It was determined today Skinner was concussed. No time table when he will be back. JR did a good job in 2006 with the mid season trades he made. He picked up Doug Weight in early January, which shocked a lot of team. Doug was the completed piece to our PP. Then when Orpik broke Eric Cole's Neck JR went and got Mark Recci from the Pens. The series with Buffalo was awesome. I was at game 7 sitting in the middle of a bunch of Sabre fans. We had a good time and they were talking a lot of crap after 2 periods. But I will say this. 99% of the Sabre fans were great sports after we came back and won in the 3rd period. I got a lot of congrats and a lot handshakes. As for Cam Ward, he is not on the trade block, in fact I think he will end up being our unquestionable number 1 by the end of October. If either Goalie is to be traded I see Khudobin only because his contract will be easier for a team to absorb than Cam's 6.3 million a year. Cam has had a few injuries the past couple of years. But I'll say this about Cam, I know what we have IF we make the playoffs with Cam. He is a stand on his head goalie in the playoffs. I don't know who Khudobin will do. What bothers me the most about him is as he approached 30 games played last year he really started to look tired. Cam is a 65 game a year goalie and the more he plays the sharper he gets. His record on the second game of back to backs a couple of years ago were among the best in the league. I guess I'm one of the few who was happy we signed Semin. He works well with Tlusty and Staal, and as bad as Staal is at defense he was learning to play a little defense too. We even had him on the PK with Staal the latter part of the year. Skinny thanks for starting this thread. I'll be here often. After I get back from my trip to Iowa.
Are we talking about Eric or Jordan Staal? Your gonna have to start using their 1st initial when talking about them......
First, can MnC move this over to the teams' page so it does not get buried on page 2 or 3? Are the Canes giving up on this season? Even with their good players on the ice they weren't that good and now their best players are on IR. I saw the Charlotte Checkers last weekend in Chicago and they have some big prospects. I believe they have the means to improve their situation this year if they were motivated to do so. Is the 2015 draft too alluring for them to risk missing out on an elite prospect? I hope that the Canes and one other hapless team do not bump the Sabres out of the top two spots. Under Nolan Buffalo has a mini-winning streak (3-5 games) in their system to delight me but to the consternation of many fans. The Sabres are horrible but from what I've seen so far they give a shit this year. Youth + giving a shit can be a bad formula for drafting McDavid or Eichel.
I think the Canes will be competitive. We get Skinner back for the Jets, and E. Staal hopefully back by the end of the week. The kids looked good against the Rangers and I think we may have some trade bait before long. Chris Terry is finally getting confidence at the NHL level and Tlusty has started off well. We need Semin to get going and hopefully, Skinner can stay healthy. We also need one of our Goalies to get hot.
THN had a report on the draft lottery rules and tanking. http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/nhls-new-draft-lottery-rules-will-encourage-tanking-heres-why/ I wonder why, but they used Carolina and Buffalo as their example for the 2015 draft. This year a team that finishes 30th has an 20% chance of drafting first and a 100% chance of drafting either 1 or 2. Next year the odds are going to be much lower and there will be three picks in the lottery. If the Canes are going to suck they picked the right year to do it.
i like that. so a team could finish in last and not get a top 3 picks and end up 4th. true. and injuries have started them down a certain road also.
You're right skinny. How many teams would be setting the world on fire, with the number 1 center, 2 of the 3 members of the second line and a key member of the 3rd line. Our top penalty killer, (which they have been ok on the PK). We have lost our number 1 defenseman for 3 games and we can't decide on a goalie. When and if we get all the parts together this team could make a run come the January, The key is can they get their heads above water before that time. Eric is coming back next Tuesday at Vancouver. Not sure when Gerebe will be back or Dwyer. Hopefully, they will be back by mid November and Hopefully, Peters will put Ward in net for the next 10 games and tell him it's your's to lose and if you lose it we will try to find someone else to take you. I think if they did that Cam will respond as he does better the more games he plays in a row.
Ending up with McDavid is the ultimate best case, but even if you finish in dead last there's no gaurantee with the lottery system in place. As a fan it's hard to write off a whole year with the hopes of getting a good or great player in the draft, it usually takes about 3 years to reap the rewards if any, unless it's a generational type player.
McDavid is a generational player; I think he may be better than Crosby. In a normal draft class Jack Eichel would be a slam dunk #1 overall. The #30 team will be assured of one of them. It's a 20% chance of #1 and 100% of no. 1 or no. 2. Both are likely to improve their teams in the 2015-16 season. The lottery will be much less weighted to the shit iest team starting in 2016.
When your team is as bad as Buffalo you're not given the luxury of dreaming of the playoffs. I hope I share your view next season. I do applaud you attitude; one of a true fan.
to be realistic the Hurricanes have almost no shot at the Cup this year even if the injuries don't take place. Adding McDavid or Eichel would be adding the best player in franchise history at 18 years old. That's the route that Id be pulling for.
