Clicks and Clippings: Plan B
by hockeymomof2 on Nov 11, 2009 3:59 PM EST
15 comments
While no one claims to know exactly what's wrong with the Canes spectacularly abysmal record this year (though many have debated this heatedly here at Canes Country and elsewhere), tonight the Carolina Hurricanes take the ice with a newcomer between the pipes and to me, it feels like we're starting a new chapter in the tale.
With a freshly minted #34 on his Hurricanes jersey and his one-color-fits-all white helmet, Manny Legace will, no doubt, be at center stage for many fans still reeling from the loss of Cam Ward over the weekend. Most recently on a try-out arrangement with the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, Legace, at the ripe old age of 36, has a golden opportunity to remind notonly those in the house, but the entire NHL, why he earned a spot on the All-Star roster only 2 seasons ago in 2008, the year he posted a very s GAAof 2.41 with the lowly (as in 27th-ranked) St. Louis Blues. Sounds like he ought to fit right in.
If there is one thing about the Hurricanes that is consistent every single year (and no, it isn't their W-L record), it's the drama. You just can't make this stuff up.
After the jump, some links and quotes from the only people who can turn this ship around, to demonstrate that they "never do it the easy way": the guys who get paid to win games. Following that, I've got a few observations, intriguing goings-on, and a little history of those of the strange athletic species known simply as "goalies". And at the bottom, a chance to rate your emotional state on a Grieving Poll.
Not sure anybody really wants to know this factoid: Our Carolina Hurricanes are not only #30 in the NHL standings, 4 points out of 29th (hockeymom whimpers quietly), but they also reside in the basement of every single Power Ranking I could find this week. Yes, this would be the bottom. Several players and coaches have spoken out, on the record, this week about the state of the team, and I've assembled some of the stories and excerpts:
Canes turn to Legace - Canes - NewsObserver.com This yesterday from Alternate Captain Ray Whitney:
The Hurricanes, even with Cam Ward out and center Eric Staal sidelined another two weeks, still believe a turnaround is possible. "We do," winger Ray Whitney said Monday. "As funny as that sounds to some, and probably only the people in the organization think anything of us as a group, we haven't lost that belief in the locker room yet. Which is good. Once that leaves, we're in real trouble. "We obviously have had some games we felt we should and could have won, and haven't. We've had a stretch now of bad luck with injuries, Who knows, in three months we may be saying 'wetold you so,' but it is time to get going."
Maurice still believes his Hurricanes can turn it around - NHL Insider from Mike Morreale yesterday.
"I still believe in this team," Paul Maurice said after Monday's practice. "We had a tough stretch back in 2003 when half our team was in the medical ward and, even though we were bringing kids up, we weren't getting any better.
"Here it's been frustrating because the last 4-5 games we don't feel we've been that far off from the game we need to be playing. Clearly, we have to be a defensive team, but, at the end of the day, we can't count on winning 1-0 every night."
Canes coach (record 2-11-3) tells CEOs how to build a team - NewsObserver.com For $25 a plate, some of the Triangle's most vaunted CEOs got an hour-long pep talk Tuesday on building a winning team, which would be fine except that it came from Paul Maurice, coach of the dead-last Carolina Hurricanes. Here's an excerpt from his remarks;
Mostly, Maurice urged building a winner out of available parts, not wishing for shiny replacements. You can tell a team gone bad at meal time, he said. All the rich veterans sit together and complain about the new guys. All the rookies sit together and complain about the has-beens. All the Europeans sit together and say, "Nobody talks to me."
To fix it, he explained, you grab one guy from each group and tell him to switch tables. Heads in the crowd nodded.
Droschak: When Opportunity Knocks - Carolina Hurricanes from late yesterday. A great piece by the Hurricanes' veteran hockey writer, built on the concept that one should never waste a good crisis.
"I think everybody knows where we are," said defenseman Tim Gleason. "Brandon, that’s one guy who has taken it to heart, for what he has to do to stay here," Gleason said. "He’s not taking it for granted and taking it for all it’s worth. He’s run with it and good for him. Manny, for example, it’s a big opportunity for him as well. We’re looking for him to stand on his head because that’s what we need. Pretty much everybody in here has an opportunity right now to be that guy because it can’t get much worse. We’re looking for that one win and it will give us a big opportunity to get out of this mess we’re in right now and build from there."
Canes Now - Corvo: winless streak painful experience earlier today with Chip Alexander
So what has the 12-game winless streak been like for Joe Corvo and his teammates? "Pretty painful," he said. "It's like there's a wake every day in the locker room, like we're burying somebody." Asked if he still believed the team has enough talent, enough belief in itself, to turn the season around and get on a roll, Corvoreplied: "I don't know. I guess we'll see when that happens," he said. "I don't know what it's going to take. "I thought we had what we needed at the beginning of the year. Who knows now? Who knows? We've gotguys getting hurt all the time. "I think when we get some healthy bodies back, it's going to help us I think. Right now, it's difficult for us to score goals and it's going to be difficult to beat teams if we're notkeeping them to one or two goals."
Last, give yourself forty minutes while your clicking around Canes Country, and listen to the The Hurricanes Report Podcast, from Hurricanes media spokesmen Branecky and Hanlin, to get their sense of the mood on Edwards Mill Road.
"And I can tell ya, having played the position..."
Do you remember a couple months ago when Harwood put out his "5 Reasons Bubba loves Hockey?"
Here was his Reason #5:
5. Goalies
Goalies can be an odd bunch. What normal person would intentionally put himself in front of a puck moving 100 plus MPH? But the goaltender can be the single most important position in all of sports. Not only can a hot goalie steal a game or two for his team, he can steal a playoff series as well.
On the other hand, if the goalie is not on his game and continually allows soft goals, his team has little chance for victory.
Netmindersare also allowed to be individuals within the team. They wear masks with original artwork which is pretty unusual in team sports. But if a goalie wants to wear a mask withweird artwork on the sides, who is going to argue with him?
Some quotes regarding goalies-
Arturs Irbe: Being a goaltender is like being a minesweeper. One mistake is no good.
Jacques Plante: Playing goal is like being shot at.
Brett Hull: I'm not dumb enough to be a goalie.
Jim Taylor: Goalies are three sandwiches shy of a picnic.
With so much respect coming from their peers, how can you not love goalies?
Good stuff,eh?
Here are a few recent stories to help you better understand the most important position in sports, which we in Carolina have been so obsessed with focused on since Saturday's night Cut in Columbus:
Ducks' Giguere: "I'd rather retire than be a backup goalie" - LA Daily News Something needs to happen," Jean-Sebastien Guiguere said. "You get a guy like (Jonas Hiller) that's going to be a free agent at the end of the year and myself, making the money I'm making, either I'm leaving or he's leaving."
According to Scott Clemmensen, It's Not All His Fault - SB Nation Seems the Florida Panthers have some drama playing out in their crease too.
NHL -- The man behind the Toronto Maple Leafs' reversal of fortune? 'The Monster' - ESPN You don't have to look very far to see the catalyst for the Toronto Maple Leafs' sudden, dramatic reversal of fortune. It's the guy they call The Monster. (aka Jonas Gustavsson)
Pre-Game Skate -- Evolution -- Goaltender's Equipment (in case you wondered why they look the way they do) Quick: Who was Jacques Plante? (and if you mentioned "the mask", you're only just getting started)
Speaking of Jacques Plante and how he redefined the position, I can segue nicely to this topic: The Devil’s Trapezoid " Between the Pipes - understanding where "the trapezoid" came from, which is relevant to understanding this announcement from the GM's who are meeting in Toronto this week: General managers opt for status quo on goalie trapezoid - NHL Insider
More on the future of goalie gear in the NHL: This just in from Toronto this afternoon. New measurements will bring goalies down to size - NHL Insider NHL general managers were updated on the status of size-specific goaltending equipment being instituted next season. With 5-9 Legace and 6-3 Leighton, our Hurricanes netminders will find this new set of rules very relevant.
Last, you just gotta love this, from the land that produces goalies almost as fast as they breed reindeer, Finnish Goalie Matti Höylä does his homage to Michael Jackson, as "Thriller":
So, getting back to the Hurricanes' season, tell me, just how does this make you feel?
A week ago, we began comparing the experience of the CaniacNation, as our high expectations from September crashed head-on with the reality of where the team is now in November, to the stages of grieving. There are many who read here at Canes Country but who rarely post. And admit it, you silent lurkers - you know you love our polls. The traffic on the blog has been up significantly the last ten days. I'd guess there are many fans looking for answers, in-depth analysis, minute-by-minute updates, and perhaps even a few who need the cathartic commiserating. To all of you, I'm curious:
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Acceptance - and Easy Math
HM, I can NOT believe you didn’t include this quote, not surprisingly it’s my favorite, also from Droschak’s article:
Let’s not kid anybody, you know what kind of situation we’re in, but at the same time you have to learn lessons in life," Tuomo Ruutu said. "It doesn’t matter what’s in your past. There is nothing we can do about those games now. We lost those games and just won two and that’s it. If you start thinking too far ahead and say, ‘OK, let’s go win 10 in a row’ I don’t think it’s going to happen like that.
"I haven’t really thought about how many points we have to have at a certain point, but at the same time we can’t say any more that we’ve got a lot of the season left because we can’t have any more losing streaks like this and we’ve got to have some winning streaks. It’s easy math. I can even do it."
LoL. Tuomo speaks for me. It is what it is. Accept and move on.
Sisu
Very few and far between, my Finn has not been his ebullient self of late. I did see a couple of smiles returning yesterday at practice (don’t think I posted them though). Rest assured I remain on the case.
Sisu
That’s a real shame. His smile is one of the best parts of that team. I did appreciate the Timmy smile though!
Ruuty will be fine. It’s Joe Corvo I’m worried about. Someone definitely needs to keep him away from sharp objects.
Sisu
This is true – I went for Timmy because of the way he seemed to be shouldering the team yesterday at practice and I was speculating on a locker room talk he may have offered.
But that is so great from Ruu. And I actually thought Droschak’s article was by far the best of the bunch.
So I'm guessing this would be "bottom"?
by hockeymomof2 on Nov 11, 2009 4:30 PM EST up reply actions
Notes from pre-game skate.
It seemed like they worked a little harder than usual. More technical passing drills etc. Legace seemed much more comfortable. I was sitting behind my 9-yr old and his Squirt teammate, both in the multi-autographed red Canes jerseys, at the glass. Manny skated the opening laps and twice nodded and smiled to the boys. (Whitney, Cole, Wallin, also hammed it up for them, banging the glass when they weren’t looking, and tossing some pucks over the glass to the other kids who were off from school)
Not sure how to describe the mood. They were focused. Not high-energy excited. A little banter early, but not much. Chad was telling some story to Walker, making the funniest face just at the opening laps. Other than that, not a lot of smiles other than for the kids. NObody looked sad really. Just really intense.
Mo was running things.
Tripp wasn’t there. Nor was Bob B’A. Several unfamiliar faces – I’m assuming they were LA media.
Timmy G was among the last on the ice working on one-timers with Alberts Conboy, with Tom Rowe feeding them pucks for quite awhile. Timmy was shooting a lot. Tommy K stayed out there forever with Tom Rowe after the others went in, working on tip-ins and deflections like he’s ready to park his body in the crease tonight.
Last, Leighton was out there forever after the rest of the team left. Just him and Tom Barrasso. they may have worked on “lateral movement” for a just few minutes. Then he pushed his mask up and he and Barasso talked there in front of the net for maybe 15 minutes till the Zamboni came out. Barrasso was talking mostly, Leighton was nodding, seemed eager to hear what was being said. Definitely some (head) coaching going on there.
I hadn’t really considered till then what role Barasso as Assistant Coach may have played in all the quick decisions since Saturday (Or in deciding how much to play Ward prior to that). Surely he has a say and from the looks of it, he and Mo are on good terms…Jus’ saying, it may not be all Mo when we discuss “who ruined Michael Leighton”. (if that is indeed what’s going on). And this may not be all that much of a drama to Michael that we have projected from our outsiders viewpoint.
I took a picture of the 2 of them with my phone which I’ll post shortly.
So I'm guessing this would be "bottom"?
Thanks for the update!
I figured there would be lots of folks there with the holiday.
Interesting perspective on Barrasso. Supposedly the team does coach by committee, certainly you’d think his voice would be heard regarding who plays, who warms the bench, and who might be a good candidate to pick up.
By the way, is it my imagination, or is the ice PINK in that picture above? Sorry about that folks, it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer and lousy post-processing. I’ve got to work on my white balance skills.
Sisu
If the ice is pink, the helmet, jerseys and wall are definitley white. Must be the spray and the red of the pants blending together. You’re so picky! (look at my camera phone shot below to see what normal people are capable of)
So I'm guessing this would be "bottom"?
by hockeymomof2 on Nov 11, 2009 5:37 PM EST up reply actions
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