Monday's debate: Training camp

Rutherford short changed every fan in the house last year and he knew it based on the defensemen he started and ended the season with - they were weak beyond belief. If he was man enough to swallow his pride he could have gotten Babchuk back from Russia at any point last season but did not.

Laviolette looked like he ran out of coaching gas last season and was randomly throwing combinations on the ice hoping for a miracle - something any fan could have done for far less than a million a season. If this team is 500 or below by end of November then he needs to be sent packing (and replaced by Ted Nolan).

Much like everyone else, one of my biggest concerns is Cully. It was a rough injury and everyone is aware of the uncertainty that surrounds any head injury. However, no one can deny the impact he has when he is healthy. Lord knows, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for that.

My second issue is Ward. I really like Ward and certainly have nothing but respect for what he did for the team during the Stanley Cup run....however, his play since has (to say the least) left me less than wowed. I know D has been a problem but unless you can manage to stop the occasional puck from a breakaway or (god love him) a shoot out, I just don't see him as a viable number 1, especially considering what a big part of the game the shoot out has become. Imagine where we would have been last year if he had at least been able to hold his own in a shoot out.

My last major concern is defense. I know that Rutherford felt like we needed more help at the point and wanted more offense from our defense but I've never been convinced that scoring was our problem. DEFENSE is our problem so I'm not sold on how adding a bunch of offensive defensman to our blueline is going to remedy our lack of defense. Our defense needs to be more defensive and our forwards need to pay more attention to the game going on around them. Also, a good point was made by an earlier commenter, what happens if (god forbid) Gleason, our only truly solid blueliner, gets injured???? Yikes!

main concerns:

Penalty Kill... you have to be able to kill penalties no matter how good ovechkin or lecavalier is. -- no penalty kill, no playoffs. period.
Power Play. unless we have a good power play all season, no playoffs--so I guess Cullen's health fits into this
Defense: A lot of people are worried about this, but let's just trust the GM... he knows what he's doing. (i hope)
Focus: We need Staal to just pick up where he left off last season and just for the whole team in general to stay focussed. a lot of people don't think we can win the division and make noise in the playoffs, and we just need to ignore that.
and... we could all be concerned that because of the higher ticket prices the building will not be as full/loud. so, lets just sell out the RBC and make some noise, caniacs!!!

... GO CANES!!!!!!!!!!!

1. For me, a huge question is Cam. Other than the '06 Cup run, he's shown zero consistency as a #1 in this league. The organization made a huge commitment to him, & he MUST deliver this year.

2. Our D obviously has to improve, which would help Cam out a lot. I'm excited about Corvo & Pitkanen, especially on the PP. It's a big year for Gleason in terms of becoming a reliable anchor. But who else can step into the top 4? Kaberle (one-hit wonder of '05-06 who still may well be moved), Wallin (a career 3rd pairing guy), & Melichar (3rd pairing talent at best) aren't likely. So that leaves us w/ Seidenberg or Babchuk needing a breakthrough season.

3. Cullen's injury is a major concern. I'm actually surprised at how little attention this situation has gotten on this blog. Without him anchoring the 3rd line, we become A LOT easier to defend up front. With Brind'Amour a year older & coming off his injury, and a young Brandon Sutter being all-but-promised a roster spot before(?) camp, there are a lot of questions at center ice.

4. Coach Laviolette has to recapture the intensity of '05-06, or he'll be gone by December. No excuses. Missing the playoffs 2 straight years after winning it all is absolutely humiliating. Just as Laviolette & the team leaders (Brind'Amour) got a ton of praise for winning the Cup, they must shoulder a lot of the blame for our costly periods of lethargy over the past two seasons.

*The Jeff O story is interesting to me, but I don't think it's a huge story coming into camp. With all the questions at center ice, though, I think it'd be wise to sign him to a 2-way deal if he looks good in camp.

That said, if Cam finally proves himself, if the D comes together, if Cullen returns to form, & if Coach gets his mojo back, this team has a really good shot at taking the division & making a good run in the playoffs!

1. Stay healthy
2. For the regulars to play at their pre-injury abilities.
3. For a defence that can help Cam & Mike there in goal.
4. For the team to stay focused.

other than that...all we can do is hope ...and pray...

Go Canes !!

Main thing is stay healthy. We have guys that can score and a solid goaltender, if we can just keep them on the ice together. We also have a defense that has potential. They just need to learn to play together and build as a unit. The division is realistic but some good luck has to come the Canes way.

Pitkanen isn't a 'stay-at-home' player- he's an offensive d-man, so folks will be disappointed if they're expecting that type of player.

So the biggest health question for me, is Matt Cullen. head injuries are nothing to play around with- and as much as I hope that he's better like he has said in interviews over the summer.

The biggest question for the Canes is how they will re-group and come back hungry from the humiliation being out of the playoffs for 2 straight years after winning it all; and the fact that the Capitals have stolen some thunder as an 'exciting team'. All of that comes into play as the new season starts in just a matter of weeks.

The so-called national media has already counted the Canes out; throwing all their 'love' to WSH, I'm hoping this is similar to 05-06 when we were picked to finish last.

We all know how that season ended.

the 'Canes must have better overall team defense. It starts between the pipes with Cam. While he makes some great saves, he also seems to have the knack of letting in that bad goal at the wrong time of the game. As a 5 man unit, the team needs to be better in front of him as well. The forwards can't peel of and head up ice assuming that a defenseman has control of the puck and has a clear lane to make that outlet pass. Too many times that happened last year and we turned the puck over in our own zone. I still feel that we need one more physical defenseman. Maybe that will be Anton, or someone else. In the end it will come down to the overall team defense.