It's official!

SOUTHEAST DIVISION CHAMPS.

OK, NOW we can say the P-word.

100 points and a playoff spot--go us, go us.

I never thought I'd see the day when the 'Canes got 100 points in the standings--of course, I never thought I'd see the day when the power play was better than the penalty kill either. I think that's an indicator of how far this team has come since the days of "play not to lose".

And hopefully some of the less-intelligent folk in the Caniac Nation (est. 1997) will finally lay off Mark Recchi, now that he's actually put some points on the board. When I read a post on one message board from a fan who said that "Recchi is turning out to be an awful trade" after Saturday's travesty agin the Capitals, I about sprayed my Diet Coke all over the monitor. Rex was the only one making any kind of crisp passes or trying at all out there that night--but I guess in the minds of some, if you don't put points on the board you're just not any good.

Of course, this is the same fan who said in the same post that Ray Whitney had to show up at each and every single practice and morning skate and skate the whole time, regardless of whether or not it would re-injure his groin--so there you go.

Wednesday, the Brothers of the Sightless Eye get another crack at Washington--and hopefully, this time they'll actually show up.

Go Canes.

A little slice of history

While poking through the threads (and all the Chicken Littling) on scout.com's Hurricanes board, I found this little gem from the old "15 Years of Whalers Hockey" book (which covers the years 1972-1987):




In this picture are:

New England Whalers co-founder Bill Barnes (the creator of the All-Star Skills Competition, who passed away this week)
Bobby Hull
WHA President Gary Davidson
Whalers owner Howard Baldwin

And the pouty kid in front holding the "New England Whalers" sign? A very young Brett Hull.