Carolina Hurricanes 2007-2008 Season Wrap-Up 1: Awards

Here are the awards for the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2007-2008 season.

• Most Unsung Guy: The candidates are Trevor Letowski, Chad LaRose, and Tim Conboy. LaRose was one of those grit players who seemed to be acquiring a scoring touch when he went down with a devastating injury about halfway through the season. Conboy was a mid-season call-up who played the tough guy role and added a couple assists along the way. But the winner is the guy who stepped into the No. 2 center role when Rod Brind’Amour and Matt Cullen were down simultanteously and played stellarly and great on the penalty kill. Winner: Trevor Letowski
• Glen Wesley Trophy (Best Defenseman): The candidates are Glen Wesley (haha), Bret Hedican, and Tim Gleason. Glen Wesley, in possibly his last season, was a solid option on the back end all year. Bret Hedican, also in possibly his last season, as often out against the other team’s top line and was +17. But the winner is a guy who often joined Hedican, fought, put points on the board, and made the defense more respectable in his second season with the Hurricanes. Winner: Tim Gleason
• Other Trophy (Most impact as a non-player): The candidates are Tom Barasso (Goalie coach), Pete Friesen (Head trainer), and Ron Francis (Asst. GM). Ron Francis was instrumental in welcoming guys to the ‘Canes, like meeting them at the airport. Tom Barasso helped Cam Ward improve greatly this year. But the winner had to deal with multiple injuries and helped a couple guys get back before expected. Winner: Pete Friesen
• Tom Rowe Trophy (Best Callup): The candidates for the award named after the head coach of the ‘Canes AHL affiliate in Albany, NY, are Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda and Wade Brookbank. Brookbank made an immediate impact as an enforcer. Keith Aucoin centered a good energy line including Scott Walker and our winner, who had the most points and a lot of energy and crashed the net a lot more than I expected. Winner: Ryan Bayda
• Doug Weight Trophy (Best Acquistion, pre- or mid-season): The candidates for the award are Sergei Samsonov, Jeff Hamilton, and Joe Corvo. Jeff Hamilton, before his send-down to Albany, helped the power-play in the beginning of the season. Joe Corvo gave us a puck-moving defenseman and a hat trick one game. But the winner scored goals and formed chemistry with a couple guys that made an impact on the scoreboard. Winner: Sergei Samsonov
• Jeff O’Neill Trophy (Best Forward): The candidates for the award are Eric Staal, Scott Walker, and Erik Cole. First off, honorable mention goes to Rod Brind’Amour, who didn’t play enough games to get consideration. Erik Cole played well, with another 50-point season. Eric Staal clearly had a good season, the leading scorer on the ‘Canes. But the winner brought grit and 32 points in 58 games. Winner: Scott Walker
• Ron Francis Trophy (MVP): The candidates are Eric Staal, Cam Ward, and Ray Whitney. Cam Ward played solid goal in the early months, but was found letting in soft goals when it counted the most. Ray Whitney, if he was healthy all season, would have made a big impact (61 points in 66 points). But the winner grew more as the season went on and led the team in scoring. With 82 points in 82 games, the winner is Eric Staal.

Carolina Hurricanes End of Season Awards

At the end of the season, I will give out the following awards: MVP, Best Acquisition, Best Forward, Best Defenseman, and Best Other. There may be some more that I haven’t thought of, but if you have any suggestions for awards or nominees for these awards, let me know in the comments section.I’m also adding the Most Unsung Guy, Best Call-Up, and maybe another. 

Joe Corvo: The Steal of the Trade Deadline

Hey everybody!I know that I haven’t written in a while, but I’d like to take the time to tell you why the Hurricanes made the trade of the deadline period when they acquired Joe Corvo along with Patrick Eaves from the Ottawa Senators for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman. As of March 28, 2008, Joe Corvo has 43 points this season. Through 51 games, he had 27 points with the Senators. Through 18 games in Carolina, he has 16 points. Hmm…. Mike Commodore, after leading the Hurricanes in defense scoring last year, is struggling in Ottawa. Corvo was underappreciated in Ottawa. Players such as Wade Redden, Christoph Schubert, and Andrei Meszaros made Corvo expendable. His 27 points with Ottawa in those 51 games was more than all but 10 of the Hurricanes (of which he is one) at this point in the season. The closest at this point is Jeff Hamilton, with 22 through 55 games (remember Hamilton was sent down earlier this season).Corvo provides something more than just points overall. He makes the power play much better. Carolina’s power play is currently 10th in the NHL with 18.3%. Since the trade, in 97 chances, the Hurricanes converted on 20.6% of their chances, including 6 straight games from Feb.28 to Mar.12 when the ‘Canes scored at least 1 power play goal and one game where they scored 4 out of 7.The Hurricanes have definitely benefitted from the play of Corvo. In those 51 games in Ottawa, he was +13, while most likely playing 2nd or 3rd pair. Now, in a more open role in Carolina, he’s +7 in 18 games. He “leads” the Hurricanes with +20, if you can call it that. Based on his time with the Hurricanes, he’s tied with Dennis Seidenberg at +7. Dennis has played only 44 games and acheived that. Joe did that in 18.Well, I know that there have been better players who have done well. Brian Campbell is averaging almost a point a game in San Jose since the trade. Much has been made about Brad Richards and Marian Hossa’s success in Dallas and Pittsburgh, respectively. But it is hard to see that any one player has made an impact on a team like number 77, Joe Corvo.Oh, by the way, he was only the third Whaler/Hurricane defenseman to score a hat trick in a game. This happened March 16. And he was the subject of the Forslund Focus, a segment in the in-game presentation at the RBC Center where TV play-by-play guy John Forslund highlights players making a difference on the team.I’m surprised we don’t have him in the shootout yet. Just look at his hat-trick sealing goal on the 16th against former ‘Cane Martin Gerber. Great move.

Corvo and Eaves are the newest Hurricanes

Patrick Eaves and Joe Corvo were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes today for Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore. I’m going to line up Eaves and Stillman (forwards) and Corvo and Commodore (defensemen) in my next two blogs.

Super Sunday, Hurricanes, and, um, Other Stuff

Super Bowl Sunday is, wow it’s tomorrow! And I do have my favorite, and it’s a shocker. That’s right, the New York Football Giants are gonna win, I’m guaranteening it. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to play against the Patriots (i.e. Anthony Smith). The Carolina Hurricanes actually won 2 games in a row. Celebrate! No, Rod Brind’Amour, who scored the game winner over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, is on a hot streak and Scottie Walker has picked up where he left off after missing a lot of the beginning of the season. This is exciting hockey again. LOST premiered Thursday with a great and mysterious episode. *SPOILER ALERT* I was surprised that Locke, Hurley and Claire left the main group. I’m sure Claire was shaken up by the loss of Charlie, but Hurley? What? I’m still trying to figure out who that guy is? Last, but not least, Super Tuesday is in 3 days. This is the time for Mike Huckabee, my choice, to pick up the pace. He needs to win over half the delegates to stay in the race, and, in my opinion, I don’t think that’ll happen. It’s gonna be down to McCain and Romney. I still think that Clinton-Obama is going to be the tightest primary race of my lifetime. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

‘Canes claim underachieving Samsonov from Blackhawks

In an interesting move, Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford claimed winger Sergei Samsonov off the waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks. Samsonov had 4 assists and 6 penalty minutes in 23 games with the B-hawks before being sent down to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs after Chicago put him on waivers on New Year’s Day. (What a present for the new year.) He had 1 goal in 2 games in Rockford before this pickup. This is a very interesting move for Carolina. Carolina is not exactly short in good forward talent. Callups Brandon Nolan, Keith Aucoin, and Wade Brookbank have done a great job in filling in for guys like Scott Walker and Andrew Ladd. Of course, they aren’t exactly Samsonov. Sergei did have 5 straight 40-point seasons, the last 2 with over 70 points. The former Bruin’s last good season was in ‘05-’06, when he had 37 points in 55 games with Boston. But injuries and poor play has plagued him since. And, believe me, the Hurricanes do not need another injury. I give this move a B-. We pick up a forward who has shown scoring capability, but is prone to injuries and bad play. What the Hurricanes really need to do is get a power-play caliber defenseman. If Casey Borer can keep up his good play, then he might be that guy. We can only wait and see. 

The Human Hockey Puck: ‘Canes October Report

The Carolina Hurricanes have started the 2007-2008 NHL season strong, with a 7-3-3 record. The last time the Hurricanes started the season with seven wins was in the 2005-2006 season, in which they were 8-2-1, a franchise record. They also won the Stanley Cup in that year.
There is another similarity between that year and this year. In ‘05-‘06, the Hurricanes defeated the previously undefeated Ottawa Senators on October 24th. This year, the ‘Canes beat the previously unbeaten Ottawa Senators on October 11th. See any similarity? Huh? Huh?
The season began on October 3rd against the Montreal Canadiens. It was a fast-paced game, with the Hurricanes tying it near the end. But Montreal captain Saku Koivu scored in overtime to hand the ‘Canes an overtime loss to begin the season. The Hurricanes rebounded with a big 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on the 5th, including a pair of goals by Eric Staal. After a heart-breaking 2-0 loss in Washington, where backup goalie John Grahame made 31 saves, the ‘Canes went on a three-game winning streak, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-1, the Senators 5-3, and got revenge on the Canadiens by defeating them 3-1 in Quebec. The ‘Canes then made a tour of Philadelphia, losing in a shootout against Pittsburgh and in overtime versus Philadelphia.
The Hurricanes played their first Western Conference opponent, the Vancouver Canucks, on the 22nd. I went to that game, and the Hurricanes were in top form. It was exciting because it looked a lot like the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2005-2006. They defeated the Canucks 3-1, but it could have been 5-1 if the Hurricanes had not been playing the best goalie in the NHL, Roberto Luongo.
The Hurricanes then went 2-2 for the rest of the season, including an 8-3 drubbing of the New York Islanders, in which Rod Brind’Amour picked up the first hat trick of the season for Carolina.
Brind’Amour has been the statistical leader of the Hurricanes this season. He has 18 points in 13 games, including a 9-game point streak. Following him are Staal and Justin Williams with 16 points. In fourth is Cory Stillman with 14 points. Cam Ward has a 6-2-2 record with a .912 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA.
Eric Staal is 1st on the team and tied for 3rd in the NHL with 9 goals. Brind’Amour leads the ‘Canes with 12 assists and is tied for 2nd overall.

Leaves Fall and Senators Call (Twice)

I’m back!~!!!

The Carolina Hurricanes are playing some great hockey after the miserable 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals. Jeff Hamilton, Eric Staal, Matt Cullen, and Erik Cole all played two great games against the Toronto Maple Leafs (gramatically incorrect) and the Ottawa Senators, leading to 7-1 and 5-3 wins against each, respectively. Hamilton has surprised, putting up five points in five games. Staal has 5 goals in the same time frame. Cullen had 3 points against Toronto and Cole scored 2 goals last night, including the game-winner.

Another interesting thing to happen yesterday was that Senator Richard Burr of my home state of North Carolina visited my school. It delayed my chemistry test an hour, but that didn’t help at all as I got a 77 on it (good for a C+ at O’Neal). He was interesting. He supports John McCain for president, not my personal favorite but a decent choice. He said that he was not interested in being president himself. Darn. I kinda liked him.

Peace out home dogs

Okay, Time for Hockey!

So, this week is the beginning of the National Hockey League’s training camps. Training camp is a time for young guys to strut their stuff and win battles, and journeymen to find a home somewhere where he can be a mainstay

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, excuse me, Anaheim Ducks, and the Los Angeles Kings start camp today, only 20 days away from their season opening games in London, England. The Hurricanes start camp on the 13th with pics and physicals, and practice starts the next day. To see a preview of ‘Canes camp, look at my preview on the previous post.

As I count down the days on my corkboard, I am reminded of the training camp two years ago. The Hurricanes were coming off the lockout, and The Hockey News said the Hurricanes were a “D+” team, 14th in the Eastern Conference. I am referreing to 2005-2006, the year in which the Hurricanes defeated the 8th ranked team in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers (8th is where THN predicted the Oilers to be (hmm….)), to win the Stanley Cup.

With shootout specialist Matt Cullen back in the new ‘Canes unis, I think this year will be very good. A playoff spot is not beyond reach for the Hurricanes.

Before October 3rd (Opening Night), I will do my season preview. I can’t do it yet because I don’t know who’s in the starting lineup.

Ydwoh! (Howdy backwards, which means the opposite of howdy, which is, well, you get it)