Six Hurricanes Questions With The Hockey News’ Adam Proteau
by Cory Lavalette on Sep 21, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
in Carolina Hurricanes Training Camp
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With the NHL preseason underway, every team enters the 2011-12 campaign with a clean slate and the expectation of reaching the postseason. Adam Proteau, a writer and columnist for The Hockey News, makes his living writing about the NHL and trying to predict how teams will perform short term and over the grind of an 82-game season.
Adam was kind enough to answer a handful of questions about the Hurricanes' upcoming season, including his insight on some of the ex-Toronto players that he has seen extensively.
Canes Country: Can the Canes replace Erik Cole's production, perhaps with Alexei Ponikarovsky returning to the form he had under Paul Maurice in Toronto?
Proteau: I’m not sure Ponikarovsky is the guy to depend on for the 20-25 goals Cole provided. As someone who saw a lot of Ponikarovsky in Toronto, I’d say he’s ill-suited to anything but the third line at this stage of his career – and he won’t get the sort of ice time necessary to replace Cole’s lost offence. Instead, I think it could be Anthony Stewart who steps up. He had a decent season in Atlanta last year (including five power play goals and 10 points) and is five years younger than Ponikarovsky.
Canes Country: Is the addition of Brian Boucher finally the right fit to back up Cam Ward?
Proteau: Boucher is a solid backup, but let’s face it, the Canes still are going to lean on Ward very heavily. If he can give Maurice 25-30 good games, the Canes will be very happy. And I think he can do that.
Canes Country: Do you expect Jeff Skinner to suffer a "sophomore slump," put up similar numbers, or improve?
Proteau: I don’t believe in jinxes based on age or number of seasons. I do believe that young players’ development isn’t always linear. So do I expect Skinner to take a backward step? No. But would I be surprised to see him plateau for a few months and make smaller improvements to his game? Also, no.
Canes Country: Is Carolina's retooled defense (and power play) — featuring Tomas Kaberle replacing Joe Corvo — better or worse?
Proteau: Kaberle is another guy I saw a lot of in Toronto. And like Ponikarovsky, I think his best days are behind him. He didn’t have a single power play goal last season and his power play assist numbers in 2010-11 were a little more than half of what he posted in 2005-06. So no, I don’t expect the Canes’ power play to be significantly better.
Canes Country: Why would the Jets not qualify Stewart, a big, 26-year-old power forward, after he put up 14 goals and nearly 40 points in Atlanta last season?
Proteau: Beats me, but then again, I didn’t understand very much of what the Jets did in the off-season. Yeah, he was a minus-10 for the Thrashers, but they weren’t a very good team in the second half of the year. I think Winnipeg will come to regret that move.
Canes Country: By the sounds of it, Ryan Murphy and Justin Faulk were impressive in Traverse City. Do you see either of them getting a shot in Carolina this season?
Proteau: No, not really, although you never can tell what opportunities will be opened up by injuries or poor performances. I think management is happy to let both guys develop without pressure.
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Forgotten Q&A
Canes Country: Is there any team as super fantastic as the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Proteau: Absolutely not. I give no kudos whatsoever to any team or GM that does not wear the blue and white. The Leafs will win all their games this year and sweep the playoffs as they grab the Cup.
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Sep 21, 2011 8:11 AM EDT reply actions
Adam grew up a Leafs fan, but I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of what kind of hockey commentator he is.
He’s a columnist for the THN, he knows what he’s talking about. To discredit him because he grew up a Leafs fan is kind of ridiculous.
It was meant to be a response to Sgt. Stinky … I was saying that people who say Adam is all pro-Leafs just b/c he’s a Toronto guy are doing a disservice to the kind of writer and analyst he is. He is extremely objective, IMO.
by Cory Lavalette on Sep 21, 2011 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Gotcha … realized my wording was a little off. Thought it best to clarify.
by Cory Lavalette on Sep 21, 2011 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
judging by this interview and this interview alone...
…he sounds like a homer. just one man’s opinion.
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Sep 21, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
The Maple Leaf Bias
I watched Ponikarovsky very closely over the past four years and saw his ups and downs. He was not a favorite of Brian Burke and Wilson who wanted to remake Ponikarovsky into a 225 lb Ruutu. Ponikarovsky battled some nagging injuries and had streaks where he was not at his best. To call Ponikarovsky at best a third line forward whose best years are behind him defies logic as far as I am concerned. It would be accurate to state that if Ponikarovsky continues to suffer nagging injuries that he cannot overcome, he will have a challenge on the first line. It is also accurate to say that there is zero reason why Ponikarovsky cannot score twenty goals or more on a line with Staal as long as Ponikarovsky stays healthy and can keep up his energy level.
Similarly, Kaberle was also not a favorite of Burke and Wilson and his performance dropped accordingly. Kaberle did not suffer from significant injuries and there is no basis for saying his best years are behind him. It is fair to say that Kaberle obviously did not flourish under Burke and Wilson; but Burke and Wilson have not been successful in Toronto in terms of their teams’ playoff participation. Burke and Wilson have not taken the Leafs to the playoffs despite being a team that spends to the Cap. You’d think Proteau might have noticed that the Hurricanes are a more successful franchise over the past twelve years than the Leafs. I did not find Proteau’s comments accurate or insightful as it related to the ex-Leafs.
he seems to be saying their best days are behind them, and that's about it
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Sep 21, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
he sounds like a homer. just one man’s opinion
what do you guys sound like? Hockey players don’t better with age once they hit about 28.
Canes are my chosen team but that doesn’t mean I can’t be objective about our players. I would say Adam’s comments on Poni and Kaberle were right on the mark. That’s not to say that either doesn’t bring value. Its just that they are entering the veteran years of their careers and there has been some noticeable decline in their games. I actually think that 3rd line status may be the best spot for Poni. A line of Poni, Sutter and Larose would be interesting. I think there are better options for the top line…. Dalpe being one. I’m not an advocate of having Stewart there…… Cole was effective on that line because his outside speed gave Staal space. Stewart doesn’t bring that. Dalpe has some size, speed, moves and can shoot. I can see him creating space for Staal.
Kaberle is not going to be that elite puck moving Dman he once was. In fact I always thought he was a over hyped by the TO fans and press. But as a solid 2nd pairing depth guy he can be valuable while our younger offensive minded defenceman develop.
As for some of the comments that Poni and Kaberle were not favorites of Burke and Wilson…. sometimes players fall out of favor because they don’t produce or play up to their contracts. I’m not the biggest fan of either Burke and Wilson but they also value their careers and I doubt they would put guys who are producing in the dog house because of some personal bias.
by sittler27 on Sep 21, 2011 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed, it’s not as much of an issue if Poni ends up playing on the 3rd line as it is if Kabs plays himself onto the 3rd d pairing, if it ended being Kabs & Allen on the 3rd d pairing that’s like $7.15mil, which makes JR look foolish. The lack of minutes Kabs played in Boston may be a blessing in disguise; he’s probably in good shape and not banged up.
Wilson and Burke
If one looks at the amount of funds available to Burke and then compares the performance of the Maple Leafs under his regime, he’s underwhelming. Burke has a singular approach. He tried to get Ponikarovsky to play as like Armstrong and it didn’t work well at all. He wanted defense men who played more like Gleason; and that player is not Kaberle. Wilson is very old-school and is Burke’s long time friend. They want a particular kind of player with a particular style. The question is whether the decline in Ponikarovsky’s play was the result of losing a step or losing desire; or to the contrary, did he have some nagging injuries that hampered him. The same is true for Kaberle. Is he a defense man who has lost step or was he on a team that didn’t want what he offered as a player. There is zero evidence Ponikarovsky has lost a step. Similarly, there is no evidence Kaberle is on the downward slope.
No evidence? You base your opinions off of both player’s time in TO, but both players did not come to us from TO. Poni got to play in one of the most dynamic offenses in the league while with PItt and underwhelmed. He also did not impress in LA. Kaberle was in decline while in TO, but he did not show anything in Boston either. His skill set was the missing piece for an abysmal Boston PP in the playoff, yet he never delivered the goods. You can disagree and think that these two are going to make a huge difference on this club, and I hope you are right. To say that there is no evidence of either being in decline, however, is to have one’s head in the sand.
by wylde4canes on Sep 21, 2011 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Ponikarovsky was still scoring at a decent rate in Pittsburgh in the regular season.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:23 AM EDT up reply actions
Zero evidence?
Then what the hell was last year? Both (offensive-minded) players set career lows in scoring rate with their most recent teams.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:22 AM EDT up reply actions
On board with everything you said here.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Ponikarovsky Last Night
Against the Predators, who are a well-coached, and excellent defensive team, Ponikarovsky had two excellent goals. Being with Staal and being able to take advantage of Staal’s ability to get shots to the net will help Ponikarovsky offensively. I continue to think a more detailed analysis of Ponikarovsky’s play over the past three years refutes any claim that he is player on any kind of downward slope. Big, fast forwards with excellent hands can stay in the NHL about as long as their knees and eye/hand coordination hold up. I think at some point both Dalpe and Skinner will get some turns playing with the Staal/Ponikarovsky duo. Also, Jokinen is getting his regular season hands honed up. He had a couple of opportunities that he’d likely convert if it were into the regular season, I think.
That does seem a bit silly to claim he hasn't shown himself to be trending downward.
Then again, he set the bar reasonably high. The point of contention should lie with the notion that he can’t turn it around from his slow pace last year in LA and his (reasonably) underwhelming time in Pittsburgh (particularly in the playoffs, although he wouldn’t be the first or last to struggle in that setting.)
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 24, 2011 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Ponikarovsky Career Stats
http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54295/alexei-ponikarovsky#
Hard to see Ponikarovsky based on the stats and adjusting for injuries as sliding downward. Broken fingers and nagging injuries hurt any NHL player’s performance. It’s an example how easy it is to say a player is slumping if one doesn’t do some independent research to try to separate fact from myth.
What was his excuse in Pittsburgh?
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 25, 2011 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Sounds like the Stewart move is the only one he thinks will pay off. i don’t quite understand what his answer regarding Boucher meant – when asked if he thought Boucher was finally the backup we’d been looking for – he says we’re still going to lean on Cam heavily – well, duh? Doesn’t every team lean heavily on their starter? And there’s no way Cam will only play 50 games (Boucher will give Maurice 25-30 good games). In my mind – a backup that can give us 20 good games IS the backup we’ve been looking for, so i don’t get this response. Definitely not what we wanted to hear about Poni, Kaberle, and even Skinner to a point.
no way boucher plays more than 15-20 games under mo
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Sep 21, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps Proteau believes it'd be better to have a backup who he'd feel more comfortable starting for long stretches.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:08 AM EDT up reply actions
I didn’t see much of the game in Buffalo, but from hearing the commentary on 99.9, the recaps, listening to all the twitter; seems like in general Poni is looking a lot stronger than Stewart – though he wasn’t in the Buffalo game. Poni also set some of the highest marks for strength testing Friday I think I saw.
So, I take it as one man’s very informed broadly knowledgeable position overall, but not sure this reflects the most detailed research about the most recent developments. Maybe so, but his references are not current.
And he definitely does not seem objective on the former Leafs, speaking in a way that comes off as I’m from Toronto, I know these guys really well, and they suck. Made me laugh.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Sep 21, 2011 10:27 AM EDT reply actions
Honestly, I think you’d get that from most hockey writers who aren’t Canes fans. His comments are kind of obvious, neither are coming off good years and by NHL standards both are old men. I don’t think he’s right but I also don’t think subjective based on his body of work and where he’s from. I think if you surveyed NHL writers whether they’re beat or periodical based you’d probably find more in Proteau camp than in the they’re going to have a break-out season camp.
Yep
But then most are the “what have you done for me lately” types. Lately, last two years, Poni hasn’t been close to the potential he showed earlier… Therefore, since his play the last two seasons has declined each season, he’s done. May or may not be true. Brindy didn’t look good his first few seasons in NC, but he turned it around, but that’s just one example.
I don't get this "Ponikarovski has been bad for two years" meme.
Yes, he was bad in LA. But he’s exactly ONE season removed from a 50-point year!
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:10 AM EDT up reply actions
He definitely wasn’t looking to present the upside – at all – for Poni and Kabs, but was for Stewart, who he hasn’t really seen much of. And the comments on Boucher’s games are also contradicted by recent comments from Rutherford (on Toronto radio, FWIW) so that tells me that’s his guess, based on experience, which typically hasn’t been very engaged in the Carolina market. I read his stuff all the time – its not that don’t know who this guy is. It was a strange way to reply to a Q&A for a team blog.
Cole is older than Ponikarovsky and had more devastating injuries, and his career stats are not as consistent as Poni, and you have to go back a ways, prior to 10-11.
I’m curious to know what he projected for the fantabulous Erik Cole 12 months ago – just looking at the previous 2 seasons one would say injury ridden, old, lost a step, past his prime. Others closer knew he is a contract year kinda guy and might have something to prove.
Now. most pundits believe he’s a huge loss and he’s irreplaceable for the Canes lineup.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Sep 21, 2011 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Kabs/Poni – his comments were status quo, not really telling us anything we didn’t already know. Both deals have a significant element of risk, not so much with $‘s allocated, but where both will fit in the lineup. It will hurt a lot more if Kabs ends up being a bust because of what it will cost. In the end, how much should we really care about what a writer from the Northeast Centric Hockey News thinks about 2 players that used to play for the Leafs, on teams that weren’t very good. At this time of year, with most teams, predicting how good/bad a team is going to be is like throwing darts.
The guy covers the entire NHL for a living — I’m sure he’s seen plenty of just about everyone in the league, including Stewart. As for Cole … pretty much every major media person i’ve heard mention him this offseason has said, “yes, it’s a loss for Carolina, but that’s crazy-stupid money and term to give him.” It’s hard to disagree with the idea that Poni/Stewart replacing Cole is a risk.
by Cory Lavalette on Sep 21, 2011 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Well Yeah,
But as Cole himself has shown in the past, based on performance and injury history combined with increasing age, keping Erik Cole to replace Erik Cole is a risk…
…and the likelihood he repeats what he did last year is iffy at best.
I understand Adam’s opinion that Poni and Kaberle’s “best days are behind them” (not that it has to be true), but that might be the first time I’ve seen an opinion stating that Poni is at best a third liner and Stewart has a better chance to produce on the first line.
Obviously, at this point the Canes don’t agree. We will see how it shakes out.
Editing Manager of Canes Country.com
Poni is at best a third liner and Stewart has a better chance to produce on the first line.
I guess he didn’t watch Stewart on Monday.
Agree
But maybe the influence of Pete Friesen and the other Canes fitness freaks will rub off… Stewart’s own tweets from when he showed up to Camp Brindy hinted he wasn’t in the same level of fitness as our regulars…
…it showed in the game. Hope he’s working on that.
Often when you start out behind in your conditioning you play catchup all season. I was very disappointed with how Stewart showed up to camp. Not what you want to see in a guy who is still an emerging player and coming onto a new team. He may well screw up what was a great opportunity. If Sunday and Monday were any indication of where he is at, I’d start him 4th line and bust his butt in practice until his conditioning is at base line with the rest of his teammates.
Understand
But it makes me wonder—is this his personal issue, or is it something he inherited from ATL? ATL hasn’t had a great history, and they certainly fell off after looking good for 2/3 of the year. Is it possible some of ATL and their players issues are related to their conditioning program and requirements? That the Canes perhaps have a stronger than average culture and conditioning coach and program??
He's had weight/conditioning problems ever since he was drafted.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:12 AM EDT up reply actions
I watched a fair bit of Poni in LA. Understand there were injury issues but aside from that he looked a shadow of the player that once played with Sundin. You have to question how much of Poni’s production was attributed to Sundin. Matts was a beast and made a lot of wingers look good.
Nothing wrong with being a 3rd liner on a good team. I’m not an advocate of slotting either Stewart or Poni with Staal. Staal is a shooter. Needs time and space. Stewart is too slow ( at least he is at the moment) and Poni picked up a lot of garbage goals when he played with Sundin because of his size and Matts puck distribution skills. Staal is not a guy that will distribute the puck well. I’d much rather give Dalpe a shot on that line. Decent size, better than average speed and moves and a deadly shot. And he is a very good passer.
I would have to agree with you regarding Dalpe, sittler. He won’t replace Cole’s straight line speed, and Eric’s ability to bull past players along the wall, but he has better agility and overall skills. I have always felt that the team’s long term goal should be to sign/develop/acquire a top line natural centerman because Staal is not really a distributor and ultimately better suited to wing. He plays center now because he’s the best option, but IF ( and I know it could be a big if) a centerman within the organization could develop into a classic, natural centerman worthy of top 6 ice time I’d love to see Staal moved to a position that suits his natural abilitiies. Skinner was drafted as center but the logical move was to use him at wing last year, and it was the right move. I think if the future plans are for Skinner to be a center, that process should be started sooner rather than later. But all that is irrelevant at this time because Staal is the #1 center. Job one is to find his line mates.
Staal is definitely is more of a scorer than a distributor, but I really think his passing ability is underrated.
Given our current lineup, I would love to see a 1st line of Poni-Staal-Dalpe.
Here's the SKINNy, the All-STAAL game was CAMtastic!
Agree
Coming out of Juniors the scouting reports had him as the next Ron Francis—a passing guy… In his year in the AHL, with the right linemates, he had a lot of good assists, much more than his goals. Lastly, to score over 100 points with 40 goals you need a lot of assists—so you need the linemates to acheive that.
Staal has taken on the mantle of a scorer, but I too think he can dish more if he has someone who can convert those passes. Even Cole wasn’t the best at that, and LaRose certainly wasn’t, though both benefitted.
by Squeaky83 on Sep 21, 2011 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, I distinctly remember that comparison to Ronnie Franchise. To me the comparison was more in physical build. I think a lot of his assists come from linemates cashing in on his SOG. Not to say that he’s incapable of making a nice setup pass, I think his nature is to shoot first. Cole could create space, and also knock in the rebound but I don’t think he was too creative in getting to soft spots on the ice, he hauled the mail to the hole. Maybe with more creative players he’ll have more chances to dish it, although Whintney was a fairly creative player.
Speaking of Whitney; he is in the last year of his contract. If the Canes are in the playoff hunt come deadline time; what are the chances JR pulls off another one of his recycles and brings Whitney back for a playoff push?
Here's the SKINNy, the All-STAAL game was CAMtastic!
by PackPride17 on Sep 21, 2011 8:49 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Agreed.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:14 AM EDT up reply actions
Sundin wasn't playing with him the last time he scored 50 points...
TWO SEASONS AGO!
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:13 AM EDT up reply actions
First of all, for everyone complaining about Proteau, he is one of the preeminent names covering the sport north of the border. It is a good grab by Canes Country to get his opinions and to publish them. I personally, after following the guy on twitter for 6 months, am not a fan of him ( he’s a bit arrogant and way to political for my liking). That doesn’t, however, mean the guy doesn’t know his hockey. Good on Cory for making this happen.
Second, I think some of us want to believe that this year will be different, so much so, that we are unwilling to hear some of the hard truths. Poni didn’t stick with LA or Pitt before that for a reason. Kaberle looked like a player in decline, especially in the post season last year. We like to think of these as slam dunk acquisitions, but there is a definite element of risk with both these players. The only point I don’t really agree with him on, is Stewart. I have a sneaking suspicion we are all going to be very underwhelmed with him. He has a history of disappearing, of not giving 100%, of not reaching his potential. We all like to think of this as land of the reclamation, but there is only so many times that trick is going to work out in our favor.
The sad truth is, that unless all our gambles work out this year we are yet again on the bubble.
As to Ponikarovsky in PIT...
A.: How many deadline deal rentals are retained? I would say absolutely not a majority of them.
B.: In 16 regular-season games with them, despite learning a new system with new linemates beside him, he still scored nine points. That’s a 46-point pace. That mark would have put him sixth on the ’Canes last year, a whopping six points behind Cole.
And who is it demanding to think of all our moves as “slam dunks?” I’ve seen most refer to them as buy-low opportunities on talented players who have underperformed in their past, recent or otherwise.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:18 AM EDT up reply actions
P.S.:
Would you really expect a team in the bottom five of the league in payroll to be anything but “on the bubble?”
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 3:19 AM EDT up reply actions
Michael, I don’t expect anything better than the bubble. Others, though, I get the impression do.
As for your Points on Poni in Pittsburgh, they are fair. I just would have thought that he would have exploded offensively given their system and his caliber of team mates.
As for the appraisal of our off season acquisitions, just look at how people are responding here to the idea that Kaberle or Poni may be players on the declining side of their careers.
Fair enough.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '011: This is what we've been waiting for...we get to overpay the core of a 2-14 team!
by MichaelProcton on Sep 22, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
It's possible Adam Proteau didn't consider how well Ponikarovsky and Kaberle seem to fit Canes' needs
Even if he’s right that both players are past their prime, that doesn’t mean Ponikarovsky and Kaberle won’t improve the Canes. The Canes badly needed more size up front and Ponikarovsky supplies that and can create scoring opportunities by crowding the crease. Ponikarovsky can contribute without being a one-for-one replacement for Cole. If Kaberle can solve the problem of getting the puck into the offensive zone on power plays, that alone will be important. It would be great if Kaberle could score some goals, too, but giving the rest of the power play more chances to score will be valuable with or without goals from Kaberle.
Stewart is a concern, much like Boychuk. Given everything riding on this preseason, how important those two players could be to the Canes, and how important this season will be to their careers, how could they come to camp unprepared to perform at their best?
by curiouscanesfan on Sep 21, 2011 2:06 PM EDT reply actions
While this fan
may not personally like AP but i do respect his efforts as Cory pointed out he does and has covered the entire NHL for a while so and while we here of the Caniac nation may not like or agree with the guy…remember he does get paid a decent wage to say and write like he does..and who here does that with THN or SI ?? And remember dear friends..Opinions are like back pockets on jeans..some have one or 2 from time to time and some..don’t have any…Thanks Cory
9/11/01 - Never Forget !!
Long Live #63 The Condor
Go Canes & Checkers !!!
Funny he mentions that Stewart may have suffered statistically because he was on a bad team but doesnt use the same logic for Poni. He gave the safe answers…he should of at least factored in or put an asterik below his remarks mentioning Rutherfords track record with resurrecting ‘declining careers’ when talking about Poni..i agree that kaberle is trending down, not many that would argue that.
If they knew anything about the game, they'd be in it
by Killswitch on Sep 21, 2011 7:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
L.A. and Pittsburgh weren’t bad teams.
by Cory Lavalette on Sep 22, 2011 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions
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