One of the worst October's in the history of the franchise is over, it's time for the Carolina Hurricanes to start anew. They now find themselves in last place in the Southeast Division, 14th place in the Eastern Conference, and 29th place in the league. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs have fewer points.
The Canes will try to right the ship today against one of the best teams in the league, the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks enter today's contest with the second best record in the West, 9-4-1. They have won four games in a row and are led by superstars Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, and Patrick Marleau.
The Canes have lost eight straight and will be looking for any positive they can get out of this game. The team will be hoping that the return of Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole will spark the offense. Tim Gleason could also start, although he and Cole are still questionable as of this posting. The home team is led by Ray Whitney and Jussi Jokinen.
Cam Ward will be between the pipes for the Canes. Evgeni Nabokov usually starts for the Sharks.
The Hurricanes will honor Ray Whitney before today's game. Whitney played in his 1000th NHL game on October 21 against the Islanders and was originally drafted by the Sharks.
The game will not be televised locally but can be found on the Center Ice package or you can listen to Chuck K on 99.9 The Fan. We will have a Live Game Thread here starting at 1PM. I will be at the game leaving comments and answering any questions. Game time is 1:30.
For the Sharks perspective, check out Fear the Fin.
((UPDATE)) 10:58 The Canes just activated Erik Cole from the injured reserve. It looks like he will play today.