The reader consensus All-Canes team

The readers have spoken! Here's the consensus All-Canes team as chosen by you (and roughly interpreted by me):

C Ron Francis
LW Sami Kapanen
RW Erik Cole
D Glen Wesley
D Aaron Ward
G Arturs Irbe

Notable: Wesley received more "votes" than anyone, no surprise given the depth of competition. But I was surprised how soundly Irbe trounced Cam Ward. Kapanen and Cole more or less tied with Whitney and O'Neill, but I gave the tie to the guys I didn't throw out in my first team. Same theory with Aaron Ward, who I didn't even mention as a candidate (an oversight on my part) but who was soundly supported.

And here's a second team, since there was some variance in opinion:

C Rod Brind'Amour
LW Ray Whitney
RW Jeff O'Neill
D Sean Hill
D Bret Hedican
G Cam Ward

Honorable mention: Kevin Dineen, Martin Gelinas, Sergei Samsonov, Ray Sheppard, Eric Staal, Niclas Wallin, Justin Williams.

(You have to feel for Eric Staal — the future of the franchise, coming off a magnificent second half, on the verge of making upwards of $7 million a year, and he's franchise's the third-best center … in the past decade.)

Anyway, thanks for making this a productive topic. I enjoyed the facetious and sarcastic teams as much as the real entries, and I'm guessing most people felt the same way.

Again, keep sending your topics to luke.decock@newsobserver.com. At this point, I've gotten enough that I can't guarantee I'm going to use them, but the better/funnier/more clever or insightful they are, the better chance they've got. Check back tomorrow for the next one.