Carolina Hurricanes Hockey News

Games 24
Goals 18
Assists 18
Total Points 36

Eric Staal is off to the best start of any Carolina Hurricanes player since the Franchise moved to Carolina. I have said before that I am not a Stat freak but I cannot remember any player having 18 goals at this point in the season since I began making the Trek to Greensboro to watch the Hurricanes play in their first season here.

Staal Leads the Hurricanes in Goals and thus Points and Plus/Minus.

He is 4th in the NHL for Goals, and 8th for total points.

I think this is only the beginning. We are in the Early Stages of a Gretzky or Lemieux like Career right now with Eric Staal. I can only sit back and enjoy the show.
HHFAN

Fri. Dec. 2 at Dallas 8:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 3 at Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 6 at Anaheim 10:30 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 8 at Los Angeles 10:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 10 at San Jose 10:30 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 13 Chicago 7:00 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 15 Columbus 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 17 New Jersey 7:00 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 20 Tampa Bay 7:00 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 23 Florida 7:00 p.m.
Mon. Dec. 26 at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 28 at Ottawa 7:30 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 29 Philadelphia 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 31 Montreal 8:00 p.m.

Wed. Jan. 4 Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 6 NY Islanders 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 7 at NY Islanders 7:00 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 10 Detroit 7:00 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 13 Nashville 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 15 St. Louis 1:30 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 17 at Philadelphia 7:00 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 19 NY Islanders 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 21 at Washington 7:30 p.m.
Mon. Jan. 23 Montreal 7:00 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 25 at Florida 7:00 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 26 at Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 28 Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 31 at Montreal 7:30 p.m.

Fri. Feb. 3 at New Jersey 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 5 at Boston 1:00 p.m.
Thu. Feb. 9 at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 10 Pittsburgh 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 12 Buffalo 5:00 p.m.

OLYMPIC BREAK: Feb. 13-27

Wed. March 1 Boston 7:00 p.m.
Fri. March 3 Florida 7:00 p.m.
Sat. March 4 at Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m.
Mon. March 6 at NY Rangers 7:00 p.m.
Wed. March 8 at Philadelphia 7:00 p.m.
Fri. March 10 at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Sat. March 11 at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Tue. March 14 NY Rangers 7:00 p.m.
Thu. March 16 at Montreal 7:30 p.m.
Sat. March 18 at Boston 12:00 p.m.
Tue. March 21 at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Wed. March 22 at Buffalo 7:00 p.m.
Sat. March 25 Washington 7:00 p.m.
Mon. March 27 Tampa Bay 7:00 p.m.
Wed. March 29 Washington 7:00 p.m.
Fri. March 31 Florida 7:00 p.m.

Sat. April 1 at Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Mon. April 3 Washington 7:00 p.m.
Wed. April 5 at Washington 7:00 p.m.
Fri. April 7 at Washington 7:00 p.m.
Sat. April 8 at Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Tue. April 11 New Jersey 7:00 p.m.
Fri. April 14 Tampa Bay 7:00 p.m.
Sat. April 15 at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
Tue. April 18 Buffalo 7:00 p.m.

PLAYOFFS BEGIN: April 21

Stanley Cup Celebration June.

The Birds are finally squashed. It only took 3 games but the Carolina Hurricanes got the best of the Thrashers tonight, when Kaberle scored in OT for the win. Ward Came up big in the 3rd after a rocky start giving up 2 quick goals, but made up for it with some key saves late including late breakaway save on Bobby Holik.

Eric Staal another 2 goal game, 1 shorthanded.
Justin Williams another solid performance and a goal.
Kaberle Game Winner in OT
Ward solid after giving up 2 goals early.

The first of many victories on this road trip.

HHFAN

I know you think I am crazy.. but the Hurricanes have got to Beat Atlanta this time.

I know there was a big deal made last year,oops I mean the year before about the new quick face off and how it speeds up the game etc.. As far as cutting back on total time of the games.

I have to admit that at first I thought “cool, I can get home sooner” And Last year … I mean the year before last… I went to maybe 20 games. And something was missing, besides wins I mean. (that was not a great year for the Hurricanes)

This year I found myself with more time to go to games and I realized something:

The Quick Faceoff in the NHL Sucks.

I keep thinking back to the excitement in the building and even in Greensboro, in the past years, and the music and the buildup between plays was a big part of the hockey experience and a HUGE part of bringing the fans into the games. The arena’s could really play a part in the game in the old days. Some locations had the old organ sounds, others such as here it was all music and energy pounding bass and music before each faceoff and in between plays. Sometimes it would help raise up the crowds energy level so high it got tough to keep it going.

The Arena techs were skillful at balancing the adrenalin of the audience, and its definitely a skill our people in Raleigh learned well. The Carolina Hurricanes Stadium in the Playoffs was a very very tough place for other teams. I miss the excitement of games with the music and the noise and peaking of that excitement.

The Playoffs were of course THE BEST There were loud, full crowds, and music to get the adrenalin flowing. I know that the NHL would like to make fans happy , “Thank you fans” and all that good stuff. How about loosening up the quick faceoff deal?…

Bring back the long waits for the fans.

We liked the loud music and the few extra seconds to get into the game and cheer as loud as we can yell.

HHFAN

Justin Williams had a good game, A Great Goal by Ladd as he starts a points streak up now officcially with a 2 game point streak. Aaron Ward had a long one from the face off circle. Other than that the game was all atlanta as Ilya,and other combined to once again make our team look silly.
It was rollercoaster like… sometimes the Hurricanes had it going on, in sync passing crisp and other times…well they looked like they were scrambling around… going 0 for 6 on the powerplay did not help. Missed Open nets were also seen.

Not a Good night.

On the bright side I got some Great Club level tickets and had a great view of the loss… The Carolina Hurricanes go to atlanta next in the 2nd Part of the HOme and Home… I will miss this game while I attend the Illini UNC game on that night.

Tuesday also is the first of a long road trip. The next home game is on Dec. 13.

I will be there.

Go Canes.

I really think this is going to be more like 6-0.

Wtsox makes a good point but The Thrashers are pretty banged up right now. I don’t think the young goalie will be able to deal with the shots today.

THE CAPTAIN IS BACK, Rod Brind’amour is back and so is victory!!!!

I’ve said before that Cullen has impressed with his effort. Tonight he scored the game winner in a Shootout to help the Hurricanes do a little Fall Leaf Burning. (Vrbata also helped out there) In a team effort and one hell of a game the Hurricanes have once again proved why they will win the Stanley Cup this Year.

Impressive performances by
Eric Staal: Once again an unassisted goal and Shorthanded…. Staal is more impressive every game.
Andrew Ladd: How about 1 goal and 1 assist his first 2 Points in the NHL Grats! Does Staal have some competition coming up? How cool would that be.
Hedican: this guy always impresses, you just count on the fact that this veteran doesn’t make mistakes and plays smart… Tonight he added a goal .. A nice bonus.
Hutchinson: nice deuce on the assists
Vrbata; Came thru in the shootout
Cullen: Nice Game winner in the Shootout

Next up a little Revenge for a 9-0 beating this team took as the Thrashers come into town Sunday night… I hope to be attending that game.

Way to go Canes Always nice to beat the Leafs.

HHFAN

Happy Turkey Day to everyone but especially to my fellow Carolina Hurricanes Fans.

Friday’s Game against Toronto Should be a good one.

I think I remember some bet with the Mayor of Raleigh and Toronto when Carolina beat up Toronto in the playoffs in 2002?
I’ll see if I can find that tree.
I’ll bring the dog, it might be a good spot for a pit stop.

HHFAN

My view from 8 rows up from the Ice Last night:

It wasn’t a win, but I was impressed with the Hurricanes Last night.
They went down 2 goals early and battled back right away to keep the gaming close. Staal scored a goal that was amazing I hope there are some replays of it out there… I tried to record the game but it was blacked out…The channel ended up having some crappy college basketball game on instead.

To put this in perspective: The Hurricanes are playing without key members of the team. Brind’Amour, Wesley, Wallin, Whitney, just to name a few. Yet they still managed to keep up with highly skilled Ottawa team. Brindy’s loss was felt heavily on special teams on Power play and Penalty Kill.

Impressive to the Fan last night were:

Cole: As usual gritty play hard work got himself 2 assists
Staal:The Canes have never had a superstar like Staal is going to be aside from Francis
Craig Adams: A surprise but this guy played his ass off with Staal and Cole last night and was rewarded with a goal and he laid some hits on out there.
Matt Cullen: Hustle He seemed to be all over the ice.
Stillman:He scored a goal

A complete recap of the game is here.

This is just a bump canes fans. Another tough game on Friday night against the Leafs. Do Canadians celebrate thanksgiving?

Look for GameDay Preview Friday.

HHFAN