Williams, Francis join power-play work
There was a new twist to the Canes' power play today. Justin Williams was on the ice and a part of power-play practice. So was assistant general manager Ron Francis.
With the team split for practice, Williams worked with Ray Whitney, Rod Brind'Amour, Matt Cullen and Frantisek Kaberle. Working on the second power-play team were Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu, Sergei Samsonov, Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen.
"When you have 16 games in a month, you don't have time to work on your power play," Canes coach Peter Laviolette said after practice. "You don't want to do that too many times, where you break the team up ... but the power play really needs it right now.
"Just to get out there and work on it in individual groups and spend some time on it I think is helpful."
General manager Jim Rutherford said Monday that he would like to see Francis more involved in the power-play work. Francis joined the coaching staff on the ice at the RBC Center.
About the blogger
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is in his second season as the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at chip.alexander@newsobserver.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @ice_chip.
Comments
Power Play
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 10:03 — HockeydogI tend to agree, when a team has had such a pathetic PP time needs to be made. Pre-game skates to work on them would have been nice.
Legs
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 08:50 — coultersYou either have the legs or you don't? ( Change will come!)
No Time???
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 08:24 — schelle92Maybe if they actually practiced (gasp) they would have time to work on such silly little things as the Power Play, Penalty Kill...oh and how to actually hit the net when shooting the puck.
I'm betting JR asked Ron to
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 08:02 — dgreene13I'm betting JR asked Ron to step in. Tis the last resort before cutting Lav.
heh...
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 10:39 — rawdatanice prediction...
Of course, I'm not surprised by Ronnie stepping in. He helped out a lot in camp, too, if I remember correctly.
Here's an idea --
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 23:35 — JRs_FaultPut in a little PP work during the Pre-game skates... oh wait, you haven't brought those back yet.
Power Play
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 23:09 — abramsdougI agree with the observation that it was mind boggling for Lavi to say he didn't have time to coach the power play. What a weak excuse. Why not be truthful and say he wanted to get fresh input from Ron Francis?. It was insulting to the fans' intelligence for him to say that the reason the power play was so poor was that he was just too busy to focus his coaching attention on that issue. Perhaps the sound of the Hurricanes fans booing the power play non-performance should have been a clue to Lavi that something needed to be done.
I'd hope
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 22:22 — esteban1949That Ron's presence on the Ice there at practice would shake everyone up so they'd get it together. But when Ron was up in Albany last month, with the Rats working with them...they didn't fare any better...I hope that isn't an omen or some silly junk like that...But we can only hope. And i am glad and very happy that Ron Francis isn't afraid to get out there and show them what they need to do and not just tell them what they need to do...
Go Canes !!
Interesting stats
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 21:21 — wxray1Canes power play goals this year: 15
Flyers SHORT HANDED goals this year: 10
Ouch.
I'm no Flyers fan. But I'm watching the game now, and realize that I'm being entertained. What a concept. Entertainment. Energy. Well placed risk taking.
The stat above is a bit of an aberration since Philly has more SHG's than anyone, but it does add some perspective on just how bad things are. Oh, and even though Philly takes more risks on the PK to generate those SHG, their PK% is still better than the Canes (87% to 81%).
I gotta stop looking at these team stats. I'm getting sicker and sicker the more I look at them. :-(
Canes, do something. SOMETHING.
"When you have 16 games in a
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 19:32 — FuquayCaniac"When you have 16 games in a month, you don't have time to work on your power play," Canes coach Peter Laviolette said after practice.
WTF, are you serious??? 0-25 on the PP, and you have no time? Better make time, and real fast.
What's next?
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 17:53 — antRonnie?? You going to don a jersey & get on the ice? Can you still hit the net? GOOD, bring it on. Show the kids how to do it!