The blog staff (of one) is taking the weekend off, so barring any breaking news we'll be back Monday with a new topic for reader debate, a salary update and the other usual good stuff.
Look for stories on Brandon Sutter (Saturday) and Zach Boychuk (next week) in the N&O.
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at (919) 829-8947, @LukeDeCock on Twitter or luke.decock@newsobserver.com.
Comments
Prospects
Tue, 07/15/2008 - 11:01 — Mike (not verified)Luke
Sutter and Boychuk certainly deserve some news coverage. But there were a few others at prospect camp that also deserve some press. I was quite impressed with forward Sam Morneau, who showed some great moves and shots in the scrimmage drills. Forwards Dalpe and Chaput also looked good at times. Brett Bellemore was quick and showed signs of becoming that much desired offensive defenseman, also putting some good shots in the net against Michael Leighton, who is no slouch of a goalie. Readers might appreciate some additional background on these other prospects.
Drafted players with the team
Sat, 07/12/2008 - 09:01 — Lew Pulsipher (not verified)Say Luke, with the talk of prospects, I've been trying to figure out how many of the current team were drafted by Carolina (or signed as undrafted player). Stahl, Ward, LaRose. Babchuk was traded for someone we drafted, as was Ruutu. Bayda? And Sutter if he makes it this year.
And presumably several in the minors.
A "where are they now" of Hurricanes higher draft choices might be a good article.
Nic Wallin was a 4th round
Sun, 07/13/2008 - 19:20 — atrioneNic Wallin was a 4th round pick and Bayda was a 2nd round pick in 2000, Tanabe was a 1st round pick in 1999. We got Pitkanen for a player we drafted. LaRose was signed as an undrafted free agent. A link to the Hurricanes draft history from 1997 to 2008 is below. What is startling is how few of the draft picks ever played for the team.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00005154.html
Draft success
Mon, 07/14/2008 - 16:13 — glenn (not verified)The Canes certainly aren't alone on that count... One of the guys on XM (Boomer, most likely) was talking a few days ago about draft success. He said San Jose had the highest success rate at about 30% if I recall... remember, the hockey draft is similar to the baseball draft, in that you're drafting 18 year old prosects. After you get past the first top half of the first round, it gets really dicey in terms of who's gonna make and who isn't. Take a look at any team's roster, and you'll find similar rates. Take a look at any draft (2003 was perhaps an exception) and you'll see a LOT more names you don't recognize than those that you do. There's only a little over 700 spots on rosters after all, and there's 200+ (was 290+) picks every year.
Yeah Luke, thanks for
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 22:48 — Anonymous (not verified)Yeah Luke, thanks for keeping us up to date on the Canes. You do a great job! Have a good weekend...
Take a break, Luke!
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 21:56 — JVB (not verified)Thanks for the excellent updates, Luke. Enjoy the weekend.