It's rare that we get a glimpse into the inner workings of a hockey team. It's rarer still that we see the inner workings of a hockey team's social life. But that's what we're all about here at the Hurricane Siren-breaking boundaries and taking you where no fan has gone before. And when we can't do that, we just make stuff up. Luckily though, we didn't have to resort to lies and Photoshop to bring you scenes from the Carolina Hurricanes' 2010 Halloween Costume Extravaganza! (Ed. Note: We resorted to lies and Photoshop to bring you these scenes from the Carolina Hurricanes' 2010 Halloween Costume Extravaganza.)
The costumes were both impressive and scary. Some were frighteningly accurate and others made you wonder just what the player was thinking (and how much alcohol was coursing through his bloodstream while he was thinking). But you don't want to hear my recap of the evening when you could see some of the night's best moments! So without further ado, let's roll the tape.
As you can see, a great time was had by all, including some unexpected guests (bonus points if you leave the name of the party crasher and the scenes in which he appears in the comments). The group did the Monster Mash and the Time Warp. I even believe that I saw a few players who shall remain nameless break out into the Thriller dance. They ate ghost-shaped cookies, drank Ghoul-aid and chowed down on candy corn (no, I can neither deny nor confirm that Chad had to be sedated before they could get him into the car to go home). Tripp told both wildly inappropriate and completely unfunny Halloween-themed jokes while the band took a break. There was even a pumpkin-carving contest!
But, the best part of the evening may have been the costume parade and contest where everyone brought their best catwalk skills in order to take home the completely nonexistent trophy shaped like a pumpkin. It was a tight contest with the judges having to make a very tough decision. Honorable mention went to Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman and Justin Peters for their interpretation of Snap, Crackle and Pop. They almost took it home, especially when the judges realized that they carried a giant cereal bowl around all night long, but ultimately the imaginary trophy was won by our very own Stormy the Icehog. His dedication to his costume (including the false eyelashes and lipstick) really helped him edge out the competition. He definitely went whole hog (so to speak) with his costume and I'm sure he will forever keep that fake trophy on his mantle...or whatever the Icehog equivalent of that is.
It was certainly a Halloween to remember (and one some of us may wish to forget). Happy Halloween Caniacs!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Airing Fantasy Hockey Frustrations-Part 2: Honeymoon's Over
When we first met Sutterly Camtastic, they were a wide-eyed (not quite floppy-haired, but close) bunch looking forward to all the excitement of the 2010-2011 season. They weren't the best team on paper, but they had heart and a strong work ethic; fans (and their GM) really believed they had a shot.
Now things are different. The shine has worn off, the new car smell is gone and the "coolest toy in the world!" is just another cheaply made chunk of plastic covered in paint. Fans (and the GM) have started to realize just what this team is capable of and it's not pretty. It's bad. In fact, it's "oh for the love of the hockey gods, I hope we manage to avoid last place" bad. If this was an actual team, we'd be talking about firing the coach and trading players. That panic button? Smashed to smithereens by fans WEEKS ago.
It should have been apparent that this was going to be a LONG season when Brian Campbell went on the IR before the season had even started.
Then Michael Cammalleri decided the preseason would be a great time to test out his professional wrestling career potential on El Nino and ended up sitting for the team's opener. Well it couldn't get any worse could it? Ha. Clearly you don't know me. Niklas Hjalmarsson then got to ride the pine in the press box for two games for a hit from behind on Jason Pominville. I'm officially petitioning to make "dumb life choices" a stat category for fantasy hockey because my players would have that category LOCKED up.
The dynamic offense I so lovingly crafted has produced 16 goals 18 assists for a grand total of 34 points. In 67 games played. That's .51 points per game. From an ENTIRE team. Oy. :reaches for the pack of Tums beside my GM chair: Patrick Kane is the team leader in points with 6 (which ironically enough is the number of hours he remained sober this summer). He's also rocking a pretty impressive -5, although he's going to have to try a little harder if he's going to keep up with teammate Niklas Hjalmarsson who's a -7. Dude. You certainly aren't contributing offensively so let's try and play some D every now and then ok?
Speaking of defense, I'm calling you out Tyler Myers. Tyler, seeing as how you're last year's Calder Trophy winner, I understand life is difficult for you. Reporters now want to talk to you after practice and games. Your teammates have all these lofty expectations. Women suddenly want to talk to you when you're out on the town. At age 20, you haven't quite grown into your limbs yet. Plus you're freakishly tall so at least 22% of your day must be spent trying to find clothes that fit you. I get it. But, I'm going to need something better than 2 points and a -7. Calder winners can still be dropped to the waiver wire. Just sayin'.
Speaker of the waiver wire, yo Donut Hole...what the heck is going on? Prior to last night's shutout (which seemed like a stroke of pure dumb luck) you were pretty bad. That 3.81 GAA was not pretty. I know New Jersey can only afford to put 5 people on the ice per game so things are rough. But when the going gets tough, you can't turn to large amounts of Kripsy Kremes and crawl into bed. Pull it together Marty, whatever it takes. Pretend the pucks are Ding Dongs. Or maybe you could make a deal with Dunkin' Donuts; for every save you make, you get a free Munchkin. I'm not picky.
Then to kind of top it all off, I have the misfortune to report that the Sutterly half of Sutterly Camtastic is likely injured. We finally have some sort of confirmation from John Forslund via Twitter that "Sutter does not appear to be at full strength. He did practice." In my expert opinion (HA!), I think this is all the result of that awkward fall in Vancouver and having bones with the same relative diameter as a toothpick. I'm thinking some sort of wrist injury is what we're dealing with. Ugh. Give me a moment to pull myself together. (For the record, that picture is not actually from this injury, but rather "the hit" from his rookie season. But the hurt in my heart is pretty much the same.)
Now if I've learned anything from being a hockey fan, it's that the Stanley Cup isn't won in October. On the flip side of that though is the knowledge that it can be lost in October. Now I'd hate to have to throw away all of the Sutterly Camtastic: 2010-2011 Fantasy Hockey Champs t-shirts I had made up (hey there was a really good promotion going on!) so I hope everyone can pull themselves together and hit mid-season (or just any season) form soon. If not... :reaches for bottle of Jack on table next to GM chair:
Now things are different. The shine has worn off, the new car smell is gone and the "coolest toy in the world!" is just another cheaply made chunk of plastic covered in paint. Fans (and the GM) have started to realize just what this team is capable of and it's not pretty. It's bad. In fact, it's "oh for the love of the hockey gods, I hope we manage to avoid last place" bad. If this was an actual team, we'd be talking about firing the coach and trading players. That panic button? Smashed to smithereens by fans WEEKS ago.
It should have been apparent that this was going to be a LONG season when Brian Campbell went on the IR before the season had even started.
Then Michael Cammalleri decided the preseason would be a great time to test out his professional wrestling career potential on El Nino and ended up sitting for the team's opener. Well it couldn't get any worse could it? Ha. Clearly you don't know me. Niklas Hjalmarsson then got to ride the pine in the press box for two games for a hit from behind on Jason Pominville. I'm officially petitioning to make "dumb life choices" a stat category for fantasy hockey because my players would have that category LOCKED up.
The dynamic offense I so lovingly crafted has produced 16 goals 18 assists for a grand total of 34 points. In 67 games played. That's .51 points per game. From an ENTIRE team. Oy. :reaches for the pack of Tums beside my GM chair: Patrick Kane is the team leader in points with 6 (which ironically enough is the number of hours he remained sober this summer). He's also rocking a pretty impressive -5, although he's going to have to try a little harder if he's going to keep up with teammate Niklas Hjalmarsson who's a -7. Dude. You certainly aren't contributing offensively so let's try and play some D every now and then ok?
Speaking of defense, I'm calling you out Tyler Myers. Tyler, seeing as how you're last year's Calder Trophy winner, I understand life is difficult for you. Reporters now want to talk to you after practice and games. Your teammates have all these lofty expectations. Women suddenly want to talk to you when you're out on the town. At age 20, you haven't quite grown into your limbs yet. Plus you're freakishly tall so at least 22% of your day must be spent trying to find clothes that fit you. I get it. But, I'm going to need something better than 2 points and a -7. Calder winners can still be dropped to the waiver wire. Just sayin'.
Speaker of the waiver wire, yo Donut Hole...what the heck is going on? Prior to last night's shutout (which seemed like a stroke of pure dumb luck) you were pretty bad. That 3.81 GAA was not pretty. I know New Jersey can only afford to put 5 people on the ice per game so things are rough. But when the going gets tough, you can't turn to large amounts of Kripsy Kremes and crawl into bed. Pull it together Marty, whatever it takes. Pretend the pucks are Ding Dongs. Or maybe you could make a deal with Dunkin' Donuts; for every save you make, you get a free Munchkin. I'm not picky.
Then to kind of top it all off, I have the misfortune to report that the Sutterly half of Sutterly Camtastic is likely injured. We finally have some sort of confirmation from John Forslund via Twitter that "Sutter does not appear to be at full strength. He did practice." In my expert opinion (HA!), I think this is all the result of that awkward fall in Vancouver and having bones with the same relative diameter as a toothpick. I'm thinking some sort of wrist injury is what we're dealing with. Ugh. Give me a moment to pull myself together. (For the record, that picture is not actually from this injury, but rather "the hit" from his rookie season. But the hurt in my heart is pretty much the same.)Now if I've learned anything from being a hockey fan, it's that the Stanley Cup isn't won in October. On the flip side of that though is the knowledge that it can be lost in October. Now I'd hate to have to throw away all of the Sutterly Camtastic: 2010-2011 Fantasy Hockey Champs t-shirts I had made up (hey there was a really good promotion going on!) so I hope everyone can pull themselves together and hit mid-season (or just any season) form soon. If not... :reaches for bottle of Jack on table next to GM chair:
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
36 Reasons Jussi Jokinen needs to be an All-Star
You may or may not have heard of an "alleged" campaign to get one Jussi Jokinen to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh. It started out small and has grown to fairly epic proportions (well epic may be a stretch, but it's getting there). There's a Facebook page chock full of information and links, a Twitter account devoted to spreading the word and even a nifty T-shirt that you can wear to show your support. Even Jussi himself knows about it!
All of this buzz got me thinking: why should someone use their write-in vote for Jussi over the many other possibilities? Why not write in Luca Caputi? Or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond? I mean other than the fact that neither one of them has spent any significant time in the NHL. Why is Jussi special? Well, thanks to the many Jussi4ASG supporters, I have some reasons why he should be an All-Star, 36 of them in fact. So without further ado here we go...
All of this buzz got me thinking: why should someone use their write-in vote for Jussi over the many other possibilities? Why not write in Luca Caputi? Or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond? I mean other than the fact that neither one of them has spent any significant time in the NHL. Why is Jussi special? Well, thanks to the many Jussi4ASG supporters, I have some reasons why he should be an All-Star, 36 of them in fact. So without further ado here we go...1) With a 52% regular season shootout success rate, imagine what he could do in the skills competition. Check out this beauty against Toronto:
2) He'd be the only All-Star who'd hear his name during the signing of the US National Anthem.
3) Jussi's talent allows the coaches to play him at all three forward positions. This kind of versatility sets him apart.
4) NHL.com named Jussi to their list of Best Players by Jersey Number.
5) Other than Cristobal Huet (#214), Jussi (#192) would be the latest drafted player from the 2001 draft class to play in an All-Star Game.
6) He's Oh So Sexy!
7) He was named the Team MVP for the 2009-2010 season.
8) He ranked tied for first in the NHL for game-winning goals during the 2008-2009 playoffs.
9) He holds the record for the latest game winning goal in playoff history and, considering he scored with only 0.2 seconds left in regulation, odds are he'll likely hold that record for some time.
10) He's one of only a handful of players not named Sean Avery to cause a complete Marty Meltdown.
11) We might get to see the Jussi Shuffle. That's reason enough right there.
12) Talk about loving high pressure situations: he's scored 8 game deciding goals in the shootout.
13) The Hurricanes were 19-3-4 in the '09-'10 season when the Juice lit the goal lamp.
14) He ranks second only to Slava Kozlov for most shootout goals in NHL history.
15) His one-kneed fist pump may be one of the best goal celebrations in the National Hockey League.
16) He led Finland to bronze medals in three consecutive World Junior Championships, scoring 18 points in 20 games.
17) His 2008-2009 playoff heroics (7 goals and 11 points in 18 GP) are legendary in Carolina.
18) Jussi is coming off a career season in terms of goals (30) and points (65). Relive all 30 Jussi goals:
19) During Jussi's rookie season, he led the league in shootout goals, scoring 10 out of 13 times, including this beauty on former All-Star Manny Legace:
20) He scored 4 points in the 2006 Winter Olympics, including an assist in the final game, to help Finland secure the silver medal.
21) Every All-Star Game needs dimples, and Jussi brings them in abundance!
22) He's put up points against every NHL team; in fact, the only teams he hasn't scored a goal against are Calgary and Ottawa.
23) In '09-'10 he ranked tied for 10th in the NHL for game-winning goals (6).
24) He's a really good sport when it comes to the antics of the crazy Caniacs!
25) He scored 14 points in 27 playoff games to take his SM Liiga team, Karpat, to two straight championships.
26) He could be the only All-Star that could chow down on his own sandwich before the game. The Juice was introduced at Harris Teeter grocery stores in October of 2010. It was a big hit.
27) People talked about Ovechkin wearing a funny hat and sunglasses. Psh. Let's see him rock a feather boa a la the Juice.
28) In '09-'10, he ranked second among the NHL's Finnish players in scoring (65 points) and first in goals (30).
29) He loves tailgating almost as much as the fans do!
30) Let's be honest here, he has a really cool accent:
31) Even his Royal Ruuness wants to be more like the Juice!
32) He has awesome hair.
33) How many All-Stars can say they have a store named after them in their home country? Well Jussi can...
34) This:
35) Jussi was on fire his rookie season when it came to the shootout-he went 9-for-9 before being stopped by Evgeni Nabokov.
36) He's gone from waivers reject to playoff hero to team fixture in less than 2 seasons, never questioning what was asked of him, but quietly going about his job. He's smart, he works hard and doesn't need to be coddled by the coaching staff. When he takes the ice, he gives us everything he has. He has given us moments that will stay with us forever; moments that made us cheer, moments that made us believe again, moments that dazzled us. Let's give him a moment that dazzles. Let's send him to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.
2) He'd be the only All-Star who'd hear his name during the signing of the US National Anthem.
3) Jussi's talent allows the coaches to play him at all three forward positions. This kind of versatility sets him apart.4) NHL.com named Jussi to their list of Best Players by Jersey Number.
5) Other than Cristobal Huet (#214), Jussi (#192) would be the latest drafted player from the 2001 draft class to play in an All-Star Game.
6) He's Oh So Sexy!
7) He was named the Team MVP for the 2009-2010 season.
8) He ranked tied for first in the NHL for game-winning goals during the 2008-2009 playoffs.
9) He holds the record for the latest game winning goal in playoff history and, considering he scored with only 0.2 seconds left in regulation, odds are he'll likely hold that record for some time.
10) He's one of only a handful of players not named Sean Avery to cause a complete Marty Meltdown.
11) We might get to see the Jussi Shuffle. That's reason enough right there.
12) Talk about loving high pressure situations: he's scored 8 game deciding goals in the shootout.
13) The Hurricanes were 19-3-4 in the '09-'10 season when the Juice lit the goal lamp.
14) He ranks second only to Slava Kozlov for most shootout goals in NHL history.15) His one-kneed fist pump may be one of the best goal celebrations in the National Hockey League.
16) He led Finland to bronze medals in three consecutive World Junior Championships, scoring 18 points in 20 games.
17) His 2008-2009 playoff heroics (7 goals and 11 points in 18 GP) are legendary in Carolina.
18) Jussi is coming off a career season in terms of goals (30) and points (65). Relive all 30 Jussi goals:
19) During Jussi's rookie season, he led the league in shootout goals, scoring 10 out of 13 times, including this beauty on former All-Star Manny Legace:
20) He scored 4 points in the 2006 Winter Olympics, including an assist in the final game, to help Finland secure the silver medal.
21) Every All-Star Game needs dimples, and Jussi brings them in abundance!22) He's put up points against every NHL team; in fact, the only teams he hasn't scored a goal against are Calgary and Ottawa.
23) In '09-'10 he ranked tied for 10th in the NHL for game-winning goals (6).
24) He's a really good sport when it comes to the antics of the crazy Caniacs!
25) He scored 14 points in 27 playoff games to take his SM Liiga team, Karpat, to two straight championships.
27) People talked about Ovechkin wearing a funny hat and sunglasses. Psh. Let's see him rock a feather boa a la the Juice.
28) In '09-'10, he ranked second among the NHL's Finnish players in scoring (65 points) and first in goals (30).
29) He loves tailgating almost as much as the fans do!
30) Let's be honest here, he has a really cool accent:
31) Even his Royal Ruuness wants to be more like the Juice!
32) He has awesome hair.
33) How many All-Stars can say they have a store named after them in their home country? Well Jussi can...
34) This:
35) Jussi was on fire his rookie season when it came to the shootout-he went 9-for-9 before being stopped by Evgeni Nabokov.
36) He's gone from waivers reject to playoff hero to team fixture in less than 2 seasons, never questioning what was asked of him, but quietly going about his job. He's smart, he works hard and doesn't need to be coddled by the coaching staff. When he takes the ice, he gives us everything he has. He has given us moments that will stay with us forever; moments that made us cheer, moments that made us believe again, moments that dazzled us. Let's give him a moment that dazzles. Let's send him to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Surviving Russia and Praying to the Hockey Gods
As has been tweeted, retweeted, blogged, Facebooked and live streamed (gotta love the internet), the Canes lost their final preseason game to SKA St. Petersburg today/tonight/last night (I still haven't quite gotten the hang of the time difference). I could go on and on about how this was an insanely chippy game (one could probably toss around the word "dirty" without much argument), but instead of a recap filled with quotes and stats, I'm going to let the photos do the talking (with some added commentary).
I sure am glad Eric Stall and Jossi Jokonen were able to make the trip. I hear they're great players!
All of the hope and promise of a great game is present at warm-ups.
The in-arena accomodations are clearly a little different than those in the NHL.
You know, it's a shame the team missed out on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies...I mean pre-game festivities. How often do you get to see violin players rocking out and flying acrobats at hockey games?
Here are the aforementioned acrobats. Yes one of them is wearing a Staal jersey. No that's not some sort of crack at his manhood.
Each player got All-Star treatment as they were introduced individually. Babs got the loudest round of applause (possibly the only time I'll ever type that sentence).
The team stands at attention for the USA national anthem. Fun note, it's only the national anthem for 8 of the Hurricanes (and that counts Brandon Sutter who would probably pick the Canadian anthem if given a choice).
Speaking of Americans...here's Bainer looking...well I'll let you fill in the blank.
See how lovely it is? Such international friendliness-all of these guys coming together to play the sport they love. This is going to be GREAT!
After the ceremonial face-off (I'll give you one guess on who won), the game can finally begin!
Dalpe had some nice chances this afternoon/evening/yesterday.
Someone help me out with this please.
Clearly the friendliness and coming together has ended and an all-out brawl has begun. Before the end of the game we'd lose Gleason (fighting), Corvo (to injury), Staal (safety), Ward (safety), Pitkanen (spearing), and Harrison (fighting). That's in addition to all of the time we spent in the penalty box.
For the record, it took Tim landing about 2 punches (with his gloves still on mind you) before this joker was on the ice bleeding. Gleason for Emperor indeed.
And a gratuitous Tim Gleason shot. Just because.
Skinner (completely obstructed by the beastliness of Jussi) scored a goal and had some very pretty plays throughout the game.
This is a nice shot of the players left on the bench by the time we got to the third period.
And Jay Harrison managed to win a fight. I'd be ashamed if I were Golovkov.
No one loses to Jay Harrison. NO ONE.
Joni has forgotten that in order for his "sneaky nasty" to be effective, it has to oh I don't know actually be sneaky.
Jeff Skinner (who is a hockey playing doll) received a bright, shiny trophy for being the Hurricanes' player of the game (or Man of the Match). I'm not sure if they do this for every game in Russia or if this was special just for us.
I sure am glad Eric Stall and Jossi Jokonen were able to make the trip. I hear they're great players!
All of the hope and promise of a great game is present at warm-ups.
The in-arena accomodations are clearly a little different than those in the NHL.
You know, it's a shame the team missed out on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies...I mean pre-game festivities. How often do you get to see violin players rocking out and flying acrobats at hockey games?
Here are the aforementioned acrobats. Yes one of them is wearing a Staal jersey. No that's not some sort of crack at his manhood.
Each player got All-Star treatment as they were introduced individually. Babs got the loudest round of applause (possibly the only time I'll ever type that sentence).
The team stands at attention for the USA national anthem. Fun note, it's only the national anthem for 8 of the Hurricanes (and that counts Brandon Sutter who would probably pick the Canadian anthem if given a choice).
Speaking of Americans...here's Bainer looking...well I'll let you fill in the blank.
See how lovely it is? Such international friendliness-all of these guys coming together to play the sport they love. This is going to be GREAT!
After the ceremonial face-off (I'll give you one guess on who won), the game can finally begin!
Dalpe had some nice chances this afternoon/evening/yesterday.Someone help me out with this please.
Clearly the friendliness and coming together has ended and an all-out brawl has begun. Before the end of the game we'd lose Gleason (fighting), Corvo (to injury), Staal (safety), Ward (safety), Pitkanen (spearing), and Harrison (fighting). That's in addition to all of the time we spent in the penalty box.
For the record, it took Tim landing about 2 punches (with his gloves still on mind you) before this joker was on the ice bleeding. Gleason for Emperor indeed.
And a gratuitous Tim Gleason shot. Just because.
Skinner (completely obstructed by the beastliness of Jussi) scored a goal and had some very pretty plays throughout the game.
This is a nice shot of the players left on the bench by the time we got to the third period.
And Jay Harrison managed to win a fight. I'd be ashamed if I were Golovkov.No one loses to Jay Harrison. NO ONE.
Joni has forgotten that in order for his "sneaky nasty" to be effective, it has to oh I don't know actually be sneaky.
Jeff Skinner (who is a hockey playing doll) received a bright, shiny trophy for being the Hurricanes' player of the game (or Man of the Match). I'm not sure if they do this for every game in Russia or if this was special just for us.Clearly the game did not go as planned (unless of course "play dirty as all heck" was your gameplan; in which case, congrats Russia), but all of our guys made it on the plane and to Finland in what I can assume to be one piece. Now they can rest and focus on what really matters: hitting the saunas! Oh and bringing home 4 points.
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