Carolina Hurricanes forwards Erik Cole and Chad LaRose and former Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley will take questions from fans Friday night at the NHL team's "Summer Fun Fest" Friday night.

The second annual fan event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on the South lawn of the RBC Center, with live music, games, sledding on artificial snow and other activities.

Wesley, who is now the Hurricanes' Director of Defenseman Development, will join Cole and LaRose in taking questions during a "State of the Hurricanes" forum scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Afterward, there will be a re-broadcast of the Hurricanes' last-minute comeback win in Game 7 of its quarterfinal series against the New Jersey Devils.

Parking and admission to the event are free.

From Talking Points: 

As far as the Hurricanes are concerned, it's funny how much can change overnight. When we went to bed Tuesday, general manager Jim Rutherford's last public statement indicated that Erik Cole was ticketed elsewhere and there was a chance Chad LaRose might return to the nest quickly after testing the market.

By the time the biscuits came out of the oven Wednesday, the door was open for Cole to return and LaRose had been bid farewell. So far, that's what has happened -- Cole signed for two years at an average of $2.9 million a year and LaRose remains a free agent, with Rutherford now dangling an impending signing in front of the fan base.

Read more here.

Free agency in the NHL is a funny thing. Very little ends up being as it seems, reason goes out the window and even mild-mannered men like Montreal's Bob Gainey end up flinging money around like a Sex and the City character in a shoe store.

As far as the Hurricanes are concerned, it's funny how much can change overnight. When we went to bed Tuesday, general manager Jim Rutherford's last public statement indicated that Erik Cole was ticketed elsewhere and there was a chance Chad LaRose might return to the nest quickly after testing the market.

By the time the biscuits came out of the oven Wednesday, the door was open for Cole to return and LaRose had been bid farewell. So far, that's what has happened -- Cole signed for two years at an average of $2.9 million a year and LaRose remains a free agent, with Rutherford now dangling an impending signing in front of the fan base.

From Talking Points: 

Either way, this isn't what the Hurricanes expected to happen today. Perhaps Rutherford overestimated the desire of Cole and LaRose to remain in Carolina. Perhaps he assigned a greater financial value to that desire than they did. And perhaps they intended to test the open market all along (for a player, the chase for that one big free-agent payday can be a strong lure).

Read more here.

The only free-agent shopping the Hurricanes planned to do was in their own backyard, attempting to re-sign Erik Cole and Chad LaRose before they hit the open market. That didn't happen.

When the free-agent balloon goes up at noon today, both of those players will no longer be Hurricanes -- temporarily, and in the case of Cole, most likely permanently.

The clock is ticking closer and closer to the free agency signing period.

Where do the Canes stand on unrestricted free agents Erik Cole and Chad LaRose? General manager Jim Rutherford said Cole's agent, Steve Bartlett, has informed him that Cole will not sign a new contract before the deadline and will test the free-agent market.

UPDATE: LaRose's agent, Patrick Morris, said late Tuesday night that the two sides could not agree on financial terms and that LaRose also would test the market.

Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said the trade market has been quiet during draft week, didn't get any offers worth considering for the 27th pick and doesn't expect to make a deal anytime soon.

Famous last words — things can change quickly when GMs get bored during the second day of the draft — but Rutherford said contract negotiations with Erik Cole and Chad LaRose are currently the only items on his agenda. And even if they hit the market, he plans to lay low for a while.

Leftover bits and pieces from Friday's exit-interview media availabilities, including Ray Whitney's thoughts on the season and Tuomo Ruuto on his popularity among Hurricanes fans…

Yes, Paul Maurice has seen the video. The Canes coach has seen replays of what he calls the Canes' "half-goal" by Chad LaRose in Game 2.

Before coming to the Canes in December, Maurice helped out in the NHL's "War Room" in Toronto where the decisions are made on high — well, from Canada — about goals and no-goals and whether there's conclusive evidence a puck did or did not cross the goal line on a play.

In the final second of the second period Sunday, LaRose had an apparent goal against the Boston Bruins waved off after the puck hit the crossbar, dropped down and bounced around the goal line. After a seven-minute review that felt more like 77 minutes, the call was upheld and the Canes' lead stayed at 2-0.

"I'm a huge fan of replay," Maurice said today. "I still believe it was a goal but the fact of the matter is that shot happens so fast. I understand when the referee doesn't see it or thinks he saw it.

From the rafters of the newfangled Boston Garden, by Luke DeCock and Chip Alexander, to you:

• Cam Ward is playing his 31st playoff game, breaking the franchise record held by ... wait for it ... Arturs Irbe.