Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said today that a decision has been made and that the team will go with Justin Peters as the backup to Cam Ward in goal next season.
Rutherford had said either Peters, 23, or veteran Manny Legace would be No. 2 goaltender and that the team would not look to sign or trade for anyone else.
"We've told Manny's agent that we will go with Justin," Rutherford said. "It's the right time for Justin in the process of his development. He improved so much last season and dominated in the American Hockey League (with the Albany River Rats).
"He's a great team guy. He played some very good games here for us and this is the next step for him. He looks like he has a very good future for the Hurricanes."
Peters made his NHL debut last year for the Canes and had a 6-3-0 record, with a 2.83 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. He was 26-18-2 with the River Rats, with a 2.54 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Legace, 37, was signed out of the AHL in November after Ward suffered a slashed leg in a game in Columbus. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Legace was 10-7-0 with the Canes last year with a 2.81 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.
"Manny did a great job for us," Rutherford said. "When a team loses their No. 1 goalie like we did, for those two to step in and give us a chance to win every night ... they did a tremendous job for us.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
Ohhhh Goooody
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 22:37 — esteban1949Petey's back In Town !!
The Canes are Good,My Grandkids are Better, and Life is Great !! Go Canes !!
I'm OK with this decision...
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 21:26 — AllenH...as long as MO gives Peters 25 or so starts. He has a tendency to run his #1 goalie into the ground, er, ice. But if Justin gets only 10-15, then he'd be better off playing and developing in Charlotte.
AND if Wards wonky back doesn't go out again. I also agree that Cam sure didn't have his best A-game for a lot of the games he did play. He frustrates th' heck outta me when he goes down quicker than a groupie on a rock star - down flat out, it's easy to score on him, just shoot over. If he is an elite goalie he needs to play like it.
All things considered, I'd prefer to have kept Manny for another year, he's cheap* insurance and JP would only be 120 miles away and PLAYING 50 or so games.
*if a half Mil $ can be called cheap.
Peters Salary
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 16:53 — JustListenenThe NHL salary for both Peters and Legace in 2009-10 was $500,000. Since Peters is an RFA for the coming year, you can be sure that he is set for a multiyear contract and a significant salary increase. This would have been true even if Legace was retained as Ward's backup.
Or will it be Ward who
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 16:15 — DesertCaniacOr will it be Ward who backs-up Peters? I like Ward a lot but he needs to play better than he did last season. I know he had some injuries, but he makes a lot of money and he needs to play like he deserves it. He played relatively poorly for the majority of the time he was on the ice last season.
I hope Peters can challenge Ward to perform at his best. If that's the case, then both of those guys will benefit from it as well as the entire team. Our goaltending will need to be stellar next year to make the playoffs, but I think these two can get it done.
Bingo!
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 16:29 — beer210I've had that thought myself. Hopefully Peters will make Ward hear the footsteps coming behind him. He needs to be more consistent
So long, Manny. You'll be
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 14:42 — ctillSo long, Manny. You'll be held in high regard in Carolina.
Peters
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 14:08 — SWFAN24I was surprised that it took this long to make this decision. Makes us younger and should save the team some money which seems to be the common theme this off-season. I just hope we actually use Peters around 15-20 games next year. I know Cam is the franchise goalie, but you need a back-up who can win 50-70 percent of his games.
PS abramsdoug where all do you go to watch all the Canes games from last year and years past.
Watching NHL Games online
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 16:16 — abramsdougwww.nhl.com has a subscription service called NHL Game Center. Here's the link but not as a URL because links are not allowed:
https://gamecenter.nhl.com/nhlgc/secure/loginform
With Game Center you can watch all the NHL games on your computer. It is a great service and well worth the money. For the hockey obsessed there is also a subscription service at www.ahllive.com which lets you subscribe to all the AHL games, such as the Albany Rats. Again, it is a great service. There is so much more to each game than I can take in during one look.
Peters and Ward
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 13:07 — HockeydogGiving Peters plenty of starts will be the key. With Legece out of the mix, if Ward goes to IR Pogge would have to back up Peters, and I'm not sure how he'd do if called to action.
Best of luck to ya Manny! You won't be forgotten anytime soon.
Peters
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 12:38 — abramsdougI really liked Legace and thought he helped keep the team grounded and relaxed. Even so, Peters is the clear choice in my mind. He is a warrior kind of goalie - very athletic and relentless. He will battle until the end. One of the pleasures of re-watching the Hurricanes games on the computer is seeing Peters win some games simply by sheer willpower and the refusal to let the Canes lose. Now if Maurice/Francis/Rowe/Barrasso will give Peters about 25 to 30 games and keep Ward rested - hopefully for the playoff run, all will be right (or at least mostly right) in the Caniac universe.