Pluses and Minuses From The Red-White Game
Here’s a quick look at six players that impacted their fortunes one way or the other during Sunday’s Red-White Game at the RBC Center, plus some other news and notes.
PLUSES
Dan LaCouture — The 31-year-old journeyman winger was the best player on the ice all night, and not just on the scoresheet. From my vantage point, no one was skating harder and doing more to make things happen than the veteran. It’s early, but LaCouture is making his case for the vacancy at forward.
Dwight Helminen — Helminen had the most jump to start the game — it probably helped both him and LaCouture that they were teamed up together (with Ryan Bayda) on a line. Helminen was productive in the offensive zone and even showed a little jam, standing up the much bigger Anton Babchuk at one point.
Mike Murphy — The slight goaltender was probably the most dynamic puck stopper in the game. He made one stunning glove save on a slap shot from Brett Carson, and was otherwise solid in net. Fellow netminders Justin Peters and Daniel Manzato played well also, though Manzato was victimized for a couple goals on highlight-reel plays from the opposition.
Also worth noting: Carson and fellow defensemen Casey Borer solidified their spots as the team’s two most NHL-ready prospects. Both were confident with the puck and responsible in their own end. … Drayson Bowman was solid, if unspectacular, at the scrimmage, but the interesting thing is he’s listed as the first-line right wing on the Canes’ depth chart. Depth charts, of course, are to be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s worth pointing out. … Jakub Petruzalek and Stefan Chaput were both active throughout the night, as was Joe Jensen. Jeff O’Neill was in the spotlight all night and he performed well for his first time out in a year.
MINUSES
Benn Olson — I really noticed Olson twice on the evening: once when he nearly fell over trying to get back in his own end, and again when he did tumble to the ice.
Michal Jordan — There’s no denying Jordan is a smooth-skating blueliner, but his passes were frequently off the tape and he was careless with the puck a few times. Of course, there’s plenty of time for Jordan to polish his skills, and he’ll get to do so under the (sort of) watch of Carolina while with Plymouth.
David Leggio — Leggio struggled a bit in net, and it was probably more noticeable because of the way Murphy was playing on the opposite side of the rink.
Also worth noting: Bobby Hughes and Nick Dodge did not play. According to director of media relations Mike Sundheim, Dodge was back on the ice today. There’s still no official word on Hughes, but River Rats beat writer Phil Janack said in the comments section of his blog that Hughes has not yet been cleared to play. … Babchuk left the game early with an apparent knee injury and, according to Sundheim and Paul Branecky’s article on the team’s site, it was for precautionary reasons.
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Chip Alexander has a couple nuggets worth repeating from Lord Stanley’s Blog. First off, first-round pick Zach Boychuk has been cleared to practice with the team, a surprise given that it was expected Boychuk’s wrist would not be sufficiently healed for him to participate in all the team’s drills. Carolina’s site has a article up about his solid performance in practice today.
Also, Alexander reports that GM Jim Rutherford offered free agent winger Mark Parrish an invititation to camp on a tryout, but Parrish declined.
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The NHL Network will be televising the Hurricanes’ preseason game against Philadelphia at the old Spectrum Saturday at 1 p.m.
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Finally, the NHL — as expected — gave its approval to Eric Staal’s deal Friday, finalizing the seven-year deal after a brief hiccup with the wording in the no-trade clause held things up.
About the Author: I'm a sports fan with a background in sports writing, editing and design. I grew up in Western Massachusetts and graduated from a college in Central New York with my degree in journalism. I moved to the Triangle in early 2000 and have been a season ticket holder since 2005. You can reach me at 
Bubba | Sep 22, 2008 | Reply
Perhaps I wasn’t too far off with my “Parrish on speed dial” article. But Parrish must feel he is too good for a try out.
Interesting.
David | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
I haven’t heard many people talking about Melichar’s play in the scrimmage. I was watching him pretty closely for much of the game and I think he is looking like exactly the kind of player we needed. While not overly physical, he made lots of smart, efficient and unspectacular plays. The kind of solid play that doesn’t get noticed much (a la Wesley). So far, he looks like a solid pick up to me.
I also noticed that Jeff O’Neill was paying a lot of attention to things like coming back to help the defensemen clear the zone and his positioning to support the puck carrier. This is good, as some of these things don’t come naturally to Jeff.
janeybell | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
I so wanted Jeff O’Neill to use this opportunity to prove tot he fans that he was ready and had earned this chance he was getting, but from our perspective up in club level, it just didn’t look that way. Jeff was frequently trailing the play, looking around a little lost (like he just couldn’t keep up with the flow), and he seemed content to take Cory Stillman’s old role and just stand and wait somewhere in front of the net so he could clean up the garbage. Contrasting his play with somebody like Dan LaCouture, he just didn’t look as deserving of the roster spot.
Cory | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
He was on the speed dial … just for a tryout.
Mateo | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
I felt like O’Neill got better as the game went on. I think most who saw the game would agree that he was a bit rusty to start… perhaps a little pensive… and some of that could have been a lack of chemistry w/ all the new players around him… But as the game went on he did get better.
baker | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
I also was impressed with Melichar and surprised nobody has said anything about him. I didn’t realize he was so big… Nobody came in our zone without a nudge or a steal from him. Also, I was thinking that O’Neil wasn’t doing much…. then he scores the goal. Yes it was a cleanup goal, but he put himself in the right place and was able to finish. I also thought Chaput played well. I think the Chad LaRose award (as far as annoying others) should go to McGuinness… He seemed to hit everybody and be very aggressive.
Vinnie | Sep 24, 2008 | Reply
I honestly thought that O’Neill was awesome out there on Sunday. The guy hasn’t played professional hockey in a year, and in the first period, he did look rusty, but give the guy credit when credit is due, the guy kept on improving as the game went on. I’ve followed hockey for a long time here in Raleigh, and one thing that I know is that no coach in the league can teach someone how to score goals!! Jeff O’Neill knows how to do it and has scored plenty of them over his 12 years, and over 890 games played in the NHL. Another thing, LaCouture is the same age as O’Neill (or maybe a year younger) and has only played just over 300 games in the NHL. Guest what everyone, there’s a reason for that!! The fact is the guys a fringe NHL’er, hence why he hasn’t played half the games as O’Neill. It was the Red/White game full of teenagers, and people are talking about this guy like the second coming of Jesus Christ. Wake up, there’s plenty of reasons why we can all imagine that he’s played so few games and why he’s only on a tryout with the Canes, it’s because he’s no good, and no one wants him. Jeff O’Neill was our knight in shining armor for many many years here in Raleigh, and from everything I’ve seen and heard thus far over the last month, he’s ready to be back with the Canes!! I say Jeff is so committed to his task at hand, were all going to forget who Justin Williams is once Jeffy starts lighting the lamp like he has so many times for us in clutch situations.