God I love this game.

How much can one person love a team?

I had no idea how much I missed hockey (and, specifically, the Hurricanes) until last night at about 6:45 PM when they started the pregame festivities. I saw the Hurricanes’ new TV ad (“We are the Caniac Nation”), and broke down crying because goddamn I missed the ‘Canes so much. It just….words can’t even begin to describe how I felt. It was amazing, and the electricity in the building was so intense. Everybody was so ready for hockey, I was so ready for hockey, and everyone left smiling (even if the ‘Canes did slack off in the second and third periods—shame on them for doing that after a fuckin’ great first period).

Highlights of the night included:

Mario being put on his ass by Aaron Ward.
Mario looking quite spry at age 40.
Josef Melichar’s nice assist on Eric Staal’s goal.
Cory Stillman hopping out of the box and scoring a very nice goal on Sebastien Caron.
Mario getting stoned not once, not twice, but three times by Cam Ward.
The Hyped One getting stoned repeatedly by Cam Ward (especially in the shootout).
Jesse Boulerice’s fight in the second period, which reminded me of a fight between ex-Whalercane Stu Grimson and then-Ranger Darren Langdon during the last year at the Mall in Hartford—where Stu pulled Langer’s jersey up over his head, held the neck hole shut, and gave him a few punches before the refs stepped in. Very entertaining tilt—and yes, I do like a good scrap every now and then.

Random comments on the game:

Matt Cullen needs to get a new shootout move. The little shoulder-dip fake is pretty easy to read, and every goalie in the league is going to be wise to it by next week if they’re not already.

Cory Stillman played a good game last night.

Andrew Hutchinson needs more ice time—I think he’ll get it once he gets over the rookie jitters. The boy needs to settle down a bit, and he’ll be fine.

I hate shootouts. I feel I can say that without being labeled a sore loser, since my team won their first shootout of the season last night. So I say again:

I. HATE. SHOOTOUTS.

They’re bush league. They’re nothing more than a talent competition that automatically puts “lesser” teams at a disadvantage to teams that are front-loaded with sniperage, and that makes them out of place in a league that’s supposed to be all about the parity.

I HATE THEM I HATE THEM I HATE THEM.

Period.

And then we have the Ward/Gerber debate. After ONE GAME, half the Caniac Nation (est. 1997) wants to kick Martin Gerber to the curb and anoint Cam Ward “our franchise goalie”.

I’m sorry, what?  Am I the only one with any perspective on this?  Gerber’s not being given a fair shake, IMO, and I don’t like it. And the arguments people are using against him are some of the stupidest loads of crap that I’ve ever seen (these are actual quotes):

“Gerber was only a backup, that should tell you all you need to know about him.”

“Gerber sucked in preseason, he sucks now, we need to get rid of him.”

“Cam Ward needs to be the number one. He’s our franchise goaltender, not Gerber.”

“I just dont see any heart in Gerber” (I told you, it’s an exact quote)

Excuse me?  Perhaps you’ve heard of a guy by the name of Tomas Vokoun?  He was “only a backup” at the time that Mike “The Dude” Dunham was traded to the NY Rangers—and look at him now. Being a backup does not automatically mean that a goalie is no good. Dominik Hasek backed up Billionaire Eddie Belfour in Chicago—does that mean he’s no good?  One bad preseason outing and one bad regular-season game is enough to tell you that a goalie is no good and has no heart?  What?  I wish people would frickin’ think before opening their yaps.

Go ‘Canes.

Most interesting.

I was reading a Hurricanes board yesterday, and saw this little gem:

Let me share a story. Back in the summer during the wild free agency and all, I was checking Eklund's site as often as anyone. I was led to believe that he knew what he was talking about. Until one day back in August that I did something to see how fast it spread and to see where it got. I started a rumor. You may have heard it, I do not know. But it was on Sportsnet Forums (Where I started it) HF Boards, Eklund and Hockey Trade Rumors.com

The Rumor I started was Tampa Bay forward Brad Richards to Montreal for Ryder, Hainsey and a 2nd round draft pick.

Guess where my rumor got to? Say no more than... the famous "Eklund" he had it rated at (E3) as he calls it. The number beside the (E) is always the number of strong sources he has to support the rumor.

As I went on Eklund, to my surprise (Because I thought this guy was for real) Had MY very own made up as fake as fake could be rumor on his front page with a (E3). He went on to say that he had 3 strong sources confirm this trade could and was very well in the works.

I sat there and laughed. Because I knew I made that rumor up, and it was absolutly impossible for him to say "his sources" confirmed it.

From that day on, I have taken every word from Eklund as a grain of salt.

There's my story.

So I PMed the poster (who goes by the handle Staal12) and asked him if he had links to the threads in question, and here's what he replied:

(I do not normally post private messages, but I have a feeling he won't mind)

I can try and find them for you, I'll look them up now for the ones I can find. The only thing is, is that the Sportsnet Mods deleated my initial post on their forum, I questioned them about it and they said did it by accident. But I can give you the links to where it got to.

Here are some of the links.

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=167053

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=166884


As you will see in this link, it says is was posted on Sportsnet Forums and that is where this person got it. This was my actual very first and only thread I made about this rumor. This person obviously copied and pasted it before the Sportsnet Mods deleted it.

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=166756


From hockeytraderumors.com

http://www.hockeytraderumors.com/article5541.html

From Montreal Canadiens official fan forum:

http://forum.canadiens.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=3002&highlight=rumours

Here is the main thread from The Montreal Canadiens official forum. Just scroll down, and you'll see where it begins.

http://forum.canadiens.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=2596&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=180


Here are a few from the Sportsnet Forums:

http://forums.sportsnet.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=34120&tstart=960

http://forums.sportsnet.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=34115&tstart=975

http://forums.sportsnet.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=34084&tstart=390

Pretty damning, no? And yet Eklund gave that rumor an "E3" rating and had it up on his website until 28 August, when he posted:

I have removed the Richards trade rumor from the blog after much speculation to its validity. I was very slow to post this at all yesterday even thought many, many folks emailed me with the rumor throughout the day..I did not believe the rumor at all at first. It wasn't until I got home from Atlantic City last night that I talked to two sources who verified there was something to it. They verified the fact that Tampa and Montreal had had discussions regarding Richards...However did not know the names. I am now going to spend a lot of time today seeing if the names are similar to the rumor that is out there..According to a source regarding this rumor, "This rumour got started on Hockeytraderumors.com, claiming CBC Radio 640 AM in Bonavista was reporting Michael Ryder's brother was claiming this trade was about to go down. Two problems with this. First, CBC employees have been locked out by management across Canada for over two weeks now, leading to little news coverage, let alone sports news coverage. Second, CBC Radio isn't heard on 640 AM in Bonavista, but 750 AM."

This is an interesting case where someone may have invented a rumor from thin air, and stumbled on a player, Richards, and a team, Montreal, that is indeed being thrown around..I will get to the bottom of it...

What's really funny is that if you do a blogspot search of his blog specifically for Richards trade, you WILL find a link to the removed post (it's the second link)--but of course you can't get to the post because Eklund the Fraud deleted it (as he states above--probably one of the only true things he's ever posted in that blog).

EDIT: I have been given permission by my source to divulge his identity (or at least his carolinahurricanes.com board name), so I've edited my post accordingly.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

DVR? Set.
Phone? Going to voicemail.
Diet Coke? Chilled.
Smokes? Ready.
Remote? Batteried and ready.
Nong Shimp Spicy Shrimp Noodle Bowl? Ready to go.

What do you think, should I wear my game-worn Malik jersey (even though it's a Canucks jersey and not a 'Canes jersey)?

Is The Acid Queen gonna have to choke a bitch?!

I swear to Malik, if I hear anything more about how people in North Carolina only like college frickin' basketball and Neckcar, I am going to KILL SOMEBODY.

ATTN PEOPLE:

I HAVE LIVED IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR TEN YEARS--AND I HATE COLLEGE BASKETBALL AND DESPISE STOCK-CAR RACING.

In a lot of ways, my childhood in North Dakota prepared me for living down here. I was one of four hockey fans in a town of about 1500, and it was a big pain in my ass not being able to follow my team except in boxscores and late Sunday nights on the George Michael Sports Machine (back then, I barracked for the Edmonton Oilers--sue me, they were the first team I ever saw play back in 1980). The big things were basketball and racin', and I loathed them back then, too.

The loathing only deepens every time some know-nothing from north of the Mason-Dixon line (or, more commonly, north of the 49th Parallel) shoots off his ign'ant mouth and paints us all as a bunch of terbacky-chawin' sibling-boffin' moonshinin' rednecks that don't know from anything other than Neckcar or basketball. It just makes me so angry, because those blanket statements are borne of nothing other than ignorance and laziness--and those who know me know that those are two things that really drive me up the wall. That's like saying that (for example) all Canucks fans are knuckle-dragging low-IQ thugs because of a handful of (usually drunk) neanderthals that riot whenever the Canucks lose in the playoffs, when anyone with half a clue and the desire to do even the tiniest bit of work can look and plainly see that such is not the case.

Laziness in reporting just pisses me off. No, not everybody is that way--I realize that--but unfortunately there are enough of "the right people" (Bristol, random Toronto/Montreal/Winnipeg/Detroit/wherever mediots, etc.) that are engaged in that kind of laziness that the perception has become the reality. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. I'm not going to put up with it.

In other news:

Poor Andy was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets today. From one team I hate to another--that poor sod, he just can't catch a break can he?

OK, so I'm curious.

Those of you who aren't citizens of the Caniac Nation (est. 1997), please help me out here.

Read this article here.

Then read this article, and do the following:

1) Tell me if you think either of them bash the team.

2) Tell me exactly how they bash the team.

3) Tell me if you detect an anti-Hurricanes bias from the writer, irrespective of your feelings about Raleigh and whether or not we "deserve" a team (a subject on which I will rant later).



NOTE: I will not pay attention to any answers from Hurricanes fans. I want the outsiders' perspective.

Oy vey.

Bruno St. Jacques (the Hurricanes' #10 guy on their depth chart) was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Craig Adams today, and of course we've got people crying in their beers about it on various message boards.

Spare me the drama, children.

Look--Bruno was #10 on the depth chart behind Danny Richmond. He had a horrible training camp and was not fitting in at all well with Lavy's system. It's far better for him to have a change of scenery and try his luck with a different team than to be dropping further and further down the Hurricanes' depth chart.

As for CAdams? He's a Lowell man. That's where he's going, that's where he's more than likely going to stay barring injuries to our top 9 and the guys immediately behind them on the depth chart--in the grand scheme of things, it was a minor-leaguer for a minor-leaguer. Why didn't we sign CAdams instead of (as one individual put it) "[giving] Bruno the boot to get [him] back"?

Because Adams wanted a one-way contract and more money than the Hurricanes could justify paying him, that's why. It amazes me that people don't fucking pay attention to these things or bother to spend even the tiniest bit of effort trying to find this stuff out on their own before opening their damn yaps. Sheesh, even I learned to do that after a while.

In other news:

'Canes GM Jimmy Rutherford said today at a roundtable luncheon that Radim Vrbata was being kept on a very short leash for the first two months of the season, since he was having so much trouble in training camp.

OK, now this is indicative of Rutherford's big failing as a GM--he holds on to a guy when his stock is down to pennies on the dollar, and then trades him for what amounts to nickel slugs. If Verb is having so much trouble and if he's not fitting into the current system, then bloody trade him already! Trade him NOW, and try to get some value for him! Mind you, I don't expect the world for a 7th-round draft pick, but come on--at least get SOMETHING decent for him.

And the Detroit Red Wings have, so I'm told, waived Andy Delmore (Poor Bastards List entry #403). Those of you who know me know that I tend to adopt the hard-luck cases (like Poor Andy) because I have a soft spot for those kind of guys. If you had a team of all my favorite players, they'd be like at the bottom of the League every season--but at least they'd have one fan.

(and I harbor a secret desire to see us nab the guy off waivers and give him a shot--then he won't have to face the Nashville boo-birds 8 times a season. Love Nashville, love the people, like the Preds--but damn y'all are a rough crowd.)

Welcome to the Bates Motel.

Jon "Bates" Battaglia reunited with Chairman Mo, film at 11.

Well how's this for irony? Back during Batesy's last season and a half with the 'Canes, he was convinced that the Great Helmsman was cutting his icetime out of some kind of personal dislike--the fact that he was sucking on toast (along with the rest of the team) never even occurred to him, and when people tried pointing it out to him he was in complete and total denial.

And how he's back playing for Chairman Mo Teh Coach again. Good luck, Batesy. Hope you can get back up to the Show again, dude.