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Welcome to Not Hockey Night in Raleigh... as your Carolina Hurricanes do not take the ice tonight in their 2012-13 NHL season home opener against the New York Rangers at PNC Arena.
Both the Hurricanes (0-0-0) and Rangers (0-0-0) made roster improvement splashes in the off-season, with the Hurricanes landing Jordan Staal in a blockbuster draft day trade and signing sniper Alexander Semin in free agency, while the Rangers won the Rick Nash sweepstakes in a high profile trade of their own.
But... you won't see that tonight. You won't see three Staal brothers pushing each other's compete level up a notch. You won't see how much Sasha cares. Nor will you see the sophomore season return of Justin Faulk, and you won't see which prospects cracked the roster in training camp, whether it be Drayson Bowman, Zac Dalpe, Jeremy Welsh or perhaps even Zach Boychuk (who is tearing up the early AHL schedule with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 AHL games). You won't see if head coach Kirk Muller can motivate his team to a quick start out of the chutes.
Here's what you will see.
You will see more NHL games cancelled later today, perhaps obliterating the schedule through most of the month of November. (Pierre LeBrun/ESPN: NHL will withdraw proposal as deadline passes)
EDIT/UPDATE 2:00 PM - As expected, the NHL formally announces the cancellation of the regular season schedule through November 30 (press release and statement from Bill Daly and response from the NHLPA)
You will see the NHL and NHLPA continue to not talk to each other and you'll continue to see bickering as to who's to blame.
- What are the players fighting for? Dollars and sense in the NHL - Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun
- Why the Owners are (Mostly) Right - On Goal Analysis blog
- James Mirtle says the NHL is closer to a deal than they think, and he has charts and graphs to prove it (Globe and Mail)
- Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller says the current state of the lockout is 'just to satisfy egos' in a lengthy (but well-articulated) email to ESPN the Magazine
- An anonymous NHL team executive says "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit, and folks did just that (SBNation.com)
You'll see the News & Observer report that the lockout costs the Raleigh area about $1 million in lost economic benefits for each missed game (Bruce Ciceloff: The Canes don't play Friday night, and Raleigh loses)
You'll see that the Canes aren't doing themselves any favors by not playing hockey while other sports action heats up across the Triangle. (Luke DeCock: After compelling summer, Canes pull disappearing act)
You'll see Tripp Tracy hanging out on the 118th floor of his hotel in Hong Kong (no, I have no idea either).
And last but not least, POTUS sends his own message to the NHL and NHLPA via Jay Leno: "Y'all should be able to figure this out. Get this done". (Puck Daddy - video)
It should be a nice day for not tailgating. No game will be on TV or radio tonight, and we won't be opening a game thread at 6:30 pm, but feel free to stop in here anyway with your thoughts and comments.