Nothing good in life is for free, right? Wrong! This week Center Ice has their mid season free preview which means if you have dish or cable TV, you are able to watch hockey games for free from all around the league all week! Skim through your channels, (for me it's up in the 730's), and look for the games. Caniacs rejoice! Tonight's game in Toronto is not on local TV, but thanks to the free preview you can still catch the game on Center Ice! Personally, I already have Center Ice because I watch tons of hockey, but for those who do not have it, this is a rare treat. Take advantage of it!
The Canes are in Toronto and will take on the Leafs at the ACC tonight at 7:30. Leafs fans have ridden pretty much the same rollercoaster ride this year that Caniacs have. There have been winning streaks and losing streaks. Some nights they look great, some nights they don't. But most importantly, the Leafs have been bitten by the injury bug recently just like the Canes. Tonight the Leafs will be missing Darcy Tucker, Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood, Michael Peca, and Alexei Ponikarovsky. Don't take Toronto lightly though. Battaglia and O'Neill are both still hungry to score against us and any team with Matts Sundin is a dangerous one. Of course the same familiar names are still out for the Canes, Kaberle, Hedican, Gleason, and now Wesley. The newbie, Dennis Seidenberg will join the team today and is expected to play.
Thinking more about yesterday's trade, I still think this is a good deal for both teams as well as both players. Neither player was seeing much playing time, and that's what players need most. Adams will be an unrestricted free agent in a few months and will need to sign a new contract with someone. Anyone care to guess what a 4rth line/healthy scratched forward who has scored 4 points and is -10 might be worth on the open market? Not much. Kevyn needs to pick up his stats and he needs playing time to do that. Hopefully he will find that in Phoenix. As I mentioned yesterday, the Canes are desperate for defensive help, so Seidenberg fits the bill, at least for now. Also, Dennis is signed through next year and will be restricted afterwards. That fact adds more value and flexibility for the Canes in the future. For those of you who are counting, that makes 10 defensemen on the Canes roster and there will be a major logjam there when and if everyone gets healthy. But as Buffalo found out last year, rather too many defensemen than not enough. Also Rutherford alluded to the fact that he was not done making trades yet. The plan is to add another forward before the deadline, but who are they targeting and what will the Canes have to give up? That my friends is a good topic for blog discussion in the future. To see Rutherford's comments and see what Kevyn's mates had to say, check out the N&O's Lord Stanley's Blog.
Some people have asked who will take Kevyn's spot as union rep for the team. According to the Globe and Mail, Craig Adams will be the rep and Mike Commodore will be the alternate. Kevyn was rumored to be in the running for the union presidency, but we'll see how that works out now. It's been said that he has lost some stature among his team mates because of his reduced role this year on the team, but maybe that has not affected his status union wide. Regardless, it's time to welcome the new number 4, Dennis Seidenberg. It will be weird seeing someone else wear Aaron Ward's old number. I don't think "Dennis the Menace" will be slamming into people like Ward did, but I'm sure he has other attributes to bring to the table. For good luck, here's a pic of Seidenberg when he was a stud for the Phantoms. Hopefully he can bring that scoring touch and aggressive play with him to Carolina.
Let's Go Canes, rake those Leafs!!
Edgar Winter