We like you! We really like you!

Break out the tuxes gentlemen! Write your acceptance speeches! We are giving out awards here at the Siren to the best and the worst of the Carolina Hurricanes!

Ok so this is a little low rent and there won't be any actual trophies given away, not even the mini ones the NHL gives out. And we certainly aren't lucky enough to have Chaka Khan or Robin Thicke entertain us, but we did manage to convince (read blackmailed) Kris Versteeg to sing Fergie!

:wipes away a tear of laughter: No one tell him this is the Hurricanes' awards ceremony ok? I'd hate to clean up the green room after he realizes what just happened.

Let's get started shall we? The first award tonight is in the Best Post-Game Quotes category. This award is given to the player or coach who best exemplifies humility, humor and self-deprecation to the point of hilarity during a post-game media scrum. Previous winners include Tim Gleason and well...Tim Gleason. This year, however, we are pleased to announce that Manny Legace takes the hardware back to the Shire. Quotes like: "oh yeah I got hit right in the love pillows" and "Well, when you're five foot nothing, you have to use all of your assests" made him the clear favorite from the moment he stepped foot on NC soil. Congratulations Manny!

The Toughest Player award is given to the player that is well...the toughest (sometimes a donkey is just a donkey people). We've been witness to some remarkable moments of strength this season, but one night in Washington, D.C. will always stand out to Hurricanes' fans.

Tim Gleason, we salute you and are proud to give you the Toughest Player award!

Sometimes things happen to force fate's hand. Perhaps we would have added this award anyway, but it'd be hard to argue that the winner didn't help things along. So without further ado, I present the award for Best Facial Expression. The winner showed a dedication and determination to strange and awkward facial expressions, but Eric Staal's baby bird face from the Olympics sealed the deal for him:

Without a goalie where would any hockey team be? This award salutes those few men crazy enough to strap on a pillow and block 100 mph shots with their bodies. The award for Best Save has previously been won by Michael Leighton and Cam Ward. I am pleased to announce that our Campion Wardolie is a repeat winner this year for this Camtastic save on Billy Guerin:

Honorable mention goes to this pinwheel save on Brian Gionta.

Speaking of netminders, it's time to present quite possibly the most frightening award of the evening. The Best Tripp Tracy Moment category always has great entries and this year was no exception. In fact it was so full of Tripp awesomeness that we almost had to name two winners, but after some careful thought and consideration of all that is Tripp we are pleased to announce that Tripp and Zach Boychuk's intermission exchange during a game against Pittsburgh wins the category.

Tripp: Having been selected 15th in the entry draft...
Zach: 14th Tripp.
Tripp: Blah blah blah
Zach: It was 14th Tripp.
Tripp: Err ummm what? Oh yes, 14th.

Thank you for that moment young Zach. I sense that many more great Tripp Tracy interactions are ahead of you. Godspeed Zach.

The Best New Regular award is for the player we can no longer imagine our team without. This player can come to us through trade or as a call-up from the AHL. This year, it was the latter. When you are called "the defining player in our lineup" by your coach, wear the A, and basically become the top defensive forward all while racking up only 2 PIMs at 21 years old, you've pretty much locked this award up. Congratulations to Brandon Sutter for his outstanding season!

The next award is the highly coveted Best Goal award presented to the player whose moment of offensive brillance left us breathless and left the opposing goalie sputtering in disbelief. We've had some really great goals this season, but there is one that stands out above all the rest. Please congratulate Chad LaRose on his mid-air goal against the Montreal Canadiens.

You have a gift my little friend.

You can't score a goal without a little help from your friends and sometimes those assists are prettier than the actual goal. The Best Assist category is intended for just those moments. This year's winner showed that you don't have to be 22 years old to have sick moves.

Yeah Brandon. WOW is right. Rock on little mighty mite.

We were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the future of the Carolina Hurricanes and let me say that the future is so bright we're going to need shades. And with that really corny intro, I am pleased to announce the winner of the Brightest Future award is....Jamie McBain. The 22 year old Minnesota born D-man definitely made a lasting impression on fans around the league with his defensive poise and offensive abilities. He is going to be pleasure to watch for a long time.

For some reason hockey and fighting go hand in hand. There's nothing like a good fight to bring a crowd back to life or swing the momentum in a game. It's for this reason that we present the Best Fighter award every year. Previous winners have pretty much only ever been Tim Gleason. And this year is no exception. Check out this beauty:

Our final two awards are perhaps the most highly anticipated thing since Martin Brodeur's post game extra large pizza. :pause for ripples of awkward laughter:

Alrighty then...the Fan Favorite award goes to the player whose personality off the ice and play on the ice inspires fans to chant his name, buy his jersey and support him at all times. There was really only ever going to be one nominee for this award, but like the Edmonton Oilers, we still had to go through the motions of the entire season. Please join me in congratulating Tuomo Ruutu for his efforts this season!!! The smiley Finn always managed to put on a brave face for the media and fans, but really even if he wasn't smiling, listening to him speak made us smile. His refusal to give anything less than 100% inspired his teammates and his fans. The RBC Center has been Ruu-ing since he arrived in Raleigh and we don't want to stop anytime soon.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Team MVP award which goes to a player who has been deemed to make the most significant contributions to his team. Past winners have included Cam Ward and Ray Whitney. This year, a first time nominee is bringing home the honor. I am pleased to announce that our winner, with a career high 65 points and an unmatched ability to mesh with anyone and everyone, is Jussi Jokinen!!!!
That does it for the ceremony and like all of the best awards shows, we only ran 45 minutes late and had just 2 awkward moments. Congratulations to all winners this evening and remember that while only some of you are leaving with imaginary trophies, there really are no losers here. Well except for A.Ward who is probably still waiting for his invitation to come in the mail. Ok so make that three awkward moments.

Merci...Kiitos...Spasibo...Thank You

Well that's it folks. Put a fork in it. The fat lady has sung. The 2009-2010 season is over. But if you're looking for a bitter rant about how the team did me wrong or if you're hoping to read a woeful list of "what ifs" you've come to the wrong place. What you'll find over the next few paragraphs is my attempt at saying thank you to a team I'm proud to call my team.

To the Rats:
Thank you for coming to Raleigh and never missing a beat. Thank you for showing us that "young" doesn't necessarily mean "mistakes". Thank you for stepping into your roles without asking questions or demanding more. But thank you for earning more. Thank you for offering us a glimpse into the future of this team.

To the coaches:
Thank you for not quitting on this team. Thank you for holding them accountable for their actions. Thank you for expecting more from them than complacency and a draft pick. Thank you for pushing them to put a competitive product on the ice night in and night out. Thank you for giving the kids a chance and thank you for recognizing what they had to offer.

To the team:
Thank you for refusing to quit. Thank you for fighting even when lesser teams would have given up. Thank you for staying committed and sticking together. Thank you for not airing dirty laundry to the press or throwing each other under the bus. Thank you for supporting each other through both good and bad times. Thank you for battling injuries, fatigue and disappointment to compete every game. Thank you for giving us such amazing moments. Thank you for giving us a season of firsts: first games, first wins and first goals. Thank you for giving us a reason to throw hats on the ice. Thank you for inspiring us during the Olympics. Thank you for giving us goals that made us sit back and say "wow". Thank you for giving us saves that brought us to our feet in reverence. Thank you for bringing home wins against some of the top teams in the league and never once believing that Goliath ever had any more right to win than David. We're proud of you. Enjoy your offseason. Heal and rest your bodies, minds and spirits so you can come back ready to conquer the NHL.

In the meantime, we'll wait. We'll anxiously anticipate the day we get to pull our jerseys out of the closet. We'll look forward to tailgating for hours in the parking lot. We'll be working on our Finnish and trying to figure out the time difference between Raleigh, NC and Helsinki, Finland. We will watch the draft lottery with every bit of intensity as we would a playoff game. We'll scour the internet and the papers to find any bit of news we can. We'll be waiting to cheer you on for another 82 games. We'll be here.

Combating Hockey Ignorance One Letter To The Editor At A Time

For those of you who don't know, I go to school in Clemson, SC which despite it's many wonderful qualities, is not exactly a hotbed of hockey activity. So imagine my surprise (and joy) when I found an article about the US men's Olympic team in the March 5th issue of The Tiger (our campus newspaper).

My initial thoughts were along these lines: Finally! Some recognition for the team in a very nontraditional market! Then I read the article (which is linked here). At this point, I was really irritated, borderline angry actually. Here was someone who probably spent as much studying the game as I do studying nuclear physics blasting a group of athletes because they were professionals!

Now my thoughts went something like this: Alright Mr. Writer, prepare to feel some hockey girl wrath. I wrote my very first ever letter to the editor (copied below) telling the author, and his superiors, just what I thought about his theory, his fact checking skills and the 2010 men's Olympic silver medalists.

I was horribly disappointed in your article “Inspiration in favor of domination”, largely due to the fact that the writer selectively chose the facts he included.

First, the NHL doesn’t allow players to “start fist fights or purposely injure someone on the other team” without consequences. Every fighter is given a 5 minute major and possibly up to an additional 12 minutes in penalties. Whether that’s an appropriate punishment is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is there are punishments and to claim otherwise is a lie. Additionally, players who intentionally injure others are penalized through fines and suspensions. The adequacy of these consequences can be debated, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they exist.

Second, every team uses professional hockey players at the Olympics. NHL players could be found on every Olympic hockey roster. This is not a case of the United States sending “dream teams” to beat up on wide-eyed amateur athletes from other countries. To imply otherwise was intentionally glossing over the facts to make a point. In addition, your claim that every player on the US team made over $1 million is yet another example of poor (or nonexistent) fact checking on your part; Jonathon Quick makes $770,000.

In conclusion, professional athletes are just as proud of their nationality as amateur athletes are. They’ve worked just as hard. They are no less deserving of being able to represent their country simply because they collect a paycheck. To answer your question about whether the US team’s success qualifies as an upset, most hockey pundits picked the US as a long shot to come in fourth let alone second. That is an upset. For them to beat Canada’s All-Star team (only 5 of their 23 players have never been selected to play in an All-Star Game as opposed to 18 of 23 Americans) whose collective salary is more than 50% higher than that of the Americans is an upset. Hate the NHL if you want. Hope for amateur players to be used in the future if that’s what you wish. But to claim the 2010 silver medalists don’t deserve the nation’s pride or respect because they are professionals is doing a disservice to the 23 men who played their hearts out for their country.

A few weeks went by and I didn't hear anything so I naturally assumed my letter had been discarded with the probably 20 or so other letters they get a week. But The Tiger had one more surprise in store for yours truly when I found my letter in this week's edition of the paper! Excuse me while I do a little happy dance!!! Woo hoo! I'm published!!!!

Now I don't harbor any delusions that my letter to the editor will make any difference to the author the next time he writes an article. I don't think for a second that the editor will sit him down and tell him to fact check every now and then. But I do have a hope that other people will come away from this with a little more hockey knowledge and a greater appreciation of what 23 men accomplished during a few cold February weeks in Vancouver.