Monday, October 10, 2011

I Thought Third Time was a Charm???

It's three games into the Hurricanes 2011-2012 season.  This time last year our boys were coming back from Finland with 2 wins to carry them into the season. Boy have things changed.  


In case you've been living under a rock, the Hurricanes have lost their first 3 games of the season.  Saturday's game against the Capitals was the closest they've come to winning so far.  You could tell they wanted redemption from the night before and they played like last March when they were vying for a playoff spot.  Eric Staal scored 2 beauties, Jussi Jokinen tied it in the final minutes of the game, and Jeff Skinner assisted all 3.  Boucher played a solid game and in the end, it was more like bad luck that kept them from winning. This was a Hurricanes team that I'd want to see again.  


Of course, I'm choosing to ignore Friday night's home opener against the Lightning. I missed opening ceremonies and made it to the game shortly after Skinner scored the only Hurricanes goal of the game.  From the looks of it, I missed the best part of the entire night.  I'm 90% sure I annoyed everyone within a 5 ft radius of me because I spent the entire game yelling.  They played solid until halfway through the 2nd, but they lost it.  They lost the crowd, their mindset, everything and Tampa knew what to do.  This game showed that we can't rely on Cam Ward to do everything & that defense really needs to step up.  Justin Faulk played an impressive game and I'm excited to see Tomas Kaberle in action (his experience shows).  


Today's 2-4 loss to the Devils was dismal.  My Canes from Saturday night had disappeared and become a giant mess.  I'm a firm believer in finding something that works and sticking with it (while making minor adjustments along the way).  The Skinner-Staal-Jokinen line from Saturday was working and Maurice just tossed it aside. Chad LaRose got bumped up to first line (likely to add a defensive forward because while the first line can score, they also have the most negative +/-), but it messed up the flow.  Rosey got a pretty top shelf goal, but that line needs more oomf to it.  Also, I'm a little sad with the loss of Jamie McBain and Derek Joslin on the roster the past few days; I want to see them back, but this brings up the fact that we still have too many defensemen on the roster.  Decisions need to be made so these guys just aren't hanging in the mix.


Some points:

  • Caniac nation is starting to get pessimistic; Canes need to pull a win against the Bruins Wednesday to boost their spirits.  Boston lost to the Avs today (at home!), another team that performed poorly in the preseason, so hopefully the Canes can pull a W too. 
  • A lot of Caniac nation is calling for Maurice to get fired.  It's the last year of his contact and this is a dismal start.  Maybe the Yahoo bloggers were right that Mo would be the first coach fired.  I'm thinking the decision will come Nov-Dec if things keep going this way. 
  • Practice is at 12 tomorrow so hopefully they can work out some solid lines to use for Wednesday. And hopefully Mo won't change them day of.  I swear sometimes he has the attention span of a 6-year-old when he's making his lines for game day. 
  • On a happy note, N & I went on a shopping spree (retail therapy ftw) to try and forget the whole Skinner/Peanut Butter thing (plus all these losses).  It ended up with me getting 2 Hockey Fights Cancer shirts and the lower level Skinner plan. Oh the things I do when I'm sad.



Also, I would comment on the Penguins, but there's not much to say.  They had a strong showing in their first 2 games of the season.  Last night's loss to the Oilers in a SO was unfortunate, but they still got a point. They are currently leading the league with 5 points so I can't say too much.  I've always had faith in Dan Bylsma.  Just hope that Malkin's lower body issue isn't bad! 

Okay, I need to write this lab report.  Anyone want to analyze the genetic effects of bacterial conjugation in E coli? Anyone? Yeah that's what I thought...


Until next time,
L

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