One game into the Paul Maurice regime, assessments are being made. Two of them will come as no surprise to fans: Josef Melichar wasn't getting the job done and the team needs more toughness.
So exit Melichar, who was sent to Albany (AHL) along with Pat Dwyer on Friday, and enter Tim Conboy and Casey Borer, who were called up in their place. Melichar was particularly turnover-prone in Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Penguins.
Dwyer's main value was as a penalty-killer, but the Canes have enough depth in that department. His departure clears a space for Conboy, the shift-disturbing swing man whose antics made him tremendously popular with fans last season, although Conboy may be more needed on defense than the fourth line.
Borer will take over for Melichar on the blue line until Tim Gleason, Dennis Seidenberg and Frantisek Kaberle are healthy. Kaberle left Thursday's game with a "lower body" injury and his status is uncertain, so Conboy may play defense (his AHL position) instead of on the wing (his NHL position last season).
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
Staal and Brindy are so
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 23:55 — John_BurnsStaal and Brindy are so obviously hurt, it's painful to watch them. Brindamour, if he falls down, has a lot of trouble getting up. And it looks like Staal is favoring his right arm badly.
Sit them and let them heal. If we're going to lose anyway, let's at least lose while they are healing, not while they are getting beat up even worse.
A REMINDER
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 14:54 — ldecockProfanity will not be tolerated. Please ensure your comments adhere to the standards of our site.
Bohrer & Conboy
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 09:38 — NetMinderWord has it that Mo tried to bring back Adam Burt, Kevin Haller and Curtis Leschyshyn, but had to settle for Borer and Conboy.
Maurice and AHL Recalls
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 08:40 — abramsdougAdding Conboy and Borer is an excellent move and sends the right signals. I thought Laviolette was watching different games than me when he didn't keep Borer. Conboy always brings everything he's got every shift. I also agree that the next step is how Maurice will work the lineups with Brind'Amour playing some of the worst hockey of anybody in the NHL.
BBC Line
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 11:33 — rmmeliIs it not obvious? Maurice is trying to construct a new BBC line...Brind'Amour, Borer, Conboy..... :)
Conboy
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 19:31 — ncsurveygirlNice, we bring up the guy who bit someone during a game, sooo classy.
Haven't you heard?
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 21:17 — Nico37We are classless.
I just pray to God no ones boos him!! I might faint with embarrassment!!!
(joke)
Seriously, it was Steve Downie. Nobody cares.
Hope this isn't temporary
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 19:11 — scomilI hope this is permanent and not just for the Flyers and Caps. In fact, for this weekend I would have both Conboy and Brookbank in there. Let Brookbank bump heads with the Flyers and save Conboy for Brashear.
Bump ??
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 11:11 — ynotagainCome on now .. Brookbank doesn't bump anyone. All he's shown the capability to do so far is get another guy to throw down the gloves with him and then they both go off for a 5 minute rest, I'd love to see him BUMP a few guys around the ice and into the boards first, before the glove tossing thing but haven't see it yet, and I'm there, ice level, at every game.
Brookbank either needs to start really playing tough hockey or plan to move to Albany.
J.R. Reads LSB!!!!
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 17:04 — WAStoutThanks for taking my advice J.R. (Albany guys)....now organize those lines per the earlier posts...you got a team.
Transfers
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 17:01 — esteban1949It was good to read that Conboy & Borer are coming up, and while i'd would have like to see Dwyer stay but i know he'll be needed to help lead the Rats as they play tonite against The Admirals. As far as Melichar goes...i think his time in Albany would hopefully give him what he needs to improve, sharpen and hone what skills he has. I wasn't sure why JR had placed him on waivers at first, but when i did look at his stats and playing history, i wasn't surprised that no one from any team, didn't kill themselves to try and pick him up off the wire. I still feel that Justin Peters should have played the last period last nught to give the guy a trial under fire as it were to see players like Crosby & company come at him like the 300 Spartans ( No mercy or quarter) and see how he held up to any kind of an onslaught that they would send his way.But as i have said before I'm a fan, not a coach or rom the front office. The Rats & The Jr. Canes Both play tonight hopefully they both will win. Showing the parent club ( Carolina for the Rats) that there is hope and hungry players who are busting their chops to make in the big dance. Only time and injuries will help Mo, Ron and the rest of the coaching staff know for sure huh ? Go Canes !!
Speaking of Dwyer
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 22:48 — esteban1949He and serveral of the Rats scored for a 8-1 win against the Norfolk Admirals...And another AHL alum Helmenin also Contributed as well...and at the end of 1 perios The Jr. Canes are ahead 1-0 against the Red Deer Raiders in WHL action
Go Canes !!
Good moves!
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 16:05 — galatians220Good moves! Tough game last night, but I already see two potential positives under Mo: #1- DISCIPLINE. Melichar has been horrible, & now he's gone. Hopefully this is only the beginning. Mo wasn't afraid to discipline our best players the last time around, whereas Peter proved to be a players' coach w/ no discipline. #2- 4TH LINE. Mo always tried to utilize a 4th line last time, something Peter never wanted to do (even when we had the talent for a pretty good one). I love Conboy, & I hope he sticks around to play on the 4th line once our D gets healthier. In the mean time, I'd still put him in front of the net (like Tomas Holmstrom) on the PP. By balancing out the minutes, you keep the energy guys taking regular shifts while keeping the top line guys fresher. It's especially important now while some of our top line guys are playing like anything but.
4th line
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 16:50 — GoShelfWith the guys we have in our system we should be able to roll 4 lines for 2 & 1/4 periods. I never liked the fact Lavi rarely played the 4th line. We should shorten shifts and roll 4 lines - get better quality minutes and less quantity minutes out of our best guys.
Better Late Than Never
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 14:53 — GoShelfFinally, as I predicted Melichar is and has been horrible. He's simply too slow to play at the NHL level. I'm really not sure what management saw in this guy. It would be nice if Brindy took a week off to get healthy, but that's not going to happen. Should be a good game tomorrow.
Staal and Brind'amour
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 14:49 — ctillI expect performance of Staal and Brind'amour will improve under Coach Mo... and they will get less ice time too. Those are related. About a month ago, Staal played a few games with 25:00 TOI or thereabouts. Chip or Luke interviewed an opposing coach who noted that Lavi would burn out Staal under that kind of burden. And that's what happened. Staal is big, and it appears he doesn't have the stamina that smaller guys like Crosby have. Same thing for Brind'amour. Look back at Wesley, who usually played 12:00 to 15:00 TOI in the Stanley Cup season -- mostly on PKs where Wesley was great. The next two seasons, injuries to the other D-men required Wesley to play a lot more 5-on-5, and his TOI went to 17:00 sometimes 19:00. We even saw him play PP a little. As the seasons went on, Wesley's performance slipped. Well of course it did -- just natural for guys at that age. So I think you'll see shorter shifts (with more use of the 3rd and 4th lines) and less double-shifting for Staal. And although Dwyer was sent down, I expect Staal and Brind'amour to play less PK.
Ice time
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 15:19 — Richie7You may want to look at the ice time of the Stars in the NHL...they play 23 to 27 per game.....Staal is not burned out....that is not the problem.
True for defensemen. False
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 16:33 — ctillTrue for defensemen. False for forwards. Not one forward in the entire NHL has an average TOI of 23 minutes. You can pull the stats at ESPN's website. The top three forwards in average TOI across the league are Crosby, Ovechkin, and Gomez, all at about 22 minutes.
Good move.
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 14:52 — dustinlammersTelling the fans that mailing in an effort won't cut it. Good to see some young blood and some grit injected into the lineup. We'll see how they respond to Philly's crash and bang style.
Good moves
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 13:53 — HockeydogMelichar was not getting the job done. Mo wastes no time. I like. If Conboy plays up front I hope he finds a nice spot in front of the net.
Borer is a definite upgrade over Melichar and showed he was close last year.
As far as #17's replacement. I think if he is hurt at all they should bring Helminen up and get Roddy healthy. As someone else stated on another thread, it will be interesting to see how Maurice treats the stars if they don't start to produce.
Finally
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 13:41 — SunA piece of good news in a horrid week!
Now when will they be shipping Babchuk to the gulag?
Halleluyah
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 12:28 — rmmeliFinally, there is someone with common sense in this organization.
When are the bringing up #17's replacement?