This has been a rough few days for Caniacs, but the hockey world continues to turn. Caniac Nation bid farewell to everyone's favorite mighty mite today as he signed a 2 year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. The 'Yotes should consider themselves lucky to have such an outstanding player join their ranks.
On the flip side of the equation, 'Canes' fans should feel lucky for having the chance to see such a talented and classy guy wear the sightless eye. Ray Whitney has only been in Raleigh since the lockout, but it is almost impossible to imagine the team without him. He quickly endeared himself to fans and teammates alike with his sharp tongue and even sharper offensive skills. Let's relive this one shall we:
The speedy winger brought so much to the franchise-humor, heart, leadership and, above all else, an uncanny ability to find his way into every pregame interview. Scoring 334 points in 372 games as a Hurricane, Ray has been one of the most consistent players 'Canes' fans have ever had the privilege of watching and cheering for. We've seen him play through injury. We've seen him outshine younger, bigger and stronger players. We've seen him both set up teammates and score gorgeous goals. We've seen him get dwarfed by his linemates during goal celebrations. And you know what? We've loved every minute of it.
So thank you Ray for the amazing moments you've had in Carolina. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been along for the ride. Best of luck to you in Phoenix and remember, everybody loves Raymond!
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:
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.
It's official people-everyone loves Raymond! Everyone's favorite mighty mite (or munchkin) notched two goals and that was all the Canes would need to hold on for a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. By the way, this puts the Canes at over .500 in 2010! Whoop whoop!
Tonight was a fairly decent game for the entire team once they stopped the endless procession to the penalty box. 9 first period penalties including 2 fighting majors (TKO who is still "0 for" in his career and Ruutu) isn't going to get you a win very often. Overall discipline needs to be better no matter what the other team is trying to pull because at some point the opponent is going to capitalize on those freebie chances.
The Six Pack of Rats played with passion and heart which is all you can really ask for at this point in the season. Rod had an assist on the first Whitney goal and A.Ward had one on the second so that's a step in the right direction.
Major props goes to our Campion Wardolie for stopping 29 out of 30 shots while his team managed to only get 20 on Peter Budaj. That's another thing that needs to get fixed and quickly. In the past 4 games, they've only averaged around 23 SOG and have gotten out shot in every single one. That's asking for too much from your defense and goalie. Please guys, shoot the puck. Just do it.
Insane props goes to the Wizard for scoring quite possibly the most beautiful goal of the season:
Holy crap Ray. I didn't even know you still had moves like that (and apparently neither did Colorado)! Keep it up little man.
Ok so as is the case with just about anything, and especially the Canes this season, every yin has a yang. Tonight's yang? Tuomo Ruutu. After sticking up for himself against Darcy Tucker early in the first period, the fabulous Finn left the game with an upper body injury. From the sound of things he'll be out a while. I hope he's back sooner rather than later because we are running out of Rats up there in Albany. Jeff Daniels must just cringe everytime the phone rings.
Ok one last thing before we call it a night. The Emperor got into a fight tonight (yeah I know-NOT THE FACE) and things didn't really...well they didn't go as well as he had probably hoped: Oh Timmy, maybe next time you could just pull your arms in and slip out of your jersey? You're a tough man no doubt about it, but it's hard to take you seriously when your look is less snarl and more... Thanks to Jenniwa30 for pointing out the likeness.
The Canes have one day to enjoy their win and heal any minor bumps and bruises before Ottawa and the newly engaged Mike Fisher come to town. Let's make it 3 wins in four games eh?
In honor of Ray Whitney’s 1000th NHL game tomorrow night, I thought it would be appropriate to offer up a tribute to everyone’s favorite mighty mite with the awesome hair (check out his roster photo-it looks he just stuck a spoon in a light socket). But this won’t be an ordinary tribute filled with touching emotional anecdotes about what he means to a team. Nor will there be stats (remember-I really dislike stats). Instead, I’m going to focus on the humorous and ridiculous-which I think Ray would appreciate.
The 5’10” Whitney…wait what? There is no way that man is 5’10”. You can’t be that tall and get picked up by Chad LaRose. I’m sorry it just wouldn't happen. They must have measured him with his skates on, so I’m going to adjust that number accordingly. The 5’7 ½” Whitney is chock full of personality whether he’s mugging for the camera during Tripp’s pre-game interview (don't lie, you know it's your favorite part of the interview) or wise cracking during an Ask the Canes segment. It would be hard to find a better quote source than the Wizard and I’ve pulled together some of his best ones. So sit back and get ready to laugh. When asked how long he would be able to ride a bull, Ray answered:
"Till they showed me the bull. That’s all. That’s how long I would last. I went to the bull riding, that’s not for me. I’m about as big as those guys are, but they’re a lot bigger in one other area than me."
When asked what he’s afraid of, Ray quipped:
"Chad LaRose coming into the shower when I’m in there."
(I wonder how he’d feel about hot tubbing…)
Speaking of hot tubs, here’s Ray’s take on what the team needs to do in order to avoid that pesky flu bug:
"Well I could shower a little bit more. I’m going to try some hygienic things first to see if they work. The hugging after goals-you might bring it down a touch. The male bonding in the lockerroom; maybe the hot tubbing could come down a little bit. Yeah-the hugging and frolicking around the locker room could probably come down a touch."
(I think some of the guys need a refresher course in Ray’s Healthy Lifestyle Tips, including Ray. That's a lot of man love dude.)
In response to a question about creating a New Year's resolution for his teammates, Ray expressed some concern over a certain player's training regimens:
"Oh there’s a few out here. I think Rod Brind’amour should start training a little bit. Because he’s starting to get a little soft."
(If you listen carefully, you can hear Rod kicking Ray's butt with only his eyelashes.)
But Ray's sense of humor doesn't stop at the expense of his teammates, he even pokes fun at his wife, like when asked what she wanted for Christmas:
"Ah I don’t know, but I know it’s going to be expensive."
But then again, I think she probably gives it right back to him. Her answer to the same question:
"Steve Yzerman"
(Am I the only that thinks they'd be the most entertaining player-wife duo to hang out with?)
The Wizard had this to say when asked which Disney character he would be:
"Oh it’s gonna be someone short. I’m going to go with Mr. Incredible" :winks:
(Personally I like Matt Cullen's choice of Lord Farquaad from Shrek to represent Mr. Whitney-come on, admit it, he's almost a dead ringer.)
Finally, one last thought from the little dude. When asked what his 1000th game meant to him, Ray dead panned:
"Expensive gifts."
(Yeah Ray, I'm sure the boys are all chipping in to buy you something special.)
So tomorrow night when you're settling in to watch the game, make sure to give your Ray Whitney doll (hey even Babchuk has one!) a good seat on the couch. Hopefully, his 1000th game will be fondly remembered as a Canes' victory.
This has been a rough few days for Caniacs, but the hockey world continues to turn. Caniac Nation bid farewell to everyone's favorite mighty mite today as he signed a 2 year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. The 'Yotes should consider themselves lucky to have such an outstanding player join their ranks.
The speedy winger brought so much to the franchise-humor, heart, leadership and, above all else, an uncanny ability to find his way into every pregame interview. Scoring 334 points in 372 games as a Hurricane, Ray has been one of the most consistent players 'Canes' fans have ever had the privilege of watching and cheering for.
We've seen him play through injury. We've seen him outshine younger, bigger and stronger players. We've seen him both set up teammates and score gorgeous goals. We've seen him get dwarfed by his linemates during goal celebrations. And you know what? We've loved every minute of it.
