All Entries in the "Carolina Hurricanes" Category
Edler Deserves NHL Punishment for Knee on Staal
By Tom Dougherty (@todougherty) The Carolina Hurricanes cannot be happy with Alex Edler. Edler on Thursday injured Team Canada’s Eric Staal in the first period of Sweden’s quarterfinal matchup when he recklessly connected knee-to-knee with Staal. He was suspended the remainder of the World Championships, according to the IIHF. But is that enough punishment for a [...]
Crow For Two
For half a season, the Islanders were making us look like prophets. We even wrote about it in a previous piece, which the prolific writer at Islanders Optimism – a site where the Islanders can do no wrong- called very fair. Our stat projections were largely dead on. Our team point projections were within 1 [...]
Rink Recollections: Jeff Odgers, NHL, 1991-2003
By Brian D’Ambrosio Jeff Odgers played every NHL game as if it were his final. He never took a game for granted –scared that his career could fade away at any moment. Odgers scrapped and gritted his way onto the roster and he made sure he never provided his coaches with a sufficient reason to [...]
Can They Pull This Off?
Here we stand, in relative disbelief. As previously noted, we expected this team to miss the playoffs by a fairly wide margin. We expected that 53 points made a playoff team, and we expected the Islanders to be limping in at the end at the 46 point level. So bully for them, they shut us [...]
Brendan Witt: A Life of Old-Time Hockey, New Beginnings
By Brian D’Ambrosio Brendan Witt knew one of the Philadelphia Flyers would approach. After all, the bruising fourth line tended to drop the gloves. Slightly after the six-minute mark of the first period, the “Dan Line” -consisting of Dan Kordic, Daniel Lacroix and Scott Daniels - hoped to send a message. “Philly put these guys [...]
Honey, I Lost the Kids (part 2 of 2)
In the first part of this epic, we promised three pieces of evidence to explain how Garth Snow does things with the sole intention of job preservation. We pointed out how he is relatively awful at drafting in part one. Part two will speak to other shortcomings, starting here: Two- Garth Snow uses salary cap [...]
Honey, I Lost the Kids – part one of two
It’s almost like a reflex when you ask hockey fans about the best way to build a winner “It’s the draft!” Drafting allow you to develop players or trade for established ones. Since the Isles have had no playoffs since 07-08, they’ve been in rebuild mode. We’re going to look at this draft rebuild with [...]
Why Was John Tavares Holding His Head in His Hands?
For the 9,000 or so fans in attendance (way below the average of 13,000 that they had when they were a winning team), the debacle that was the 6-4 loss at the hands of the not that good Carolina Hurricanes had a few unusual moments. The Islanders scored 4 power play goals and lost. That [...]
Hockey Myths Exposed – Defensemen Need Time to Develop
Anyone who has watched more than a handful of hockey games gets serenaded with statements that are undisputed in the hockey world, but in reality it doesnt make a lot of sense. We’ve already disproved the myth that power forwards need years to develop in our article “Ninogate,” in which we use the “talent is [...]
Rink Recollections: Chris Tamer, NHL defenseman, 1993-2004
By Brian D’Ambrosio Dearborn, Michigan native Chris Tamer grew up watching Bob Probert play hockey. Tamer even had a picture of the rugged Detroit Red Wings battler on his wall when he was attending college at the University of Michigan. It was the only photo on his wall, he says. Probert will always evoke memories [...]
WHEN does the rebuild begin?
As constructed on paper, the 2012-2013 Islanders seemed as if their goal was to have a competitive shot at the #1 pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft. That is mildly surprising, considering that two other teams in recent memory – Pittsburgh and Chicago- also used a five year rebuild plan, each culminating with a [...]
Jim Agnew: Ex- NHL Tough Guy Turned Missoula, Montana Sheriff
By Brian D’Ambrosio Jim Agnew is a man in uniform who is most deeply proud of being a wholehearted team player. These days, he buttons up a beige and brown shirt before excitedly starting his work time as a deputy sheriff in Missoula, Montana. In earlier years, he wore another type of distinguishing outfit, [...]
Destination Unknown, part four
Part Four: The most important rebuild of all After covering all aspects of the Snow rebuild – the on ice acquisitions, the redevelopment of a minor league system, the new arena’s impact on free agency- there is one area that is in DIRE need to a rebuild, more than even the outdoor concession stands at [...]
Destination Unknown, Part 3
Part Three: Free Agents aren’t actually Free Chronicling the failures of the Garth Snow regime takes time, energy, and ideally, beer. In fact, watching the Islanders play is best done through a haze of sudsy goodness. We suggest that if you’re looking for a Belgian Style ale that’s full of deliciousness, you’d be good to [...]
Ed Kastelic, Washington Capitals, Hartford Whalers, 1985-1992
By Brian D’Ambrosio Ed Kastelic was a fervent 20-year-old winger when he made his NHL debut as a Washington Capital, a December 5, 1985 contest against the St, Louis Blues. Two days later he picked up his first fighting major against Vancouver Canucks’ well-prepared enforcer Glen Cochrane. Soon, he was challenging the positions of perennially [...]
We Are Not That Dumb
It can be assumed that the Isles and Garth Snow are on a strict budget. Whether they say it or not, their actions support such. However, since they constantly say the opposite, they should be held to their own words. Garth consistently repeats, three times a year, once before free agency starts, again after [...]
Hockey Independent Roundtable: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions
Hello everyone and welcome again to the Hockey Independent Roundtable. In today’s piece, five HI writers will provide you all with their early picks for the playoffs ad the Stanley Cup. This piece will double as Part III of my five-part 2013 NHL season preview. Part I –> Northeast Division Preview Part II –> Eastern [...]
2013 Eastern Conference Power Rankings
The 2013 NHL season is no longer an 82 game marathon, but instead is a 48 game dash to the finish line. Will teams that had multiple players skating in Europe fair better? Will veteran squads win because they will have fresh legs all season long? Only the next few months will tell. Here are [...]
2013 NHL Season Preview: Part II: Eastern Conference Outlook
In part II of my 2013 NHL season preview, check out previews and predictions for the entire Eastern Conference. Part I –> Northeast Division Preview Part II –> Eastern Conference Preview Part III –> Hockey Independent Roundtable: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions Part IV –> 2013 Boston Bruins Roster Predictions 1) New York Rangers – Even [...]
Jay Wells: Rugged Defenseman Reflects on Scrappy 18-Year NHL Career
By Brian D’Ambrosio Jay Wells selflessly battled numerous enforcers of substantial note: Bob Probert, Jay Miller, Dave Brown (a few times) and Marty McSorley, among the list. One of the game’s exemplary teammates, his career spanned from 1979 to 1997, a period in which Wells stood up to the roughest individuals to ever to patrol [...]
