Manny Legace is always the life of the party. Or, at least, the life of practice.
The Canes' goaltender is always "chirping," as he puts it, with the forwards when they try to score on him. It's good-natured stuff and keeps things loose, Legace said, but also is done with a purpose.
"Guys can go through the motions at practice and it's a long year," Legace said Tuesday. "The more they get mad at me, the more they want to score.
"The more I challenge them, the more it keeps me interested. And they're not just coming down and wasting shots."
There was a lot of chirping today at the RBC Center. After Jussi Jokinen scored on Legace, the goalie had a few words to say to the Finn. Jokinen just smiled and thrust his stick by his side, like a knight sliding his sword back into its sheath, as he skated away.
"Manny always makes it fun," Jokinen said.
Chad LaRose, Legace said, is the "loudest." Eric Staal, he said, "Just gives me a look and smiles at me."
But Rod Brind'Amour and Legace always seem to be going at it -- two old pros.
"Roddy gets so mad," Legace said, laughing at the thought.
Brind'Amour said it has been fun having Legace around this season, and Canes coach Paul Maurice agrees.
"He's really been a great person, based on what we've gone through this year, to have in our locker room to have around," Maurice said. "To have that kind of personality, to be that upbeat. When we lost a game he's come out to practice hooting and hollering and having a good time, and you need to have that."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
+1 for Manny
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 13:38 — HockeydogTotally agree. Legace has been a great pickup, one of the few things JR has done right lately. Legace and Peters has been a very nice tandem for the team with Ward out. They'll both get a good test in the next two games.
Manny
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 10:41 — CaniacGuyNiiiiiiiice!! :-)
Casting no disparagement whatsoever towards Cam or Justin, Mrs. CaniacGuy and I both love seeing Manny on the ice. Strictly from a game point of view, both Manny and Justin are the first backups we've had since Cam himself was in that role, who give us a strong confident feeling regarding their quality of play.
From a "character" point of view, it's clear in section 332 that Manny's having a great time out there ... his enthusiasm comes through from the moment he leads the team out onto the ice.
Keep it up Manny ... good to have you in the Caniac nation.