Clicks and Clippings: Seven days away

By now you've heard that the Canes training camp roster is down to 24 players with just one more week to go before the Carolina Hurricanes 2011-12 Season opens next Friday night. That also means there are only two more exhibition games to get the lines set and the system working before we can no longer shrug off losses and goals against as merely practice.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be in town tonight, and then the team will head over to Nashville after practice tomorrow for the final game of the preseason against the Predators. 

Leading off with a round up of stories and reactions on the big cuts yesterday, including those forwards who were to competing for an NHL roster spot the last two weeks.

• Bowman, Boychuk, and Others Will Be Back - Bob Wage, Canes Country Assignments today most likely are temporary. 
• Tlusty earns spot on Canes roster - NewsObserver.com On a day when the Carolina Hurricanes cut 12 players and reduced their training camp roster to 24, Jiri Tlusty calmly went about his business Thursday at the RBC Center.
• Hurricanes roster shrinks with kids still in the mix - Peter Koutroumpis, Examiner.com Snapshots of the five players who survived the cuts and what Maurice is looking for from the 9 remaining defensemen this week as he turns his focus back to the blueline.
• And Then There Were 24 - Michael Smith, Tracking the Storm 
• Roster cut to 24; Boychuk, Bowman go down - Chip Alexander, Canes Now
• Canes assign 12 to Charlotte - Paul Branecky, gocheckers.com

After the jump, more interviews, Mike Maniscalco with an excellent look at the defense, the Canes young Danish goalie prospect takes on Henrik Lundqvist and the NY Rangers today, plus alumni and a bit of news from outside our little corner of the hockeywebz.

More on the bubble forwards

Hard hits feature: Battle of the Prospects - Kurt Dusterberg, HurricanesBeat.com By now, you can rattle off the names of the Hurricanes' top prospects like children reciting vowels — Dalpe, Boychuk, Bowman, Samson and sometimes Matsumoto.   

Samson goal to 'get there' with Canes - Chip Alexander, CanesNow 

"I go on the ice and give 100 percent of what I have and try to be as confident as I can to prove I belong here," Jerome Samson said before the trip to Winnipeg for tonight's exhibition game. "I played a lot the last two months (last season) when it was critical for us to make the playoffs, so I'm sure they see something good in me. It's a matter of me showing them more."

How the Hurricanes are built this season

Must read: One of the best things I read this preseason from the radio voice at 99.9 the Fan, Mike Maniscalco: Too much of a good thing is a good thing - WRALSportsFan.com The Carolina Hurricanes organization is faced with a good problem, who to keep on the NHL roster to play defense?

While this article appeared out of the blue.  Who plays with Staal unanswered - Luke DeCock, NewsObserver.com One nifty tidbit was tossed into the middle of the story:

"It's a little more comfortable this year," Tim Gleason said. "They pretty much said, 'Go play your game and whatever happens happens.' They gave me a green light to be more aggressive - my style of play." 

A conversation with Canes Head Trainer and Conditioning Coach Pete Friesen: Health, fitness crucial in evolving NHL - sportsnet.ca

"Some guys are interested in putting on bulk, but others are more concerned about body awareness and making sure their body -- their ankles, knees and hips -- is used in correct fashion," Friesen said. "I always hear people saying you need to put on 10 to 15 pounds, but if you do that over a summer and come back slower you'll probably be in the minors."

Rookie chatter

This link, Fantasy Hockey: Rookies, will take you to a quick video from TSN's Scott Cullen adding to the Zac Dalpe buzz.

Keep an even keel, Mark - Winnipeg Free Press So if there was a way the two could sit down and chat, Jeff Skinner would offer this advice to the young Jet trying to follow in his footsteps in Winnipeg:

This has some relevance to the Canes' Ryan Murphy - is the NHL or Canadian Juniors a better place for talented 18-year olds to develop and why? Taylor Hall and Jeff Skinner weigh in too. Prospects making their case - Mark Spector on NHL, sportsnet.ca Mark Scheifele and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have played well enough to stick in the NHL, but is it best for their development?

Frederik Andersen

If you have MSG on your cable or satellite provider, today at 1pm ET you have a chance to see this kid who has taken the Swedish hockey world by surprise early in their season. The exhibition game between Frolunda and  the New York Rangers may also be streamed at MSG.com as well. Here.

Some background on why this team and this place is a so important to Henrik Lundqvist, who will be in the net opposite Andersen:. Premiere's European teams have storied traditions - NHL.com - Across the Pond Much of the intrigue surrounding their upcoming game with the Rangers lies in the return of superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist to the city where he got his start as a junior and professional player. He will face his identical twin, former Dallas Stars forward Joel Lundqvist, who currently serves as the Indians' captain.

Really terrific interview: Hockey This Week " Magazine " Interview – 10 Questions with Frederik Andersen by Paul Cuthbert

HTW – You were invited to the Hurricanes rookie camp this summer. Tell us about that experience and give us your thoughts on the Hurricanes organization?

Frederik – It was a really good experience to meet their great staff and learn what they expect of me and to get some education on what the NHL life is like and what it takes to be an NHL player. Another thing that was really fun, was meeting some of the teams other prospects that were drafted in ’10 and ’11. We had a lot of fun at the camp.

Alumni

This is delightfully funny: If Wild's Cullen misses, he'll hear from the missus | StarTribune.com Bridget Cullen tries to be the supportive hockey wife, she really does.

Is it just coincidence that three former Canes defensemen who have a connection to the Bruins in Boston too all got links this week? I hope so. 

The Bruins way of doing things defensively is a little different than anything he’s used to, but Joe Corvo is slowly and surely getting adjusted to the Claude Julien’s Box-plus-1 system of zone coverage in the D-zone. Corvo had always played more of a man-to-man style of defense in Carolina, Ottawa and Los Angeles, and those instincts will more than likely cause some mistakes.

• Wow - seriously? Bruins’ Seidenberg proves the right man for any job - The Boston Globe - "To me, arguably after Tim Thomas, Seidenberg could have easily been, in our mind, the guy that could have been the Conn Smythe winner,’’ said coach Claude Julien.
• Aaron Ward thinks Canes are in good spot - 11 min Audio  NHL analyst Aaron Ward joined Adam & Joe to talk about the Hurricanes as they prepare for the season. Here's the text version:  NHL analyst Ward expects big things from Canes - WRALSportsFan.com 

Looking beyond our corner of the world

This broke over night: Kings and Drew Doughty agree on 8-year, $56 million contract | ProHockeyTalk After months of negotiating and a stress-filled summer for Kings fans all over California, the waiting (and worrying) has finally come to an end. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Los Angeles Kings and restricted agent Drew Doughty have at last come to terms on an 8-year, $56 million contract. And not a moment too soon.

Ranger Rants - Staal to skate with Connecticut tomorrow The Rangers have made no announcement as to whether Marc Staal will play in the game [in Hartford Friday night]. More likely, Staal is just going to Connecticut to test himself in practice before the Rangers make a determination on whether he’d be available to fly to Europe.

Preds seek balance in conference realignment - John Manasso, FoxSportsTennessee What Preds GM David Poile knows about the process, in the context of suggestions that the Nashville team could be moved to an Eastern Conference.

Party in the Queen City 

Last weekend, the Hurricanes joined the Checkers to co-host a season kickoff Fanfest in Charlotte, also promoting their exhibition game there vs the Jets Sunday. CanesVision put up this video which features Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner on camera introducing some cute kids to the world of pucks. Skinner's technique while playing goalie is the scene-stealer.