I've got a list of the 2006 Hurricanes restricted and unrestricted free agents here:

http://www.thecaniac.com/2006_Free_Agents.cfm

TV ratings suck, yeah. But so little of the NHL's revenue comes from TV ratings it doesn't really matter right now.

What the NHL is focused on - and what they should be focused on - is improving the game (which they did in fine fashion with the rule changes), getting the local markets back into the game (attendance was up nearly all across the board this year over the previous season), and stablizing the LOCAL television markets. The Fox Sports Net's of the country.

TV ratings sucked for the NHL before the lockout - and it will take time for them to recover.

I do think that OLN will continue to promote the game and they'll increase their national coverage and their in-home reach for next season, and as time goes on, more and more people will discover OLN *IS* actually on their cable and dish systems. And as the local markets fill up the arenas, more people will watch the games on local and national TV.

I'm willing to bet that by the time the current TV deal ends (4 years from now?), hockey will get back onto ESPN, and like all things that ESPN carries, they'll promote it, and things will continue to improve.

The fact is, hockey is a great game, with more, faster action than ANY OTHER MAJOR TEAM SPORT. Even in North Carolina, where the natives have never seen a lake with ice strong enough to stand on are slowly beginning to appreciate the game more. And when you consider the competition that hockey has in that market, their dramatic increase in attendance this year is no less remarkable than the season the team had.

I'm not worried about the state of the sport of hockey.  You shouldn't be either.

I wish I could be blogging under happier circumstances, but Edmonton wanted game 5 more than the Canes did last night I think.

Maybe the team had a lack of focus because of the intense pressure on them to close out the series at home, who knows.  But the crowd was even tense from the beginning - especially after Edmonton scored 16 seconds into the game.  Later in the first period we took the lead 2-1 but then gave up 2 more goals to go down 3-2 by the end of the first.  It was a crazy period, and almost seemed like we were gonna see a lot of goals.

things settled down after that but the crowd was pretty quiet during the second period until Carolina tied up the game, and even after that you could tell there was a nervous tension hanging over the crowd.

Personally, I figured going into the third period tied 3-3 was good for the Canes, who had DRAMATICALLY outscored their opponents in the playoffs during the third period, something like 28-5.  Unfortunately, they only managed 2 shots on goal in the third period, and also took the only two penalties in the period.  I do wish they tracked "zone time" like they used to, because I bet we didn't spend more than 5 minutes of the period in the Edmonton zone.

The defense must've played well though because Edmonton only had 5 shots in that third period, but they definately controlled the pace.

I was pretty excited when we got the power play in overtime, but that excitement was quickly crushed along with the spirits of 19,000 others who fully expected CAROLINA to score on the power play that had been so successful all evening (3 power play goals).

But Cory Stillman made a soft pass to Eric Staal while he was being converged upon, and Staal wasn't able to get the puck.  Instead, we had a rather sudden breakaway opportunity from the blue line for Edmonton, and the puck whisked into the net, and shocked the crowd.

I don't really know who to blame.  Cory Stillman and Eric Staal both took the blame in the post-game interviews, but I'm just as tempted to blame section 334, who started yelling "WE WANT THE CUP" in the first period.  The Cup is going to come to Raleigh, I'm very confident of that, but I'm not cheering for it in the first period of the FIRST elimination game.

I could also blame Joe Ovies for the lack of mojo (pardon the pun, Morning Mojo listeners) - Mr. Ovies did predict an overtime game.

But then again it could've been my fault.  I didn't listen to "BEEP BEEP" before the game - although I did hear it earlier in the day.  I'm not sure if that was good enough.

Ultimately, I think the Canes simply didn't have the focus required to put Edmonton away.  They faced a huge amount of pressure to close out the series at home in front of their own fans - a celebration that certainly would've been something to remember.

the pressure on Saturday though is going to sway heavily towards Edmonton, because Carolina isn't going to have nearly as many distractions that the potential home ice celebration may have had.  And I know the Canes do NOT want to play game 7 back in Raleigh!  As much as I wanted them to win it on home ice, I even more so do NOT want to see them play another game in the RBC Center until the 2006-2007 season begins.

See you Saturday at the RBC Center!

GO CANES!

Another early score for Edmonton, but this time followed up immediately by a Carolina power play, and a power play goal 30 seconds in.

Carolina took the lead, took no penalties in the third period, and held on for the win by holding Edmonton to 5 shots on goal in the third.  There were many more shots than that, blocked, missed, etc. 

How about that Cam Ward?  They interviewed him on the ice SECONDS after the game, and he was calm and cool as if he'd just been sitting in the hot tub or something.  He has no measurable heart rate!

Canes take on Edmonton at home tonight, and PLEASE GOD LET THEM RAISE THE CUP AT HOME!

GO CANES!

I didn't get a chance to blog about the dominating performance the Hurricanes had in Game 2 at home, which is a shame, but oh well.  Moving on to Game 3.

I wouldn't say that Carolina played poorly.  On the contrary, the defense played very well, and the goaltending was excellent, and the penalty kill was especially good.

Unfortunately, Edmonton got (most of) the breaks.  Their first goal - early in the first period - went in off a deflection.  You know when the puck changes direction on its way in, it's awfully hard to stop.  Edmonton's second goal - the game winner - was a fluke goal that probably could have just as easily been called goaltender interference (and personally, I think it SHOULD have, but i'll admit to some level of bias).

Most importantly, Carolina was 0 for 6 on the power play, and I think that's what really did them in.  They didn't seem to be hitting anyone real hard, and they didn't have a whole lot of sustained pressure in the offensive zone.

So Edmonton makes it a series!

Game 4 is tonight and I'm hoping to see our Canes return to form and put on another show of how hockey is supposed to be played.  I still maintain that the Canes are a much better team and if both teams played their best, the Canes would win.

But we'll see what happens!

GO CANES!  BEEP BEEP!

I've been a pathetic excuse for a blogger lately, haven't I?  Didn't even blog the amazing Buffalo series.  Game 7 was *AWESOME* by the way.

Carolina came out with not much forecheck last night and committed too many penalties in the first period, but thanks to the Caminator (Cam Ward, of course), they survived the period with only a 1-0 deficit.

Things didn't improve in the second, as Carolina fell behind 3-0.  Uh oh.  Only 5 teams have overcome a 3 goal deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals.

At about 8:42 PM, I realized that I hadn't listened to Beep Beep yet, and so I listened, and 30 seconds later, the Canes scored their first goal, making it 3-1.

After that, Carolina took control of the game with a second goal early in the third, and the game tying goal not much later, and then a go-ahead goal not much after that.  Edmonton came back to tie the game but then Bergeron shoved Andrew Ladd into Roloson, and essentially caused injury to his own player.  Roloson is out for the series.  He's done.

And then came Rod.  Thank God for Rod.  He started the scoring and finished it by stealing the puck and scoring on a wraparound that saw Ty Conklin (is that his name) on the wrong side of the net.  5-4 Canes with 30 seconds to go and that's how it ended.

It was an amazing comeback, and probably a devastating loss for the Oilers.  I predicted Canes in 5 and I'll stand by that prediction because I think Edmonton will have enough to win a game at home but that's about it.

I really want to see the Canes hoist the cup - and I'd love it if they did it in front of the home crowd.  Plus, not having a game 7 would save me $150, so it has to be game 5.

GO CANES!