All Entries in the "Brandon Sutter" Category
Hurricanes Mid Season Grades
The Carolina Hurricanes have completed 41 games and are officially half-way through the regular season. Let’s take a quick look at where they stand and grade the players based upon their individual performances so far.
The team has a record of 21-15-5, good for 47 points and seventh place in the Eastern Conference. While [...]
Carolina Holds on to Beat New Jersey, 3-2
The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then held on as New Jersey made a game of it late in the third period, 3-2. The victory was the fourth in a row for the Canes, their longest winning streak of the season.
The Hurricanes took an early lead on a goal by Ray [...]
Playoff Memories - Devils at Canes Preview
Whenever the New Jersey Devils hook up with the Carolina Hurricanes, you can’t help but think about playoff hockey. Since 2001, every single time the Hurricanes have qualified for the playoffs the road has led through the swamps of New Jersey.
We have talked about rivalries a bit on this blog, but we have [...]
Playoff Atmosphere: Canes Close Out Season Series With OT Win
Montreal’s Carey Price shook off some early rust and made several key stops late for the Canadiens. At the other end of the ice, Carolina’s Cam Ward had no problem matching his counterpoint down the stretch. In the end, it took overtime to decide the winner, and it was Ward who prevailed against a team [...]
Corvo Works Magic - Canes 2 Panthers 1, OT
The Carolina Hurricanes came out in the first period skating hard and never looked back as they defeated the Florida Panthers, 2-1 in overtime last night at the RBC. Not only did the Canes outshoot the Panthers in each and every period, but they held the advantage in time of possession and scoring chances [...]
Tidbits — Dec. 17
Some statistical odds and ends through 31 games:
• Plenty have been critical of Eric Staal this season, but his recent spike in production has his numbers looking pretty solid:
His 13 goals are tied for 21st in the league with, among others, Sidney Crosby. He only has nine assists, for a total of 22 points.
His plus-12 leads [...]
Kaberle Off IR, Conboy Reassigned
Frank Kaberle will be back in the lineup tomorrow. He was activated from injured reserve today. To make room, Carolina assigned defenseman Tim Conboy to Albany (AHL).
Kaberle has battled injuries this season, playing in just seven games with two lengthy stints on the shelf. When he has played, however, he has looked better than the [...]
Improved Drafting Makes Team Deeper
The Hurricanes started their season eight deep on defense, with GM Jim Rutherford looking to part with one of his NHL blueliners to make his budget. Fast-forward two months, and not only has Carolina seen all eight play at least half of the team’s 28 games, but they’ve recalled three AHL d-men to fill in [...]
Opportunity Knocks … For Many
It’s the morning after, so to speak, and the shock has worn off … somewhat. To say the Carolina Hurricanes franchise is beginning a new era and starting over would be naive at best, downright silly at worst. It’s still “Our Team” and clearly Paul Maurice was still part of “Our Tradition.”
But at the same [...]
Quarter Pole Grades: Forwards
Here are some grades, analysis and projections for the everyday players on the Carolina roster after 22 games. Grades will be based on mostly expectations, rather than overall skill level and stats. Projections are based on the player’s current statistics and assume they remain healthy. We’ll look at the forwards today.
Ryan Bayda (22G, 3-4-7, plus-5, [...]
Familiar Foe: Olli Returns To RBC With Coyotes
Carolina will be looking for its first three-game winning streak of the season when the Phoenix Coyotes visit Raleigh tonight at 7 p.m. The game is the third of four straight home games for the Hurricanes, who won the first two games of the home stand, managing a 3-2 shootout win over Tampa Bay on Sunday [...]
The Better Life - Hurricanes 2, Canadiens 1
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 2 to 1 last night, as they played one of their best games of the season. The Canes opened up the contest with 18 shots in the first period and closed the door with 20 more shots in the third.
The game totals were [...]
Canes Prevail Over Lightning in Shootout, 3-2
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday to break a three game losing streak, two of which were at home. It was also the team’s first shootout win of the season. The Canes lost their only other shootout game this year in Montreal, a team [...]
Carolina Blues - Thrashers 3, Canes 2
The Carolina Hurricanes traveled to Atlanta desperate for a win. While they played with a bit more urgency than their two previous losses and certainly tried to pull out all the stops near the end of the game, they still came out on the short end of the stick to the Thrashers.
Poor discipline, selfish [...]
Emotional Rescue - Caps 5, Canes 1
The Carolina Hurricanes showed no emotion last night while being humiliated on their home ice by the Washington Capitals. They showed no emotion afterwards in the dressingroom. There was no emotion from head coach Peter Laviolette in the post-game press conference. Everything was “matter-of-fact” and low key.
Perhaps a little emotion is needed? [...]
Caps at Canes, Gameday Preview
The Washington Capitals visit the Carolina Hurricanes tonight for round two of the six round heavyweight bout between division rivals. Last week, the Caps stole two points from Carolina as one of the leading scorers in the NHL, Alexander Semin, lit the lamp twice in the final three minutes to give his club [...]
Sens Come To The RBC; Michael Ryan Recalled
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Last night, Ottawa notched a convincing win over the Flyers in Canada’s capital. In the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C., the Canes suffered their most crushing loss of the young season.
The Sens have won four of five and head into Raleigh with confidence, creeping [...]
Thinking Of Sutter’s Future
Let’s make this clear: Brandon Sutter belongs in the NHL. Say what you want about how skinny he is, but the rookie center proved in seven games that he’s ready at both ends of the ice to be an NHL regular.
At the same time, after the devastating hit delivered to him by Doug Weight this [...]
Tidbits For Montreal Game
Some loose ends worth considering for tonight’s game:
• The Gazette in Montreal says Andrei Kostitsyn — who, like Brandon Sutter, was concussed on a big hit from Kurt Sauer Oct. 18 — is supposed to play. He’ll be back on the top line with Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev after missing just two games. Left winger [...]
Weight Weighs In
Finally some comments from Doug Weight (and Isles coach Scott Gordon) in Newsday’s On The Islanders Beat blog. Read here and comment. Oh, and ignore the writer who spelled Bob McKenzie’s name incorrectly.
Blogger’s Remorse? Nyet
“Bubba’s Inbox” has been pretty busy the past day or so. Of course it only figures that a post-game article which was quickly thrown together during the heat of the moment late on a Saturday night, would be quoted from and linked to, by every hockey blog from the Bahamas to the Northwest [...]
More On Sutter
Some more information is trickling out on the injury to Brandon Sutter.
Fire & Ice, a Devils blog, has some quotes from Sutter’s father, New Jersey coach Brent Sutter, some of which are disturbing:
**************
Sutter said his son did not recognize him at first.
“He kept asking the (Hurricanes) trainer questions,” Sutter said. “He said, ‘what was the [...]
Guest Feature - Fight Fire with Fire?
((From time to time I will get a request from a fan to allow them the opportunity to voice their opinion here on the blog. “C-Leaguer” recently sent me an email and asked if I would post his point of view about the volatile Sutter situation, and I agreed.
Opinions are all over the [...]
No More Love for Weight - Canes 4, Islanders 3
This blogger has been a fan of Doug Weight for a long time. Tonight, the fandom is over.
In the third period while rookie Brandon Sutter was extending himself and trying to make a play on the puck when approaching the Islanders zone, Weight lowered his shoulder and took out the vulnerable, 19-year-old. [...]
Iron City Meltdown - Pens 4, Canes 1
The Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night by a score of 4-1.
The Canes started the game out on a decent note, taking a 1-0 lead on Brandon Sutter’s first career NHL goal. Sutter took the puck from a bumbling Brooks Orpik, who mis-played the puck right in front of the rookie [...]
Canes Find a New Way to Win
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 3-1 last night in Anaheim. The Canes scored first in the contest, the only time they have done that all season.
Eric Staal zipped a pass across the crease to a wide open Ryan Bayda, who made no mistake. The team [...]
Canes Fall to Young Kings, 4-3 OT
The Carolina Hurricanes fought from behind to take a 3-1 lead, but ended up losing to the Los Angeles Kings in over-time late last night, by a score of 4-3.
In what is becoming a trademark for the Canes, they fell behind early as Michal Handzus beat Cam Ward, less than a minute into the [...]
Red Wings tip Canes 3-1
The Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes Monday night by a score of 3-1 in a tight, action packed game at the RBC. The Stanley Cup Champs scored two powerplay goals, then added an empty netter for good measure near the end of the game.
The Hurricanes played their most physical game of the [...]
Paint it Black - Wings at Canes Preview
The Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings are in Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight as the Canes put their 2-0 record on the line. Detroit is sporting a 1-1 record, having lost to Toronto in their home opener and then beating Ottawa the following night.
The Hurricanes will be donning their [...]
Carolina Outscores Florida 6-4
In a wild and wooley back and forth game, the Hurricanes were able to find the back of the net a couple more times than the Panthers were able to, and came away with a 6-4 victory Friday night at the RBC. The Canes had six different goal scorers and netted two [...]
Slow start but fast finish in 1st Period- update
Did I say that the Panthers would have trouble scoring? Forget that.
The Cats jumped out to a 2-0 lead and it looked like Cory Stillman and company were going to run the Canes out of the rink. But a powerplay re-direct by Ruutu and an even strength wrister by Whitney tied things up.
Both [...]
Walker Undergoes Surgery
The Hurricanes took another injury hit today when Scott Walker was lost for six weeks after having surgery this morning on his left hand, according to a release by the team.
Walker presumably hurt his hand during a fight with Philadelphia’s Nate Guenin, who had hit Matt Cullen in the teams’ preseason game Sept. 28. Walker was [...]
Canes Win Again
Carolina beat Nashville last night by a score of 4-2. I didn’t watch the game or listen to it, so I won’t attempt to give a review. It seems like Anton Babchuk had a good game though, as two of his blasts from the point ended up in the net. The first [...]
Leighton and Canes Hold on to 1-0 Win
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at the RBC yesterday by a score of 1-0. The victory was the first for the Canes this preseason and gave them an overall record of 1-3, with two more games to play.
Sergei Samsonov was the number one star of the game. Not only did he score [...]
Back to Work - Caps 4, Canes 1
Last night, fans were grumbling as they left the RBC.
Even if several of the players on the ice were different, parts of last night’s game looked eerily similar to the worst of last season. Collapses on defense, sloppy passing, and in general, uninspired play was what stood out to many.
The good news is that [...]
Preseason Opener: Period One Overview
We’re through one period, and the Caps lead 2-0. In the team’s first preseason game, it’s more important to focus on what’s going on than the scoreboard. Here’s a few things I’ve noticed:
• Brandon Sutter has looked very promising in the defensive zone. He had no trouble sticking with the shifty and skilled Michael Nylander. He [...]
Camp Preview Looks At Prospects
More from me over at Hockey’s Future. The latest is a Hurricanes training camp preview that focuses on the team’s prospects and their chances at camp.
As most of us know, Brandon Sutter looks like the only greenhorn that will leave camp with a job in Carolina, but there will be a chance to see some [...]
Stat Predictions From The Hockey News: Some Fun, Some Curious
At the very back of the most recent issue of The Hockey News, this edition’s Inside The Numbers stats pack features some statistical predictions for the upcoming season. The staff took five categories and listed the top 35 in each. The categories are: Defenseman Points; Rookie Points; Goals; Goaltender Wins; 2009 UFA Points.
Let’s kick things [...]
Canes’ Top 20 Prospects
My latest offering over at Hockey’s Future, the team’s top 20 prospects, shows a team that’s slowly building up a nice pool of up-and-coming players. I had a hard time plugging a lot of the guys in an order that made sense. You could make solid arguments for Brandon Sutter, Drayson Bowman or Zach Boychuk [...]
Under-The-Radar Rookies To Watch
Everyone knows some of the big names that will battle it out for next season’s Calder Trophy: the Kyles (Turris and Okposo), the Jackets (Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek) and the top picks (Steve Stamkos and Drew Doughty) to name just a few. But I thought I’d look beyond all the obvious choices and throw [...]
