GarageGabs

I know that the majority of the audience that visits this site could care less about the Carolina Hurricanes.  To those people, I am sorry…don’t read this post.

This entire season has been one of frustration.  Missing Stillman and Kaberle for the first half of the season.  Losing to Buffalo on opening night and an 0-4 overall record vs. Buffalo.  A less than average power play.  Watching Eric Staal under achieve.  Multiple injuries to defensemen early and now multiple injuries to forwards.  Pitiful play at home, of all places.  Uninspired skating…..it’s all been rather frustrating, but through it all, the Canes actually had a chance to make a major move Tuesday night.

Just 2 points behind Atlanta and Tampa in the Southeast, the Canes had a chance to make a major move Tuesday night.  Home ice, vs. Atlanta, who had been free falling.  Not only that, Atlanta is the worst penalty killing team in the NHL and started their backup goalie.  Result?  Carolina skates hard for 2 periods, but can only generate 1 goal…none on the power play.  In fact, we give up a shorty.  They completely collapse during the 3rd, giving up a lazy fluke goal, and another on a turnover.  That noise you heard Tuesday night was the wind leaving my sails in regard to Carolina’s chances of repeating as Stanley Cup Champs.
Not only did the Canes miss a major opportunity Tuesday, but we also learned that Eric Cole will be out another 4 weeks with a hip injury.  A team struggling with offense is dealt another major blow.  Corey Stillman will return next week if he’s lucky.  With the trade deadline approaching, and fans expecting a major move…..what happened?  We trade Eric Belanger for Josef Vasicek?  That wasn’t exactly the major move I was expecting….basically exchanging 3rd liners and re-acquiring a guy that many were not sad to see leave.  Cole goes down and Ryan

Bayda gets recalled from Albany yet again….ho hum.  Doesn’t  matter, I still get the forms in the mail to pre-order my playoff tickets…yeah right.

We’re sitting here, 2 points away from missing the playoffs all together, yet just 4 points out of 3rd in the East….and we are acquiring Josef Vasicek.  Wouldn’t ya know that Belanger got traded to Atlanta and ended up assisting on a goal against us Tuesday night?

Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Atlanta got ugly.  Boos are one things, but when the home fans openly berate players….especially star players…it’s getting bad.  Leading 1-0 (and on a power play) Atlanta knocked the puck into the Carolina zone.  No canes gave spirited chase.  Eric Staal began to go after the puck in what I would call a “gape”…he was skating sort of like a show horse trots.  If you’ve ever seen players skate out for the “stars of the game” presentation….that’s about the speed Staal was skating.  It wouldn’t have mattered if Marian Hossa hadn’t been pursuing the puck as well.  Hossa beat Staal to the puck, and took an impossible shot from the left corner…from my viewpoint, he was at a 90 degree angle to the side of the goal….didn’t matter, the puck defected off the back of Cam Ward’s skate and trickled into the goal. Fans immediately jumped on Staal, and rightfully so.  I wore my Staal jersey that night…trying to inject some luck into him and the team.  I was embarrassed….I thought people were going to throw rocks at me for a minute there.  “Way to go Super Star!”…”Way to hustle Staal!”…..and they were right.  Where is the urgency?  Where is the hustle?  I see it constantly from Craig Adams and Scott Walker…everyone else just hustles in spurts.

Anyway, the season is far from over.  Carolina still has 20 games left, including several vs. Atlanta and Tampa, the teams they are chasing.  I’ll go watch them play the worst team in the East tonight….Philadelphia…and hopefully pick up 2 points.  I’ll hope for an improbable run.  It can still happen….I just don’t think it will.

FACTS

*Carolina is 15-12-4 at home this season- Last year they were 31-8-2

*Carolina’s longest win streak this season has been 5 games- Last year they had 5 streaks of 5 or better.  Three times they won 5 in a row, and two times they won 9 in a row.

*Eric Staal scored 100 points last year on 45 goals and 55 assists.  This year, with 20 games to play, he has 57 points on 25 goals and 32 assists.

*Carolina is 0-4 in shootouts this season

It’s Not Over  (The Guy Behind The Guy)

With a capital A!  That’s right, it’s that time of the year again.  North Carolina and Duke square off tonight at 9 pm in one of the more over hyped games of the year.  How do you hype the game when both teams aren’t on their “A” game?  You focus on the fact that they are both coming off a loss for the first time since 2003.

In all seriousness, this should be a good game.  Watching Hansbrough and McRoberts bang into each other all not creating uncalled travels should be a joy.  Prepare for numerous closeups of Coach K and Roy Williams,  as ESPN focuses on the coaching excellence at these schools.  Hell, the biggest surprise about this game is that ESPN isn’t going to air it on 3 channels.  I expect Carolina to win.  I just don’t think Duke is all that good.

There are other ACC teams tonight engaging in a couple of nice matchups as  Boston College (playing for 1st in conference but somehow unranked..hmm) goes to Miami and Florida State travels to Clemson.  I’m guessing the FSU-Clemson game will be the best game of the evening.

I’m finding all kinds of stuff on my old VHS tapes. It seems that I recorded just about everything I could. Tonight I found 3 recaps of a classic NCSU game. State battled back from 20 points down as Rodney Monroe scored 30 points in the 2nd half….after only 2 in the first. Here I have 3 different recaps: WRAL, WTVD, and “The Les Robinson Show“. Funny thing is, I actually had the full game recorded before the news recaps, but it appears that an ex-girlfriend used the tape to record a movie awards show….so, I’m left with these news casts.

Here is the direct Youtube link to the video

Here is other NCSU related stuff on this site.

I found this clip on a VCR tape this morning while rummaging through some of my old stuff. It’s Jim Valvano appearing on David Letterman doing a pretty humorous interview. I’m assuming this was in 1987 as Valvano congratulates Letterman and says “great game” in regard to Indiana. (Indiana won the National Championship in ‘97) If anyone knows the actual date for sure, I’d love to know. Sorry about the quality, I had to transfer this from a 20 year old VHS tape, to my computer, to YouTube, so I did the best I could with it. Also, it ends a little early….go figure, I was a kid. Enjoy, this is classic Jim Valvano, the man loved to talk and laugh.

If you want the direct Youtube link, go here

I’ve got several other tapes with mid 80’s stuff on them, I’ll be adding more later.

State fought hard again last night vs. West Virginia but was just too thin, falling 71-60. State had pulled within a basket late in the 2nd half when West Virginia switched to a 1-3-1 zone and pulled away as the Pack missed perimeter shots. Last night was a winnable game for State as West Virginia lost much of their offense to graduation. I really think the depth issues are making things very tough for State, who falls to 5-2 overall. Next up for State is a home game vs. Savannah State this Saturday. Hopefully they can get back on track.

PackPride Recap

ESPN Recap

Other news around the NCAA:

Tennessee Stuns Memphis

Duke Sluggish vs. Holy Cross

Edmonton got some sweet revenge vs. the Canes last night with a 3-1 win in Edmonton in the teams only meeting this season.  Worse than the loss for the Canes was the potential loss of Captain Rod Brind’Amour, who left the game with an undisclosed “lower body injury”.  Brindy has been limited in practice of late, but it is not clear if this is the same injury.  He left the game in the 2nd period and did not return.  Cory Stillman did not play last night.

If Brindy’s injury is major or even lingering, this could be a MAJOR blow to the Canes.  Brind’Amour is unquestionably the leader of the team both on and off the ice.  The timing might seem ok, (with the return of Stillman) but this is a team that really needs to hit stride….not remain in neutral.  Knowing Brind’Amour, he’ll play through whatever this is if possible.  Carolina has lost the first 2 games of this road trip, scored 1 goal, and gone 21 straight chances without scoring on the power play.  Somethings gotta give.

Next up for the Canes is Vancouver on Friday night…hopefully the can do something to salvage this road trip.

Recap 

Carolina was shut out last night 3-0, on the first game of the roadtrip by the Calgary Flames.  John Grahame took the loss, Cory Stillman did not play.  Carolina visits Edmonton tonight in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Recap 

I’ve been saying since the season started that if the Canes could hover around .500 during Stillman’s absence that they would be just fine. Well, they’ve been a little better than .500 (15-10-3) and now the versatile Cory Stillman is back. The Canes have been without Stillman all season due to surgery over the summer.

Honestly, I doubt Stillman even plays tonight, Carolina plays at Calgary) and will probably be slow to return to the ice. Either way, it’s a great sign that he’s back, and hopefully he’ll be full strength by January. I worry a bit, as I felt the Canes have just recently been hitting a bit of a stride, but having Stillman back on the wing makes a short learning period well worth it.

Hurricanes Activate Cory Stillman

A four part series that has made it up on youtube. NC State stars, David Thompson and Tom Burleson were interviewed the day before facing UCLA in the NCAA Final Four.

Pretty cool videos, check em out before they get lifted. Youtube is removing all copyright material, my account has been suspended.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

I thought the Pack played a pretty gritty game in Charlottesville today.  ACC wins are not easy to come by, especially on the road.  State, playing with a 6 man rotation (1 being a walk-on) and missing their starting point guard was in todays game up until the final minute.  The Pack played gritty defense, holding the Cav’s to just 38% from the field, but couldn’t overcome rebounding issues, allowing Virginia 18 offensive rebounds which led to 15 second chance  (and sometimes third) points.  I can’t say enough about the core of this team, Grant, McCauley, Fells, and Costner….they all are playing tremendous basketball.  Costner was especially strong today, with 17 points and 7 boards, I just thought he got a little selfish late in the 2nd half, when he passed up an open Fells in the corner and committed what the ref’s called a charge.  Judging by the last 2 games, this team can be competitive with anyone, but it’s early.  I wonder how long these guys are going to be able to log so many minutes.  Fells was having a LOT of trouble hanging with J.R. Reynolds off screens in the 2nd half.

Getting Atsur back will obviously be a major lift, but the Pack expects other help as well.  Redshirt freshman guard Trevor Ferguson will be eligible to play after this semester is over, and at this point, any help is good help.   Next up for the pack is a trip to West Virginia on December 6th.

Recap 

Elsewhere in the ACC

Congrats to Florida State for knocking off #4 Florida!

Notre Dame 81 Maryland 74 

Georgia Tech 82 Miami 90 

Virginia Tech 62 George Washington 63