL Draft. Why not fire him a month ago?

Perhaps another coach that they want just became available, like John Tortorella?

Finally, the Atlanta Thrashers apparently have someone in mind to fill their open coaching position. It was reported that they have narrowed their choices and will definitely make a selection before the draft. The possibilities include Todd McLellan, John Anderson, and Brad McCrimmon.

Who knows? General Manager Don Waddell said that he could pick someone completely off the charts within the next few days. Maybe another name will pop into his head.

Eric Clapton

Carolina Hurricanes: Tribute to the Retiring Glen Wesley

Robert McGee — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:28:59 -0400

This is one of those times when I wish that I had some journalistic expertise so that I could write a proper article, because this person really deserves it.

Of course I’m referring to Glen Wesley.

If you wanted to paint a picture of a prototype athlete as well as a person, you couldn’t go wrong with Glen’s portrait. He’s a player who would do anything within his power to help his team. He’s a person who will do anything within his power to help his community.

I can remember game after game when Glen would sacrifice his body to try to block shots. Sometimes he would hobble or limp back to the bench, only to come back out on his next shift and do it all over again.

One time I remember he blocked a shot, and pulled himself up limping, only to throw himself in front of another shot just a few seconds later.

He suffered plenty of injuries over the course of his career and has the battle scars to show for it. And while Glen wasn’t always the fastest skater or hardest shooter on the team, he made up for any deficiencies with heart. No one could claim that they tried harder than Glen Wesley.

After toiling away in the NHL for 18 years with the dream of holding the Stanley Cup always in his thoughts, what did Glen do during his day with the Cup after he finally did achieve his lifelong dream? Did he party with it until all hours of the night? Did he take it to his family retreat and celebrate privately?

Nope, Glen chose to share his delight with strangers by taking the Cup to Camp Lejeune and allowing wounded Marines the chance to see it. He also took it to his church and shared it with his worship community. That’s the type of person Glen Wesley is.

There are a few outstanding articles out about Glen, and I will link to a couple of them. Hurricanes PR guy Mike Sundheim does an excellent job with this posting. Luke DeCock offers some input with this detailed article.

There is an outstanding photo collage put out by the News and Observer here.

850 The Buzz posted links to a recording of the press conference as well as an interview with the defenseman by Joe Ovies.

99.9 The Fan also posted a link to the press conference, an interview with Mark Thomas, as well as commentary by John Forslund.

Glen Wesley is a character guy, and his presence on the ice will be missed. But fortunately, his presence off the ice won’t be, because the 'Canes were savvy enough to create a new position and hire him to fill it. I can’t think of a better person to be the new DDD, Director of Defensemen Development.

I admit that I criticize Peter Karmanos and Jim Rutherford from time to time, but they run a first-class operation for the players. It’s obvious, because most players prefer not to leave once they get here. They certainly did the right thing in this case for Glen, and I commend them for it.

That will be one touching moment, when No. 2 is lifted to the rafters. I can’t wait.

NHL: Coaching Carousel Continues to Spin

Robert McGee — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:53:00 -0400

The news is changing every minute, so let’s try to get caught up and review a few headlines…..

Good Luck Sami!

It was announced yesterday that ex-Whaler, Cane, and Flyer Sami Kapanen was retiring from the NHL. Sami will be playing for his own team in Finland next year.

It was a joy to watch Kapanen play. He always skated hard and he never took a shift off. I remember that he helped to get the Hurricanes on the NHL map when he made the All-Star team and won the “fastest skater” competition.

Sami was traded to the Flyers for bust Pavel Brendl and defenseman Bruno St. Jacques in a deal that will never be on a Jim Rutherford highlight reel.

We wish Sami the best.

Maurice to Florida?

The Florida Panthers have asked for permission to talk to ex-Leafs and Canes coach Paul Maurice about their head coaching position. You might be asking, why are they asking permission when he was fired over a week ago?

Maurice still had a year on his contract, so technically he is still Maple Leafs property and is still getting paid, even though they fired him. Nice, huh?

Regardless, I would hate to see him under Jacques Martin in Panthers Country. If he does end up coaching Florida, do you think he would have to follow the company line and start calling the Hurricanes a “bunch of divers”?

Just say no, Paul.

Bye Bye Johnny

After weeks of rumor, innuendo, and unofficial reports of his demise, the Tampa Bay Lightning officially fired John “Torts” Tortorella today. This move should open the way for Barry “Melrose Place” Melrose to take over. I can’t help but laugh over this move.

It should be interesting with “Gelrose” behind the bench again, but like him or hate him, Tortorella deserved better than the treatment he has received for the past month. He did help Tampa win the Cup, did he not?

Although, things should end up all right for the coach, because the latest rumor has “Torts” landing on his feet and taking over behind the bench in Ottawa.

In the meantime, ex-Sharks coach Ron Wilson is rumored to be the next Leafs coach. Fascinating stuff.

Should interim General Manager Cliff Fletcher make such a decision before the new GM is even chosen? Wouldn’t it make more sense for a new GM to hire his own new coach? It seems like they are putting the cart before the horse with this move, but that is typical for Toronto, is it not?

Stay tuned for more of “As The Coaching World Turns.”

Lighten Up. Francis

Hurricanes assistant GM and NHL Hall of Famer Ron Francis will be getting an “Honorary Doctorate of Letters” from Algoma University in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario on June 14. It’s another day and yet another award for a man who already has a ton.

Congratulations to Dr. Francis.

The Doobie Brothers

Red Wings-Penguins: Fleury Buys Pittsburgh a New Life

Robert McGee — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:49:09 -0400

The Pittsburgh Penguins received outstanding goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury when they needed it the most, and held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings in the third overtime period on Monday night by a score of 4-3. The unlikely win gave the team new life in a series in which they have been dominated more often than not.

It was a gut-wrenching performance by both teams, but the Penguins were pretty much held in control during the third period and during large portions of the overtime periods.

After being out-shot 14-4 in that third period and allowing Detroit to score two goals to take a 3-2 lead, the young team was able to tie the score with just 35 seconds left in regulation to send the contest into overtime.

After two overtime periods in which Detroit again out-shot their opponents by wide margins in each period, both teams were noticeably tired in the third overtime. The Red Wings' Jiri Hudler took a very foolish and careless high-sticking penalty which gave the Penguins the advantage they needed. Petr Sykora roofed the game-winner over Chris Osgood during the ensuing power play to send the series back to Pittsburgh.

Fleury was the No. 1 star of the game, as he made 55 saves to keep his team in the contest. The Wings outshot the Pens 58-32.

There were other heroes for Pittsburgh, though, as Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Malone both returned to the ice after leaving with injuries earlier. Their presence alone had to provide inspiration to their teammates.

Ryan Whitney played an unbelievable 50 minutes.

This might have been one game when the younger players of Pittsburgh finally had an advantage over the experience of the Wings. The older players had to be feeling it in those overtime periods.

Next up is Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. The Penguins should feel refreshed while the Wings might just be a step slower. Anything can happen now.

Everclear

Wrapped Around Your Finger: Wings and Pens in Game Five Tonight

Robert McGee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:03:58 -0400

The Detroit Red Wings can wrap things up tonight as the Penguins invade “The Joe” for Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Wings hold a 3-1 advantage and will be looking to close out the series and hoist the Cup in front of their rabid, octopus-loving fanbase.

I didn’t get to watch game four until last night, but it seemed like the Red Wings were back to controlling the puck for large portions of the game, just like they did in games one and two.

Pittsburgh Coach Michel Therrien can’t complain too much about the officiating anymore as his team had plenty of powerplay opportunties, but couldn’t take advantage of them when it really mattered. Missing out on that 5 on 3 in the third period just about killed his team.

Kudos to Henrik Zetterberg who played a great overall game and who also refused to take the bait when asked about Sidney Crosby’s remarks to him after the contest was over. “I couldn’t hear him, but I think he was frustrated” was all the classy Swede would say.

According to NBC’s “on-ice” analyst Pierre McGuire, there was plenty of trash-talking going on almost all game long, especially between Sidney Crosby and Kris Draper. Hello? What is this, a glorified rec league? It’s pretty bush-league when supposedly the best player in hockey resorts to lowering himself to trash-talking while playing for Lord Stanley’s Hardware. Draper has always been a loonie and I would expect nothing less from him, but Crosby?

You would think that most of these guys would be mature enough to let their actions speak louder than their words, especially in the Stanley Cup Finals, but apparently that is not the case. I’m not sure I would be in the mood to trash-talk any more if my team was on the verge of being eliminated, but maybe that’s just me. We’ll see what happens tonight.

Speaking of Zetterberg, think he might be due for a raise? During the last three years he has scored 115 goals and has 130 assists. This past year he scored 43 goals in the regular season and has 11 more in the post-season. Not too shabby at 2.7 million.

Ken Holland better get out his checkbook this summer.

While McGuire was railing about Crosby not getting enough playing time, I was thinking that Jordan Staal should be out on the ice more as well. It seems like the kid has looked good when he’s been out there. He just needs better line-mates and more playing time. Saturday night he only played 17 minutes, and several of those were spent killing penalties.

Maybe Staal should take some of Malkin’s time?

Hopefully, there will be better television ratings for the NHL tonight. The competition for Game 5 will be “The Bachelorette” on ABC, drama reruns on Fox, and sitcom reruns on CBS.

Perhaps most people aren’t watching TV anymore?

Regardless, The Cup will be in the house tonight. Game time at 8 Eastern.

Pittsburgh Penguins—Trying to Make it a Series, Getting Closer

Robert McGee — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:55:35 -0400

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 3-2 on Wednesday night, as they attempted to pull themselves back into a series that Detroit once had a stranglehold on. Sidney Crosby finally lived up to the hype and scored two goals for the home team.

The victory pulls the Pens within a game, but Detroit still leads the series 2-1. Even though Pittsburgh has won 17 consecutive games at Mellon Arena, (not losing since back in February), I still can’t help but feel that the Wings have them right where they want them.

If Detroit can win the next game in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, then they will be able to close out the series with a win in Michigan on Monday, and hoist the Cup on their home ice.

The next game will be the most important one to date. The team who wins that game will most likely win the series and I still feel that will be Detroit.

After reading the transcripts of the post-game interviews held with the coaches after Game Two, I can’t help but think that Penguins coach Michel Therrien must have gone to the same coaching school as Buffalo task-master Lindy Ruff. Check this out and see if you can find anything familiar…

Michel Therrien: "It’s really tough to generate offense against that team. They’re good on obstruction. It’s going to be tough to generate any type of offense, if the rules remain the same. So it’s the first time we’re facing a team that the obstruction is there, and we’re having a hard time skating to take away ice.

"We took two penalties tonight on the goalie. We never take penalty to the goalie in the playoff. I’ll tell you something, I reviewed those plays. He’s a good actor. He goes to players, and he’s diving. Took away our power play. Got to get focused. I know our players are frustrated right now. It’s tough to play the game. But Osgood did the same thing against Dallas under Ribeiro.

"Our team never go to goalie. We never did it. And we don’t target the goalie. But this is, want to talk about experience, he goes to players, and he knows what to do, I guess."

When in doubt, blame the refs and call the other team cheaters. Don’t ever take any responsibility or give the other team any credit. That’s the exact same philosophy that worked (so well) for Lindy Ruff in 2006 when he called the Canes cheaters and divers.

Therrien seems to be pretty much the same pathetic coach who had a major meltdown on the Montreal bench because of a call against his team by referee Kerry Fraser back in the 2002 playoffs.

Fraser then had no choice but to hit the Habs with yet another penalty because the coach was literally jumping up and down on the bench and waving his arms like a mad man.

It was in the third period of the game and the Hurricanes were losing at the time 3-0, but went on to score during the ensuing powerplay, fully utilizing the two-man advantage. The rest is history, as Carolina scored twice more in regulation to tie the score, and then eventually won the contest in overtime.

The game is known as the “Miracle at Molson” and Therrien was the catalyst.

The coach must have taken some anger management classes, because his once fiery temper seems to be under control now, but he still obviously holds refs in contempt.

I sincerely doubt that whining like that will help you to win a Cup series, but we’ll see how it turns out for him and his team.

Pittsburgh Penguins: No Goals=Deep in the Hole

Robert McGee — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:01:34 -0400

Second verse, same as the first. On Monday night, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in game two of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals by a score of 3-0.

The Penguins continued to have trouble getting shots through to goalie Chris Osgood, and when they did, Osgood was equal to the task.

Superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are being completely neutralized, Ryan Malone is spending too much time in the penalty box, and Jordan Staal had some decent shots on goal, but shot the puck wide of the net when he had the best opportunity of the night.

The rest of the team started to get frustrated and took some cheap shots at the Wings later in the game. Detroit is definitely in their heads, and the Pens need to start over and get back to playing their brand of hockey if they intend to make a series out of this.

The good news is that they are going back to Pittsburgh, where the home team has not lost a game yet this entire playoffs.

The bad news is that the Wings only need to find a way to win one game of the next two, in order to be in a perfect position to close out the series at home in Game 5.

In the meantime, it’s back to basics for the Penguins. Step number one, figure out a way to score against these Wings.

I’m wondering if a team has ever been shut out for an entire Stanley Cup Finals? That sure would be embarrassing.

Tony Granato—“New” Head Coach in Colorado

Robert McGee — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:08:41 -0400

You say Tomato, I say Granato...Let’s call the whole thing off! Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

In a move that took everyone by surprise, the Colorado Avalanche signed assistant coach and ex-head coach Tony Granato as their (new) head coach for next season.

Granato had a very good record when he was head coach previously for the team, but why did they fire him to begin with? What changed since his firing? What will he bring as head coach that he didn’t or couldn’t bring as an assistant?

An Avs blogger I know, Jibblescribbits, had a bit of a meltdown over the announcement. (profanity alert...)

This one is a real head-scratcher. If the Avs wanted to go back in time, why not go with Bob Hartley?

I’m no Hartley fan, but at least he won the Cup with the franchise and the move would make a little bit more sense.

Higher Ground - Canes Sign Some Prospects

Robert McGee — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:29:08 -0400

While the Caniac Nation is patiently waiting for word about the re-signing of restricted free agents Tim Gleason, Tuomo Ruutu, Chad LaRose, and Patrick Eaves, Carolina General Manager Jim Rutherford and his assistant, Ron Francis, have locked up a couple of prospects and a role player.

Yesterday, they signed 2006 draft pick Harrison Reed to a three-year deal. Last week, they signed defensemen Brett Bellemore for 3 years, (drafted in 2007), and Bryan Rodney for 1 year, (free agent).

Supposedly, Timmy Gleason is very close to getting a new deal. The only question is for how long?

Speaking of Bryan Rodney, he’s getting a lot of recent press for a dude who, not too long ago, was playing in the ECHL. To his credit, the smooth skater stepped right up and fit into Albany’s lineup very well and was the leading scorer for their blueline during the playoffs.

This week, Rodney was recorded as the 15th hottest prospect on the “The Hot List”, a list of sizzling prospects put out weekly by “The Hockey News.” The defenseman was also recently interviewed by the Albany Press. A link to the interview can be found here.

Speaking of “The Hot List,” guess who is No. 1? It's Drayson Bowman, a prospect we have been talking about here at Canes Country quite a bit lately. Luke at LSB ran a teaser that he will be printing an in-depth story about the Young Gun in the “News and Observer” this weekend.

Apparently, the beat writer gave Jim Rutherford a call to ask about Bowman’s possible NHL timetable. The GM said about the same thing I did in this blog a few days ago, that the youngster most likely will stay in the juniors next year, regardless of how many goals he scores. The Canes are currently loaded at the forward position, and there just isn’t any room for him with the roster as it is.

Reminiscing about last season a bit, I think that I would almost prefer to watch some of the younger players develop, especially if the Canes continue to fail in their quest to make the playoffs.

Stevie Wonder

Carolina Hurricanes: The Effect of Kristi Yamaguchi's "Dancing" Win

Robert McGee — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:54:21 -0400

Defenseman Bret Hedican’s wife, Kristi Yamaguchi, won the “Dancing With the Stars” competition last night, which has been ongoing for the past 10 weeks. It was announced at the end of the program that Yamaguchi had accumulated more points during the show than any other previous contestant.

The significance that this holds for the Hurricanes is that the couple is now supposed to move to California, which means that Hedican’s career with Carolina will most likely come to an end.

The free agent defenseman has had some great moments with the franchise, including a Stanley Cup win in 2006 and a Finals appearance in 2002. He scored a couple of big goals in both of those playoffs and was solid on defense. But for the past two years, he has been fighting various injuries and many think that his best days are behind him.

Next up for Hedican is a meeting with Carolina GM Jim Rutherford. I have a feeling that JR will wish him the best and Bret will see what kind of contract that he can get out West. I can’t see him retiring and being a house-husband just yet. We will see.

Led Zeppelin

Carolina Hurricanes News: Peter Laviolette Will Return as Coach

Robert McGee — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:25:07 -0400

Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Jim Rutherford confirmed earlier today that Coach Peter Laviolette will indeed return behind the bench next season for Carolina. Rutherford seemed a bit surprised by all the speculation about the coach’s future.

“This became a bigger issue than it needed to be," JR was quoted as saying. It seems like the general manager could have had something to do with that, but maybe he didn’t read the papers or the online NHL news services which were speculating about Lavi’s future.

With Quenneville and Wilson just getting the ax even after making the playoffs, was the media being overzealous speculating about Laviolette, considering Rutherford's refusal to give him a vote of confidence for over a month?

Regardless, most fans will be happy with the news.

Rutherford also mentioned that he was still waiting to have meetings with Bret Hedican and Glen Wesley about their possible futures with the club.

In other news, Team Canada will be facing Team Russia for the gold medal in the World Championships in what should be a real barn-burner. Canada got by Sweden 5-4, while the Russians skunked Team Finland 4-0.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who left comments and sent me emails about my last article concerning ticket prices. I apologize that some of your comments didn’t post properly, I need to update this template and will do so sometime soon during this off-season.

It should go without saying but I’ll say it anyway, that article was not an attempt to convince people whether to re-up for season tickets. It was meant to be a factual article, based upon the perceptions during the lockout in relation to the actual price increases, as I described. Granted, I may have ranted just a bit.

Obviously, some people are upset about the increases, others not so much. If you are unhappy about the increases and do not let management know, they might assume that people don’t mind very much and will continue with more increases in the future.

But if people make enough of a stink about it this year, perhaps it will help management to think twice about it before instituting another increase next year? Who knows?

According to Kyle Prairie, people have been much more positive about the increases than negative.

Just a reminder, I do answer any and all emails (positive and negative). Just send them to canescountry@gmail.com.

AC DC

Carolina Hurricanes: Defenseman Bret Hedican Won't Dance into Retirement

Robert McGee — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:52:34 -0400

Ever since the Carolina Hurricanes' disappointing season came to an abrupt ending, defenseman Bret Hedican has been busy supporting his wife, Kristi Yamaguchi, as she competes in the “Dancing With The Stars” television show. Hedican has also done a bit of dancing himself whenever asked about his plans for next season.

Will he play again or not? Is he healthy enough to play?

After he side-stepped those questions for weeks, it appears that StarTribune columnist Neal Justin got some answers. During a recent interview with Yamaguchi and Hedican, Justin asked the defenseman about his future in professional hockey. Hedican’s reply was as follows….

"Right now my contract with Carolina is up. I’m leaving my doors open. I’m not locked in on going back and I’m not retiring. I’m just enjoying this with Kristi."

While that statement is a bit oddly worded, it does seem to say that he is not retiring. Have the injuries that have plagued him all year long dissipated?

I wonder if Bret will attempt to get a clean bill of health from the hip doctor like he did last year before he can commit to playing. In July 2007, he had to go to physicians in Colorado for an opinion about his ailing hip. As it turned out, there was no definitive answer.

Then they decided to wait until training camp to see how the hip would hold up. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though the 'Canes were waiting all offseason and most of training camp just to see if Bret would be able to play or not. I’m not sure the team has the patience to go through that routine again this year.

It turned out Hedican missed 16 games last year and 22 the year before due to a variety of injuries.

But if there is anything to a rumor, Carolina won’t have that worry anyway. Yamaguchi has mentioned more than once that she would like to move the family back to California. If Hedican indeed puts off retirement, he will probably take his gimpy hip and play on the west coast.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Van Halen

Canada Takes USA 5-4

Robert McGee — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:33:26 -0400

Team Canada beat a tough American team by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday afternoon in Halifax. After falling behind 3-0, Team USA fought back and tied the score 4-4, but Dany Heatley ended up winning it for Canada with less than a minute left in the contest. Cam Ward earned the win between the pipes.

For a detailed recap of the game, check out this link.

The loss doesn’t kill USA’s chances for gold just yet. If anything, it showed that the Americans can play with the Canadians and it should give them a boost of confidence.

Qualifying round games begin on Thursday.

Say Goodbye to Hollywood: Blog Box Creator Resigns

Robert McGee — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:38:28 -0400

Chris Botta, the VP of Public Relations for the New York Islanders and creator of the controversial “Blog Box” resigned from his position with the team yesterday. Botta had worked on the Island for 20 years but apparently felt that it was time to move on.

Reactions from the Islanders bloggers vary, but this could very well mean the end of the unique attempt to bring fans, bloggers, media, and players together.

For those of you who may have missed the news last year, the New York Islanders media guru created a special place in the arena for selected bloggers to sit, monitor, and report on the game which was dubbed the “Islanders Blog Box”. This seating area was separate from press row, where the professional media resided.

The bloggers were also allowed access to some coaches and players after games for interviews, again apart from the professionals, so not to disturb or interrupt their craft.

Initially, the idea was met with heavy resistance from some professional writers who earn their living doing about the same thing that the bloggers were doing for free. But the Islanders were extremely unhappy with local media coverage. They wanted and needed more exposure, and this was an attempt to accomplish just that.

Surprisingly enough, many in the blogging community were strongly against the idea as well. Some felt that bloggers shouldn’t be given any access. Some felt that they deserved more access. Some were upset they were being handled and treated just like fans.

You know how bloggers are. It’s difficult to get two of us to agree on anything.

Regardless, I always liked the concept and felt that it was a great idea. It seemed to solve one issue that the professional media complained about, the possibility of unruly behaviour in press row. It also gave Islanders fans access to information like no other NHL team had previously allowed, besides the Washington Capitals. (The Caps allow full media access for some bloggers.)

I’m not sure whether last season’s “experiment” was considered a success or a fiasco, but hopefully Botta’s resignation doesn’t put an end to a new generation of reporting in New York and elsewhere.

Billy Joel

Gimme Three Steps: Round 3 Round-Up

Robert McGee — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:46:09 -0400

The NHL Conference finals took shape late last night after a marathon game was completed, as Dallas outlasted San Jose in a contest which went into 4 overtimes. I stayed up to watch that one and I’m glad I did as it was one of the better games that I have seen in awhile.

Both goalies kept making unbelievable saves and the skaters never seemed to slow down, even though they had to be near exhaustion. Brendan Morrow broke the tie with a powerplay goal about half way through that decisive 4rth OT period. Not only did Morrow score the game winner, he also had a record-breaking 19 hits for the game, one of which knocked young Sharks superstar Milan Michalek, right out of the game.

The Stars next opponent will be the Detroit Red Wings, a team ranked as the best in the NHL in several different categories. Marty Turco, Brendan Morrow, and company will all have to be at the top of their games in order to stop that Red Wing team.

Over here in the East we have the classic battle of Pennsylvania as the Flyers take on the Penguins. Both teams have red hot goalies and both teams have been playing extremely well. This should be an entertaining series that could go either way.

The Pens got this far by taking out a New York team which was led by Jaromir Jagr, who showed that he can still be a dynamo when he wants to be. But in my opinion the rest of the Rangers didn’t look as good as they did against the Devils.

The Flyers took out the Habs, the number one seeded team in the East. While Philadelphia had outstanding goaltending, the Habs had to settle for average, in my opinion. Some folk questioned my criticism of Bob Gainey when I posted earlier about how I thought that he blew it by giving away Cristobal Huet to the Caps for just a 2nd round draft pick, but I stand by my opinion.

I still think that he blew it.

One argument in support of Gainey was that at least the Habs got something for Huet, an upcoming free agent who was obviously going to move on at the end of the year. Perhaps that is true, but that’s still an extremely unusual move to make for a number one seeded team.

Perhaps someone can give me another example of how a front-runner for the playoffs traded away a current asset for a draft pick on trade deadline day? It seems to me that making your team as strong as possible for the Cup run should be job number one. Strengthening your team for the future is something that the also-rans attempt to do.

Some people said that Huet had never won a playoff series before and the chances with Price were better. My question is, how many series had Carey Price won previous to this year?

Let’s take a look at some stats.

Back in 2006, Huet had a record of 2-4, but his GAA was 2.33 and his save percentage was .929. Even though he lost the series to the eventual Champion Canes, those are not bad stats.

This year Price had a GAA of 2.78 and a save percentage of .901, and that includes 2 shutouts that he posted against Boston. I’m not sure exactly what his stats were against the Flyers, but I am confident that they were not very good.

Again, I’m not saying that Huet was a better choice than Price to start out with, but I still believe that Huet would have at least been a better choice as a backup and could have made a difference. In my mind, trading him was still a mistake.

Carolina used both of their goalies during their runs in 2002 and 2006, and both had important contributions. I think it was unrealistic to assume that a 20 year old rookie would be able to shoulder the load for the entire playoffs.

I know, I know. I was 0 for 4 on my picks for the 2nd round, and I have the nerve to say that hockey genius Bob Gainey made a mistake? I’m not sure that I should even bother picking winners again for this next round, but since I must, then I pick the Wings and Pens. Wouldn’t that be a dream final for NBC, the NHL, and for many fans as well?

Speaking of goalies, I am sure that more than a few Russians were celebrating after the Sharks were eliminated last night. Team Russia’s starting goalie, (up to this point), was injured on Sunday so Evgeni Nabokov will be welcomed into the fold as soon as he can get to Canada.

In other World Championship news, Team Finland won in overtime yesterday on a goal scored by Tuomo Ruutu. They defeated Team Norway 3-2.

Team Sweden defeated France by a score of 9-0. Nic Wallin chipped in with a goal.

Team Canada plays Team USA in a showdown at 3:25 this afternoon.

Lynard Skynard

USA, Canada, and Russia Win Again

Robert McGee — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:06:49 -0400

Team USA beat Slovenia on Sunday by a score of 5-1 as Phil Kessel had a hat-trick. David Booth and Patrick Kane scored the other goals for the Americans as Tim Thomas allowed his first goal of the tournament to Los Angeles Kings superstar Anze Kopitar.

In the meantime, Team Canada slaughtered Team Latvia 7-0. Pascal LeClair was in net for Canada. Latvia has yet to score a goal in this tournament. This combination of wins sets up a key match-up on Tuesday between these two top contenders in the B Grouping.

Over in Group A, Team Russia had a tough time with the Czech Republic as it took them until overtime to defeat their opponents, 5-4. Patrik Elias had a hat-trick for the Czechs. Alexei Morozov scored the game-winner for Russia.

In a game that featured Hurricane team-mates, Tuomo Ruutu’s, Team Finland beat Dennis Seidenberg’s German team by a score of 5-1. The Finns could definitely make some noise in this tournament. They have some big names on their roster.

More about the World Championships later as I am still watching this never-ending game between Dallas and San Jose. Unbelievable goaltending.

The Battle Rages On: Why Main Stream Media Hates Blogs

Robert McGee — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:27:05 -0400

Main stream media (MSM) has always held contempt for blogs. The disdain took a very public turn during this past week as well known sportscaster Bob Costas hosted a special feature about the new media on his most recent “Costas NOW” series on HBO.

The 90 minute show was comprised of several related topics and was filmed in front of a studio audience, supposedly so it could have a “town hall” type of feeling, but neither the town or the hall had any chance for questions or feedback.

One of the most confrontational portions of the broadcast came up when the topic was concerning the “New Media” and how blogs on the internet have affected the perception of sports news reporting.

The guests for this segment included award winning author Buzz Bissinger who wrote “Friday Night Lights”, Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns, and Will Leitch of Deadspin.

As a blogger, I kind of got the feeling that things were going to get ugly, quickly when Costas started the segment off by introducing the art of blogging as “blurring the lines between news and gossip, truth and rumor, and commentary and insult”. Some of that is true of course, but as usual the focus was presented in a negative tone, and is not representative of all blogs.

The rest of the discussion mainly consisted of attacks on Leitch, with the somewhat overwhelmed blogger trying to defend himself and the content of his site. While Costas was at least tactful and polite with his questioning and comments, Mr. Bissinger came across as an enraged jilted lover, throwing out profanity laced insults and ignorant jabs at not only Leitch, but the entire blogging community.

Toward the end of the exchange, Buzz admitted that he was upset because blogging was a big part of the future of sports reporting and that more people were probably reading blogs, (even his own son), than reading books and newspapers.

He thinks that bloggers are “dumbing down” America because of their poor writing skills and ill-informed content.

The subject of press credentials came up, and Leitch explained that he did not want to be in the pressbox since that is not what his blog is all about and he did not want to be beholding to anyone.

Bissinger went to attack mode again and claimed that the blogger “did not want facts to get in the way” of his reporting.

The frustrating thing about this subject is that the majority of bloggers who want to have press access are denied, putting them in a no-win situation. They are not looked upon as being “legit” because they have no access to the inside facts, but they can’t get access because they aren’t considered to be “legit.”

This of course only pertains to the bloggers who want to have credentials, because many have no interest in that at all.

While I admit that I am not a regular reader of Deadspin and would not rely on that site to get my hardcore sports news, it is an entertaining site which has humorous and talented writers.

I can also understand why sites like that would upset old-schoolers like Bissinger, because they can see their professions evolving before their very eyes and they don’t like what they see.

In my opinion, Deadspin does not seem to be a site where you would get typical sports news, like a detailed recap of what happened during a game, or statistics, or the like. It seems to be a site in which the authors make note of a variety of different situations and give their opinions about such, primarily focusing on humor, or even poking fun at people. They also don’t hesitate to throw in some gratuitous “T and A” while they’re at it.

I wouldn’t consider most of their authors to be “sportswriters”, and they probably don’t consider themselves to be either. So why pick them for this show?

I think ignorance runs rampant when it comes to outsiders trying to understand blogs. They attempt to define what all sports blogs are like, or should be like in general, and it just doesn’t work that way. As I have mentioned before, there are a multitude of different types of blogs out there, and they vary just as much as the individuals do who write them.

But as usual, all bloggers were pretty much lumped together during the broadcast, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There was no mention of the well-written blogs, or the blogs which have media access and have represented the “profession” well.

Although, I have a feeling that it wouldn’t have mattered who the featured blogger was on the show, that person was going to be hammered anyway, because that was the intent.

I received a couple of emails from Canes Country readers asking me what I thought about the show, and my response is that I enjoyed it very much and I can see both sides of this debate.

Members of the MSM can see their livelihoods possibly slipping away. Instead of embracing the new art, they are focusing on the negative and fighting it every chance they get. But they show their ignorance, for instance, by not being able to distinguish between a blog author’s article and a comment left afterwards, and this ignorance or lack of understanding is a big part of the problem.

I think that more professional journalists, such as James Mirtle and Luke DeCock, should start blogging themselves and should attempt to draw a larger audience to their traditional writing.

If MSM writers would embrace the art rather than fight it, they would probably be surprised just how much they would end up loving it.

As for Deadspin and other blogs like it, I see nothing wrong with them. As long as what they are doing is legal, and they aren’t pretending to be something that they aren’t, then so be it.

They do remind me a bit of the Paparazzi or National Enquire though. They seem to look for a particular thing in sports news and attempt to sensationalize it.

All in all, the “Costas Now” show was a good one and you should try to see it if you haven’t. In another segment they also blasted talk show radio, so bloggers were not the only group being scrutinized.

If I may offer just a hint of advice to any of my fellow bloggers who gets invited to an open forum with members of the traditional media attending? Wear a helmet, a bullet proof vest, and be prepared for the worst.

Deep Purple

USA, Russia and Canada Win Openers

Robert McGee — Sat, 03 May 2008 01:00:30 -0400

Day 1 at the 2008 IIHF World Championship boded well for Canada, USA, and Russia.

Team Canada opened their tournament with a 5-1 win over Slovenia as Dany Heatley had a hat-trick. Cam Ward only allowed one goal and that was while the opposition had a 5 on 3 advantage. Next up for the home team is Latvia on Sunday. For more information check out this link.

Team USA also won their first match with a 4-0 win over Latvia. The Americans outshot their opponents 49-24. The youngsters once again provided the scoring as Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Dustin Brown, and Patrick O’Sullivan each had a goal. Boston’s Tim Thomas earned the shutout. Check here for a game recap. Next up for the team is Slovenia on Sunday.

Team Russia pulverized Team Italy 7-1 and it could have been worse as Sergei Fedorov had 2 supposed goals waived off. Their next game on Sunday will be a bit tougher as they play the Czech Republic.