Loose Pucks — Nov. 5

I figured I needed a name for these random things I find that really don’t deserve their own posts — so Loose Pucks is born!

• Three Hurricanes are will be on the ballot for this year’s All-Star Game in Montreal. Rod Brind’Amour, Eric Staal and Ray Whitney all made the cut for the voting, which will being Nov. 12. The host Canadiens lead all teams with six players on the ballot. Staal was MVP of the 2008 All-Star Game in Atlanta.

• The Hockey News published the results from their “Fan Favorite Logos” voting on their Web site, and the Florida Everblades — the Canes’ ECHL affiliate — finished eighth. The Montreal Canadiens took top honors, while Sidney Crosby’s old junior team, Rimouski Oceanic, finished second. Three other NHL teams (Red Wings, third; Blackhawks, sixth; Maple Leafs, seventh), another ECHL team (Ontario Reign, fourth) and an NCAA team (North Dakota, fifth) rounded out the top eight. The Hurricanes were seeded 29th out of 30 logos in the NHL by THN heading into the bracket voting, with only Anaheim seeding lower.

• Hurricanes prospect Zach Boychuk has been named to Team WHL for the sixth annual 2008 Canada-Russia Challenge. The prospect tournament, which pits a group of Russian players against All Star teams from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, will take place Nov. 17-27. Since returning to junior after a two-game audition with Carolina, Boychuk has three goals and two assists in six games with Lethbridge.

• Who would’ve bet on this before the season: Through 12 games, Brind’Amour is minus-10 while Nic Wallin is plus-10. Wallin is tied with — of all people — Nikolai Zherdev for tops in the league in the category.

• In other stats news, Larose is tied for second in the league (with a bunch of players) with two game-winning goals. The Rangers’ Brandon Dubinsky has three. Staal is third in shots (53), trailing only Scott Gomez (58) and Dion Phaneuf (55). He’s also second in missed shots with 24 — Phaneuf leads with 26. Brind’Amour is third in the league in faceoff percentage (63.2 percent). Ex-Hurricane Mike Zigomanis leads the league at 64.4 percent and Tampa Bay’s Chris Gratton is a shade ahead of the Carolina captain at 63.6 percent — but Brind’Amour has easily taken twice as many draws as both and leads the league in faceoff wins with 170. Dennis Seidenberg’s 37 blocked shots ties him for second with Colorado’s Brett Clark. Mike Komisarek leads the league with 39. Tim Gleason and Wallin each have 36 hits on the season, good for a tie for 12th in the league. 

• Carolina is one of only five teams that currently has five players with four goals or more. Staal has five, while Brind’Amour, Matt Cullen, Chad Larose and Tuomo Ruutu all have four. Philadelphia and Vancouver each have six players with at least four tallies, while San Jose and the Rangers (who have played a league-high 15 games) match the Canes’ five. 

• Hurricanes prospect Nick Dodge, who was well known at Clarkson University for his defensive play and smarts, is one of two River Rats who, at plus-4, is a plus player through nine games. Recently signed Michael Ryan is plus-1 (with a goal and two assists) in just two games with Albany since being signed. Through nine games, Albany is just 2-5-1-1 with 21 goals for and 31 against.

• Former Hurricane Keith Aucoin was named AHL Player of the Month with Hershey. In 12 games for the Bears, Aucoin has five goals and 13 assists.

• I missed this from a while back, but Zac Dalpe — who has four goals and two assists in eight games for Ohio State — was named CCHA Rookie of the Week for the week of Oct. 14-20. He also earned special mention for Rookie of the Month for October.