Hurricanes at Leafs

hah yeah, I don’t expect movement at the deadline, but I also don’t expect Poni in a Leafs uniform next year either.

well “every year” hasnt always included burke, this is his second trade deadline and he dealt antropov last year. I dont think he is going to resign poni and iwll probably land a 2nd or somethin for him

Jokinen yeah, I could see that being a good thing for the leafs. And I think Rene Bourque is turning into a really good player out in Calgary, just the kind of guy who could fit the Burke’s system. Maybe even an Andrew Ladd or Dustin Bygfulien.

2-3 years at about $5.2 mil per sounds good, though Jokinen wouldn’t be great with Kessel because he’s a shoot first center, not a playmaker. But Jokinen does bring in some leadership qualities (he was the captain of the panthers) and he’s a pretty good player.

I’m totally on board with this idea.

There will be better available than Joey MacDonald.

S*ns fans tend to talk shit for a while. Then they go away after never to be seen

If he doesn’t come back, shortly before game time I’ll give him a Leafs avatar and change his signature to “TERRIBLE COMMENTER – IGNORE AT ALL COSTS”

Enjoy your team while they’re still in Carolina.

don’t feed the troll….

First: “Inbreeding and NASCAR jokes are stupid and unoriginal!”

Then: “1967!!!1”

do.

How about 1961? Chicago = not a viable hockey market.

How about never> Buffalo, Vancouver, LA, etc etc etc = not a hockey market

Carolina beats Edmonton’s back up goalie, and puffs out its chest at their stupendous accomplishment. after barely squeaking by Buffalo .who were without their top 4 d-men. Oh, and you had to pull your starting goalie and start your rookie backup, who luckily enough, did not crap the bed.

congrats on that, now back to the big people talk – how is Carolina a viable hockey market? Meaning, without drawing people through the gates, or showing the bulk of their games on TV, what makes it any better than Florida or Phoenix?

Wow I’ve never heard THAT one before! How original!

and we know how stable the USA’s banking system is….. ohhh wait.

Raleigh doesn’t even have a corporate sector. The banking is limited to Charlotte. Raleigh has the Research Triangle Park and that’s it.

BANKING???? REALLY?

Sure, I’m not saying we’re going to be profitable this year, just saying we’re not going to implode from one year of craziness. The cup run in ’06 gave at least a little bit of wiggle room with lots of new fans, and few of them ready to jump ship quite yet.

2 trips to the Stanley Cup finals and a third trip to the Conference Finals in 8 years helps offset lower gate receipts during the regular season for a small market team. Granted this team needs to make the playoffs to be viable. It needs the extra postseason gate receipts that are pure profit. So far the Canes have managed to time their deep playoff runs very well as it relates to their revenue stream This season will suck revenue-wise. No doubt about it. As have others in recent memory. We spent up to the cap for the first time since the team moved to NC, and will have little to nothing to show for it outside of a top 3 draft pick. Instead of building off last year’s playoff run, and building on the renewed interest from the casual sports fan in the area, the team spent like they never had before and still probably took a bit of a step back. But that said, anecdotally speaking (I have not taken the time to crunch the raw numbers) I have been very pleasantly surprised with our attendance this year, considering how severely we have sucked up until the last few weeks. The drop off in attendance does not seem to have been nearly as bad as it was after the team tanked it following the 2002 Cup Finals run. Even in this economy. Still, at this point it’s simple, not being a traditional hockey market, the team needs to win to draw fans. But with each successful playoff run, the fan base grows. Little by little. Granted, a few seasons like this one and we would most likely be doomed in this market. Maybe some day we can reach the point where we are a market like Toronto where no matter how consistently the team sucks we can still sell out night after night. At least it’s a dream/goal we can shoot for.

OF course the Carolina market does not compare to that of Toronto, or any other Canadian market, or any of the Original 6 markets for that matter. How could it? You’ve had hockey for a century. It’s part of your lifeblood. We’ve had it for a decade. So please spare us the sanctimonious bullshit and we will try to not bring up 1967.

BTW, the corporate sponsorship in Raleigh is not from banking. Our arena is named after a bank (the Royal Bank of Canada, ironically) but banking is not the lifeblood of this area. You must be thinking of Charlotte, which is indeed a banking center. But Charlotte is practically in South Carolina, and the Canes draw little if any corporate support from there. Most of the corporate $$$ supporting the Canes comes from the tech and pharmaceutical industries, I would assume. (BTW, not to burst your bubble but Charlotte is also the home base for Nascar, not Raleigh)

And while we do not have TV coverage of all of our games, tonight’s game was not on TV due to Versus’ exclusive rights to US games on Tuesday night, if I’m not mistaken. Don’t get me started on how much I hate that shit. I was just glad that Rogers Sportsnet was carrying the game so that I could watch on the internet. So thank you guys for that. Do I wish that more/all Canes games were carried locally on TV? Sure I do. But I’m also thankful for the ones I do get. Someday we will get there. Hopefully.

Toronto has an amazing fan base. Just not sure why you guys feel the need to trash small market hockey on a consistent basis. Maybe it serves as a distraction from you own team’s struggles of late (ie: the last decade or three). But I’m sure you guys will turn it around sooner or later.

Sorry for the gratuitous swipes.
I was just trying to fit in with all of you “real” hockey fans.

-martin

don’t forget the fact that the Canes couldn’t even sell out the RBC center last April during the playoffs. I had MULTIPLE offers for free tickets in both the New Jersey and the Boston series’.

did you just quote animal farm?

Jared you’re quite the scholar.

Nope. I have Italian neighbors if that counts?

You seem like a nice kid so I’ll let you in on a secret.

Our site has two main writers. PPP is the other main writer and we’ve been described as “good cop / crazy cop”. I’ll let you guess which one’s which. Our team isn’t very fun to watch so mostly we insult other teams and play grabass around here.

You and Raccoon Fink seem like reasonable hockey fans and I’m sure both of you have noticed the different response you’re getting than “letsgocanes”. You guys are welcome to shoot the shit here whenever, we’re actually pretty reasonable.

so its not the move?

Lol i never said they were good. Funny how things changed…

I just didnt hate them like I do Montreal, Pittsburgh, Philly, New Jersey, Islanders, Boston, Ottawa, Detroit……..

We should check in every few minutes and ask what the score is.

That’s the worst part about radio.

Center ice my friend

I’m hoping that when it’s shrunk he doesn’t notice.