Tommy

The Carolina Hurricanes took a big step toward improving their young goalies yesterday when they signed past Stanley Cup champion and ex-Olympian Tom Barrasso as the new Director of Goalie Development. Barrasso enjoyed his previous stay in Raleigh so much that he decided to return to the area permanently. Luckily for Ron Francis, the Hurricanes decided to create a new position for Tom. Now Francis has a buddy to travel with when he takes those long trips to Albany and elsewhere up north. Personally, I love the idea. A little extra coaching can't hurt. Now with Stefan moving here and working with the NHL goalies full time, the Canes quickly went from zero full time goalie gurus, to two. Barasso may have gotten a new job this week, but he's not getting any love on the Canes Country "Favorite Canes goalie of all time" poll. Cam Ward and Arturs Irbe are running away with it, while Martin Gerber is coming in a distant third. One more day to vote!

Eric Staal and his brother Jordan were in Toronto yesterday for an EA Sports promotion. There is a decent interview with them on TSN. They talk a bit about their brush with the law as well as what their hopes are for the coming year. Poor Jordan said that he wants more ice time so that he can produce more. Good luck with that Jordan! Eric said that he is looking for a return to form of his 2006, 100 point season. Eric was also quoted as saying "A lot of our guys have been working tremendously hard this summer just to make sure their bodies are more prepared,'' ''We've got the same type of group we had when we won so we know we can be a team to beat. It's just a matter of getting started off well.'' I hope Staal was one of the guys who worked so hard in the off season! Click here to read the entire article.

Season tickets are arriving in the mail and hockey is close you can smell it! Nice touch by the Canes for including "season ticketholder" bumper stickers. I feel so special! Well maybe not as special as the Penguins fans who had Sidney Crosby personally deliver their tickets. Maybe next year Chad Larose can deliver some tickets? Monday and Tuesday the surface will be painted and the new ice will be laid. Make sure to check the RBC webcam to look at the progress. The link can always be found on the left sidebar under "Canes Related Sites". I found an awesome Matt Cullen video for the "Tube of the Week". Check it out, hopefully we'll see more of the same this year. Don't forget Friesen's 5K run on Sunday. Then we have one more week until the Caniac Carnival and free exhibition game! Cheers!

The Who