OH, come on… Really?
Gah! The ability of this franchise to frustrate…!

Cory – do you see this as just a roster move? When do they need to decide what to do with Yelle?

Some of this seems pretty technical as to why they do things the way they do. Surely Cam goes on the IR – how does this effect the numbers? And is Staal on the IR? How does that affect our cap calcs???

Surely the brain trust is going through a major season assessment right now. Business decisions are being made.

I wouldn’t be looking for them to max out either the payroll or the cap hit, unless part of a very temporary transistion strategy to accommodate a player shuffle. Not when many fans are already deciding to just watch on TV instead of going to the game.

Expenses must match revenue. Draft picks are available. Prepare to dive?

Shades of that tragic season. Terrifically surprising Cup run the year before. Entire team returned, with the exception of Gelinas (who, like Yelle, had been waived earlier in that season, only to score critical goals, including the conference-winning one in the Toronto series).

Alas, key injuries plagued that ‘02-’03 team, including losing Brind’Amour early for the remainder of the season with a hand injury. This at a time when Brind’Amour was our number two center behind Francis and key penalty killer.

Dead last in the league, we lost the lottery, but ended up with our targeted player (unless the fears of JR drafting Fleury after drafting Ward the year before were true) in Staal.

Still, it was a entertaining year for the fans as waves of players came up from the Lockmonsters to play. Became quite a tradition for each to score in their very first NHL game. One broke his arm celebrating that first goal and was out for weeks. Good times, good times.

However, there’s an eerily similar feeling to that season so far this year.

 I’m hoping it’s just paper voodoo and we see lil chuck up here on Wed.

Just when you thought it was safe to hope….

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Most likely wizard is good to go so they r sending the kid back down. Just as well, the luck surrounding us, if he stayed up he’d probably end up getting stabbed of run over by an Olympia……

I hope they don’t trade the farm in a vein attempt to salvage the season. That would be the worst thing they could do. At least at this point we still have our prospects.

Hell, they might as well play for the lotto now. I do expect many of these guys to be traded in the coming months. There is no way this team is making the playoffs this year. If you think they are, then kudos to you for keeping faith, but that can only go so far. Guys like Whitney, Walker, Cullen, Samsonov, Corvo, and others (depending on contracts) I think will be traded for prospects.

It has become painfully obvious that this team is not forming the way we thought it would. There is no chemistry, no tricky play, poor offense and defense, and an increasing losing attitude on a team that already has no confidence. They are also the oldest and slowest team in the league. I loved what I saw out of Boychuk. They kid does have a bright future in the NHL, as does Sutter. Not to mention we have some terrific prospects in Albany right now ready to play for the Canes. Now, I think the best thing that could happen is that we have a horrible year (yes, I know how that sounds), but be able to draft a terrific, young, scoring winger how can come in and immediately play with Eric Staal on his line.

I think that is the thing Staal really needs right now. He needs a scoring winger, not a guy who scores a goal in a blue moon and occasionally is a power forward (cough Cole cough). And just imagine a second line with Sutter, Boychuk and possibly Bowman or some other guy who can score. And the defense looks to have a bright future as well with McBain waiting for his chance.

I really think that this year is a rebuilding year for us. We are all going to have to endure the pain of it though. But I expect this team to be better because of it. With a younger, faster team, with a proportional mix of rookies and vets, we will be a helluva team next year.

I just hope they don’t begin to play well because we won’t have that top 5 pick in the draft. Just my 2 cents on this situation.

but the group mind, led by Paladin, is leaning towards giving some young guys their shot and prepping them for next year, and that will probably involve moving some FA vets that wouldn’t be resigned anyway due to the massive financial loss that PK is about to endure.
Mrs Gillimus and I have 26-game tickets, and these are the players that we are excited to see (that aren’t hurt) as we’re heading into the Big ATM:
Sutter
Boychuk
Jussi
Pits
Whitney.

2 minor-leaguers, a D man, the wizard, and a Finn. That’s it. I have a Ruutu jersey, but since his suspension I’m muttering “Ruuuu?” instead of hollering “RUUUU!!” There’s one level where the GM has to put together a team that’s competitive and fits into a budget. There’s another level where the fans -paying the freight, since the NHL has no TV contract - need to be interested enough to spend considerable amounts of money to go to the games. JR has proven to be pretty good at the former; can he now produce the latter?

Do we have a goaltender yet?

I am a relatively new hockey fan. I actually blindly started going to games because of my son’s interest in the team during the Cup year and have become a ravenous fan since getting spoiled with a cup my first year out. I have dealt with the doldrums of the two seasons post cup and the weak Nov and Dec of LY, but have never dreamed of such a funk as the team is in now. Having said that, I have a lot of respect for the sport and the fans…especially Canes fans. It takes a lot of dedication to be a solid member of the Caniac faithful…ie. STHs, bloggers, airport meeters…etc..during a time like this. I, however, am dedicated in mind and heart ( as well as wallet STH and Center Ice and NHL Net subscriber) to sticking with the team…by the way..so is my son 12yr old. He is already looking for the lotto, but keeps telling me that we are only 10 pts out of 8th. Hang in there Caniacs!!!! Believe Canes!!!!

Let’s think about the real possibility Cam has nerve damage and he’s done. What to do now?

Absolutely don’t do this. Eek – there’s plenty of problems without borrowing trouble. Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet. Go get some sleep, Paladin.

The org has to be going through some intense soul-searching right now.

Is this a salvageable season (ie. playoff position)? 2-11-3 after 16 games (about a fifth of the games) for 7 total points to date, when we should be at (16 games x 1.1 points/game) = 18 points minimum for an eighth-place slot playoff pace (forget the division for the moment).

So we’re 11 points off pace. That’s going to take a couple of substantial winning streaks to overcome, but it is doable. Doable by last year’s post-break team, that is.

However, JR’s short-term goal was to just get to 0.500 by Christmas, presumably then turning on the afterburners early next year. Now even that goal is doubtful. Cam’s out for over a month and may not be in top form when he returns. Staal’s out for a bit and is this the kind of injury that could recur unless given an off-season to fully heal?

So, double-down on the goalie budget, plug the hole with an unsigned FA goalie, put your head down and play your way out of this? Or, just go with the org’s goalies in hand, Leighton and Peters, and see where we are when Cam and everyone is back?

Lots for the front office to discuss.

So if Cam is only going to be out for “3 to 4 weeks” Does it really make sense to sign a goaltender or trade for one???

To me it does not make sense unless they expect Cam to be out until March or April.

If they sign a goaltender on Monday…. then he plays (or rides the bench) for 3 to 4 weeks and then Cam comes back and we suddenly have 3 NHL goaltenders using cap space and payroll (we could use to trade for a good forward) until the trade deadline…..

It just does not make sense to cary 3 goaltenders until the Trade Deadline….

Turn on NHL On the Fly – they’ve got a long segment on Ward’s injury, JR’s options, and a pretty good Q&A with Luke DeCock on the phone. Maybe 10 mins worth. (I put more about the highlights on the game summary post after this one)

Traditionally, it takes 93-95 points to get the 8th spot. Let’s say we need 94pts. ‘Canes have 7 pts with 66 games left. So we need 87 pts in 66 games. So imagine a 40-20-6 record to finish the year and we’re still short a point. And we’re not gonna finish like that. We’re done. It’s just math at this point.

Something wierd about posting today???

Can Walker punch Award again?

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