I Don’t Need No Doctor
Cam Ward made the rounds yesterday apparently telling everyone and anyone who would listen to him that he’s better and he will be ready to play on Thursday night in Carolina’s next scheduled game against Washington. He did interviews for local radio stations 96 Rock and G105, as well as local TV station WRAL. On top of that, NHL Live interviewed with him as did ESPN.com. Finally, he made a 2 hour appearance at a local Alltell cellphone store where he signed autographs and recorded voice mail messages for fans. Quite a day off for the injured goalie! As we reported yesterday, call up Craig Kowalski was re-assigned to Florida on Sunday, so management is ready for Cam to be able to play. I would expect that John Grahame will still be the starter against the Capitals though. It would be risky to throw Cam back to the wolves too soon, and Johnny has been playing well enough.
The rest of the Canes took a well deserved 2 day vacation, but will return to practice this morning. The somewhat new lines of Staal, Stillman, Cole - Brind’Amour, Whitney, Williams - LaRose, Walker, Ladd - and Vasicek, Adams, Carter all looked great on Saturday, and I would expect them to stay together for at least another game. The defensive pairings of Wesley - Commodore, Gleason - Wallin, and Kaberle - Tanabe, have also looked solid, and I would be surprised if they insert Hedican back into the mix anytime soon unless there is another injury or series of defensive breakdowns. Bret can take his time and get back to being 100% healthy, something he reportedly has not been yet this entire year. There are plenty of healthy scratches behind Hedican who have been itching to get to play, but I wouldn’t expect to see Andrew Hutchinson, Dennis Seidenberg, or Anton Babchuk, anytime soon.
There’s not much more to report today. Have a good one!
Humble Pie
About the Author: Bubba is a hockey fan/citizen journalist who has always wanted to be a sportswriter and is pursuing his dream. He also writes a Hurricanes blog for 
Hanrahanfan | Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Those lines and D matchups look great even on paper! You’d think with six 20+ goal getters on one squad with a couple a big boys on D that can pitch in on offense is a lock for 8th or better. Well, they have the talent. Everybody knows that. Hopefully they keep it tight and look out for eachother.
Tyler | Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Those lines do look great, but Im not so sure that Tanabe should be in there or not……Seidenberg looked good when he played, as did Babchuk. What do you think?
biggie | Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Tanabe has been a great player for us this year. I know he had a shakey start, but he’s been solid since mid-season. Many games he was the best d-man on the ice. I think he’s earned his ice time with his hustle and gritty play.
I like both Babchuk and Seidenburg too, they are the future of our blue line. If you figure on Wesley and Hedican both hanging it up after this season, which is a posibility, then those two are ready to step up.
Hanrahanfan | Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Crabchuk? Mister I’m big enough to own the ice but I’ll just send this puck deep instead and let my teammates chase it down cause I don’t want to get hit or hit anybody? Never did much for me babchuk.
Bubba | Mar 21, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for the comments guys.
As far as the forward lines go, those might be as best as we can do. I’m still not 100% sold on Rosie being a full time 3rd line center, but he’s worth a try. Vasicek didn’t seem to fit there and what other option is there? Hopefully Chad will keep up the good work, we’ll wait and see.
In my opinion, Lavi has the defense set right for now. Tanabe has played better than I thought he would have, and at some periods has been one of our better defensemen, especially back when half the d-men were hurt. Although of the 6 playing right now, I think David is number 6 and would be the first to see the pressbox once Hedican is ready and is healthy. Unless Lavi goes back to playing 7 d-men and 11 forwards, which I hope he does NOT go back to. I prefer playing 12 forwards, that way Brindy and Staal don’t have to double shift and they stay fresher. I think Staal has especially looked better the past several games, maybe because he isn’t being double shifted?
I think Seidenberg is a great prospect. He has an awesome shot, seems to play with a physical edge, and loves to jump in the offense. But in my opinion, Tanabe is better right now with his defensive positioning and gives up fewer goals than Dennis would if he was playing every game. Hutch is great on the power play but sometimes disappears on defense. Babchuk has the best slap shot I have seen in practice, but we rarely saw it in games. He played well at the beginning of the year, but his play deteriorated later on. Now with the refusal to report to Albany drama that happened last month, who knows what the future is with this kid. He’s still got potential though.