Carolina Collapse Continues: Sharks 5, Canes 1
by Bob Wage on Nov 2, 2009 12:24 AM EST
101 comments
The Carolina Hurricanes dropped yet another hockey game, their ninth straight game without a win, to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-1. Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu both made returns to the ice, Ruutu after his three game suspension, Cole after missing 10 games because of a broken bone in his leg, but their additions were not enough to push this snake-bitten team into the win column.
As a matter of fact, the team has not even been in a close game since the 3-2 overtime loss to Minnesota on October 24th. The Canes have lost by a combined score of 16-4 over the last three games. What's wrong? It seems like just about everything.
Coach Paul Maurice said after the game that everyone needs to step up. The goaltending, the offense, the defense.
The first period looked pretty good and ended in a scoreless tie although there were definitely some communication problems on defense for the Hurricanes.
Joni Pitkanen held the puck behind the Hurricanes goal for several seconds as he and Aaron Ward tried to work out what to do next. At one point Pitkanen started pointing to Ward, then fired the puck with frustration along the boards, where it was picked off by a Shark. Luckily for the Canes the play was called offsides, but the two defensemen were still talking about the play at the bench afterward.
Is it at all surprising that some players on this team are not on the same page?
The second period started on a positive note for the home team. Brandon Sutter broke out with a two on one advantage and ended up ahead of the pack. He put a nice move on Evgeni Nabokov and scored, giving the Canes a lead.
But what has been become quite typical for the Hurricanes, it was a very short-lived lead. One minute and 17 seconds later, Kent Huskins would tie the score on a wrap around goal which Cam Ward would love to have back. It was the first goal of the season for Huskins.
Just one minute and 22 seconds after that, Brad Staubitz would score his second goal of the year and any slight confidence the Canes might have had up to that point, disappeared.
The Sharks would score yet another goal before the end of the period, making the score 3-1.
The third period started with the Hurricanes putting pressure on in the San Jose end. They had a couple of close calls as Erik Cole set up a prime chance for Ray Whitney. But the puck bounced out to the Sharks and they would come down to the other end and score easily. Just that quickly it was 4-1 and for all intents and purposes, the contest was over.
Carolina would be called for three straight penalties later in the period and Patrick Marleau would score a powerplay tally during one of the sequences to complete the disappointment for the remaining home fans.
Game Notes:
- The
JokinenPitkanen/Ward confusion in the opening minutes was symbolic of the team's problems at this time. A simple thing like breaking out the puck turned into a fiasco and almost a goal against. And it was not the only time a defensive pairing had similar trouble in this contest. The chemistry on this team sometimes seems nonexistent. - For the second game in a row, Brandon Sutter scored the only goal for the Hurricanes. Would they have been shut out twice if not for the youngster's efforts? Sutter is making more than one statement with his play. First, he's making a case for his permanent stay in the NHL. Second, he's making it look like a huge mistake to have such a veteran laden team instead of going with more youth. More about that later.
- At one time the Hurricanes were winning just 10% of faceoffs, but ended up at 41%. After the game I asked Sutter about the challenge of switching back and forth from winger to center and he said for the most part it was not a problem, but taking faceoffs was tough. The youngster was 0-8 in the circle for this game.
- Eric Staal did not return to the game to start the third period because of an undisclosed upper body injury. John Forslund said afterward that it was a lingering injury the team wanted to be careful with. Staal had been fighting a lower body injury earlier in the season. He has not really looked like himself yet this year.
- For some reason, the second period seems to be a major challenge for Carolina. They have allowed more goals in the second period, (20), than in any other. San Jose racked up three more in this affair.
- The team could only muster five shots on goal in the second period, tied for their lowest in any period this season.
- The Hurricanes have allowed three unanswered goals in 6 of 13 games this year. They have lost each of those games.
Later on this week, the Canes will be taking on the other bottom feeders in the conference. Wednesday night's contest will be in Florida and Friday night they will face Toronto at the RBC. Will they finish out the week at the bottom of the league? If Toronto wins this week, they will not have to wait until Friday for that dubious honor.
Someone recorded the "issue" between Joni Pitkanen and Aaron Ward. Simply bizarre.
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What is the next step to righting the listing ship
Thought I heard faint chants of ‘Mo must Go’. Maybe a bit premature, but with the entire team playing poorly (except for Sutter) what should we think. Was his return last year a fluke? Did the team just not like playing for Laviolette? I always thought that the pig headed front office didn’t like Loviolette because he wanted to run the team and bought in Mo so that they can control it again. Any thoughts on that? If it is true, then we need a new GM and Coach.
Hows the draft class looking this year?
We may at least get a nice high draf pick… thats about all the half full i can think of… apart from sutter of course :)
My impression is that it’s not great.
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 6:58 AM EST up reply actions
from what I have heard
its deep with no major standouts. A bunch of really good first round type players… but no Crosbys/AO’s/Malkin types.
by packpigskinfan25 on Nov 2, 2009 10:53 AM EST up reply actions
Mistake
Bob, great article, as always. One mistake in it, though. In game notes, it says Jokinen/Ward, while it was, of course, between Pitkanen and Ward.
There are both Finns and good friends, so it is easy to understand how such a mistake could happen.
It was a big mistake bringing Aaron Ward back to this team. He doesn’t even begin to look like the same defensive player he was in Boston last season. I’m not sure what is going on with LaRose. He’s no where near the player he was last season either. Staal has been invisible on the ice. If he’s hurt, sit the game out. I think he’s scared if he does that he’ll miss his chance at making Team Canada. Guess what, that time has probably come and gone because of your poor performance so far. Why is it no one on the team is willing to crash the net? I realize it was Ruutu’s first game back after his suspension, but he said he wasn’t going to change his game. To me, he looked scared to finish his checks. I’ve been defending Cam in each of the team’s losses but I can’t do that from the game yesterday. The only bright spot in the last two games has been Sutter.
Live & Learn
I’ve been defending Cam in each of the team’s losses but I can’t do that from the game yesterday.
Yeah before the game I was saying that the only two guys who were pulling their weight this season had really been Whitney and Wardo…but damn, that hasn’t really even happened this past week.
They should have a drawing…replace the coaching staff with a write-in Caniac crew and replace the defense with those wing-chun martial arts wooden dummies on a set of coasters and just let everyone else push them around on the ice.
For offense we can probably get the guys who clean the ice on the commercial breaks to carry a stick instead of a giant scoop…because basically any change right now can’t hurt. We’re worse than the Islander, for christs sake, and yesterday we had the attendance to go with it :-/
You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning
Actually I think the attendance was over 15,000 which is great at a 1:30 game.
But you will see attendance greatly decline from this point on.
by canescup on Nov 2, 2009 7:20 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
it was Ruutu’s first game back after his suspension, but he said he wasn’t going to change his game.
He’ll be back… just give him another game.
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 7:00 AM EST up reply actions
I think LaRose has been the player he needs to be the last two games. He’s forechecked well, caused problems, drawn penalties, and had decent opportunities. I called him out a few games back, but I think he’s improved over the last two.
5 seconds left.
Do you believe in miracles?
YES!!
by C-Leaguer on Nov 2, 2009 7:02 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
At this point I’m just speechless, there’s really nothing left to say.
by canescup on Nov 2, 2009 6:38 AM EST via mobile reply actions
I think these three words and their definitions sum things up..
Fiasco: a complete failure
Debacle: a : a great disaster b : a complete failure
Failure: a : omission of occurrence or performance
They need some of this…
Teamwork: work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole
My glass is officially half empty :(
My glass is empty – I drank every last drop…
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 6:50 AM EST up reply actions
That-a-girl!!
This isn’t even a glass half full (ecept for ChrisJ) thing anymore. Half a glass of piss is still half a glass of piss. And you wanna talk about piss poor playing….jeeezuz.
I agree with whomever said attend. will be down. The boo’s will be flying and think people will be shitting on Mo. I am not a believer that the guy is failing. The Pitts/Ward thing shows me that this isn’t a philosophy or line change issue, not even a Binky. The team is just sucking. They have the wrong mind set and wallowing in self pity. I ain’t saying Mo is innocent or anything. I also don’t think there has been enough play to even judge what the hell Mo is trying to do. It’s like trying to play chess with checkers.
My chant is “JR sucks, Sutter for Captain”!!!
A
Hurricane's
Team should be downgraded to Carolina Shower’s. It is totally unfair to criticize anyone player when the whole team sucks. I wonder if it would be possible to fire the whole team and just start over from scratch? We could not do any worse, than we have done so far this season. I think we can just forget about any kind of playoff competition this season,we are to far behind in the points to even think about playoffs.
robert
At the risk of being really out there
They are now the Carolina Tampons.
No second string and only good for one period.
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
ugh… come on, it’s way to early in the morning for that… gross…
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 7:37 AM EST up reply actions
Early?
Like I said before, I’ve been up since 4:00am
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
While Ruuty was not his old self, he was at least positioned right in front of the net when he was on the ice (more than I can say for anyone else on the team…)
Any bets on whether they have a closed bag skate today? or do they really get the day off after that $&!# last night…?
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 6:52 AM EST reply actions
That Pits-Ward “conversation” pretty much sums up our game. And maybe now we know what the coaches are working against.
What the coaches are working against? It seems to me like not knowing how to set up the puck is indicative of a coaching staff that has yet to install a M***** F****** system in which to play in. This team stinks of mismanagement.
So you honestly think the coaches need to set up how Pitts get’s the puck out of the zone?
Lemme ‘splain it like this. At this level every player should know his job and have a good to awsome control over it. Pitt sitting back there with his thumb up his ass waiting for Ward to do something is not a coaching issue it’s a player making yet another bone head play. Whether that be Ward or Pitts, I neither know nor care. Pitts is more than capable of taking it himself. If not Pitts would have a plan B to get the puck up ice. There are a ferw other guys out there to pass to.
Nope, not coaching Cole is back and the Binky death is upon us (sorry couldn’t resist)
Nah the players are just in a fugue and that play was the classic moment of a good player that is lost. That’s not the coach, that’s the player, Pitts gets paid a shitload of money to get the puck out, whether Mo tells him to stick it in his pocket, up his ass or pass it is almost irrelevant. It’s up to Pitts to pick one of the miriad of choices and make it happen.
Now that said, do we have some coaching issues? Yup. WTF is Francis doing? I thought he was a PP expert. If so shoot him and bring in anybody else. That associate coach thing combined with Ron swearing on everything holy since he retired that he didn’t ever want to coach is just another in the long string of JR’s total and complete failure. Never set someone up to fail. Ron was set up in a spot he didn’t want and now he is failing. There is one head coach, so you have one head on the block.
Next it all started with the injuries the last couple years. We went from the least penalized, ie; most disciplines to the bag of shit we have now. Rod got old and got a boo boo. Welcome to getting old. Again upper management knew best and let the boys slide.
The awful truth of the matter is the same bitter pill I had to swallow about keeping Rod this year. Mo can’t go. We still have that corpulant tick on the payroll in Lavi. So ain’t no way these guys are gonna stick another coach with multiple years on his contract anywhere but on the bench.
A
If two player do not know what to do on what should be a set play you better believe the coaching staff is to blame. It means they are not sending a consistent message.
I cannot believe you are still blaming Laviolette in all of this as well. At least under lavi we NEVER looked this bad. At least when Petey was here we played entertaining hockey, win or lose. Plus, for all the pomp and GD circumstance the coaching change got last year, did we finish of the year in that much better a position that where we were when Lavi got the can? How much of our turnaround was us just getting out of a funk as opposed to MO doing anything particularly well. It really took Leight on turning in a sterling win against the best reg season team in hockey for us to really begin to turn it around.
Mo was a bad idea from the word go, I personally would rather them fire MO again and let us see if the other coach on our Payroll can do better.
Oh yea, the two years we didn’t make the playoffs were about as much fun as getting my balls crushed in a vise.
Lavi was fired for what he is. Lightning in a pan and no staying energy.
Look man, players at this level have to be held to a minimal standard of play. The coach has to be able to expect somethings are a given, like getting a friggin’ puck up ice.
As usual we see the same thing and approach it diff.
I think we can agree this sucks and something has to give soon.
I say players, you say coachs. I’d settle for both. Reminds me a friggin congress.
A
A
I agree with the last part, players and coaches are both responsible.
I think I may let them go for the year. It isn’t good for my health or my marriage. I’ll still wear my colors, but dang, I can’t watch my team kill itself.
Lavi got fired for missing the playoffs by one game
Maurice got a three year contract for making the playoffs by one game.
by DidJussiThat? on Nov 2, 2009 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
i kind of agree.
but you can see the frustration inside of pitkanen, expecially in his style of play of late. he is always trying to do it on his own, kidn of like staal and cole, and just turning it over. defenses arent ready for pits thats why his chances always look better but, i JUST HOPE
we dont lose pitkanen to lack of interest..
Let's cheer ourselves up!
Hey, the Carolina Panthers won!
Beat the Cardinals!
Duke has an outside chance to win the ACC!
The end is near!
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
No but as soon as I get those picts of him in a compromising position
his game will improve.
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
I was at yesterday’s disaster. I don’t want to give away any State Secrets or anything, but late in the 2nd I saw Staal skate off holding a wrist funny like he’d been slashed really bad.
I sit 8 rows up behind one of the goals and after Cam let in that rediculous first goal, Rod looked at him like he was ready to take his first fighting major, for beating up his own goalie. Just plain stared him down. Cam showed him though. Let in another the next minute.
so at what point are we officially allowed to bring out the “Season from Hell” banner from the mothballs?
after thanksgiving. when we realize we have no games to be thankful for…
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 9:24 AM EST up reply actions
After this month
If they are still pissing away the games I’ll make a new one and hang it from the Mezz of section 330
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
If anyone is on here around 10-noon this AM could someone check the RBC webcam to see if they do indeed have a closed practice bag skate today? I’ll be away from my computer so I can’t check… I thought I saw the olympia on the ice about 5 mins ago…
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 9:22 AM EST reply actions
LOL Andrea great minds think alike! I’m watching it now.
Sisu
by LTD on Nov 2, 2009 9:39 AM EST up reply actions
I see some specks out there now, but doesn’t look like the whole team (yet)
I gotta run now… hope they get skated to near death…
Hey, LTD, you going to practice tomorrow? If so I’ll see you there…
by Andrea's evil twin on Nov 2, 2009 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
Looks like there are a half-dozen or so folks out on the ice. That being said, didn’t I hear that the Sharks were staying over through today and were going to practice here? If so it may be them.
I’m hoping to get to practice tomorrow if work permits.
Sisu
by LTD on Nov 2, 2009 9:47 AM EST up reply actions
The Sharks stayed over to practice here today before they head to Columbus.
by hotchipsnsalsa on Nov 2, 2009 9:58 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t think a bag skate would even help at this point. They just don’t care.
by canescup on Nov 2, 2009 9:47 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I think some do and some don't
and all at different times.
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
hard to tell..
the jerseys on the webcam look teal though….
I sit in 115 and could hear A. Ward yelling at Joni on that play… I think that even Stormy knows how to break out of the defensive zone… through the neutral zone… and put the puck on the net….
And… Mo should bench anyone who is on the ice who passes more than twice before taking a shot on goal….
put the damned puck on the net and everyone else crash for a rebound…. it’s simple… and it works…. geeeez…. (and it wouldn’t hurt for someone to park their butt in front of the other teams goaltender…. especially on the power play)
I think that at this point the 2002-2003 hurricanes could have their way with the 2009-2010 Hurricanes…..
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Nov 2, 2009 10:17 AM EST reply actions
And on another note… I will be pissed if Staal comes back for the next game….
John Forslund said yesterday on 99.9 that Staal has been playing hurt and that it’s a “nagging” injury that has kept him from shooting the puck w/ authority (like we all know he can).
I say that if you are playing w/ an injury that is hurting your performance to the point where it hurts the team… then take your happy @$$ out of the game…. nobody cares about Staals stupid consecutive game streak if it is hurting our team….
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Nov 2, 2009 10:23 AM EST reply actions
Ice_chip just tweeted that Staal will miss a few games….
Best news in weeks…. Hopefully (now that he isn’t worrying about his stupid streak) he can get healthy and come back in good shape to actually help the team….
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Nov 2, 2009 11:01 AM EST up reply actions
Here's a question
I wonder how hurt Staal really was and how much his teammates noticed his lack of intensity.
Also, they saw his numbers weren’t anything close to where he usually is and worse than some of them, but he got the ice time. As those guys are all competitive, it wouldn’t surprise me if they figured, “WTF”, as well.
When all else fails, read the instruction manual.
JR speaks
I was going to play GM today and inject a note of sanity into what can be done when, but JR saved me the trouble.
"I’ve seen enough to where I’m as disappointed as I’ve ever been in a team" – OUCH!!
JR’s gloves are off, a lot of changes have got to start coming now – youngsters up, oldies waivered? Like it says in that article its probs too early in the season for a decent trade so i assume he’ll wait for a while to make trades and instead hope for other teams to claim certain people off waivers… ?
Carson & Rodney up? Boychuk and Bowman too?
LETS MAKE SOME CHANGES!!
Sustainability 101: revenue must match expenses
Now, PK could choose to pump money into his hobby, as most hobbyists do.
But, take a look at this Triangle Business Journal article.
Note, in particular, that although overall season ticket sales were up this year, that the overall revenue from them was down, as some fans opted for cheaper seats/packages. No question corporate suite sales are down.
But, the real change is that the walk-up crowd is down. No surprise, as they are largely influenced by winning ways and entertaining hockey, of which we have none to sell this year to date.
So, if as GM, my owner tells me he wants to balance the budget, I have to start looking at the salary budget as a place to cut in order to match expenses to current revenue projections.
Bye, bye vets, hello newbies.
it's up to the gods
i am at a LOSS as to the problems now. a loss. total loss. it just gets sadder and sadder. no clue. no clue. yay for sutter though.
paul maurice
is he out by the end of this season? will they keep him on until next season? his contract is three years.
What knucklehead would give him a 3 year contract when Lavy has…..oh never mind.
by drifterscape on Nov 2, 2009 11:28 AM EST up reply actions
I found the Ward and Pitkanen to be quite humorous. The wingers were flying the D-zone to seemingly allow for a less congested breakout. Numerous times the D threw the puck up the boards to where the forwards were positioned in the neutral zone. The funny thing is, skating the puck out of the D-zone should have been easier in this situation but Pitkanen decided to stay put. Standing still in hockey rarely results in anything positive.
Standing still in hockey rarely results in anything positive.
There was way too much of this going on during that game yesterday
Even the Mighty Mites know how to break out of the devensive zone…..
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Nov 2, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions
San Jose Sharks
Before leaving this post, just wanted to give a glove-tap to the Sharks.
Looking across at their bench, compared to our bench, was like looking at a team from another league. Their bodies were larger, their passes crisper, their roster far more formidable (Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Boyle…Yikes!).
Several of their players had more than twice the number of points of our highest scorers. They’re just operating at a completely different level than we are.
Plus, they’ve been tearing up the Eastern conference on this road trip, beating Philly by a 4-1 score, among others.
There’s really no shame losing to a team of this caliber. It’s just the manner in which we lost that’s most troubling. Seemingly no fight.
self sabotage?
it’s almost like the canes are trying to sabotage themselves on purpose. like the players are in on it cause they hate the management? i mean it’s like we’re rome letting the trojan horse right on in. we doing our own selves in. i would bet a junior hockey team could beat us at this point. i remember by dad wincing at the picks they were making in terms of size, bulk, and age. he was like, “why aren’t they getting young fast agile smaller guys?”. cause that’s obviously what we need. i mean brandon sutter was the star of the game. WTF? cullen still seems to play well. but the others. i mean what WAS that between pitkanen and ward. you wouldn’t see that in the toddler hockey games. ridiculous. inexcusable.
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