I'm gonna go ahead and be cautious and say we should refrain from posting any images with the Cup in them in this thread, except on page 33 where I will post the same picture I did in the thread last season.

http://www.carolinahurricanes.com/custom/radF9F3A.asp - Full season schedule

Some key upcoming dates:
September 20th - Red/White Game (6 PM, RBC Center)
September 22nd - Preseason opener vs. Nashville
September 30th - Caniac Carnival
October 4th - Regular season opener/banner raising vs. Buffalo

Training camp continues at the RecZone and RBC Center, and the roster and schedule can be found at the official site.

For those who haven't been following the offseason thread or have been living under a rock during the summer, Matt Cullen (UFA - Rangers), Martin Gerber (UFA - Senators), Mark Recchi (UFA - Penguins), Josef Vasicek (trade - Predators), Aaron Ward (UFA - Rangers), and Doug Weight (UFA - Blues) are all gone. John Grahame (UFA - Lightning) is in as the backup to Cam, and Trevor Letowski (UFA - Blue Jackets) and Scott Walker (trade - Predators) will soften the blow of the losses at forward. Brad Isbister (UFA - Bruins) will be competing for a spot in the lineup, as will returning Canes Ryan Bayda (UFA - Manitoba of the AHL), Shane Willis (UFA - Lightning), and David Tanabe (UFA - Coyotes). Veteran defenseman Jason Woolley (UFA - Red Wings) is the latest addition to the team. Depth is good so there should be a lot of competition in camp at the forward positions and on defense. There will be two extra spots open, as Cory Stillman will miss the first couple of months of the season with a shoulder injury, and Frantisek Kaberle is slated to be out 3-5 months, possibly most of the regular season.

9/19/2006 9:53:36 PM

1st Reply

Go Canes!

9/19/2006 10:52:38 PM

look its gonna be a great team...but a repeat? i dont think so. i've just about never predicted a canes loss, but we're going to lose to buffalo, and we're not going to win the cup. though i wouldnt be suprised if we made it to the third round.

9/19/2006 10:59:22 PM

Cullen and Ward will be hard to replace.

Let's hope our Ward we kept doesn't slack off and can handle being the main man for a full season.

9/19/2006 11:01:13 PM

w00t.

9/19/2006 11:03:57 PM

no question ward is a question mark. he never broke out till the post-season.

9/19/2006 11:06:33 PM

im looking for boston to be in the finals this year, out west its really hard to say

9/19/2006 11:14:31 PM

w00t

9/19/2006 11:20:20 PM

Ward's played 55+ games in multiple seasons before, so longevity isn't a problem. The question is going to be if he can keep his slumps to a minimum over the course of the season. There's nothing wrong with being a little streaky, but it's not good to have to deal with a situation like Kevin Weekes had where he's on fire for two weeks and then can't stop a damn thing for the next two. The big question for me is how Grahame will perform when he's called upon. He's been TERRIBLE in camp. Ward and Justin Peters have been stellar.

[Edited on September 19, 2006 at 11:25 PM. Reason : r]

9/19/2006 11:24:46 PM

grahame was not a good pick up imho....i.e. tampa bay last year

9/20/2006 12:15:37 AM

I'm worried about him simply because of what I've seen over the past few days. He's not challenging, he's not taking advantage of his size, and there's not even a whiff of being active with the stick or hands. One-on-one he's getting beat every which way but upside-down by guys like Craig Adams.

Goalies can have bad years. It's not a big deal. I'm willing to forget about last year in Tampa all together and look at his good performances in the years before behind Khabibulin and in Boston...but that was then, and this is now, and now he's not impressing me.

9/20/2006 12:23:25 AM

I'll be there this friday!

9/20/2006 1:11:18 AM

Quote :

"streaky"

trip tracy's fav word.

9/20/2006 1:14:27 AM

^ Naw, that's "dinner."

9/20/2006 1:36:17 AM

Who else besides Buffalo and Anaheim got new jerseys this year?

9/20/2006 6:16:33 AM

ahahaha

9/20/2006 10:11:41 AM

^^the devils do every year

damn cullen is a big loss. weight rechii and vasicek too. i think ward can be replaced for some reason even though hes a gorrilla. if we win is in cams hands but i dont know why you guys are discussing goalies when we have the best young goalie ever.

9/20/2006 12:50:14 PM

T - 54 hours. letsssss go preseason

9/20/2006 1:20:49 PM

^^ you have proven to know absolutely dick by claiming that vasicek is a big loss

9/20/2006 1:24:43 PM

he was glue and he was here on both of our runs

9/20/2006 1:32:21 PM

^ He was scratched during most of this run in favor of Chad LaRose. I love Chad LaRose, but think about that.

9/20/2006 2:04:40 PM

I think glue accurately describes Vasicek's speed

9/20/2006 2:28:47 PM

Vasicek is listed at 6' 5", 214. He's a bit shorter than that in reality, but still HUGE.

In 23 regular season games, he had 10 hits.

That's all I'm going to say.

9/20/2006 2:43:47 PM

i'm surprised it was that many. I think Pavel Bure was a more physical player than the Czech Condor.

9/20/2006 2:52:05 PM

Quote :

"good performances in the years before behind Khabibulin and in Boston"

He was never spectacular in Boston. They gave him a chance to start and he couldn't pull it off. As a backup though, he usually got the job done. Of course it helps when he doesn't go out and break his ankle off the ice either..

9/20/2006 3:09:17 PM

I would never expect him to be spectacular, either...just solid. He was solid in Boston (certainly moreso than Steve Shields) and then a bit more behind Khabby and starting in the playoffs in '03. We'll see, I guess.

9/20/2006 3:11:46 PM

anyone going to the scrimmage tonight?

9/20/2006 4:20:32 PM

not having stillman is by far the biggest loss

9/20/2006 4:21:30 PM

I'm gonna try to make it out there tonight for a little bit.

9/20/2006 4:28:16 PM

So how was the scrimmage?

9/20/2006 10:16:52 PM

It was pretty good. Grahame looked shaky, Cam was perfect, Tverdovsky looks a lot better, Woolley looked solid, Hulse went after Ladd, Ladd had an awesome deflection goal, etc.

9/21/2006 2:29:36 AM

Any word on how Justin Williams is doing?

I heard he got hit in the face with a puck last night and had to get an x-ray done.

(link)

9/21/2006 12:24:30 PM

The linesman told us he got hit in the ear and should be fine.

9/21/2006 1:04:39 PM

Hello out there, we're on the air its Hockey Night Tonight!!!

9/22/2006 5:21:39 PM

OUR Stanley Cup is all filled up for the champs who won a drink

9/22/2006 5:39:20 PM

are there still going to be the college student discounts on tickets? carolinahurricanes.com says nothing

9/22/2006 9:12:13 PM

Fun preseason opener tonight. It was a terribly sloppy start as Nashville scored 3 goals in the first 4 minutes, but after that the Canes really picked it up and played fairly well. Final score was 5-4 Nashville with our buddy Joe Vasicek scoring the winner shorthanded with a minute to go in the game. Vasicek also had a nice assist and the winning goal in the exhibition shootout. We'll see what he can do for them in the regular season...

Attendance was 10,548 which sounds shitty, but I think the best attendance for a preseason game last year was 6 or 7,000, so I guess it was a good turnout. Both Ray Whitney goals were beautiful, and the first one was just awesome. Commodore shot the puck from behind his own net off the boards near center ice, and as it entered the Nashville zone Cole redirected it onto Whitney's stick, and he scored on a breakaway.

[Edited on September 22, 2006 at 10:27 PM. Reason : also, Harrison Reed will be a BEAST in the future I think]

9/22/2006 10:25:14 PM

for people who havent seen Reed his wrist shot is as impressive as babchuk's slapshot but, accurate

9/22/2006 10:33:57 PM

it was a pretty good game

9/23/2006 12:29:53 AM

Quote :

"Nashville scored 3 goals in the first 4 minutes, "

thats canes hockey

9/23/2006 1:38:44 AM

good game imo

9/23/2006 10:52:01 AM

kinda unexciting game....and very empty stadium...going next friday anyways though...i might have extra tix if anyone wants them

9/23/2006 7:04:47 PM

^ I mean, let's be honest...you can't expect Joe Blow to spend 75% of full ticket price on a game that doesn't matter featuring a team half-full of non-NHL players going against a similar team from Nashville. Most of the people at the game last night were season ticket holders who were 1) starving for hockey and 2) eager to see their STH friends.

9/23/2006 7:14:41 PM

Quote :

"75% of full ticket price"

100% of full ticket price

7-3 loss in Nashville tonight. No idea what happened; I only saw the box score. Vasicek scored again.

9/24/2006 12:46:26 AM

^ Mine was listed at $15, which is less than the normal price, but I pay it all at once so I never really pay attention.

Angelidis, Barnes, Bellissimo, Carson, Estrada, Kowalski, Nastiuk, and Peat were all cut and assigned to Albany camp.

9/24/2006 12:52:13 AM

so theres not gonna be individual game threads? good...

9/24/2006 1:47:23 AM

that would be insane, for reg. season.

9/24/2006 1:49:54 AM

no more Cale Hulse to worry about. 'Canes just released him.

9/25/2006 12:50:56 PM

nice loss, canes.

9/25/2006 1:44:16 PM

psh, preseason means nothing

9/25/2006 2:10:01 PM