Canes coach Paul Maurice said today he already has his lineup set for Friday's opener against Tampa Bay.
Well, kind of. Wingers Chad LaRose and Patrick Dwyer did miss today's practice. Dwyer was said to be ill and should be back Wednesday, but LaRose's lower-body injury is more of a concern and could affect roster decisions.
Maurice said LaRose would skate Wednesday, and that personnel decisions would be made tomorrow. LaRose could be placed on Injured Reserve, Maurice said.
"If (LaRose) wasn't able to practice tomorrow and we did not have a comfort level that he would get to Friday, we could IR back-date him and he would be available for the Washington game (Saturday)," Maurice said.
The Canes have kept center Riley Nash in camp, but Maurice said the decision could be made to recall a winger from the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) if LaRose is not able to play Friday. Should that happen, Nash could be assigned to the Checkers.
In practice today, Eric Staal's line again had Jeff Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu on the wings. Jussi Jokinen centered Jiri Tlusty and Anthony Stewart, and Brandon Sutter was at the center with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Zac Dalpe. Center Tim Brent worked with Nash.
Maurice said he has his top six defensemen set for the opener, but would not name them. The Canes have nine defensemen in camp.
In some of the five-on-five work today, Tim Gleason and Joni Pitkanen were paired. Jay Harrison was with Tomas Kaberle, and Bryan Allen with Derek Joslin. But Justin Faulk, Ryan Murphy and Jamie McBain got plenty of work, as well.
The Canes's 85-minute practice today at the RBC Center was one of their longest of the preseason. It was a skating grind but there was some fun at the end.
In a shootout competition, the players hooted and chirped as Ponikarovsky and Jeff Skinner beat Cam Ward with nifty moves, and when Joni Pitkanen rifled a shot off the crossbar and past Brian Boucher.
Asked about putting one of his best moves on Ward, beating him with a backhander, Skinner smiled and said, "The ice was pretty bad. I think it sort of hopped up and I think it confused Cam a little bit. It was kind of lucky but I'll take it, I guess."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
