Mugged in NY

The Hurricanes SHOULD have had a 1-0 shut-out over the NY Rangers last night in MSG. Eric Staal's slap shot at 19:09 in the first off of a pass from Joni Pitkanen was the games only ACTUAL goal. Derick Stephan's wrister at 11:06 in the 2nd should have been disallowed due to goalie interference. There was no call and Stephan scored while Dan Ellis was face down on the ice. My big problem with this is that Eric Staal had been called for interference on an identical situation and took a 2 minute break in the penalty box. But when the same ref saw the same play on the oposite end of the ice...no call. The Hurricanes were robbed. They ended up losing 2-1 in a shoot out. Now admittedly the Hurricanes could have overcome the bad call by scoring more goals. But if the right call had been made, the Canes would have gotten 2 points they desparately need.

NCAA Tourney

So the Wolfpack made it into the NCAA tourney as an 8th seed. They play the #9 seed Temple owls on Friday at 1:40 pm. The reward for beatingg Temple will be a date with the #1 seeded Indiana Hoosiers. The Pack played 2 solid games in he ACC tourney beating Virginia Tech and Virginia. They lost to Miami who eventually won the Championship game.

The ACC Tourney is underway! Boston College just took out Georgia Tech 84-64. The Wolfpack squares off against the Virgina Tech Hokies in just a few minutes! The Eagles will take on Miami tomorrow and the winner of NC State/ Va Tech will play Virginia. I am pumped for the ACC Tourney and March Madness! Tonight at 7 the Carolina Hurricanes play the Washington Capitals in PNC Arena. A full night of sports on deck! I love the picture of the Simpsons characters as ACC fans. Bumble Bee Man kind of wrote itself, but the others are pretty creative. I like how the random guy is the Clemson fan. I think I would have swithed Kent Brockman (UNC) and Smithers (UVA). Not sure why NC State got the stoner...

Survive and Advance

"WHAT IF I TOLD YOU…? that Ordinary People can do Extraordinary Things! – the incredible story and destiny of the 1983 NC State Wolfpack!
When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations.
But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Ralph Sampson, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, NC State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship.
Director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since"
. That is from the ESPN website promoting the new 30 for 30 film about NC State's incredible NCAA Championship. Phi Pack Attack defeated Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma. It was 30 years ago, on April 4th. I was a freshman in high school watching from the floor of my parents' living room. Derrick Whittenberg heaved a desparation shot with seconds on the clock. The shot fell short, but fell into the ready hands of Lorenzo Charles, who dunked it just before time expired. I nearly lost my head in the ceiling fan when I jumped up after it was over. ESPN will showcase that awesome season on Sunday March 17th. DVR The Walking Dead, or watch the 11:00 showing. DO NOT miss this film! Then go to YouTube and pull up Jim Valvano's ESPY speech from 1993. You are welcome.

ACC Tournament Time

On Thursday, the ACC Tournament begins. Obviously, Duke and Miami (the regular season champs)are the favorites to meet on Sunday for the Championship. Selection Sunday will begin shortly after the nets are cut down at the Greensboro Collesium. I think at least 4 teams from the ACC will make it into the Big Dance. Duke, Miami, NC State and either Virgina or North Carolina, possibly even both. I think NC State has the chance to win the ACC tourney if they play the game they are capable of playing and stay out of foul trouble. I just hope they can do that for 4 straight games! Here is the schedule for the tourney:

Date	Round	Game	Start Time (ET)	Network
Thursday, March 14	1st Round	No. 8 Georgia Tech vs. No. 9 BC No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 5 NC State No. 10 Wake Forest vs. No. 7 Maryland No. 11 Clemson vs. No. 6 Florida State	12 p.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m 9 p.m.	ACC Network
Friday, March 15	Quarters	No. 1 Miami vs. Game 1 winner No. 4 Virginia vs. Game 2 winner No. 2 Duke vs. Game 3 winner No. 3 North Carolina vs. Game 4 winner	12 p.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m. 9 p.m.	ESPN2
Saturday, March 16	Semis	Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner	1 p.m. 3 p.m.	ESPN
Sunday, March 17	Final	Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner	1 p.m.	ESPN

Canes Blank Caps in DC

Justin Peters gets his 2nd career shut-out and Riley Nash has his first 2-goal game as the Hurricanes beat the Capitals 4-0 in the Verizon Center. This was Carolina's first regulation win in DC since 2009. Joe Corvo started it all for the Canes with a wrister at 3:55 in the first. Assists were awarded to Alexander Semin and Eric Staal. The Canes scored again in the 2nd when Riley Nash's wrister at 5:55 got past Braden Holtby. Jay Harrison and Drayson Bowman were credited with the assists. Carolina added another goal on another Riley Nash wrister at 18:26, with Patrick Dwyer and Tim Gleason getting points off of the assists. In the 3rd, Patrick Dwyer added an empty netter at 18:39 to give the Canes the 4-0 win. Carolina now has 31 points and is in 1st place in the Southeast Division. The next game for the Hurricanes will be Thursday night in Raleigh against the Capitals.

Devils goalies need work on stopping backhanders...

I have been away from the blog for a while...sorry about that. I have been busy at work. Let's talk about a night on the frozen pond! The Carolina Hurricanes faced the New Jersey Devils at home on Saturday night. It was military appreciation night, so the Canes broke out some sweet digital camo sweaters for the pre-game skate. The league did not approve them for the actual game, so the Canes took the ice in their red jerseys. Either way, the Devils never saw the Canes coming! Marty Broduer was out for the Devils due to back problems, so it was up to Johan Hedberg to man the crease for New Jersey. Alexander Semin's backhander scored a power play goal at 12:16 is the 1st.  Joe Corvo and  Jiri Tlusty got assists on the play. Jay Harrison follwed up with his own backhander at 12:44 in the 1st with Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal getting the assists. Ilya Kovalchuk tallied a short-handed goal for the Devils at 14:40. The teams went into the locker rooms after 20 at 2-1 Hurricanes. In the 2nd, Jiri Tlusty's wrister found the back of the net at 4:42. It got by with a little help from Alexander Semin and Dan Ellis. (Oddly enough, I have now been at a Hurricanes game against the Devils when a goalie actually scored a goal and another goalie got an assist. I saw Cam Ward score an empty netter against the Devils on 12/26/2011 and saw Dan Ellis get an assist against the Devils on 3/9/2013.) At 11:09 in the 2nd, Chris Terry scored his first NHL goal on a back hand shot with assists from Eric Staal and Bobby Sanguinetti. At 17:15 in the 2nd, Jeff Skinner scored on the night of the back hand shot. He was helped out by Tim Gleason and Jussi Jokinen. After 40 the canes had a 5-1 lead. In the 3rd, the Devils replace Hedberg with Jeff Frazee formely of the Albany Devils. Ilya Kovalchuk and and Patrick Elias both scored before 5 minutes passed in the 3rd and it was now 5-3 Canes. Jiri Tlusty added an empty netter late in the period to give the Canes the 6-3 win. Alexander Semin and Eric Staal picked up points off of assists on Tlusty's goal.

The Hurricanes travel to Washington DC to take on the Caps at the Verizon Center  tonight. The puck drops at 7pm. There are only 24 games left in the season for the Canes, who are 1st in the Southeast Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference.

The Cleveland Indians open the Regular Season on April 2nd in the Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians opened the season with Toronto last year, losing 4-7 in Cleveland. The Tribe went 2-4 against the Jays last season.

So the Habs beat the Hurricanes 4-2 last night. I really hate the Canadiens. The next game for the canes is Saturday night at 7pm in Raleigh against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are fresh off of a shoot- out win over the Sabres on Thursday in the Prudential Center. The NC State Wolfpack (22-8 11-6) travels to Tallahassee to visit the Seminoles (16-14  8-9) in the Donald L.Tucker Center. The Pack is coming off of a big win on senior night over Wake Forest in Raleigh. The Noles are fresh off 2 point win over the Cavs at home. The game is a must-win for NC State to stay in the running for a 1st round bye in the ACC tourney which starts on Thursday. The Pack won the early meeting between the 2 teams in Raleigh on Feb. 19th, 84-66. NC State leads the all-time series 41-28, winning seven of the last nine. The Pack is looking to win 12 games in the ACC for the first time since the 1973-74 season. The Pack went 12-0 in the ACC and went on to win the ACC tourney and NCAA Championship. Richard Howell is 4 rebounds away from his 1000th career rebound. He will be the 5th Wolfpack player in history to reach that mark. The game starts at 2pm.

Senior night a big win for NC State

Well last night was the last time I will ever see Scott Wood or Richard Howell in a Wolfpack uniform in PNC Arena. The Pack straight laid it on The Wake Forest Deamon Deacons last night 81-66. The Pack is 16-1 at home this season, their best record since going 17-3 in the 99-00 season. It also marked the 1st time since the 88-89 season that State swept the 3 in-state ACC teams (Carolina, Duke and Wake) in a season. Jim Valvano was still the coach and the Pack still played at Reynold's. So it is the first time it ever happened in PNC Arena. NC State (22-8  11-6) has won 6 of their last 7 games. State has 11 ACC wins for the first time simce 2003. If the Pack beats FSU in Tallahassee on Saturday, the 12 wins will tie the all-time win mark for the Pack.
Senior Richard Howell had 9 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 block. Scott Wood had 8 pts, 1 assist, and 2 steals. CJ Leslie had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his 9th double-double of the year. The Pack leads the ACC in double-double games at 33. Rodney Purvis scored 14 and Lorenzo Brown scored 11. No basket got more cheers from the PNC crowd than when SR Jay Lewis came onto the floor with just over 2 minutes left and hit a 3 point shot to close out his home career with the Pack.

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight in PNC arena. Puck drops at 7pm. I hate the Habs.

Tonight the NC State Wolfpack (21-8 10-6) takes on the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons (13-16  5-11) in PNC Arena. It is senior night for the Pack, and they will be honoring Scott Wood, Richard Howell, and Jay Lewis. A sad day seeing such talented players leave. NC State leads the series 136-100 with the Deacs winning the last meeting in Winston-Salem 86-84. State has won 5 of its last 6 games and they remain in the hunt for a coveted first round bye in next week's ACC tournament. The Pack has won 3 straight games vs Wake at PNC Arena. State needs to win tonight and Saturday at Florida State to get a first round bye and possibly finish 3rd in the ACC regular season race. The Pack had been the pre-season pick to win the ACC, but dissapointing losses to Wake, Miami, Virginia and Maryland (all by a combined 7 pts!) combined with Miami's surprsing season kept that from happening. Tonight's game starts at 9pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network. Good luck to the Pack and the seniors in their last home game!

Canes Sweep Buffalo in 3 Game Season Series

I will be the first to admit, last year when I heard thet Justin Peters was the starting goalie, I usually chalked that game up as a loss. I was glad that Dan Ellis was our back-up this year, I felt like we had a solid chance at winning when he was in goal. Then Cam Ward goes down for 6-8 weeks due to a 3rd degree MCL sprain. That throws Dan Ellis into the starting position, and I was ok with that. Justin Peters is recalled from Charlotte to be Ellis's back-up. Last night, in Raleigh, the Canes took on the Buffalo Sabres. Ellis was still feeling the effects of flu-like symptoms. Kirk Muller gives Peters the nod. I was less than optomistic. But Justin Peters was like a MACHINE in the first 2 periods of that game! I have a new faith in Justin Peters. The Hurricanes completed the season sweep of the Sabres, winning 4-3 on an outstanding display of goal tending. Carolina jumped up early with Jiri Tlusty scoring at 1:31 in the 1st and Eric Staal scored his 600th point on the assist. He had 3 assists on the night. Justin peters had 37 saves on 40 shots in his first game for the Canes this year. None better than a stop on a shot from Thomas Vanek at 1:17 in the 2nd. Vanek was wide open on the back door and threw one at the goal that made my heart sink. I knew it was a goal. But Peters got into postion for an amazing stick save. Ryan Miller also had some impressive save for Buffalo. He stopped a 2 man rush when Eric Staal stole the puck and passed to Alexander Semin in front of the net. Miller made a great glove save on Semin's shot. Joe Corvo added a goal at 12:17 in the 2nd to make it 2-0 Canes. The Sabres made it 2-1 off of a Cory Hodgson goal 25 seconds into the 3rd. less than a minute later, Jussi Jokinen gave the Canes a 3-1 lead scoring at 1:15. The Sabres had a PP in the 3rd and the Canes attepted to clear the puck, which was sent over the glass to create a 5-3 for Buffalo.  TJ Brennan scored just as Jay Harrison came back on the ice to end the 5 on 3, the goal ended the delay penalty. At 16;43 Alexander Semin made it a 4-2 Carolina lead, and Hodgson scored his 2nd of the night for Buffalo with 35 seconds left in regulation. The canes got away with a 4-3 win. next up for Carolina is a home game on Thursday vs the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs beat the Canes 3-0 in their last meeting. Montreal is coming off of a 3-6 loss at the hands of the Islanders in NY. The puck drops at 7pm in PNC Arena Thursday night.

This was a great weekend for my favorite teams. The Carolina Hurricanes won a home-at-home series with the Florida Panthers and the NC State basketball team beat Georgia Tech. But the news for the Hurricanes turns ugly as starting goalie Cam Ward will miss 6-8 weeks due to a 3rd degree MCL sprain.
On Saturday night, the Hurricanes welcomed the Florida Panthers to town with a 6-2 beating of the visitors. The Canes jumped on Florida quickly with Jussi Jokinen scoring at 6:23 in the 1st. Jiri Tlusty added another at 8:39 to give Carolina a 2-0 lead. before the cheers could die down, Jussi Jokinen added his 2nd goal of the night at 9:28 in the 1st. Shawn Matthias scored for Florida at 17:49 and the Canes took a 3-1 lead into the locker room. In the 2nd period, Riley Nash scored his first NHL goal at 5:22, Eric Staal added another at 13:03 and Filip Kuba scored for the Panthers at 19:15. The Canes went into the the 2nd intermission with a 5-2 lead. In the 3rd, Eric Staal added his 2nd of the night and 12th of the season to give the Canes the 6-2 win. Cam Ward had 22 saves on 24 shots. Jose Theodore started the night in goal for Florida, but left the game 2:22 into the 1st period with an injury. He threw out his right leg to stop Jussi Jokinen's shot and stayed on the ice in obvious pain. Theodore had knee troubles for much of last season, the Panthers report that he has an undisclosed lower body concern. Scott Clemmensen came in as relief for Theodore, and the Canes scored 3 goals in 3:05. Theodore had 1 save on 1 shot and Clemmensen had 27 saves on 33 shots.

On Sunday, the Hurricanes made the trip to Sunrise Florida to play in the BB&T Center. The game started out odd and  kept going. The Hurricanes had slated Dan Ellis as the starting goaltender. Ellis was feeling ill and not long before game time, Ward was alerted that he would get the start. The Panthers had goalie issues prior to game-time as well. Panthers goalie coach Robb Tallas suited-up for Sunday's game and was on the bench for most of the first period as the backup goaltender. Jacob Markstrom had been recalled from the AHL's San Antonio Rampage for Sunday's game.  There was a problem with getting Markstrom's equipment to the arena and Tallas, 39, was signed to a one-day contact in the event that Markstrom couldn't play. Markstrom replaced Tallas on the bench with 3:44 left in the 1st period.  Clemmensen started for Florida and the Canes jumped up to a 3-0 lead with Cam Ward turning away all 15 of the Panthers' shots he faced. Then Joe Corvo was defending Jack Skille in fron of the Hurricanes' goal. Corvo slid into Ward and knocked the net off of it's pegs. After the face-off, Ward made a save on another Panthers shot and did not get up from the ice. He was helped into the locker room by 2 teammates. Dan Ellis came in to finish the game and gave up 2 goals but the Canes preserved the win. Justin Faulk, Alex Semin and Jordan Staal had goals for the Canes. Jonathan Huberdeau scored both of Florida's goals. The Hurricanes play the Buffalo Sabres at home on Tuesday night. Buffalo beat Tampa Bay Sunday to give Carolina 1st place in the Southeast. Justin Peters has been called up from the Charlotte Checkers to back up Dan Ellis.

The NC State Wolfpack basket ball team beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 70-57 in Atlanta on Sunday. It was the 5th win in 6 games for the Pack. State moves to 21-8 over all and 10-6 in the ACC. Richard Howell scored 18 points, CJ Leslie scored 13 and TJ Warren had 14. The win moves the Pack into a tie for 4th place with Virginia after the Cavs beat Boston College on Sunday. The next game for the Pack will be Wednesday night against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Raleigh. The Deacs won the early meeting in Winston-Salem 86-84. The Pack needs to win Wednesday at home and again on Saturday when they go to Tallahassee to play the FSU Seminoles for the final game of the season.

I am excited about the fast approching MLB regular season, the NFL draft and trades and signings that will start up soon. I am looking forward to the ACC Tourney and NCAA and Final Four. I hope the Cleveland Indians can put together 2 solid halves of a season this year and get back into the post-season. I hope the panthers make some moves and pick up some personnel that will put us in contention for the NFC South title again. We have some serious salary cap issues to deal with, and that means somebody will have to go. There are already rumors about the departure of Chris Gamble, and speculation has swirled for most of the season that Smash & Dash won't be sharing the load at RB next season. The restructurring of Johnathon Stewart's contract lends support to the talk it may be DeAngeloWilliams who leaves. I hate to see players go, especially when they have contributed in the manner that D-Will has. We will see. NC State has to win the last 3 regular season games to get a 1st rd bye in the ACC tourney. I feel they may have to win the whole thing to get into the big dance. An at-large bid may not be in the cards for my Wolfpack. Could be the NIT for us.

Hurricanes beat Penguins 4-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins came to Raleigh last night for the second road game of the week visiting the teams of the Southeast Division. The Pens won a game in Florida on Tuesday beating the Panthers 4-6. The Pens didn't fair so well against the Hurricanes, losing 4-1. Chris Kunitz scored the only goal of the night for Pittsburgh at 13:14 in the first. The Canes answered when Eric Staal chipped in a puck sent his way via Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty at 19:35 in the first. The second period was all Carolina. Jiri Tlusty scored his 8th goal of the season of of a wrister with assists from Eric Staal and Tim Gleason at 4:03. Jeff Skinner made the most of his first game back after missing 5 games due to a concussion. His wrister got by Marc-Andre' Fleury at 5:49 with assists going to Patrick Dwyer and Joe Corvo. Then at 19:49 Jiri Tlusty's slap shot found the back of the net for his 2nd goal of the night. Alexander Semin and Eric Staal were awarded points for the assists.

Fleury stopped 25 of the 29 Hurricanes shots, while Cam Ward had 26 saves on 27 pens shots. This was the first game since Feb. 2nd that the Penguins didn't score in the power play. The Hurricanes' saw the return of several injured players along with Skinner. Tim Gleason, Tim Brett, and Jamie McBain re-entered the line-up. Jiri Tlusty had his 4th 2-goal night in the last 9 games.

The Penguins visit the Montreal Canadiens in Centre' Bell on Saturday, then return home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday in CONSOL Energy Center. The Hurricanes stay home Saturday to take on the Florida Panthers, then pack up and head to Sunrise, FLA to play the Panthers in the BB&T Center on Sunday. The puck drops at 7pm on Saturday and at 6pm on Sunday.