Catchin' up with the Canes....

The Hurricanes are currently on a not so well deserved 2 days of vacation. Practice doesn't pick back up for them until Wednesday, where Laviolette has stated they will be focusing on the PP and the PK mostly. Really Lavs, ya think?

While the Canes PK has been stellar (killing off 25 straight PK's), the PP has really left something to be desired. Scoring one goal out of 35 attempts is really....well, bad.
Unfortunately, its not just scoring on the PP that is really causing the Canes to struggle. It's never good when your top 2 lines are in something of a scoring drought to begin with.

The injury front isn't getting much better either.
Erik Cole was originally expected to be out for only 2-4 weeks after tearing his hip muscle during a pre-game skate. He has already missed 6 games and he isn't expected to be back any time soon.
Ray Whitney is nursing a nagging ankle injury which caused him to miss the game in Atlanta on Sunday. Rod Brind'Amour is also trying to kill the aches and pains (and after the Laraque hit on Friday, most pains) and injuries he has been battling with all season. Bret Hedican is also trying to heal a nagging injury (after an already injury filled season) to his "lower body".

On other Bret Hedican news, the rumour in Raleigh is that Hedican is thinking about hanging them up at the end of the season. He has had an extremely bad year with injuries, surgeries and aches and pains that just won't go away.

To help replace Bret Hedican, Anton Babchuk has been recalled from Albany.
After a bit of a temper tantrum when he was sent down and some time to "think it over", he will be back for Friday's game against Washington.
Babs has posted 1 goal and 6 assists in 9 games with Albany.

There won't be any trips to Vegas, quick vacations down to Florida or any of the like for the Canes during these 4 days off.
The guys are just relaxing and resting for two days, focusing on the huge 14 games coming up.

CG12

Can I have some aspirin for this hangover?

As I write this, the defending 2006 Stanley Cup champions are teetering on the playoff fence, dangerously close to falling off onto the wrong side. You know the side I am talking about – the one with the big, vicious mean dog ready to tear the team to shreds (think “The Sandlot”). Unfortunately for the team, its not just one single, angry dog waiting on the other side. It’s the Hurricanes fans that are waiting.

No, I don’t mean the fans that magically showed up during the Eastern Conference Finals, causing fans like myself to contemplate selling a kidney in order to afford tickets. I mean the ones that are sick and tired of the organization over achieving, only to decide that they have earned the right to play uninspired hockey. The same stigma the guys fought so hard to overcome last season is exactly what they are playing into this year.

Because of the “effort” put forth during the season, we now have to hope and pray that the stars align correctly and the Canes manage to make it into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth. Once they get there, we have to cross our fingers and toes that they find the spark they had just last season to carry them into at least a decent playoff run.

The Canes are on a sinking ship and there were zero moves before the trade deadline to plug the holes. Oh, sorry…I forgot about Anson Carter. A team that has David Tanabe leading defenseman in TOI is NOT Stanley Cup bound, let alone playoff bound.

I realize I am not giving enough credit to the tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference. This year’s race is incredible between Tampa Bay, Montreal, Atlanta, Toronto and the Islanders. There are essentially 4 playoff spots to share between the six teams, all of which don’t want to miss the playoffs. Atlanta is looking for their first ever playoff run, Toronto just CAN’T miss the playoffs again, the Islanders landed Captain Canada, Tampa leads the SE division and Montreal’s fans would riot if the Habs missed the playoffs.

So why does Carolina need to make the playoffs?

Because its 2007. The reign of the 2005-2006 Stanley Cup champions is over. Now we Canes fans just have to wait for Brind’Amour and Staal to realize that.

CG12