Anybodyhome

Raanta is starting tonite. I'm hoping he steps up big time knowing this is his opportunity to shine as the season comes to a close. Pyotr will probably start either the Saturday game again st the Devils or the Sunday game against the Islanders because of the back-to-back. Raanta will then start against the Rangers and probably Pyotr the last game of the season at home against the Devils, depending on what the standings and playoff seedings look like. If, for some reason, the NY Rangers don't run away with the Metro and both the division and a higher seed are at stake the last game of the season, then Raanta will start. In the meantime, Carolina needs to put up 4 goals a game to win, because they've had a serious defensive lapse here lately.

There are a lot of teams who will use 3, and sometimes, 4 goalies going thru the playoffs. Anderson is likely done for the season and, maybe, some of the playoffs. 4/18: @ Arizona 4/21: Winnipeg 4/23: @ NJ Devils 4/24: @ NY Islanders 4/26: @ Rangers 4/28: NJ Devils As the Canes are playing right now, this is a 3-3 end of the season. Any other circumstance, it's a 5-1 or 4-2 finish, but I don't think the Canes can beat the Rangers in NY again, the Islanders are a tough out and the Jets are a team looking to build momentum for next season. The Canes will definitely be limping into the playoffs and may fall to a 3 or 4 seed in the Eastern Conference before it's over.

Jordo made a pass and Makar gave him a viscious shoulder that rode up and Staal's head snapped back a little. Legal hit, yes, but it was a little high and got some of Staal's chin and head as well. He was on his knees for a bit and got to the bench, but when in the defense side door and straight down the tunnel. Anderson caught an edge going into a butterfly and probably did some knee or ankle damage.

I was on the top row of 106, so all that was right down below us. Detroit played their defense inside the dots and the Canes rarely got any net front. It allowed them to have ridiculous offensive zone time, which resulted in 45 shots or whatever crazy number it was. Problem is, there was nobody between the shooter and Ned, so they were fairly routine saves- something Raanta couldn't manage. The first goal, which was weak as hell, Slavin took the guy with the puck down low and nobody covered his back with the trailer. Carolina's offense was there, they just got nothing in the net. The first half of the game they were getting physically manhandled by Detroit and didn't really get anything going until late second. As I said in my pre-game post yesterday- Detroit gives the Canes fits...

I'll be at the game tonight! The Wings give the Canes fits, it doesn't matter how much of a down season the Detroit crew is having. The fact is they have a lot of young talent and will continue to improve. The matchups just give Carolina problems, may RBA has a solution and will juggle a couple lines.... let's see, shall we? Kotkaniemi is back in the lineup tonight. Last Time Out: The Canes came out of the gate slow against the Rangers on Tuesday, eventually falling behind 1-0 early in the second. After they found themselves on the wrong side of the score they got to their game though, tying the contest before the end of two and ringing off for three in the third. Winning by a score of 4-2, Frederik Andersen made 28 stops on 30 shots to earn a share of the league-lead with his now 35 wins. Sebastian Aho paved the way offensively, factoring in on three of the goals. Aho's Trio: With a goal and two assists on Tuesday, the three-point performance was the fifth of the season for Aho. Already leading the team with his 34 goals, #20 jumped back overtop Teuvo Teravainen for the lead in assists as well, now with 41 on the season. It is the second time in Aho's career that he's hit the 40-helper mark and with 75 points and eight games remaining, the team's top line center is just eight points shy of matching his career high (83). The Captain's Heater: Jordan Staal also pitched in with a goal in Tuesday's win over the Rangers, following up his hat trick Sunday against Anaheim. With a multi-goal performance last Thursday against Buffalo, #11 now has six goals in his last four games. Since March 1, the last time these two teams met, Staal's nine goals trail only Aho, who was 11 during that span. Freddie Money: With his win (which came in head-to-head fashion against fellow Vezina candidate Igor Shesterkin) on Tuesday, Andersen maintained his league-best 2.07 goals against average (GAA). His 35 wins sit only behind Juuse Saros of Nashville and his .926 save percentage (SV%) trails only Shesterkin and Darcy Kuemper of Colorado. A Chance To The Right The Ship: The man advantage has been cited by players and coaches alike as an area that has room for improvement before playoff time. Since March 1 the Carolina power play is operating at just a 15.8% clip, ranking 27th out of 32. The good news is they'll have an opportunity tonight against a Red Wings penalty kill that ranks second worst in the NHL since March 1, denying just 67.8% of attempts. Watch for Carolina's units to have urgency and execution this evening. Need A Helper?: Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo are creeping their way up some franchise history lists, both sitting third and fourth right now for assists by a defenseman in a single season. DeAngelo (37) and Slavin (35) sit only behind Frantisek Kaberle (38) and Joni Pitkanen (40). Getting Down To The End: After tonight the Canes have just two home regular season games remaining. A Look At The Other Side: Detroit has won just two out of their last ten games and are 4-11-4 since they lest met Carolina. During that span they've allowed a league-high 4.53 goals per game and allowed 36.2 shots per night. Former Hurricane Alex Nedeljkovic is now 18-21-9 with a .900 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.34 goals against average (GAA). On a lighter note, Moritz Seider continues to build a strong case for Rookie of the Year, totaling 46 points in 73 games while averaging a team-high 23:09 per night. ADDITIONAL NOTES: Milestones Within Reach: Max Domi's first goal with the Canes will be his 100th of his NHL career. Teuvo Teravainen is two goals shy of 100 as a member of the team. What Are We Wearing?: The Canes will be wearing their red sweaters tonight. Forwards: Svechnikov - Aho - Jarvis Domi - Trocheck - Teravainen Niederreiter - Staal - Fast Martinook - Kotkaniemi - Necas Defensemen: Slavin - DeAngelo Skjei - Pesce Cole - Bear Starting Goalie: Raanta Scratches: Steven Lorentz Brendan Smith Derek Stepan

Depending on how far you want him to move, I think he's already going that direction. I felt he was planning to move the team the minute he got the keys to the building. Albeit across the state line, by the time the Rock Hill facility is done, the only reason the Panthers come into Charlotte is to play "home" games. And that will only last a couple more years before Tepper announces plans to build a new stadium.... not in Charlotte.

2020, 6 went in the first round and 4 of those were top 15- that's about as close as you'll see. 2008 saw 7 go in the first round, 5 of which were top 20. That was as stacked a class of OTs as you'll ever see: Jake Long, Ryan Clady, Chris Williams, Gosder Cherilus, Jeff Otah, Sam Baker and Duane Brown.

A franchise move requires 75% ownership approval. In other words, 9 no votes would stop a move. Given the relative lack of available larger media markets than where the Panthers currently are, I don't know how, why or where Tepper would try to move unless he were to become the first Euro-based NFL team.

Look at this in the bigger picture of the team and the NFL. If Tepper were to stand down from this project, what does he have to go back to? That's right, Jerry Richardson's old house. And if Tepper does decide to stand down in Rock Hill, he's making a huge bet against not very good odds the NFL will allow him to move the team, because that's about the only option he has left. And, if he's as petty as some of you claim, how good is he at swallowing his pride and moving back to Charlotte, tail between his legs with no new buildings in Rock Hill, no NFL approval to move and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg population refusing to up their property taxes to once again renovate an old stadium.

Kelly Sutherland was one of the refs last night- same ref we had Sunday night against the Ducks. He's never been consistent when it comes to Canes games. Say what you will about Domi (and I was the guy not very happy with the acquisition because I didn't like the guy), but he plays better in the middle than the wing. And he can pass- man, can he pass. Former Ranger players had a pretty good night- Smith played well and didn't drop the gloves when the opportunity presented itself; Skjei had 2 assists, TDA had a couple good blocks, good hits and took a good slashing call late that maybe saved a goal. Canes gotta go back up there in a couple weeks....

Staal got tripped, Lorentz, yeah, we still can't get a call.

Okay, that got a little hairy the last couple minutes...

Staal's line is carrying this team right now. But Jarvy.... OH MY!

Aho was going the wrong way trying to intercept the pass, leaving Z free to walk in and pass. That was on 20.

Yep- Sales 101: He who speaks first- loses.

Considering Tepper has spent $170M of his own money on construction so far, I think it would be naive to suggest he's going to walk away. Regardless how much money he has, a $170M white elephant in the middle of nowhere will get you the reputation of a Trumpian real estate guy: build, default, bankrupt.

I'm not sure why, after all the Jerry RIchardson years, people continue to tie a football team's success to the wealth building success of its owner. The 2 have nothing to do with each other. "The National Football League (NFL) is the most profitable professional sports league in the United States. The total revenue of all 32 NFL teams has constantly increased over the past 15 years, rising from about four billion U.S. dollars in 2001 to over 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, the highest figure to date. This figure dropped in 2020, however, due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In comparison, in 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) generated about 3.66 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, while the revenue of the the revenue of the National Basketball Association (NBA) reached a total of 7.92 billion U.S. dollars that year."

Can you imagine what would happen if NFL fans were allowed to carry banners and flags into the stadium and spray water and beer all over the place when someone scored? I could go to games knowing that fans could act like, well, fans.....

Do the Mike Ditka.....

That would be my wife (long blond hair) and me in the front row:

From last night- we had the opportunity afforded to us by some very generous friends who gave us their tickets (they wanted to watch the Masters on TV) front row behind the glass, behind Freddie for 2 periods.

I want to see him going after another goalie.....

Once NY got the lead, they played Hurricane style D- just stood up at the blue line and let nothing past, content to clear the zone and not mount any offense that would risk putting themselves out of position. But the game winner was the failure of anyone to get to the net and the defender to get behind Palmieri on his hip instead of next to him. Take the penalty for 14 seconds, do something but give him an angle inside 10' with nothing but Freddie in front of him. Slash him across the hands, break his stick...

Boy, you really haven't accepted this, have you? Really working OT now... dude, your team lost, Duke lost. Get over it already. I'll check out now because I know you can't walk away- not in your nature. Gotta have the last word as you've displayed for the last 48 pages of this thread.... lol.