Saturday night the Hurricanes and Bruins played a mistake filled, penalty ridden game between two teams riding losing streaks. The ice was very soft and choppy which certainly didn't help the game's flow. Every now and then the Canes had flashes when they looked very good, but then they certainly had times when they didn't look good at all. The execution on the power play was still lacking as the team officially went 1 out of 10 with the lone tally scored during a 5 on 3 advantage. That goal was a timely one which tied the score in the 3rd period and eventually sent the game to OT, but the Bruins drew a penalty early in the OT period and took advantage of their power play opportunity to win the game on a blast from Zdeno Chara. The Bruins ended their 5 game skid and the Hurricanes extended their streak to 4 games which includes 3 home loses in a row. That's not exactly how fans expected the team to take advantage of their recent favorable home schedule.
This week the Canes take their show on the road under a cloud of uncertainty and rumor. Could one or more of them be traded away soon? Eric Belanger was healthy scratched Saturday night, so many fans are wondering about him. David Tanabe, Andrew Hutchinson, and Trevor Letowski have all been mentioned on the various trade rumor sites as being possible trade fodder. Carolina has also been mentioned as being in the mix for the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes. It seems to me that his services would be too rich for Carolina's blood, but who knows? You can never count Jim Rutherford out. The team needs a shot in the arm that's for sure, but would Forsberg be the right cure? Caniacs won't agree about that.
One last thing, don't forget that Hurricanes part-time anthem singer, 8 year old Katherine Fritsch is scheduled to be on the CBS Early Show's Living Room-Live contest this week. They should play an excerpt of her tape on Tuesday morning, then display the entire video on the site for viewing and voting. Good luck KK! I'm sure the Caniac Nation will be behind you! I'll display an easy to click link at the top of the blog once her video is listed on their site.
Garth Brooks