Cam Ward will be back in goal and Rod Brind'Amour back in the lineup tonight.
Ward will make his first start since Nov. 7 tonight against the New Jersey Devils at The Rock. Brind'Amour, a healthy scratch Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, will replace injured winger Sergei Samsonov in the lineup.
"Cam's back in the saddle," coach Paul Maurice said after today's morning skate.
"I'm real excited about it," Ward said. "It's been a long time since I've played. Along with being excited I need to make sure I'm relaxed out there. Just play my game and keep it simple.
"It's been a long four weeks. I don't know what's hurt more, my knee or being pushed to the sideline."
While Ward has been practicing and working with assistant coach Tom Barrasso, he has not been in goal since being cut on the left leg by the skate of Columbus' Rick Nash in the Nov. 7 road game. It was an injury Ward initially feared might be devastating to a goaltender, so close to the tendons and ligaments near the knee.
Ward had a similar injury before, against the New York Rangers, and missed a handful of games. But this one was different.
"I knew I had been hit but didn't know how bad it was until I looked down," he said. "What scared me the most was looking down and seeing the muscle staring back at me.
"I knew it was more serious than New York in that they wanted to immediately go to the hospital (in Columbus) and go into surgery. Right then and there, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to come back from for some time.
"It made me uneasy. But I once again dodged a bullet that it didn't hit any tendons. A few more centimeters and it could have been a career-ending or year-ending injury. So I've had two strikes and I don't want that third one."
On Brind'Amour, Maurice said the captain's benching in Pittsburgh was "not an easy decision to make."
"At the same time," he added, "those things happen."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
Friday's Game
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 12:13 — garybdiverI will have my sweater on in DC Friday night. Brithday weekend so hopefully the boys will win for that alone. What do you think? Think they can do that for the old geezer here? Would love to see Ovie on his butt. Let's go boys!
Well the Canes
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 11:07 — esteban1949had a couple of chances to go ahead and win the game. But......I wonder which Hurricane team will show up @ Washington for the game Friday night ? Will it be a team who has a deep hunger out for blood, no mercy, take no prisioners team or the current "dixie cup champions" of the eastern conference ??hmmm I wonder which one wil show up...sigh...well it's time to go back to listening to Glenn Beck...;-}
Brind'Amour and Eight Minutes of TOI
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 08:01 — abramsdougLast night Brind'Amour showed why he should be a healthy scratch for the remainder of the year. He was the subject of national press attention for his vast underperformance over the past two seasons. When one considers his $3,000,000 salary and $3,600,000 cap hit, he is in a league of his own in terms of being a disappointment and a hindrance to the team.
Given all that attention, I had hoped I would see Brind'Amour as a man on a mission to show the world he was still the captain of the Hurricanes more than in name only. What I saw was eight minutes of nothing special by him. I thought of all the talent in Albany and what a shame it was that Brind'Amour really has nothing left to give. The tank is empty. I'd rather Maurice/Francis/Rowe/Rutherford simply face the stark reality that Brind'Amour is no longer an NHL level player and healthy scratch him for the rest of the year.
The available ice time this season is far better served by giving the kids in Albany their opportunity to show their abilities and to play with the team this year when their youthful mistakes will have far less dire consequences than during a solid Stanley Cup run. Brind'Amour is entitled to be paid. He earned that salary from past performances. He is not entitled to play. He has to earn that each game.
non-hockey decision
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 14:28 — Biff_BeersThat's a great way to describe a business decision or, in this case, simply following the rules. There are players in Albany who are more likely to help the team both now and in the future than Brind'Amour, but the Canes can't suspend the rules to deal with the problem. With Samsonov and Wallin both hurt but not on IR, then only way the Canes could have scratched Brind'Amour in the game against the Devils would have been to have Leighton skate out. I guess some of you would have preferred that.
Samsonov Low Back Injury
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 15:01 — abramsdougI was skeptical that Samsonov's low back issue was of a sufficiently dire nature that he would deem himself unfit to play. It seemed like an amazing coincidence. I am guessing Samsonov will play on Friday -- and that his lower back will be much, much better.
Based on Leighton's being waived, I am not certain the Hurricanes have cap issues. Even if they did, waiving Aaron Ward would give them cap space.
Question
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 16:21 — garybdiverIf we wave A. Ward does that take him if off the books if he went unclaimed? I always though a player needed to be claimed for their salary to go away. Does anyone know about this?
Waiving Aaron Ward
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 18:43 — abramsdougMy understanding, which may be totally incorrect, is that if a player is waived and is unclaimed and then is sent down to the AHL, the player collects his salary if he is on a one-way contract, such as Aaron Ward. The salary does not count against the Salary Cap. With the financial structure of the Carolina Hurricanes, for somebody like Aaron Ward who is being paid $2,500,000.00 this year, it is pretty much economically infeasible to pay him to play for the Albany Rats. Again, I could be entirely wrong; but I think that is how it works.
Sounds Like Political Rhetoric
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 10:16 — SkylinerAren't we getting double speak from the Hurricanes? Before last night we were told that sitting Rob Brind'Amour down was a "Hockey Decision" but he was on ice again last night. What was that, a "non-Hockey Decision?"
It does appear that management and coaches are more dedicated to preserving the image and reputation of a once great player than they are of winning hockey games. It is painfully apparent, based on his stats, that this man's play is one of the two greatest liabilities the Hurricanes have...the other being Aaron Ward. One --l9 and another --15 in a yet-young season!
We have young, hungry and deserving players up in Albany whom I feel deserve their chance to play in the bigs and are not getting it because management refuses to aggressively address a painful issue. But isn't that why managers are paid the big bucks... to squarely address issues, solve troublesome problems, and produce results?
How long would such inaction be tolerated in a business that was dedicated to success and $$$$ oriented towards its stockholders? Pay Hurricane fans an occasional dividend, a win or even a faint hope of being competritive.
Maybe some of the Albany boys are not yet fully polished, but how much worse could they play than some we now have on the ice?
None of us Hurricane supporters expect a Cup from this team, but we should at least be seeing at a marginally competitive team. I've made this point before that if management continues to put the same non-performing players on ice night after night with negative results why do they expect a different outcome in the next game?
Come on Mr. Rutherford and Little Karmanos, behave responsibly toward the people who pay for the tickets. Simple questions don't always have simple answers, but basic business decisions can be less cumbersome to manage. This one seens quite simple!
agreed
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 08:21 — rmmeliand let Aaron Ward keep him company up there in the press box.
Ward
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 18:10 — GoShelfI'm quite anxious to see how he's going to play tonight, sitting out a month is never easy and the only way to get game conditioning is playing games, so it's asking a lot of him to be razor sharp. It will make his life a lot easier if the boys play well in front of him, which they have for the most part lately. The key tonight is regardless of the score, keep the feet moving, we run into big problems when we stand around and get pinned in our own zone. The Devils are a puck possession team that is well coached, who don't make it easy on anyone, so I expect it to be close.
This will show...
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:52 — Canenutwhat the team is like with Roddy in the lineup as compared to him being out. I thought the team looked much quicker and seemed to be in the right places on Monday. Hope he and the Canes do well tonight.
Personally
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:50 — esteban1949I'll worry about friday when it gets here...I am more focused on tonights game...which the canes can win. So and until...I'll just sit back and yell Go Canes at the TV tonight !!! Be safe everyone not everyone is paying attention while behind the wheel there on the highways & streets.
Go Canes !!
Apparently Samsonov is out
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:02 — ctillApparently Samsonov is out with an injury. Will be interesting to see who sits out Friday if Samsonov is ready to play.