There is nothing like NHL hockey in April (or May or June for that matter) in North Carolina. It is even better if it is the playoffs, but you have to take what you can get. For Canes fans who can fit a full afternoon of tailgating in their schedule, they will get an absolute gift today.
In the standings, the Canes are at that point in the season where each and every missed opportunity for a point or 2 in the standings is a little more salt in the wound. The team is only 6 points out of the last playoff spot in the East which is not insurmountable. The bigger problem is that the team still needs to jump not 1 but 4 teams and it has only 5 games to do it. Regardless, I have never been someone who could root for my team to lose for draft position, so for better or worse, I show up at PNC Arena and cheer for my team to win.
On the ice, my short watch list is pretty similar for most games these days:
1) Zach Boychuk. Chris Terry actually had the big game on Thursday. Boychuk was not bad by any means, but in only 8 minutes of ice time he did not stand out significantly. Here is hoping he gets a few more minutes of ice time and finds the puck on his stick with a chance to make something happen.
EDIT: Thanks to Leah on Twitter for keeping me honest. Boychuk and Terry have been sent back to Charlotte, so I guess I am down to 3 things to watch.
2) Andrei Loktionov. I continue to like his game. He is better than advertised defensively and has a good combination of hockey IQ and skill that could stick at the NHL level.
3) Tuomo's return. Hopefully the team does something small for him on the big screen, and he gets the thank you he deserves in his 1st game in Raleigh since being traded.
4) John-Michael Liles. He has been a serviceable #4/#5 defenseman for the Canes since his arrival spending more time in the #4 slot and therefore in the top 4. He settled in defensively better than I would have hoped which is a positive, but he did not really help the struggling power play or bring that much offensively which seemed to be right in his wheel house. So Thursday he had his best game offensively as a Cane and probably his best game overall too. Over the last few games, I will be watching closely to see if maybe he is capable of finding a higher gear that he can carry into the 2014-15 season. It is important to remember that when he arrived, he was coming off a long stretch of healthy scratch, limited NHL use and AHL time that was not great for finding a groove or confidence. Just maybe he is ready to find a higher level? One can hope.
What say you Canes fans? Who is tailgating already or at least scrambling around to pick up food on the way there?
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!