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Carolina Hurricanes Blogger •
Saturday night in Minnesota found the Canes still struggling and looking for 2 points to complete the week at breakeven with 3 points in 3 games. Instead, the Canes found their second OTL of the week and at least a single point in the standings. For the full 4 games on the road during the annual North Carolina state fair road trip, the team garnered only 2 points in 4 games which obviously is not a pace that works for 82 games.
The game did see the Canes first AHL callup with Brandon Sutter filling in for Tuomo Ruutu who received a 3-game suspension for last night's hit on Darcy Tucker. With 1 younger set of legs in the lineup, the Canes still looked largely lackluster and a half step behind trying to win pucks and/or chase down loose ones. This game was by no means the worst we have seen from the Canes early in this 09-10 season, but it still just is not good enough to win hockey games often enough in the NHL.
At the 10-game mark of the season, I would characterize it as too early to panic but also getting too late to just shrug it off as a slow start and wait for better. The organization finds itself in a new position this year having a decent number of players in the AHL who are expected to be good NHL players 'at some point.' And twice this week, the team found itself on the losing end of games against teams who have those same kind of players already in their NHL lineups because they are officially in rebuilding mode. In neither the Islanders game nor the Avalanche game was it hard to tell which team had the younger legs going for them. Ruutu's suspension opened a temporary slot for Brandon Sutter who was probably 1 of the best 9 forwards in training camp but was sent down as part of the bigger plan to develop the kids together in the AHL. With the team struggling and Sutter a year more mature and confident, is this going to be the chance where he seizes control of his NHL career and never looks back? I very well think it could be. And if this works out, is there a chance that he becomes the scout who calls back for more troops soon? There are issues with how to fit more guys in the NHL lineup and what to do with the extra players, but at some point those issues take a back seat to problems in the standings. The Canes get another set of young legs, arguably with a slightly higher caliber of skill and experience in St. Louis on Wednesday followed by an odd day game back-to-back versus good teams (Philadelphia and San Jose) next weekend. Might we be nearing that point where GM Jim Rutherford decides to step in? And if so, trying some of the young talent seems like the fastest and easiest bullet to try first before turning to more drastic measures like the treacherous November trade market.
Unless the ship turns in a hurry, I think things could get interesting in the next couple weeks.
A few game/player notes:
1) Tim Conboy. You have to really respect what he did Saturday. He signed up for a fight with a guy outweighing him by almost both of my 2 younger children which is courage in itself. But then when he got in a bit of trouble balance wise and rightfully could have and probably should have got himself out of the situation sooner rather than later by pulling his opponent down, he instead hung in there and tried to regroup. If I had to score the fight, Conboy lost, but he really impressed me with his combination of initial courage, willingness to continue to go and his ability to protect himself and regroup when he did get in a bit of trouble against a much bigger guy. Good for Tim!
2) Ray Whitney and Joni Pitkanen. Both of those 2 guys made bunches of offense all night. Pitkanen registered a goal and an assist to go with 3-4 other real good offensive plays, and Ray Whitney registered 2 assists and at least 3 (that I can recall) really really good chances for Staal to notch a goal.
3) Too desperate? When players struggle, they grip the stick too tight. Do coaches grip the lineup card too tight? In trying to right the ship, Coach Maurice has now started Cam Ward in each of the 1st 10 games including both halves of 3 back-to-backs with travel which are logical places to use your backup if you plan to do that sometime this season. In addition, about 10 days after being unable to play and then playing but being pulled from a game at the midway point, Coach Maurice is now riding Joni Pitkanen (and to some degree Joe Corvo) very hard. Pitkanen notched a whopping 57 minutes of ice time in the past 2 days. I realize that minus Gleason this weekend there are more minutes to go around, and in terms of quality of play Pitkanen has looked fine or better than fine. But even in the middle of a tough stretch playing too many games in October or November like it is game 6 or 7 of the Stanley Cup finals is a dangerous road that can bite you later.
4) Matt Cullen...continues to play very good hockey at both ends of the ice. Comparing his situation to 05-06 is very telling though. In 05-06, the Canes were so deep offensively at forward that Cullen got Whitney and Larose on his 3rd line and with the two-pronged offensive threats of Staal's and BrindAmour's lines firing on all cylinders, Cullen's line mostly saw 3rd pairing defensemen and ate them alive with their speed and skill. Fastforward to now and BrindAmour is still looking for it (so much that he took a shot at wing), Staal is not going yet and Cullen is seeing a rotating set of linemates while Maurice tries to trigger Staal and others and Cullen is also seeing more of a regular mix of oppositions' defensemen.
Put more briefly, the Canes are short a true 2nd line scoring option (think Crosby-Malkin, think Carter-Richards, etc.) and that is really only if the 1st scoring option gets it going.
5) Chad Larose. He seems to be missing that extra gear early this season. Unfortunately, the most striking memory of Chad Larose this season is him coming down the boards with the puck on his stick, turning up the legs at the blue line to try to beat a defender wide and just not quite making it by and getting put into the boards with the puck then up for grabs. So far in 09-10, Larose just seems to be just a quarter step slow. Maybe a nagging leg injury? Maybe just lacking confidence after a slow start? Who knows, but he has always been the type to generate his offense and other contributions with his incredible quickness to pucks and with the puck. Here is hoping he can find that last gear very soon and turn it into some points.
I think Wednesday is an incredibly interesting game given the situation and the matchup. The Canes get 3 full days rest and a game on home ice where Coach Maurice can tinker some with matchups. But they also get another very young team that skates very hard and very well. Do the Canes use home ice to recharge and get things going? Or does St. Louis continue a string where younger teams just looked too much faster to loose pucks and up the ice?
Go Canes!
The game did see the Canes first AHL callup with Brandon Sutter filling in for Tuomo Ruutu who received a 3-game suspension for last night's hit on Darcy Tucker. With 1 younger set of legs in the lineup, the Canes still looked largely lackluster and a half step behind trying to win pucks and/or chase down loose ones. This game was by no means the worst we have seen from the Canes early in this 09-10 season, but it still just is not good enough to win hockey games often enough in the NHL.
At the 10-game mark of the season, I would characterize it as too early to panic but also getting too late to just shrug it off as a slow start and wait for better. The organization finds itself in a new position this year having a decent number of players in the AHL who are expected to be good NHL players 'at some point.' And twice this week, the team found itself on the losing end of games against teams who have those same kind of players already in their NHL lineups because they are officially in rebuilding mode. In neither the Islanders game nor the Avalanche game was it hard to tell which team had the younger legs going for them. Ruutu's suspension opened a temporary slot for Brandon Sutter who was probably 1 of the best 9 forwards in training camp but was sent down as part of the bigger plan to develop the kids together in the AHL. With the team struggling and Sutter a year more mature and confident, is this going to be the chance where he seizes control of his NHL career and never looks back? I very well think it could be. And if this works out, is there a chance that he becomes the scout who calls back for more troops soon? There are issues with how to fit more guys in the NHL lineup and what to do with the extra players, but at some point those issues take a back seat to problems in the standings. The Canes get another set of young legs, arguably with a slightly higher caliber of skill and experience in St. Louis on Wednesday followed by an odd day game back-to-back versus good teams (Philadelphia and San Jose) next weekend. Might we be nearing that point where GM Jim Rutherford decides to step in? And if so, trying some of the young talent seems like the fastest and easiest bullet to try first before turning to more drastic measures like the treacherous November trade market.
Unless the ship turns in a hurry, I think things could get interesting in the next couple weeks.
A few game/player notes:
1) Tim Conboy. You have to really respect what he did Saturday. He signed up for a fight with a guy outweighing him by almost both of my 2 younger children which is courage in itself. But then when he got in a bit of trouble balance wise and rightfully could have and probably should have got himself out of the situation sooner rather than later by pulling his opponent down, he instead hung in there and tried to regroup. If I had to score the fight, Conboy lost, but he really impressed me with his combination of initial courage, willingness to continue to go and his ability to protect himself and regroup when he did get in a bit of trouble against a much bigger guy. Good for Tim!
2) Ray Whitney and Joni Pitkanen. Both of those 2 guys made bunches of offense all night. Pitkanen registered a goal and an assist to go with 3-4 other real good offensive plays, and Ray Whitney registered 2 assists and at least 3 (that I can recall) really really good chances for Staal to notch a goal.
3) Too desperate? When players struggle, they grip the stick too tight. Do coaches grip the lineup card too tight? In trying to right the ship, Coach Maurice has now started Cam Ward in each of the 1st 10 games including both halves of 3 back-to-backs with travel which are logical places to use your backup if you plan to do that sometime this season. In addition, about 10 days after being unable to play and then playing but being pulled from a game at the midway point, Coach Maurice is now riding Joni Pitkanen (and to some degree Joe Corvo) very hard. Pitkanen notched a whopping 57 minutes of ice time in the past 2 days. I realize that minus Gleason this weekend there are more minutes to go around, and in terms of quality of play Pitkanen has looked fine or better than fine. But even in the middle of a tough stretch playing too many games in October or November like it is game 6 or 7 of the Stanley Cup finals is a dangerous road that can bite you later.
4) Matt Cullen...continues to play very good hockey at both ends of the ice. Comparing his situation to 05-06 is very telling though. In 05-06, the Canes were so deep offensively at forward that Cullen got Whitney and Larose on his 3rd line and with the two-pronged offensive threats of Staal's and BrindAmour's lines firing on all cylinders, Cullen's line mostly saw 3rd pairing defensemen and ate them alive with their speed and skill. Fastforward to now and BrindAmour is still looking for it (so much that he took a shot at wing), Staal is not going yet and Cullen is seeing a rotating set of linemates while Maurice tries to trigger Staal and others and Cullen is also seeing more of a regular mix of oppositions' defensemen.
Put more briefly, the Canes are short a true 2nd line scoring option (think Crosby-Malkin, think Carter-Richards, etc.) and that is really only if the 1st scoring option gets it going.
5) Chad Larose. He seems to be missing that extra gear early this season. Unfortunately, the most striking memory of Chad Larose this season is him coming down the boards with the puck on his stick, turning up the legs at the blue line to try to beat a defender wide and just not quite making it by and getting put into the boards with the puck then up for grabs. So far in 09-10, Larose just seems to be just a quarter step slow. Maybe a nagging leg injury? Maybe just lacking confidence after a slow start? Who knows, but he has always been the type to generate his offense and other contributions with his incredible quickness to pucks and with the puck. Here is hoping he can find that last gear very soon and turn it into some points.
I think Wednesday is an incredibly interesting game given the situation and the matchup. The Canes get 3 full days rest and a game on home ice where Coach Maurice can tinker some with matchups. But they also get another very young team that skates very hard and very well. Do the Canes use home ice to recharge and get things going? Or does St. Louis continue a string where younger teams just looked too much faster to loose pucks and up the ice?
Go Canes!
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