When Philadelphia's seeding was cemented last night, the Canes last game of 2013-14 season became a meaningless game for both teams. And with Mason hurt last night and Emery getting work in it, a rookie got his 1st NHL start. Early on, it looked like that alone would be the deciding factor on the scoreboard when he allowed a 4th goal early in the 2nd period. But a Canes intensity lapse coupled with a brief Flyer surge had the game tied at 4-4 heading into the 3rd period. But in the end, the Canes pulled out a consolation win in the shootout to end the season.
After another playoff miss, I will get the opportunity to dissect what went wrong in 2013-14, do some not so glowing player evaluations, etc. for much longer than I care to over another long hockey summer. But for today, I am going to stick with a few positives from the last game in order of importance to me:
1) Brett Bellemore. After Scott Hartnell did some unnecessary stick work after the whistle Bellemore was the 1 who got himself tangled up with Hartnell, wrestled him to the ice and hopefully landing a couple of the punches during the wrestling match.
Best though was his signal to the Canes logo/crest on his jersey while heading to the box. He understands what it is about, and that it does not matter if it is game #1, a playoff game or unfortunately a meaningless game #82. You still need to play the right way, play with pride and stand up for teammates.
2) Anton Khudobin. By no means will this go down as 1 of his prettier wins on the season having given up 5 goals, but his enthusiasm in making the final save to win the shootout is worth noting. The margin of talent difference in the NHL is small enough that many games are decided by intensity and compete level. Khudobin kept fighting even in a messy game that did not matter which says a lot about his makeup.
3) Milestones. In scoring (twice actually for good measure), Jeff Skinner finished with 33 goals besting his rookie season total of 31. In scoring a goal Sunday afternoon (he too added an extra 1 during rookie Heeter's generous start), Eric Staal hit the 20 goal and 60 point marks. Neither are great numbers for him obviously, but they do mean that he has met at least that level every season except his rookie season (and the lockout-shortened season which does not really count).
Next up is the worst day of my life as a Canes fan - the Monday after the season ends for a non-playoff season. After I fight my way through that 1, I will adopt a team (usually a Western Conference underdog) to pull for in the playoffs and move on. I am leaning Dallas right now because of the Canes' ties (Whitney and Cole) and the fact that I like the design of their time with a bunch of forwards with size and speed. I am going back and forth on whether I can root for another division team, but if I can get past that I just might adopt Columbus too. Certainly there are die-hard hockey fans in that market who deserve some playoff goodness.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
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