newsobserver.com blogs -- canes

Ward's injury has surreal feel to it

chipalexander — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:21:04 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It's not good.

You could sense it by the somber looks on the faces, the tone of voice, the frowns around the Canes' locker room after Saturday's game. Cam Ward's leg injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets was serious -- certainly serious enough to shift a nightmarish season into the surreal.

Canes coach Paul Maurice called the injury "significant" and it is that. Ward suffered a laceration to the left leg when Rick Nash sprawled in front of the net and Nash's right skate appeared to nick Ward around the left knee area.

Maurice was almost ashen after the 3-2 loss to the Jackets. His voice almost broke when he was asked about Ward possibly being sidelined.

"That's going to be tough to take," he said. "But it's where we're at."

What now? The Canes may look to call up Justin Peters from the Albany River Rats (AHL) to back up Michael Leighton. Peters is 5-4-1 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.

Ward's injury is similar to the one he suffered against the New York Rangers in March 2007. Rangers forward Brad Isbister cut Ward's knee with a skate, and Ward missed just three games.

Will it be that kind of injury again -- three games and back in the lineup? Or will it force the Hurricanes into a major decision on a goaltender?

Ward has said a personal goal this season was to be selected to Team Canada for the Vancouver Olympics. Only time will tell how much the injury damages his chances.

Ward in stable condition after "significant" injury

kkeister — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:03 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward, who was taken to a hospital Saturday after being injured during the game with the Columbus Blue Jackets, received stitches and is expected to return to Raleigh on Sunday.

Ward suffered a laceration to his left leg in the first period when hit by the skate of the Jackets' Rick Nash. The injury was called "significant" by Canes coach Paul Maurice and Ward's return is not known.

Team officials said that Ward was in stable condition.

Ward in stable condition after "significant" injury

kkeister — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:03 -0500

Team officials said that Ward was in stable condition.

Blue Jackets 3, Canes 2

chipalexander — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:44:30 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Carolina Hurricanes went into the game with an 11-game winless streak and without forwards Eric Staal and Ray Whitney.

And after the first 7 1-2 minutes Saturday, they were playing without goaltender Cam Ward, who suffered that coach Paul Maurice called a "significant injury" to his left leg.

That's asking a lot of a hockey team, and especially one that's struggling, mightily. It was asking too much this night as the Columbus Blue Jackets surged in the third period to take a 3-2 victory at Nationwide Arena.

Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the Jackets opened the third with a flurry of goals. Nikita Filatov scored 50 seconds into the period. Jared Boll scored at 2:55, and then Rick Nash just 36 seconds after Boll.

Just like that the Canes' lead was gone and the game, in essence, turned into another lost cause. The Hurricanes, who got goals from Erik Cole and Tim Gleason, fall to 2-11-3 and again failed to win a road game, falling to 0-7-2.

Ward was injured with 12:25 left in the first period and had to be helped off the ice. Ward was bleeding and appeared to have been hit on his left leg by Nash's skate after Nash was knocked down in front of the Canes goal.

Ward was taken to a hospital for further examination and treatment.

Michael Leighton is in the game for the Canes.

Cole scored his first goal of the season at 9:05 of the first on a Matt Cullen assist. ...

The Canes in pregame have no line changes from the Leafs game, and the defensive pairs remain the same. Cam Ward in goal.

Here are some numbers to ponder: since the start of last season, the Jackets are 15-3-3 against Eastern teams and have outscored them 62-39. Goaltender Steve Mason is 13-1-2 against East teams with a 1.41 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.

Hitchcock: Canes a hard team to figure

chipalexander — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:22:10 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe Ken Hitchcock was being nice. Or coy. Or, perhaps, truthful.

The Columbus Blue Jackets coach said today he had watched tape of some of the Canes' recent games and has been surprised by what he saw.

"I can't figure it out," Hitchcock said after the Jackets' morning skate at Nationwide Arena. "I just don't see the poor play that usually comes with losing."

Hitchcock noted he found himself shaking his head a little when watching video of the Canes' 5-1 loss Sunday to the San Jose Sharks at the RBC Center.

"I thought they were playing great and dominating against a really good hockey club," he said. "I couldn't believe that game turned out the way it did.

"The game just turned. When things aren't going well for you the little things have such an impact. Then San Jose scored some goals and the game was over. I just think Carolina is playing better than its record."

No one can be sure what to expect tonight. The Jackets (8-5-2) have won two of their last three, sandwiching wins over Washington and Atlanta around an overtime loss to San Jose. Columbus topped the Thrashers 4-3 in Atlanta on Thursday in their last game.

The Canes (2-10-3), winless in their last 11 games, are in the second of a back-to-back after what may have been the toughest-to-swallow loss in a season that has had a number of them.

"You don't mind a back-to-back if they're playing the night before, too," Canes coach Paul Maurice said. "They're a tough defensive team and they skate well.

"You're going to have to work for everything you get. And for a team that's struggling, we have to be very conscious that we're not hoping to get something easy and when it doesn't happen it hurts you."

Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore has missed the last two games with a leg injury but will play against his old team. Today is Commodore's 30th birthday, and he scored a goal against the Canes in the Jackets' win last season.

"I still get a little extra jump when I play them," he said. "It's hard not to get up emotionally. I have a lot of respect for the organization and wish them the best, but at the same time you want to play your best and beat your former team."

Boychuk's play earns praise, confidence

chipalexander — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:55:30 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lost in all the gloom and dejection of the Canes' 3-2 loss Friday to the Maple Leafs was that Zach Boychuk made his NHL debut this season and played well.

Let's just say the winger, called up Friday from Albany (AHL), played well enough to make
coach Paul Maurice more than comfortable with what he saw on the ice.

"What you're hoping for, on a team struggling for offense, you're hoping for offense," Maurice said today. "At the same time, you want to be able to play the young player, so you want that confidence and comfort level as a coach.

"What he did was do all the things he needed to do to buy himself the ice time, and eventually his hand skills and his ability will come out. That's what you're hoping for."

Boychuk played on Matt Cullen's line with Erik Cole and had 15:11 of ice time and a team-high five shots on goal. In the final moments of the second period, he had Canes
fans roaring at the RBC Center when he shook free on a breakaway, only to be stopped by goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.

Maurice said Boychuk's play was much like Brandon Sutter's when he was brought up
from the River Rats and placed in the lineup for the Minnesota Wild game. Sutter scored his third goal of the season and had a season-high 17:29 ice time against the Leafs.

"You want to make the coach feel safe enough to play you, to give you the minutes, to have a chance to do the things that you know you can do," Maurice said.

Maurice indicated that Boychuk would stay on Cullen's line tonight against the Blue Jackets. No lineup changes are expected. Ray Whitney, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, missed Friday's game and did not make the trip.

Leafs 3, Canes 2

jpg — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:04:57 -0500

RALEIGH -- Good or bad teams, Eastern or Western Conference, American or Canadian, the Carolina Hurricanes do not discriminate when it comes to losing.

The Canes dropped their 11th straight on Friday night, a 3-2 disappointment to the equally generous Toronto Maple Leafs, who are riding high in 29th place in the NHL standings compared to the basement the Canes inhabit.

Jason Blake's power-play goal in the third period completed a two-goal comeback for the Maple Leafs, who doubled their win total at the hapless Canes' expense.

Carolina, which has won twice in 15 games — and not since Oct. 9 — after reaching the conference finals last spring, has dropped consecutive games to the two other teams drifting with flotsam and jetsam at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Canes started Friday's game, just their fourth home date in a month, like a team intent on jump-starting their season, or least giving Toronto the last-place anchor. Even without front-liners Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, the Canes scored the first two goals of the game and generally dominated the first period.

The 2-0 lead disappeared when Toronto returned the favor in the second period, which set the stage for Blake's game-winner at 11:36 in the third.

If there is a bright spot in the franchise's worst start (2-10-3) since moving to North Carolina in 1997, Brandon Sutter continued to be a bright spot in a gloomy fall for the Canes. The second-year center scored his third goal in four games, a sweet backhand finish at 7:51 in the first off a redirected pass from Rod Brind'Amour.

Sergei Samsonov made it 2-0 on a rebound of a Andrew Alberts slapshot from the left point at 17:22 in the first. Then the Canes' offense went on hiatus without Staal, who missed his second straight game with an "upper body" injury, and Whitney, who was still feeling the after effects of a cross-check from Wednesday's loss in Florida.

The Leafs cut into the Canes' lead just 72 seconds into the second period with center John Mitchell's one-timer from the right point.

Alexei Ponikarovsky's pass off the boards, around Canes defenseman Aaron Ward and winger Jussi Jokinen, gave the winger a head of steam into the Canes' zone and his centering pass hit winger Nikolai Kulemin on the tape in front of the net at 7:23 in the second to even the score.

The one-goal loss represented progress for the Canes, who had been out-scored 19-4 in the previous four losses, and none closer than three goals.

Canes-Leafs prediction: one team has to win

chipalexander — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:57:19 -0500

The Hurricanes, winless in their last 10 games, are 30th in the NHL standings and the Toronto Maple Leafs 29th. So what kind of game will it be tonight at the RBC Center?

"9-8 tonight -- that's the prediction," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today after the morning skate. "They're trying to manufacture their goals the same way we are -- get as many pucks to the net as you can and drive the net. Unfortunately for both teams it just seems the bounces have just not been going.

"But clearly you can't look at these two records and say it's a matter of bounces. There's a reason where they're at. But I would expect a lot of scrums in front of the net, a lot of traffic in front of the net.

"I'm all for a 9-8'er. I'd like to come out on the right end."

The Canes (2-9-3) are 29th in the NHL in goals against and the Leafs 30th, so Maurice's prediction could be dead-on. But Carolina also is last in the league in penalties and tied for last in goals scored with the Nashville Predators after the Preds were shut out late Thursday night.

"It hasn't been any one thing other than the fact we're not scoring enough goals to take pressure off other areas of the game," Maurice said. "It has put a tremendous amount of pressure on our defense. We need to get that end going."

Canes forward Tuomo Ruutu said he expected a good, tight game with the Leafs (1-7-5) because "There will be two desperate teams are playing."

Many players use the word "desperate" but it applies with these two teams.

Ruutu, Boychuk ready to play

chipalexander — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:38:27 -0500

Tuomo Ruutu says he's playing tonight. Zach Boychuk says he was told he probably would be playing tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Coach Paul Maurice wasn't as sure, at least in his remarks after today's morning skate. He said the decisions on Ruutu, forward Ray Whitney and Boychuk, who was called up Thursday from Albany (AHL) , won't be made until just before game time.

Odds are, Whitney will not play because of an upper-body concern. Odds are Ruutu, who also missed Thursday's practice with an upper-body injury, will be in the lineup.

Where does that leave Boychuk?

"He will put me wherever he thinks I fit and I'll do my best to help the team," Boychuk said of Maurice. "Basically we're going to try to keep it simple and just try to get pucks to the net. That's going to be my goal.

"Maurice took me and said, 'Don't be worried about making the other veterans happy. You've got to put the pucks to the net.' I'm a young guy and don't have a lot of experience. I have to bring hard work and a lot of youthful energy."

Boychuk, who played two road games for the Canes early last season before being returned to the Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL), has not played a game at the RBC Center. He said Maurice has not told him which line he would be playing with if in the lineup.

Boychuk was rooming with center Brandon Sutter in Albany before Sutter was called up Oct. 24. He laughed when he was told he was already two goals behind Sutter.

"Those were beauties," Boychuk said. "He's played great. Hopefully I can do the same and make an impression."

Sutter, Boychuk may be Canes' energy source

chipalexander — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:33:03 -0500

Someone else can do the math and the Hurricanes may still be the oldest team in the league, but their average age is dipping.

Brandon Sutter, 20, has been in the lineup five games. Zach Boychuk, who turned 20 on Oct. 4, will be in it Friday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sutter and Boychuk began the season with the Albany River Rats (AHL) after leading the Hurricanes prospects to the championship in a rookie tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings. Sutter was called up Oct. 24. Boychuk got the call Thursday.

What can two 20-year-olds and former first-round picks do for the big team?

"We're just young guys and we'll try to bring energy," Sutter said Thursday. "I think so far it's gone OK for me but we're obviously not winning. We'll try to bring what we can and see what happens."

Sutter, who played 50 games for the Canes last season, scored the only goals in Carolina's recent losses to Philadelphia and San Jose, and has been active on the penalty-kill team. Boychuk will be expected to add speed and quickness on the wing, be a scoring threat and be responsible defensively.

"I'm sure he'll be excited," Sutter said. "It's always exciting when you're down there and you get called up."

General manager Jim Rutherford said Thursday that both Sutter and Boychuk would be among the top nine forwards against the Leafs.

"That's great," Sutter said. "Even in the first five games I've been here I've been in the top nine. Even when I was playing on the fourth line I was still getting 10 to 13 minutes.

"if you play more than 10 minutes a night you're going to get better. So far it's gone well and I'm just going to keep playing and hopefully stay."

No complaints from coach Paul Maurice.

"We've gotten good results," he said. "Young Sutter has come in and given us some good jump and good effort and played some fine hockey for us.

"We'll bring these guys in and we'll play 'em. We'll play 'em and give 'em a chance."

Boychuk called up: Whitney, Ruutu injured

chipalexander — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:20:59 -0500

With the possibility that Ray Whitney and Tuomo Ruutu may miss games with upper-body injuries, the Canes are calling up forward Zach Boychuk from the Albany River Rats (AHL).

General manager Jim Rutherford said Boychuk probably would be on Jussi Jokinen's line with Erik Cole. Sutter may be on a wing today on Rod Brind'Amour"s line with Sergei Samsonov, he said.

Both Whitney and Ruutu will have MRIs and CTs today, Rutherford said. He said it's possible Ruutu could play Friday against Toronto, but Whitney may have to sit out a few games.

Boychuk, the team's first-round draft pick in 2008, has four goals and five assists in 12 games for the Rats. He played two games with the Canes early last season before being sent back to the Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL), his junior team.

The Canes already are playing without center Eric Staal, out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury.

Canes can't win for losing

chipalexander — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:02:08 -0500

SUNRISE, Fla. -- When will it end?

Friday, against the Toronto Maple Leafs? The next day, at Columbus? Next week? Later in the month?

The Hurricanes will win another game at some point, but it's hard to guess when. Or how.

For those who may be wondering, the franchise had a 10-game winless streak within a season in 1993-94. From Oct. 16 to Nov. 6, 1993, the Hartford Whalers were 0-9-1.

Then there was the 1991-92 team. It was winless for 14 straight games.

This Hurricanes team, which now has Eric Staal sidelined for two to four weeks, now has been shut out three times after the 3-0 loss Wednesday to the Florida Panthers. It has scored more than two goals just three times and been outscored 41-17 in the 10-game losing streak and 14-2 in the last three games.

The Canes (2-9-3) had 21 shots, a season high for a period, in the first against the Panthers. But goaltender Tomas Vokoun, shelled by the Canes in the Panthers' 7-2 loss Oct. 9 at the RBC Center, turned back everything. Coming off a shutout of the St. Louis Blues, Vokoun added another.

"I thought we played well," goaltender Cam Ward said. "Obviously it's no secret we're having a tough time putting the puck in the net. I thought tonight we were more deserving of a better outcome, but we've just got to stick with it.

"But it's not easy when you're on a losing streak."

Center Jussi Jokinen said the Canes "played really good hockey" in the first period. Carolina had three power plays, spent most of the period in the Florida end and had some good looks, controlling the flow of the gam. But, of course, couldn't score.

After going the first 20 minutes without a penalty, the Canes had four in the second period. The Panthers didn't score on their four power plays and it was still scoreless after two periods, but Florida was growing stronger as the game went on.

"Obviously Vokoun played a great game," Jokinen said. "We couldn't find any holes. We had lots of good chances but we just couldn't score."

The Panthers did, three times, with the last an empty-netter. Florida now has won its last three games.

The Hurricanes will practice Thursday at the RecZone. But practice alone can't put the puck in the net. That has to happen come game time.

"Obviously it's tough," Jokinen said. "The only way to get out of this funk is work hard every day. If we can play like we did the first 30 minutes today we'll win lots of games."

But when?

Panthers 3, Canes 0

chipalexander — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:08:51 -0500

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Steven Reinprecht gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the third, tipping in a Cory Stillman shot. Stillman then added a power-play goal with 6:16 to play, and with Tomas Vokoun strong in net, Florida had all it needed.

The Panthers, gaining more energy and the game progressed, had several chances to add to the lead through the middle minutes of the third. Michael Frolik missed an open net. Gregory Campbell had a good look in front, and Kenndal McArdle.

A penalty on the Canes' Joni Pitkanen then led to the Panthers' second score. Stillman, always dangerous around the net, redirected the puck past Ward.

Bryan Allen scored an unassisted empty-netter with 2:01 remaining to make it the final score, 3-0.

earlier...

In the second period, the Canes went to the penalty box -- time and again. Carolina picked up four penalties in a span of about nine minutes -- two by defenseman Tim Gleason, who returned after missing five games with an injury -- but killed them off.

Ward made a sure glove save on a hard shot by the Panthers' Nathan Horton on the third Florida power play, and Sutter had a short-handed chance on the fourth power play of the period.

With two minutes left in the second, the Canes swarmed around Vokoun. Chad LaRose and Matt Cullen swatted at the puck, but Vokoun would not relent.

earlier...

The Canes dominated play in the first period -- and it's scoreless.

The Canes had three power plays. They had 21 shots, to the Panthers' four. Again, the Canes can't get anything in the net. Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun, coming off a shutout of St. Louis, has stopped everything. ...

When the Canes pounded the Panthers 7-2 on Oct. 9, who would have believed they would come to Florida on Nov. 4 looking for their next win?

No changes in pregame lines or defensive pairs. Brandon Sutter was the fourth-line center with Stephane Yelle and Tom Kostopoulos. ...

Former Cane defenseman Dennis Seidenberg has six assists for the Panthers. That tops Jussi Jokinen's team-high five for the Canes. ...

When the Canes beat the Panthers at the RBC Center, 12 players had points. Oddly, Eric Staal wasn't one of them. ...

Apparently the Panthers were offering some free tickets online to tonight's game. Well, let's call it 75 cents apiece. That was the Ticketmaster charge per ticket, but the tickets were at no cost. ...

Have Canes reached that 'point" yet?

chipalexander — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:05:07 -0500

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Canes defenseman Niclas Wallin has been with the team long enough to go through a lot of highs and lows.

A nine-game losing streak qualifies as a low. It also appears injured center Eric Staal might be out two-to-four weeks, not just a few games. Another low.

But Wallin said there has been enough talk and video sessions and practice and systems work and morale-building.

"There comes a point when you say, the heck with it, let's just go win a game," Wallin said today after the Canes' morning skate at BankAtlantic Center.

Actually, Wallin used a little stronger language than that, but you get the point. And Canes coach Paul Maurice agreed.

"This is where the coaches get paid," he said. "Not when things are good. So you talk more, and you cajole and you hug and you do all those things. At the end of the day, the puck has to drop and this is all secondary.

"We're not playing very well but I believe we will. We're not winning but I believe we will. It's easy to be very, very negative in this situation, but I don't believe that's what we need now. Now we just have to drop the puck and we have an opportunity to prove that."

Much has been made of the Canes' fragile confidence and how their body language changes during games when things start going against them. But one win can change things, as the Florida Panthers have proven with their two recent road wins.

"Your confidence changes and you look at your schedule and say, 'We might run the whole table,'" Maurice said. "That's the pressure of pro sports and maybe any sport -- when the pressure affects what you do. Shift by shift, you just have to fight back to get that good feeling in your room."

Maurice was asked today if the team was too old and too slow. Carolina is the oldest team in the league, even with 20-year-old Brandon Sutter in the lineup.

"I remember that exact comment in early January of last year," he said."'Small' is the other one they threw in there. And then in two months we looked young, fast and big.

"I don't see any difference. Four months really doesn't age a hockey player. I don't think that's a factor here."

At 2-8-3, the Canes still have 69 games left. A lot of hockey left, as they say.

"It can't be Christmas every day at the rink," Maurice said "Then you get to that point where I think we're at now where you have to go back to focusing on the things, the details, the process of our game, that we can build some confidence in doing the small things well and start from there."

Panthers' DeBoer has felt Canes' pain

chipalexander — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:41:08 -0500

SUNRISE, Fla. — Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer says he's wary of the Hurricanes and worried about tonight's game.

Coachspeak? Do a degree, yes. The Canes have lost their last nine games and will be playing tonight without center Eric Staal for the first time since March 2004.

"There's no doubt we'll see their best game," DeBoer said today. "We've been in the same spot Carolina is now.

"I've said I'd rather catch a team on a winning streak than what Carolina is going through now. You know it's a matter of time, that it will come. You just hope it's not tonight."

The Panthers were 2-7-1 and in a downward spiral -- including the early 7-2 loss at the RBC Center — before ending their slide by winning road games at Dallas and St. Louis. Florida has not played since a 4-0 win over the Blues on Saturday.

"This league is an emotional rollercoaster," DeBoer said. "Six or seven days ago we were where Carolina is and the question was would we ever win another game. Then you win a game and things go right and you feel you can't lose.

"This is the first time we've felt good about ourselves in a while. I said at 2-7 that I didn't feel we were a 2-7 team and didn't feel we were playing like a 2-7 team. You've just got to stick with it and good things will happen."

Panthers defenseman Dennis Seidenberg stays is touch with several of his former teammates and said he's just as mystified as they seem to be over all that has gone wrong for the Canes.

As for the Panthers' turnaround, he said, "We started getting a lead, then building on it. We've also cut down on all the mistakes."

Sounds like a winning formula.

Rutherford's free pass for Maurice baffling

ldecock — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:22:00 -0500

You would think that with how awful the Hurricanes have been to start the season, there would be no shortage of blame to go around -- players, management, coaching staff, everyone.

So it’s interesting that in general manager Jim Rutherford’s surprisingly critical self-analysis with the N&O’s Chip Alexander on Monday that he second-guessed himself for nearly everything he did, or didn’t do, in the summer -- everything except bringing back Paul Maurice.

Even if keeping Maurice in charge was the right move for the long term, it bears mentioning that it hasn't helped in the short term, yet Rutherford defended the coach while pointing fingers at everyone else, including himself.

The fix the Hurricanes are in isn’t Maurice’s fault, not by a long shot, but he isn’t blameless, either. Maurice did a remarkable job fusing the aggression encouraged by former coach Peter Laviolette with structure and a sense of defensive responsibility last season. Coming into the new season, only the structure remained, and none of the aggression.

Players are too hesitant, more worried about making a mistake -- ending up on the “wrong side of a video session,” as Ray Whitney put it, memorably, on Sunday -- than making a play.

To Maurice’s credit, Tuesday’s practice was intended to rectify that situation. In his defense, not everyone is earning their paycheck, whether it was inflated last summer or could be this summer. In the end, however, the coach bears some of the responsibility for a 2-8-3 record, if not all, and there's no way to argue otherwise.

In other areas, Rutherford went too far with his criticism. That low-intensity training camp was a mistake, no question, but after all the injuries this team has suffered in September, there’s nothing wrong with trying something different. The idea was valid, the execution poor.

And there’s nothing wrong with the way this team is built. It’s still basically the same team that won two hard-fought playoff series. It’s still the same team that more than a few players said in camp was the best group they had ever been around. It’s still a team capable of making the playoffs, even if the Southeast Division title is a virtual impossibility at this point.

If fourth-liners Stephane Yelle and Tom Kostopoulos haven’t provided what they provided elsewhere, maybe it’s because they are playing five minutes less than they were with their former teams, one of which had a far better record than the Hurricanes. If the defense has been shoddy, perhaps it’s because Jay Harrison was signed to be an AHL cornerstone and emergency fill-in, not an NHL regular. If the Hurricanes have looked slow -- and they have -- it might not only be because they are old, but because they have spent too much time reacting and not enough initiating. And so on.

This isn't Maurice's fault, but Rutherford’s failure to acknowledge his role in the situation suggests Rutherford is either trying to take the pressure off Maurice or has been blinded by his personal fondness for the coach. Either way, it was an odd omission from an otherwise forthright assessment.

Harrison shipped to Albany

Javier_Serna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:50:56 -0500

Defenseman Jay Harrison, whom the Carolina Hurricanes picked up in free agency in July, has been reassigned to the Albany River Rats, the team’s AHL affiliate.

Harrison, 27, had scored a goal and two assists in 10 games this season with 27 penalty minutes and was -4 while averaging 12:05 of ice time per game. Harrison had been placed on waivers Monday.

Harrison, at 6-foot, 4-inches and 211 pounds, was brought in to add depth to the Hurricanes defense, which general manager Jim Rutherford hoped to bolster with size.

But on the heels of the Canes’ 2-8-3 start, Rutherford told The N&O Monday that he took responsibility for the slow start.

“I thought adding some players would make the team better, but it hasn’t,” he said. “Maybe we have too many veterans.”

Rutherford said changes were on the way, that he’ll be looking to make trades early this year, and that some of the younger players may be called up from Albany.

Back to basics

ldecock — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:40:21 -0500

The players stood in their spots and listened, and Paul Maurice lectured, and then they would try to do what he was telling them to do. Then he would correct them, and the players would switch places, and they would start again.

It was the kind of practice common during training camp, not November. For most teams, the teaching was conducted long ago, and practices at this point in the season are designed to maximize sharpness and efficiency.

The Carolina Hurricanes, after a start to the season that has been a complete and total disaster, might as well have been back in training camp Tuesday. It was a back-to-basics practice for a team that hasn’t just lost its way, but never found it.

After spending the first 13 games of the season standing around and watching, then figuring out what to do next, the remedial systems work was designed to help players act more instinctively on the ice.

“We’ve got four guys waiting for the puck to be moved,” Maurice said.

The Hurricanes have looked slow, and yes, it may merely be because they’re old. But maybe it’s because they have spent too much time standing around wondering what to do and waiting to react. The longest journey starts with the first step, but so does the shortest one, and the Hurricanes aren’t taking it.

They have nothing left to lose now. If they don’t play with more aggression ~~tonight~~ Wednesday at the Florida Panthers and Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, two teams as low in the standings as the Hurricanes, they deserve to be in the basement with them.

Staal to miss at least three games

chipalexander — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:16 -0500

Eric Staal has been a constant in the Carolina lineup for all but one game of his career, but he's going to miss at least the next three games.

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice described the "upper body" injury that knocked Staal out of Sunday's loss as a "week to week" proposition after practice on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't say several (weeks)," Maurice said, but noted Staal would miss at least this weekend's games.

Staal missed the Hurricanes' game at Pittsburgh on March 19, 2004, near the end of his rookie season, with what was described then as a "torso" injury.

He was back in the lineup the next night in Ottawa, and every game since, 349 regular-season and 43 playoff games in total, until Wednesday's game at the Florida Panthers.

Staal has played through some serious injuries over that period of time, and hasn't been at full strength yet this season. "He's been laboring," Maurice acknowledged Tuesday.

Jussi Jokinen will be asked to take on a larger role in Staal's absence, centering Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu in practice.

Rutherford accepts blame for poor start

chipalexander — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:59:31 -0500

Jim Rutherford said he accepts the blame for the Carolina Hurricanes' stumbling start.

With the Hurricanes 2-8-3, 14th in the Eastern Conference and winless in their last nine games, the general manager said today that he still believes in his coaching staff and players. But he said some offseason decisions and the shortening of preseason training camp was a mistake, and said he would be more actively looking to make an early season trade than in most years.

"I'd like to get to the end of November and see where we're at, but it has been so disappointing in the last two home games in how we've played and how we've lost games," he said. "We have a responsibility to our fans to win games and try to win another Cup. We can't dig too deep a hole that we do not have a chance to get to the playoffs.

"I will be talking to other teams more than I usually do at this time of the season, but you need to find a partner to do a deal. It's disappointing for me to do this, but I have to be fair to our fans. It's very disappointing to watch a team that has the ability to win find ways to lose."

The Canes recently called up Brandon Sutter from Albany of the AHL and he has responded well, with goals in the last two games and some heady play. Rutherford had hoped to keep a number of other prospects -- including forwards Zach Boychuk and Drayson Bowman -- with the River Rats this season and then possibly move them to the big club next season, but that may change.

"We were in position to transition to a younger team in the future but maybe we need to accelerate that," he said.

Rutherford said that in retrospect, shortening training camp and playing four preseason exhibition games -- the Canes had six preseason games last year -- was not the right thing to do.

"I take full responsibility for what's happened," Rutherford said. "The players probably were not in game shape with too few preseason games. It worked in that our injuries were down, but we were not in game shape."

Canes coach Paul Maurice took over in early December last year when Peter Laviolette was fired and led the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, when the Canes won the Stanley Cup. Maurice was given a three-year contract after the season and the coaching staff retained intact.

Asked if he still had faith in Maurice and the staff, Rutheford said, "I do. We have the same system that got us going the second half of the season. We just need better performances from certain guys, from our top players."

One of the responsibilities of a coach is to motivate his team. Has Maurice been lacking in that area?

"I don't see it," Rutherford said. "I watched training camp. I've talked to the players. That is what the players wanted."

Rutherford said he believed re-signing such unrestricted free agents as Erik Cole and Chad LaRose and adding some veteran players to the mix would strengthen the team.

"I thought it would make the team better but it hasn't," he said.

He said not bringing back defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Anton Babchuk has hurt. Seidenberg, an unrestricted free agent, priced himself too high initially and Babchuk "took a strong position with the team," Rutherford said. Babchuk, a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights, turned down the Canes' qualifying offer and is playing in Russia.

"But it's hard to lose both in the same year and the points they brought to the table," he said.

Rutherford: Staal to miss some games

chipalexander — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:55:01 -0500

Canes center Eric Staal will miss some games because of an upper-body injury suffered Sunday against the San Jose Sharks, general manager Jim Rutherford said today.

Staal has played in 349 consecutive regular-season games, but that streak likely will end, Rutherford said. He has missed just one game in his career, late in his rookie season.

Staal left after the second period of the 5-1 loss to San Jose as the Canes dropped their ninth straight game to fall to 2-8-3.

Staal's injury comes just as forward Erik Cole returns from a leg fracture after missing 10 games. Rutherford said defenseman Tim Gleason, who has been sidelined with a lower-body injury, should return Wednesday for the Florida Panthers game.

"When things go wrong, they go wrong," Rutherford said. "All teams have to deal with injuries. We have enough players to step up but we'll have to do it with confidence at an all-time low."

Monday debate: the losing streak

chipalexander — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:01:00 -0500

The Canes' losing streak now is nine games after the San Jose Sharks' 5-1 victory Sunday at the RBC Center.

The Hurricanes players and coaches seem hard-pressed for answers. What about you?

What's the biggest problem with this team? And, to go one more step, what needs to change?

The floor is open.

Sharks 5, Hurricanes 1

chipalexander — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:44:02 -0500

Make it nine losses in a row. The Carolina Hurricanes were beaten 5-1 by the San Jose Sharks on Sunday at the RBC Center.

The Canes (2-8-3), who have not won since Oct. 9 against Florida, led 1-0 early in the second on Brandon Sutter's second goal in as many games, then quickly gave it up to trail 3-1 after two periods.

The Sharks (10-4-1), who have won their last five games, added a Marc-Eduoard Vlasic goal 4:20 into the third for a 4-1 lead. The score came five seconds after Ray Whitney couldn't convert a 2-on-1 with Erik Cole.

The Sharks pushed the lead to 5-1 on Patrick Marleau's power-play goal.

Eric Staal did not return for the third period with what was called an upper-body injury.

Sutter scored at 2:48 with a hard wrister. But Kent Huskins answered for the Sharks at 4:05, then Brad Staubitz scored at 5:27 for a 2-1 lead. Douglas Murray had made it 3-1 with 5:08 left in the second off a centering pass from Joe Thornton.

Huskins scored unassisted, circling the net and firing a shot that beat Cam Ward low at the post, the puck bouncing off Ward's pad. Staubitz scored from the slot.

That's two goals in 1:22. The Canes let one bad goal lead to another.

The Canes and Sharks were scoreless after the first period, with the Sharks having most of the offensive chances in the first 10 minutes and the Canes in the final 10.

The Canes did everything but score on their one power play. Joni Pitkanen, flying down the slot, was in position to convert on the rebound of a Ray Whitney shot, but goalie Evgeni Nabokov guessed right. The puck fell near the goal line, but Nabokov swiped at it with his glove and then smothered it.

The Sharks had some good looks on their early power play, but Dany Heatley was wide on a shot and Patrick Marleau missed on a shot from the doorstep. Later in the period, the Sharks had a shot ring off the post.

Whitney, honored in a pregame ceremony for playing more than 1,000 NHL games, made a nifty move to get the puck past defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and had the Canes' first shot on goal.

No surprise: Erik Cole was activated off injured reserve this morning. Out 10 games.

The lines in warmup: Whitney-Staal-Cole, Brind'Amour-Cullen-Walker, Samsonov-Jokinen-Ruutu, Kostopoulos-Sutter-LaRose.

Tim Conboy, Stephane Yelle not dressed.

Maurice stands by decision on Leighton

chipalexander — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:53:11 -0400

PHILADELPHIA — It was easy to second-guess the decision, before and after the fact.

Canes goaltender Michael Leighton had played in just one game this season and that was Oct. 3, in relief of Cam Ward. His wife, Jennifer, gave birth early Friday morning to a baby daughter. He missed practice Friday and took a commercial flight to Philadelphia Friday evening.

A year ago, Leighton started at San Jose and beat the Sharks, and the Canes play the Sharks Sunday at the RBC Center. A year ago, with Leighton in net, the Canes led the Flyers 5-1 in the third period at the Wachovia Center, lost the lead and lost in a shootout.

The Canes lost to the Flyers 6-1 on Saturday, falling behind 3-0 in the first. So why play Leighton Saturday? Why not Sunday?

"It's on me. I'm fine with that," Coach Paul Maurice said afterward. "Based on the way he played, he wasn't at his best, obviously.

"We made the decision based on feel. I thought we competed a lot harder around him and gave him a better chance, and he struggled."

And the Canes lost again, extending their winless streak to eight games. They're 2-7-3 and still haven't won on the road (0-5-2).

Leighton, to his credit, didn't use any excuses after the game. All the excitement of Friday, he said, didn't result in some shaky play around the net.

"It wasn't like I was out for a week or anything. I just took one day off practice. It has nothing to do with that," he said.

But Leighton did say he felt rusty the first half of the game, and it showed. While Ray Emery again was solid in net for the Flyers, with 39 saves, Leighton gave up three first-period goals and then a fourth in the second period 14 seconds after Brandon Sutter scored his first goal of the season.

"That was a tough one to give up," Matt Cullen said. "We had the momentum and got going and then it was obviously not what we wanted to do -- give one up right away. It kind of took away all our momentum."

The Canes outshot the Flyers 40-28 as Eric Staal put seven shots on goal and Sutter six. Maurice said he liked the overall effort of the team. But a loss is a loss.

"I thought they were going to play Cam today and play me against San Jose," Leighton said. "But I told them I wanted to play."

Apparently, the feeling was that with Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu coming back Sunday, Ward would start against the Sharks and the Canes could open a stretch of seven home games in 10 games with the strongest possible lineup.

Ironically, the coaching staff believed they could send Leighton into the fray with little notice just as they did at San Jose last year. But the results weren't the same.

"He had a baby and he's right into the fire," Cullen said. "We're happy for them, first of all, but that's probably not real easy."

As for the Canes' continuing struggles, Cullen said, "We've just got to keep playing and keep trying to get better and find a way to get a win."

Flyers 6, Canes 1

chipalexander — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:40:04 -0400

Michael Leighton made his first start of the season Saturday for the Carolina Hurricanes, which seemed a curious move.

Leighton was up into the wee hours of Friday morning as his wife, Jennifer, gave birth to a baby daughter. There was little rest time and even less preparation time for the Canes' backup goaltender.

Leighton, perhaps understandably, wasn't sharp as the Philadelphia Flyers rolled to a 6-1 victory at the Wachovia Center.

Earlier...

Defenseman Braydon Coburn makes it 6-1 with two goals 90 seconds part in the third.

With the Canes trailing 3-0 after the first, Brandon Sutter scored at 2:56 of the second. But James van Riemsdyk answered for the Fkyers just 14 seconds later.

Scott Hartnell scored a power-power goal at 8:04, David Laliberte added an even-strength score at 12:30 and Matt Carle scored with 2:39 left in the first period just after a Flyers' power play ended.

The Flyers now have scored the first goal in 9 of 11 games this season. The Canes had two power plays before Hartnell's score but couldn't convert.

Hartnell scored on a tip-in and Laliberte on a rebound. Laliberte scored when Leighton couldn't smother the puck, then tried to poke it to the side, only to have Laliberte fire it past him. Carle grabbed his own rebound, circled the net and put in a wraparound.

Laliberte was called up from Adirondack (AHL) on Friday when Daniel Briere was injured in practice. It's his first goal of the season and came on the kind of play the Canes can't seem to manufacture or convert.

The second period was like Saturday night at the fights — in the afternoon. The Canes' Jay Harrison, Tom Kostopoulos and Tim Conboy traded blows with Ian Laperriere, Arron Asham and Dan Carcillo, respectively.

Leighton became a father for the second time early Friday morning when his wife, Jennifer, gave birth to a daughter.

Leighton has not played since Oct. 3, when he came in for Cam Ward and was in for the last 29 minutes of the Canes' 7-2 loss. That was his only appearance as Ward started the first 11 games of the season.

Canes headed to Philly with new poppa

chipalexander — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:42:45 -0400

The Canes were down a goaltender at practice today, but Michael Leighton's absence was understandable.

His wife, Jennifer, gave birth to Annalise Mae Leighton early Friday morning. It was the couple's second child.

Leighton will make the trip to Philadelphia for tomorrow's game against the Fyers, coach Paul Maurice said today. The Canes are home Sunday to face the San Jose Sharks, and Leighton could be in goal.

"We'll see how his night and his day work today and then make a decision after that," Maurice said. "I want to work another goalie in this weekend but I want to talk to him first."

The Canes will be taking on a Flyers team that has lost a few games, had an off day
cancelled and should be in a foul mood for the 1 p.m. game.

"Everybody's grumpy. So it's even," Maurice said.

UPDATE: It appears Danny Briere may not be able to play.

Canes work on winning more battles

chipalexander — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:46:10 -0400

There was a positive twist to the Canes' practice Thursday: for the first time since Oct. 3, the entire team was on the ice.

Forward Erik Cole, who suffered a leg fracture in the Boston game Oct. 3, wore a red jersey, went through all the drills and could return to the lineup this weekend, either against Philadelphia or the San Jose Sharks, coach Paul Maurice said. Defenseman Tim Gleason, out the last three games with an upper-body injury, was back in practice and probably will return sometime next week.

Forward Tuomo Ruutu will end his three-game suspension and return for Sunday's game with the Sharks.

As for the practice, it was intense, and it should have been with the Canes winless in their last seven games and now 13th in the Eastern Conference. There were a lot of battles — one on one, two on two, etc. There was a lot of extra skating at the end.

"Simple things," Maurice said. "Close quarters. You spend a lot of time working on your systems but none of them are effective if you're not coming up with loose pucks or defending when they have the loose pucks."

The Canes were coming off a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues that left everyone grim after Wednesday's game. But there was more of a gritty, business-like, let's-get-better approach to the practice rather than a lot of screaming and long faces.

"Today was about dealing with last night but more importantly getting ready for Saturday, and that's so important for our team," Maurice said.

The Canes outshot the Blues 36-18 and had any number of scoring chances, but Maurice believed it was important to look past mere statistics.

"I just thought our close-quarter fight just wasn't good enough," he said. "It's not with this group of men and it's not them not wanting to be in it. They just position themselves physically, and mentally, with the idea 'I'm going to strip this puck and go the other way and break this thing open and I can feel good about myself.'

"And we have to respect the team more. There are times when all the best you can do for your hockey club is put somebody on their butt. And we have to be prepared to do that."

Forward Scott Walker said the Canes, simply put, had to "find our game."

"Whether that's intense practice or attention to detail in practice or whatever it is, we've got to get to where we have to be," Walker said. "And we're not there yet.

"We have to look within ourselves. You have to do what you can do and that's within each individual stall. It's just not happening on a consistent enough basis for the level this team should be at."

Captain Rod Brind'Amour said the Canes can't "get too uptight" when scored upon and let that affect their game. The Canes seemed deflated Wednesday night when the Blues took a 1-0 lead in the first period, and it soon was 3-0.

"That shouldn't be an indication of whether we're playing well or not -- whether we're scoring or getting scored on," Brind'Amour said. "We have to just stick with our program and not get flustered. We seem to be doing that."

Blues 5, Hurricanes 2

chipalexander — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:39:22 -0400

It's gone from bad to worse for the Canes.

The St. Louis Blues ripped the Hurricanes 5-2 at the RBC Center as David Perron had two goals and an assist, keeping Carolina winless in the last seven games.

The Canes obviously are a team generally lacking confidence. And what little they do have is fragile.

"You get a lot more confident when you work hard," Canes coach Paul Maurice said. "It's funny. Your confidence goes when your feet aren't moving and you're not hitting anybody.

"It's the simple, grinding things that we're just not willing to do and it starts with our best guys, in back-checking and stopping and hitting and not getting beat off walls. Doing it once doesn't make you a good guy. You have to do it every shift."

What now for the Hurricanes?

"The nice thing is when you wake up in the morning, you know what the problems are," Maurice said. "The hard part is you don't know where even to start.

"We haven't respected the defensive part of the game. It looks like we flip-flop back and forth -- 'All right, we'll be good defensively and don't work hard offensively' or 'Tonight we're going to score, so we're going to leave the D and hang them out to dry.' We've got to get that thing going both ways."

Trailing 3-1 after the first period, the Canes fell behind the Blues 4-1 after two. Scott Walker's goal made it a 4-2 game midway the third and the Canes had 17 shots in the final period, but the Blues (5-4-1) and goaltender Chris Mason (34 saves) held on.

The Blues added to the lead midway in the second on Andy McDonald's goal off a two-on-one rush. McDonald scored on a pass from Keith Tkachuk at 9:42, about a minute after the Canes' Rod Brind'Amour couldn't beat goalie Chris Mason with a shot in front that would have made it a one-goal game.

The Blues rolled to a 3-0 lead in the first before Joe Corvo scored on the power play for the Canes with 53 seconds to play.

David Perron scored at 7:32 to make it 1-0, then Yan Stastny and Jay McClement scored 16 seconds apart to make it 3-0. Stastny picked off a pass in the Carolina zone and scored, then McClement got a free shot in the slot.

The Canes had the only power plays of the first period. On the first, the Canes got decent shots from Ray Whitney, Eric Staal and Rod Brind'Amour, but the Blues killed it off.

On the second, after the Blues' Mike Weaver was called for holding the stick, Corvo took a pass from Nic Wallin and unloaded from the point. ...

Go figure: The Blues, who had scored five first-period goals this season, scored three. Carolina, last in the NHL in penalties, did not have a minor penalty in the first. ...

Chad LaRose had a good scoring opportunity less than two minutes in but Chris Mason made the stop. ...

Two fights already: the Canes' Jay Harrison and Brad Winchester, then the Canes' Tim Conboy and Cam Janssen about 3 1-2 minutes later. Let's call them a draw.

For Cole, skating with Canes a start

chipalexander — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:54:51 -0400

For Erik Cole, it was a start, nothing more or less.

For the first time since suffering his leg fracture, the Canes' forward was back on the ice with his teammates, going through today's morning skate at the RBC Center. Cole wore a gold, non-contact jersey, but he was skating and cutting and getting in some work.

"It was just a pregame skate so we knew it wouldn't be anything too strenuous," Cole said. "I was on the ice beforehand, so it was to see if I could do some regular drills, the skating drills."

Cole was injured Oct. 3, in the Canes' second game of the regular season against the Boston Bruins. With less than three minutes to play, he collided with the Bruins' Dennis Wideman near the boards, with Wideman's right leg banging into Cole's left leg.

Replays of the hit made it appear as if Cole hyperextended the knee, and he said today that he first believed it was more serious -- possibly a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"I thought for sure it would be an ACL injury," he said. "The pain was on the outside of my knee, where the fracture is. I was sure that's what it was.

"I was praying for a cartilage tear, or something like that. I think for what it could have been it's a pretty good scenario."

The initial prognosis was that Cole would be out 4-6 weeks, and the Hurricanes placed on the injured reserve list on Saturday. And he's not sure how close he is to rejoining the lineup, not just a skate or drills.

"It depends," he said. "Right now it feels pretty swollen. You can't sit there and say 'I feel good' or 'I feel close' when you haven't pushed it as far as you need to."

Canes coach Paul Maurice said he thought Cole "skated real hard and very well."

"We know the importance to the team," he said. "It's not even in the scoresheet. It's the speed, the open ice for other players. It changes, visually, how our team looks. Because even on the nights when you're grinding and things aren't easy, his speed shows. ...

"And there's personality. He fits here. He's part of our group and when he's back on the ice with this group, firing around on defense, it changes the mood."

Staal and his 'Crew' take to the ice

chipalexander — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:28:01 -0400

The Hurricanes' Eric Staal took to the RBC Center ice twice Tuesday.

The first time was Tuesday morning for the Hurricanes' scheduled practice, and Staal skated and worked hard. But the second time on the ice was decidedly special — and, Staal said, a lot of fun.

Staal skated with the Capital City Crew, which allows 32 underpriviledged kids from Boys and Girls Clubs in Wake County the chance to learn the game of ice hockey while also learning life skills. The Canes' star drew oohs and ahs from the kids, especially when he sped down the ice at full tilt and fired a slapshot.

"It's my opportunity to give back to kids who would love and dream to play hockey but it doesn't work (financially)," Staal said. "It can be expensive. ... For people who are less fortunate and would like the opportunity to play sports, and in this case hockey, and for me to be able to give back and help out with something pretty neat, with the equipment and basic needs and to give them the chance on the ice, is pretty cool."

The Capital City Crew program was formed through a partnership of the Hurricanes, Raleigh Youth Hockey Association, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake County and the NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" initiative. The Crew is the first HIFE program in the South.

Staal personally donated 20 full sets of equipment through his relationship with Nike/Bauer. The NHL Players Association also committed a $10,000 grant to the Capital City Crew.

"Growing up, having three younger brothers, knowing it can expensive to play the game of hockey, we had a lot of used equipment," Staal said., smiling "I was fortunate to be the oldest, so I got the new stuff and my brothers got the hand-me-downs."

Crew program director John Scott said that at their first practice the main concern of the kids was "how to get up" on their skates.

"There were a lot of spinoramas and snow angels," he said. "Now they can shoot and pass and skate with the puck. Their confidence has grown."

And they've been on the RBC Center ice with Staal, an All-Star,

The RBC Center session was hosted by the Hurricanes' Kids 'N Community Foundation.

He's a Yankees fan and proud of it

chipalexander — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:15:30 -0400

In a locker room generally over-run with Red Sox fans, including the coaches and front-office folks, Cam Ward has shown a lot of courage.

He proudly wears a blue baseball cap with "NY" on it.

Yes, the goaltender from Western Canada is a big New York Yankees fan. He also has his chest puffed out a little bit more with the Yankees back in the World Series and playing the Philadelphia Phillies.

Why the Yanks?

"The story is my grandfather was a huge Yankees fan, actually," Ward said. "He passed away during the lockout year, and I said that on his behalf I would start cheering for the New York Yankees. That's the story.

"I feel this is the year. I feel this is the year we're going to do it."

Ward said is favorite Yankee is pitcher CC Sabathia. Then again, he also likes catcher Jorge Posada.

"We have something in common being the back catcher," Ward said, smiling. "And he's been there for so long. He's one of the originals."

"Originals" meaning the Yankees who have been around since the 1990s and won championships, that is.

Canes hope changes make a difference

chipalexander — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:05:05 -0400

Sometimes, a few small changes can make a big difference. Coach Paul Maurice hopes that's the case with the Canes.

Maurice has shuffled the lines the past couple of games. He has moved Rod Brind'Amour from center to wing. He has Eric Staal on the point on the power play. He has the option of playing Jussi Jokinen at center or the wing -- the same for Brandon Sutter.

Will that translate into a victory Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues? No one can say, of course, but the Canes believe they're taking the right steps to ending their funk and six-game winless streak (0-3-3).

"There's been some better hockey by us the last couple of games," Staal said today after another productive practice. "It hasn't gotten us what we want. We have to work our way out of this and continue to work the way we have the last couple of days."

Most teams have a lull or losing streak during the season. The Canes are taking the approach they're having theirs at the start of the season, which in turns means there is no luxury of having another later.

"We've kind of put that affordability out of the question," Brind'Amour said. "At least we have a lot of season. We don't have to get to the top of the leader board in a month, but we do need to be there at the end of the year.

"We've got to chip away and chip away and get back in it. We have a lot of games to do that. But we can't have any more down time. We've had it and now we have to get it going."

Staying out of the penalty box will be a key to the turnaround. The Canes worked a lot the last two days on keeping their sticks down and out of the areas that have cost them a host of penalties in the first 10 games.

"It's keeping us from really pushing that momentum," Maurice said. "It's got to be 10 or 11 mimutes (in penalties) to (the opponents') three and four minutes each of our last two games, and nobody does that well.

"I think that's the big factor in how we're playing. ... I don't mind some of the penalties you take. You go in, you're aggressive, crosses the line, this game happens so fast sometimes that's just going to happen.

"It's the penalty that does nothing for you, there's no benefit to it. Basically every time we've lifted our stick to parallel we're going to the box. We've either got to complain about it or stop lifting our sticks -- those are our two options."

Maurice said Jokinen and Sutter may alternate between center and the wing. It's likely Jokinen will be at center against the Blues.

UPDATE: Center Stephane Yelle was cleared waivers and remains with the team. Yelle has had two strong practices. ...

Tim Gleason missed another practice and probably will be out another week with an upper-body injury, Maurice said.

Sutter's back, but at center or the wing?

chipalexander — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:57:50 -0400

Brandon Sutter had played long and hard Friday night in the Albany River Rats' 2-1 loss to the Rochester Americans in Albany, N.Y.

The next morning, he was on a flight to Minnesota, called up by the Hurricanes. He sat through a weather delay in Detroit while changing planes, then arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International to find out his sticks didn't make it.

Sutter did make it to the Xcel Energy Center — a half-hour before the pregame warmups for the game against the Wild.

Wild? Yes, Sutter's day was just that.

"It was a long day, an interesting day," he said. "But at the end of the day I was just happy to be coming up and I was thrilled to be there."

Sutter had more than 12 minutes of ice time in the 3-2 overtime loss and centered the third line with Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov on the wings.

"Obviously I felt a little awkward at first, but once I got a few shifts in me it just kinda felt like any other game."

Sutter took a pop under his left eye on a high-stick on his first shift, leaving a reddish welt.

"It woke me up a little bit, so it was probably good for me," he said with a laugh.

Earler Saturday, the Canes placed Erik Cole on injured reserve. Tuomo Ruutu also received a three-game suspension from the NHL for his hit on Colorado's Darcy Tucker in Friday's game in Denver, although the decision to bring up Sutter was made before the team learned of the league's action.

On Monday, the Canes placed cener Stephane Yelle on waivers.

"That's the way hockey is," Sutter said. "When somebody goes down or something happens, it brings up an opportunity for someone.

"I'm just going to enjoy it and have fun with it and try to help the team and prove to them that maybe I can have the chance to stay."

Coach Paul Maurice said Sutter could be used at center or on a wing, although saying he preferred to have Jokinen at center.

"I think Brandon Sutter is a guy who can play more than one position and I think he's going to need to," Maurice said. "If he ends up playing in the fourth-line role now or three years from now, he's going to need more ice time that just that.

"In order to do that, he has to play more than one position. He'll have to get out of the middle. We may move him around. I don't think we'll lose anything immediately in doing that, but we may gain something down the road with him having experience at other positions."

Ruutu talks with Tucker, accepts suspension

chipalexander — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:09:18 -0400

Canes forward Tuomo Ruutu said today that he has called Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche and apologized for the hit from behind that left Tucker with a concussion.

Ruutu was suspended for three games by the NHL for the hit in Friday's game in Denver.

"It was a bad hit by me," Ruutu said. "I wasn't really worried about the suspension. I was worried about the guy.

"It looked pretty bad. It just happened. I think he's doing better. I'm so sorry about what happened but everything happened so quickly.

"I wish I could get it back but I can't."

Tucker went face-first into the glass. Knocked unconscious, he was removed from the ice on a backboard and taken to a hospital for treatment and for stitches. He was released from the hospital on Saturday, but his return to action is uncertain.

"I'm happy that nothing really serious happened," Ruutu said. "I talked to him and I was glad to hear that he was doing better. He was really good to me and that makes me feel a little better."

Ruutu said the suspension did not surprise him, that he sensed the league would "send a message."

"It is what it is," he said. "They make the decision and I'm fine with it."

Ruutu noted that it was his first suspension, and also said the result of the big hit would not change his style of play. He's always been a physical player who finishes hie checks and will continue to be that kind of player, he said.

"I think that's why I'm in the NHL ... and not playing somewhere in Europe," Ruutu said. "That's the way i play. I mean, it just happened quickly.

"I'll just try to move on and be a little more careful in the future."

Added Canes coach Paul Maurice: "He can't come off it. It's a big part of what he does."

Staal to skate with Capital City Crew

chipalexander — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:56:40 -0400

The Kids ‘N Community Foundation is hosting the Capital City Crew at the RBC Center on Tuesday for a practice that will be joined by Eric Staal.

The Capital City Crew, formed earlier this year, has 32 underprivileged kids from Boys and Girls Club locations in Wake County. It will be the team’s first opportunity to skate on the RBC Center’s ice.

Staal, who donated 20 full sets of equipment for the Crew, will participate in drills and help coach a full-team scrimmage.

Canes place Yelle on waivers

chipalexander — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:27:04 -0400

The Hurricanes have placed veteran center Stephane Yelle on waivers, general manager Jim Rutherford confirmed.

The Canes signed Yelle to a one-year contract in August that would pay him $550,000.

Yelle has centered the team's fourth line. He has no goals and one assist in the first 10 games.

Monday debate: Ruutu's suspension

chipalexander — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 -0400

Many of you have probably seen Tuomo Ruutu's hit on Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche in the game Friday in Denver.

Ruutu received a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct. On Saturday, the NHL decided the hit warranted a three-game suspension.

What do you think? Did the NHL overreact? Was it the proper penalty? Should Ruutu have been fined and not suspended?

The floor is open.

Wild 3, Canes 2 (OT)

chipalexander — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:38:24 -0400

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Cal Clutterbuck's goal with 3:05 left in overtime gave the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 victory Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Clutterbuck, returning to the lineup from an ankle injury, was sprawled on the ice in the slot. But he reached out his stick to sweep the puck past Cam Ward and keep the Hurricanes winless on the road this season.

Clutterbuck scored after Greg Zanon's shot hit the post and ricocheted toward him, hitting him in ther face. He dove for the puck with defenseman Nic Wallin beside him.

The Canes appeared victory-bound with three minutes left in the third on a rush into the Wild zone. Matt Cullen flipped a backhander at what looked to be an open net, only to have goaltender Niklas Backstrom make the stop.

With 1:39 left in the third, defenseman Joni Pitkanen was called for roughing Clutterbuck on a big hit along the boards. But Backstrom again had to save the Wild, stoning Eric Staal on a short-handed breakaway with 46 seconds to play.

Joni Pitkanen's first goal of the season gave the Canes a 2-2 tie after the second period.

Pitkanen first forced a turnover, then led the rush. He passed to Ray Whitney on the right wing, and Whitney fed Pitkanen for the 2-on-1 score at 7:35. Whitney also assisted on the Canes' first score, a power-play goal by Sergei Samsonov in the first.

Kyle Brodziak's goal early in the second period gave the Wild a 2-1 lead. Brodziak was in the right place at the right time, taking a pass on the right wing. He went unchecked on Cam Ward and scoring on a backhander at 1:51.

Rod Brind'Amour had a chance to tie the score on a short-handed breakaway after a hooking call on Stephane Yelle, but Niklas Backstrom made the stop at 6:17 of the second. Late in the second, Backstrom snared a shot by Scott Walker on a breakaway.

The Canes and Wild were tied 1-1 after a first period in which both teams had nine shots and scored on power plays.

The Canes took a 1-0 lead as Samsonov scored his first goal of the season, striking at 10:32 of the first. But the lead was short-lived.

Andrew Brunette tied the score at 12:52 with a bad-angle, short-side shot that beat Cam Ward low at the post. The 4-on-3 score came after Aaron Ward was called for high-sticking. Tim Conboy and the Wild's Scott both went in the box 50 seconds before Ward's penalty.

The Canes set up their power play well, with Eric Staal making a point-to-point pass to Joni Pitkanen, who passed to Ray Whitney to the left of the goal. Samsonov, open on the backdoor, had a tap-in on Whitney's pass through the crease. ...

Conboy, a local boy, and Scott went at it later in the first. Scott is 6-8 and 258 pounds and got the better of the fight, although Conboy gamely hung in until the bitter end. ...

Brandon Sutter made it in plenty of time. Sutter is centering the third line with Sergei Samsonov and Jussi Jokinen on the wings. ...

The other lines remain the same as for the Avs game, with Rod Brind'Amour on Matt Cullen's line. ...

Defensively, it's Joe Corvo-Nic Wallin, Aaron Ward-Joni Pitkanen, Andrew Alberts-Jay Harrison. ...

It's struggling Canes vs struggling Wild

chipalexander — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:27:50 -0400

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Despite all the commotion over Tuomo Ruutu's three-game suspension, the Hurricanes do have a game to play tonight against the Wild.

Cam Ward will again be in goal, coach Paul Maurice said. Maurice had hoped to give backup Michael Leighton his first start during this three-game trip but will go with Ward after the 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders and the 5-4 loss to the Avalanche.

"The reason is this — he's playing well, No. 1," Maurice said. "So it's not a matter of switching a goaltender to make a change.

"Secondly, we need to win. We need the group that's in there with a sense of urgency, to have that feeling that we want to get out of this. And Cam gives us the best chance to do that right now."

Maurice said the Canes would prefer to work Leighton in more and give him some meaningful playing time.

"But based on our start I don't think we have that luxury," Maurice said.

Brandon Sutter, called up from Albany (AHL), likely will center the third line tonight, with Jussi Jokinen moving to the wing. Jokinen was centering Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov against the Avs before Ruutu left the game. Ruutu had a goal and assist in the first period as the Canes took a 2-0 lead.

The Canes (2-5-2) go into tonight's game without Ruutu, Erik Cole and defenseman Tim Gleason and they seek their first road win of the season.

"Those things almost always go together -- you're struggling and you have key members out of your lineup," Maurice said. "But we have to find the balance in our game. We've searched for offense, maybe to a fault.

"It can't be generated at all costs, where we're pinching up in the neutral zone and trying to create things that are not there. We're going to have to find a balance and a simplicity in our game."

The Wild have struggled even more than the struggling Canes, going 2-7-0 and being outscored 30-19. Minnesota also played Friday night, losing 3-1 in St. Louis, tying a franchise record with its seventh straight loss on the road.

"Both teams are searching for something good -- a good feeling," Maurice said.

Ruutu suspended three games (updated)

chipalexander — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:52:57 -0400

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Carolina Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu has been suspended for three games by the NHL for his hit on Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche in Friday's game in Denver, coach Paul Maurice said today.

Ruutu hit Tucker from behind early in the second period of the Avs' 5-4 win, causing Tucker to bang his head into the glass. He received a five-minute boarding major penalty and game misconduct.

Tucker was knocked unconscious. He was removed from the ice on a backboard, but regained consciousness and was taken to a Denver hospital.

The play was reviewed by the league and the suspension handed down this morning. Under terms of the CBA, Ruutu will forfeit $59,067.36, which will go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Maurice said the team has called up Brandon Sutter from the Albany River Rats of the AHL, the team's top minor-league affiliate. Sutter is expected to center the third line tonight against the Minnesota Wild.

"We're disappointed that we're going to lose an important player for three games," Maurice said today. "The league has a process, they have to go through it. We respect their decision.

"And, nobody ever likes to see a player get injured. We hope the best for Darcy Tucker and hope he has a speedy recovery."

Asked if he believed the hit warrented a suspension, Maurice said: "That's an excellent question. I think the league makes its decision and we all abide by it, regardless of our opinion.

"There were things not present in the hit that I'm glad weren't: he didn't leave his feet, it wasn't an elbow, Darcy wasn't four feet off the boards where it could have been a real catastrophic event. He was right on the boards.

"It was a very, very hard hit that had an unfortunate result. But I expect Tuomo to finish that check."

The Hurricanes now are missing Ruutu and forward Erik Cole, who is out with a leg fracture and has been placed on injured reserve. Defenseman Tim Gleason missed Friday's game with an upper body injury and is not expected to play tonight.

In the 2005-2006 season, Cole suffered a broken neck when hit from behind by Brooks Orpik of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Orpik received a three-game suspension.

Avalanche 5, Canes 4

chipalexander — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:06:29 -0400

Getty Images photo by Doug Pensinger

The Carolina Hurricanes lost an early lead.

They lost forward Tuomo Ruutu, who had a goal and assist, to a game misconduct.

Finally, the Hurricanes lost another road game, dropping a 5-4 decision Friday to the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist for the Avs, the surprise Western Conference leaders and one of the NHL's best feel-good stories of the early season. His 5-on-3 power-play score with 13:39 to play pushed Colorado ahead 5-3.

But the Hurricanes, who led 2-0 early in the first period, didn't crumble. Ray Whitney, denied on a penalty shot early in the third, scored with 11:20 remaining to make it a one-goal game.

The Avs scored two goals in 32 seconds in the first period to tie the score. They then added another two in a 40-second span of the second period to move two goals ahead before Matt Cullen scored for the Canes late in the period.

Ruutu picked up a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct at 5:26 of the second after a hit from behind on Darcy Tucker, who was knocked unconscious and had to be removed from the ice on a stretcher (Tucker regained consciousness and was taken to a hospital). The Avs' Adam Foote was penalized for roughing after the Ruutu hit, but the Avs scored with 26 seconds left on the three-minute power play.

After Milan Hejduk scored on a slapshot from the left circle to make it 3-2, Wojtek Wolski duplicated the shot 40 seconds later for a 4-2 lead.

Cullen scored on a wraparound with 3:45 left in the second to make it 4-3.

The Canes took a 2-0 lead on the Avs in the first period on goals by Joe Corvo and Tuomo Ruutu, only to have Colorado tie the score on rapid-fire goals by Ryan O'Reilly and Paul Stastny.

Corvo had a power-play score and Ruutu a goal and assist as the Canes jumped to a 2-0 lead early in the first.

Corvo got his first goal of the season at 3:15 of the first off a cross-ice pass from Jussi Jokinen, with a big outside blast. The score came after Kyle Quincey was called for holding the stick at 2:37 as the Canes pressured goaltender Craig Anderson.

Ruutu followed at 5:49 for his second goal of the season, screening Anderson and getting a piece of Nic Wallin's wrister. The Canes were keeping the puck in the Avs' zone and getting scoring chances.

But the Avs shook off a sluggish start, found their legs and began to attack the offensive zone. After a pair of icings by the Canes, coach Paul Maurice used a timeout with 6:13 left in the first, but the Avs kept attacking.

O'Reilly scored on the backdoor with 3:45 left in the period, and Stastny then flashed in front of the goal and knocked a backhander past Cam Ward with 3:13 left in the period.

The Canes gave up two goals in 49 seconds Wednesday against the Islanders. ...

Cullen took a puck to the side of the face at the end of the team's pregame warmup at the Pepsi Center and skated quickly to the locker room.

Cullen was hit when a teammate's shot hit the outside of the post and the puck ricocheted toward him. Cullen, who wears a visor, was not injured. ...

With Tim Gleason out with an upper-body injury, the defensive pairings have Joe Corvo with Nic Wallin, Joni Pitkanen with Aaron Ward, and Andrew Alberts with Jay Harrison. ...

Canes test surprising Avalanche

chipalexander — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:49:54 -0400

DENVER — Canes defenseman Tim Gleason was on the ice today at the Pepsi Center for the morning skate but will not play tonight against the Avalanche.

"That's a real good sign for us, that hopefully it won't be a matter of weeks," coach Paul Maurice said of Gleason's upper-body injury. "It's day to day."

Jay Harrison replaces Gleason in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last two games. Harrison, by the way, has the only goal by a Canes defenseman this season.

The surprising Avalanche, which leads the Northwest Division and Western Conference with a 6-1-2 record, is one of the NHL's best early season stories. The Avs have rookie centers Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly, both 18, in the lineup yet picked up 10 of a possible 14 points in a recent seven-game road swing by going 4-1-2.

The Avs' start is the second-best for the team since it moved to Denver 14 years ago. The Stanley Cup champs in 2000-2001 opened 7-0-2.

First-year coach Joe Sacco was expected to give goaltender Peter Budaj his first start of the season and give Craig Anderson a day off, with the Avs facing the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at the Pepsi Center.

But Budaj has flu-like symptoms, Sacco said today after Colorado's skate. Anderson will be back in net again.

"We saw him a few times last year," Maurice said. "He's a heckuva goalie.

"Honest, I never like seeing a backup. I'd rather see a team's number one guy ... unless it's Marty Brodeur."

Anderson, who was with the Florida Panthers last season, has these numbers: 2.06 goals-against average, .934 save percentage. That's pretty strong.

But the Canes' focus is on getting a first road victory — or simply a victory. Carolina has gone 0-2-2 since ripping Florida 7-2 on Oct. 9, dropping a 4-3 shootout to the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

"We're looking for wins," center Eric Staal said. "I thought our fight and our compete was better (against the Isles). It was a step and that's how you have to look at it. You can't mope and sulk, because that will make it worse."

While much is made of the mile-high altitude in Denver, forward Tuomo Ruutu said he doesn't consider it a factor in games. The Canes did get in a long practice Thursday afternoon at the Pepsi Center.

"I've never had a problem with it," Ruutu said.

Brind'Amour to start on wing for a change

chipalexander — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:21:32 -0400

DENVER — Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice tried it during the game against the New York Islanders, liked what he saw, and will go with it again tonight against the Colorado Avalanche: Rod Brind'Amour on the wing.

Brind'Amour will play the left wing on Matt Cullen's line, with Scott Walker on the right side. Maurice also will open with Chad LaRose and Ray Whitney on Eric Staal's line, and Jussi Jokinen centering Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov. The fourth line is unchanged.

Maurice noted that Brind'Amour played some left wing while with the Philadelphia Flyers before coming to Carolina in January 2000, although long-time Hurricanes observers don't recall him ever starting on a wing for the Canes.

"Most of all there's a comfort level with him, that he felt comfortable," Maurice said of the Canes captain. "And I liked a lot of his game. He had two or three shots in tight, which is a good sign for him.

"He easily picked up his positioning in the defensive zone, which is what you're most concerned about when you move a guy around. In the offensive zone there's so much movement it's pretty standard. Everybody does every job in the offensive zone, but in the defensive zone it's a lot more defined as to what your job is, and he looked comfortable out there."

In an official scoring change, Brind'Amour was credited with the primary assist on Matt Cullen's power-play goal against the Islanders on Wednesday night. That took away an assist from Staal, preventing Staal from notching his first multi-point game of the season.

LaRose has neither a goal nor an assist in the first eight games. He was moved to Staal's line in the third period against the Isles after starting with Walker and Cullen.

"It was the first time I had a good feeling behind the bench of where we were at," Maurice said of the 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders, when the Canes rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third. "Even down two goals, there's always a feeling and sense as to where your players are at.

"We played well in the Pittsburgh game. It was an exciting game. But there's still parts of our offense you're not comfortable with. But the last two periods of the Islanders game was the first time I felt a little comfort level."

Gleason likely to miss Avs game

chipalexander — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:06:15 -0400

DENVER -- Defenseman Tim Gleason likely will miss the Canes' game Friday against the Colorado Avalanche, coach Paul Maurice said today.

Gleason suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of the Canes' 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Wednesday night. He was the only player not to practice today at the Pepsi Center.

"It's day to day but I'm not optimistic for tomorrow," Maurice said. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow (but) it's probably better than we originally thought after the game. He came in better today."

Maurice said Jay Harrison would take Gleason's spot in the lineup.

While Maurice had said he would like to give backup goaltender Michael Leighton his first start of the season on this trip, he said Cam Ward would start against the Avs. A decision then will be made for Saturday's game at the Minnesota Wild.

The Canes fell to 2-4-2 and 0-3-1 on the road this season with the shootout loss to the Isles at Nassau Coliseum. Carolina trailed late in the third period, but Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen scored in barely a minute to tie the score and force overtime.

Still, the Hurricanes did not come away with their first road win as the Islanders won their first game of the season. Would that be the glass being half-full or half-empty?

"Both," Maurice said. "The first period was a lot like our problems -- we're not moving, we're not driving to the net.

"I thought after the first we did start to skate, start to forecheck, start to get in the offensive zone time we've become accustomed to. ... There were things we'd like to keep, things we think we can replicate: driving the puck down low, doing things like that we just didn't do in the first period.

"Right now we're looking for any positive we can to build off of. We made some plays around the net, a couple of nifty passes. We want to shoot every puck and drive the net. We've been concerned about the tightness with the sticks, so it was good to see we tried to make some plays."

The Canes outshot the Isles 27-13 in the last two periods. Both teams had three shots in the overtime.

"I think after the second period, we all felt we were going to get opportunities, that we could push that team," Maurice said. "So we came out with a positive. We've come back from two (goals) before and we can do it again."

The Canes had a spirited practice Thursday at the Pepsi Center. Now it's a matter of seeing if that translates to a strong game against the Avs, 6-1-2 after a shootout loss Wednesday on the road against the Minnesota Wild.

"Last night wasn't the result we were hoping for, but I think there were a lot of positives we can feed off of," Ward said. "We showed a lot of character by being able to bounce back and come from behind in the third period.

"There's still room for improvement. But our practice today, I thought, was a very sharp, very intense practice and just what we needed heading into tomorrow."

Islanders 4, Canes 3 (SO)

chipalexander — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:31:30 -0400

Rookie John Tavares, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, finishes off a 4-3 shootout win with a goal to give the Isles their first win of the season.

Jeff Tambellini scores for the Isles to begin the shootout, and Frans Nielsen does the same. Jussi Jokinen scores for the Hurricanes, but Tavares ends it for NY.

Earlier...

The Canes and Islanders are going to a shootout.

Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen scored in a span of 1:02 late in the third to give the Canes a 3-3 tie with the Isles and force overtime.

The Islanders scored twice in a 49-second span of the second period for a 3-1 lead.

After Matt Cullen's power-play goal at 5:34 of the second tied the score 1-1 for the Canes, Tim Jackman and then Andy Sutton scored for the Isles. Jackman banged in a shot in close at 10:32 and then Sutton redirected a shot by Jack Hillen at 11:21.

Cullen scored on a shot from the goal line extended that appeared to hit defenseman Brendan Witt in front of goalie Dwayne Roloson. It came after Sergei Samsonov and Rod Brind'Amour had good scoring chances in a power play that had Eric Staal and Joe Corvo on the points.

The Islanders led 1-0 after the first period on a Matt Moulson goal and outshot Carolina 13-8. Moulson scored from his knees in the slot at 8:11 for his fifth goal of the season on an Andy Sutton assist.

The Canes' Ray Whitney, playing his 1,000th game, nearly tied the score with 4:20 left in the first but hit the post with a hard shot.

The Canes' Scott Walker did win a slugfest with bruising Brendan Witt with 7:30 left in the period.

Tuomo Ruutu had a rough first period for the Canes. Ruutu was leveled by Nate Thompson early in the game and then by Sutton in the final minutes of the period, but popped up each time. ...

A lot of empty seats at Nassau Coliseum tonight and the Yankees aren't playing. ...

Canes to honor Whitney

chipalexander — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:25:12 -0400

Ray Whitney is playing his 1,000th NHL game tonight against the Islanders but the Hurricanes have their own celebration planned.

The Canes will honor the winger Nov. 1 before the game with San Jose Sharks at the RBC Center. Whitney was one of the original Sharks when he began his career.

The Canes also will have 1,000 specially-priced tickets for the game for $13 each.

Canes look to handle Islanders' 'buzz'

chipalexander — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:45:28 -0400

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders will switch up their lines tonight for the Canes and plan to have veteran Doug Weight centering the line with John Tavares, the No. 1 pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Not that it means a lot to the Hurricanes.

"We're so early with where we are, it's all about us," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today. "Clearly they've got some high-end young skill up there that can skate and like to handle the puck. They've been outshooting everybody early and I'm actually expecting that in the first period, and we have to mentally handle that.

"They're going out just blazing, firing everything at the net. They'll be buzzing, so we have to be as physical as we can to slow that part of their game down."

Cam Ward, who will start his eight straight game in net, probably can expect a lot of work, although maybe not as much as the Canes' first game at Nassau Coliseum last year. Ward faced 60 shots in that one, won by Carolina 4-3.

Tavares, who turned 19 last month, has seven points (3g, 4a) in his first six games for the Isles (0-3-3).

"He's done fine," Isles coach Scott Gordon said today. "It's great that he's been able to contribute offensively. It's probably put his mind at ease."

Tavares said it has been a big help to have Weight offering advice and said he looked forward to playing on a line with him tonight. He did take one slight dig at the 38-year-old forward.

"I think he was drafted the same year I was born," Tavares said with a laugh.

True enough -- 1990 in both cases.

Pitkanen feeling good, ready for more ice

chipalexander — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:13:08 -0400

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Joni Pitkanen had knee surgery Sept. 10, missing training camp, and has been able to practice only a few times. He missed five of the Canes' first six games, and had to leave the one game he played because of knee pain.

Yet, Pitkanen played more than 28 minutes the last game, against New Jersey. The defenseman may do the same tonight against the New York Islanders. How hard is that — all that ice time with little or no practice?

"Last game, the first period was pretty tough," Pitkanen said today after the morning skate at Nassau Coliseum. "The game is so quick. It's not even close to practice.

"I was pretty nervous before the game about how I was going to feel. I missed all of the preseason."

And to play 28 minutes?

"As the game went on, I felt pretty good," he said. "I worked pretty hard this summer and I think I'm in pretty good shape, so I was pretty happy.

"It's getting better every day. I can handle the puck better, do everything better."

Canes coach Paul Maurice said he will send out six defensemen again tonight, meaning he's counting on Pitkanen to again carry a high-minute load.

"To be honest, we are surprised by how well he played in New Jersey," he said. "It was evident early he was moving when he caught a guy in the back-check.

"What it is, is a statement of his skill set. He's so highly skilled, but even with time off he's still able to come out and be our best passing defenseman at times and move the puck and get a feel for the game.

"In practice yesterday it looked like he hadn't missed anything all year. He says he feels good, so we're just going to play him. He actually feels better the more he plays -- he stays warm and he stays in the rotation."

Pitkanen injured his knee at Nassau Coliseum last October — in the same game Brandon Sutter was injured -- and missed the next eight games. But he said he doesn't mind playing at the aging arena.

"It's nice ... when you win," he said, smiling.

Winless Islanders have Maurice edgy

chipalexander — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:36:03 -0400

The Hurricanes are leaving today for a three-game road trip, with the first game Wednesday against the winless New York Islanders (0-3-3).

Which, in turn, makes Canes coach Paul Maurice more than a little edgy.

"Especially when you go back and watch the games that they've played," he said today. "They've worked their butts off and they have some high-end young talent there."

That includes forward John Tavares, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NHL Draft. Tavares has done his part with three goals and four assists andis tied for the team lead in points.

"They deserved to win two, maybe three of the games they've played and just got some strange breaks and bounces," Maurice said. "That happens to young teams until they catch fire, and then watch out.

"It's not like we're 12 or 15 points ahead of them. So I think you're going to see two teams come out with a snarl. If we play our butts off, we have a chance to win, and that's it."

The Canes had a full complement of players at today's practice. Returning were Eric Staal, Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney, Sergei Samsonov, Joni Pitkanen and Cam Ward, who all missed Monday's workout.

"I think the rest was real important for those guys because they all skated well," Maurice said. "We were looking for some sharpness and some pace in our practice ... and sme mental focus and not waiting for the game to get ready."

Maurice made a few tweaks to the lines. Cullen was centering Scott Walker and Chad LaRose, with Samsonov on a wing on Rod Brind'Amour's line with Jussi Jokinen.

"We're working towards getting some guys comfortable together," he said. "We need to get LaRose and Walker going a little bit. Just in terms of their ability to get out on the ice more, I think their energy level is something we need and we're going to see them a little more on the ice."

General manager Jim Rutherford said today that Erik Cole, who was expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a leg fracture, should be close to returning in the four-week range.

Staal, Whitney, Ward among those missing practice

chipalexander — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:27:20 -0400

With several players sitting out of practice, the Canes couldn't get in systems work today at the RBC Center.

"But that's OK because that's not for me where it's at," coach Paul Maurice said. "It's some sharpness with the puck and our compete (level) when we don't have it. Those are the two areas we can work on when we're out there."

Eric Staal again missed practice. So did Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen, Sergei Samsonov and Joni Pitkanen. Goaltender Cam Ward was given the day off.

"We have a number of players who are not at 100 percent," Maurice said. "With the way our team is playing we'd like our whole team out there working. But we have to have these players get better so we can squeeze them harder in games to play harder."

Ward was at practice Sunday and Maurice said "he got all the shots he needed."

"When a big part of your focus is scoring goals and putting pucks in the net, your goaltender usually takes the brunt of that," he said.

Pitkanen was given Sunday and Monday off but should be back Tuesday. Maurice said he expected the others also to rejoin practice.