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Canes still seeking right balance
Submitted by chipalexander on 01/03/2009 - 13:59
TAMPA — The Canes are coming off a hard-fought, tight-checking, low-risk 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
TAMPA — The Canes are coming off a hard-fought, tight-checking, low-risk 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
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Question: was that the quintessential Paul Maurice kind of victory?
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"No, not even close to the kind of game we want to play," the Canes coach said today after his team's optional pregame skate. "But you've got to be able to win those kinds of games, too.
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"I know that looked like a game from 8-9 years ago. It was grinding and filthy and no fun to watch and no fun to coach and probably less fun to play.
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"But at the end of the day, when you win, it takes the sting out of those things. We're still trying to find that balance. We've fallen maybe back into a little  more of a defensive mindset than we'd like, and at the same time we'll bounce back and forth hopefully for the next little while and go a little more offensive at times and more defensive at times.
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"We're still trying to find that balance."
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The Canes tonight face the Lightning, which has some offensive firepower and has regrouped and played better of late despite a 7-4 loss in Washington in the last game.
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"I thought that was a pretty good game and contested well," Maurice said. "These guys (on the Lightning) have gone through an awful lot, more emotionally than anything else, so when they get any kind of good feeling they're very dangerous.
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"Their scorers are starting to put the puck in the net now, so we're going to face a team that has a good feeling, which makes them tough to play against."
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Canes defenseman Niclas Wallin is expected to play after being sidelined with an ankle injury. ...
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Center Eric Staal said he had no lingering effects from the hit he took from St. Louis' David Backes that forced him to briefly leave the ice. He returned to play the rest of the game.
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"I was just a little woozy, so I went back in the locker room for a few minutes to clear my head," Staal said. "I'm fine."
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Chip Alexander
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and was part of the coverage team for the Canes' Stanley Cup run in 2006. He can be reached at chip.alexander@newsobserver.com.
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Comments
I know what you meant, but
Sun, 01/04/2009 - 20:59 — robotron2084I know what you meant, but hockey has been in NC since the 1950's with teams playing in places like Greensboro, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and a couple of other towns. And Raleigh had hockey for 8 years prior to the Whalers moving down with the IceCaps playing in Dorton Arena during most of the '90's.
So hockey isn't as new to some of us as some may think simply because the NHL wasn't here yet or because we aren't northern transplants.
Who Says the Game was No Fun to Watch?
Sun, 01/04/2009 - 19:59 — klowmanI thought it was a great game, especially since we won. I think people are making too much out of the Defensive Game vs. Offensive Game ... sure... watching you team score 4, 5, or 6 goals is lots of fun ... but watching them score 2 or 3 goals is fun as well when at the end of the day it is more goals than the other team scored.
Hockey has been in NC for over 10 years now and I think the majority of our fans - esp. the hardcore fan base, have enough hockey smarts and savvy to know a good game when they see it. We should all be "seasoned" fans by now ... and I can enjoy all the other aspects of the game as well, the more subtle parts ... the great positioning, blocking shots, being in the shooting lanes or passing lanes and clogging things up so the other team ends up turning the puck over.
I love a good defensive play where we take the puck away or check someone in the Neutral zone and then take off in the other direction for a scoring chance. The last couple of years, even when we were up or had a few goals ... I was always nervous ... I never felt comfortable with a lead ... even if it was a 2 or 3 goal lead ... now I'm actually getting comfortable watching the game when we have just a 1 goal lead .... and to me that causes me to have more "fun" at the game vs. being nervous the whole time with a 2 goal lead and just waiting for the breakdowns to start happening.
Great game, good physical play, great goaltending when we needed it, and great goals when we needed ... and guess what ... great win at the end of 60 minutes!!!
WooHoo!!!