Quick Hits: Bret Hedican Retires

Bret Hedican officially announced his retirement today and Luke DeCock offers a nice writeup about it on Canes Now as well as in the print edition of the News and Observer.  There are some neat quotes in the article as to how the defenseman felt about playing in Carolina:

"For me, it was like the clouds separated and the sun shined down on me," Hedican said. "I was finally in the right place, where somebody appreciates what I do and what I can bring to a team. I knew it would be the place for me as long as I could possibly play."

His hometown write up is here.

One thing about Hedican, this won't be a Brett Favre-like decision. It would not surprise me to see the Hurricanes give some sort of special recognition to him in the near future.  It's a shame that injuries somewhat shortened his career.

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I'm not sure if this had been reported here before, but in case you missed it, (or I forgot it), Casey Borer will be out for three to four months because of upcoming neck surgery.  Borer was once on top of the Canes defensive depth chart, as far as being a player who was ready to take the next step.  But first knee surgery and now this neck problem, (which was caused by the infamous Albany bus crash), will be major setbacks for the blueliner to overcome. 

Teammate Joe Jensen is still suffering as well and will most likely miss the entire season.  Obviously, we wish these players the very best.

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I just checked with the Hurricanes, and it is still to be determined whether or not Friday night's game will be streamed online.  We will make an announcement as soon as we find out more.  One way or the other, we will continue to have a "Live Game Thread" here at Canes Country where everyone can discuss the game while in progress or between periods, just like we did for every game last season.

Cory and I will be covering the game.

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I apologize for not having the old "Newsstand" up and running and for having fewer links to other stories than we have had in the past.  There is just so much time in the day and Cory and I have been very busy.  Plus, I think it's better to spend what time I do have working on original content and try to keep things fresh in that way.  

Be sure to check the RSS feeds on the left sidebar if you have not been doing that.  Links to the latest stories from Canes Now, James Mirtle, Puck Daddy, and the Hurricanes writers from CH.com are automatically fed into those sections.  There has been an abundance of excellent content lately. 

And if you see an interesting story, feel free to email me the link or create a "Fanshot" of it yourself so that you can share it with everyone. 

Ciao!