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!
There are a lot of things from the 2006 Stanley Cup run that I hope to always remember. The beauty and wonder of a game just discovered but already engrossing. The brilliance of Cam Ward. The sound of grown men celebrating an achievement they'd dreamed about since childhood. The sight of Rod Brind'Amour lifting the Cup while an entire city cheered.
Of course, that last one seems especially easy to pull from the memory banks today as the news comes out that we have seen Rod play his last game. Rod Brind'Amour has retired from professional hockey and is moving to a "suit and tie" role in the Canes' front office. I have no doubt that we will see #17 raised to the rafters this coming season.
It's times like these that I find words fail me. To say "thank you" doesn't seem strong enough for a man who gave everything he had to a team that many thought wouldn't make it. To say "he'll be missed" is too morose. Stats don't adequately explain what he means to the team, awards and records don't scratch the surface. Rod is so much more than a player on a hockey team in a city.
How do you explain the look of intensity in his eyes when he lined up for a faceoff? How do you chronicle a work ethic so intense that it's a standard by which all must measure themselves? How do you even begin to compile a record of the stories from his career? How do you convey the meaning behind the words "In Rod We Trust"? How do you make people understand that he'll always be the captain?
Short answer? No matter how much you want to, you can't. All you can truly do is offer him your thanks, your respect and your admiration. Thank you Rod. Thank you for everything.
My team may not have been in the playoffs this season, but that doesn't mean my hockey season ended in April. For me, not watching the playoffs is unthinkable even if the Canes are playing golf. And I consider those of us without a dog in the fight to be the luckiest of all fans-we get to watch whoever is playing just play. No gut wrenching OTs, no season ending penalties, no expectations dashed in a second. We just watch...and mock those still playing mercilessly without worrying about karma biting our team in the butt later.
It is out of this newly liberated sarcasm that this blog post was born. It all started as just a random bit of Facebook status humor at the expense of Dan Boyle. But people had such a strong (and positive!) reaction to it that I continued tracking teams' and players' errors, blunders, and misfortunes through my FB status for the duration of the playoffs. And now I've put them all together in my own version of a playoff tribute that includes no inspirational music or uplifting images. Instead, you'll find good ol' fashioned sarcasm dripping from every post. Enjoy!
April 19th: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Dan Boyle right now.
April 20th: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be Jaroslav Halak. Or Roberto Luongo.
April 21st: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be ANY of the New Jersey Devils' many donut wranglers right now. Impending first round exits are the kind of sting that it takes dozens of Krispy Kremes to cure.
April 22nd: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be Carey Price who for all intents and purposes can never show his face in Montreal again.
April 23rd: If you think your Friday is going badly, just remember you could be Craig Anderson. It's hard to oogle ice girls from the bench.
April 24th: If you think your Saturday is going badly, just remember you could be either one of the LA Kings' goalies.
April 25th: If you think your Sunday is going badly, just remember you could be Antti Niemi's dignity.
April 26th: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be the Kings. First round eliminations are never funny. Unless it's happening to Brodeur.
April 27th: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be Ryan Miller's porn stache. Why do the good ones always die young? So many facial hair styling questions will never be answered now! April 28th: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be a Phoenix Coyote. No not the team. A real one like the one a fan was wearing ON HIS HEAD. April 29th: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be Bruce Boudreau's blood pressure medication. It was already in an uphill battle, but now I fear it may be futile.
April 30th: If you think your Friday is going badly, just remember you could be Joe Thornton. No one's seen him in weeks!
May 2nd: If you think your Sunday is going badly, just remember you could be Antti Niemi. Being violated on TV? Bad. Getting pulled after giving up 5? Really bad.
May 3rd: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Sidney Crosby's hockey stick. So young, so defenseless and now so broken, never to experience the joy of scoring a goal.
May 4th: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be Roberto Luongo. 1:30 from a 2-0 series lead just to see it all evaporate at the hands of...Verbeauty?
May 5th: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be Jaroslav Halak who, despite his Roy-esque game, came to the realization last night that he still plays for the Montreal Canadiens and should therefore expect to face 30+ shots a night while his team puts up 18.
May 6th: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be Roberto Luongo. Sorry Wellwood, but pie does not, in fact, make everything ok.
May 7th: If you think your Friday is going badly, just remember you could anyone not nicknamed the Mule. But then again if your nickname is Mule and you're not Johan Franzen, odds are your Friday ain't too hot anyways.May 8th: If you think your Saturday is going badly, just remember you could be Alain Vigneault. Throwing All-Star goalies under the bus is tiring, both mentally and physically.
May 9th: If you think your Sunday is going badly, just remember you could be the NHL marketing staff. What do you do with 4 commercials worth of Pens-Wings "revenge is a dish best served cold" footage? Oh well, I guess it joins the ECF Crosby-Ovechkin showdown ads.
May 10th: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Sami Salo's...errr...ummm well you could be Sami Salo. Yeah that pretty much says it all.
May 11th: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be the Boston Bruins who have clearly caught a case of San Jose Sharksitis. Hopefully a cure will be discovered soon because the Flyers carry a whole other group of diseases.
May 12th: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be Bobby Lou who's probably looking for a bus to step in front of (you're in luck Bobby-your coach has had one picked out for days now). You also could be Sami Salo who's still looking for a golf cart with an extra padded seat.
May 13th: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be a cop car in Montreal. After last night, they don't stand a chance.
May 15th: If you think your Saturday is going badly, just remember you could be the Boston Bruins. As the Thumb said "no excuses". May 17th: If you think Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Jaroslav Halak. He has to spend the whole day in Philly! Oh yeah and he may have gotten pulled last night...
May 19th: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be the Carolina Hurricanes' coaching staff. They must be kicking themselves for letting Leights go.
May 21st: If you think your Friday is going badly, just remember you could be Michael Leighton. Sorry Leights, but there are just some things you don't want 5 of. And goals against is most definitely one of them.
May 22nd: If you think your Saturday is going badly, just remember you could be Evgeni "leaky as a sieve" Nabokov.
May 23rd: If you think your Sunday is going badly, just remember you could be the Montreal Canadiens. 1 SOG in 20 minutes of hockey. Yeah so about that tee time...
May 24th: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Duncan Keith. Reporter: "Duncan, you just won the Conference Finals in 4 games! What are you going to do now?!" Duncan: "I'm going to the dentist!!!" May 25th: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be Jaroslav Halak who must feel like you know what after giving up that first goal last night.
May 30th: If you think your Sunday is going badly, just remember you could be the coaching staff for Philly OR Chicago. Because any time 11 goals are scored, you know the coaches went to bed with serious heartburn.
June 1st: If you think your Tuesday is going badly, just remember you could be Jeff Carter. To have to call Dan Carcillo a teammate is bad, but getting laid out by him on national TV has to be worse.
June 2nd: If you think your Wednesday is going badly, just remember you could be Aaron Voros's Twitter account. From the highest of all highs to the lowest of all lows.
June 3rd: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be Brian Boucher. To lose the starting job (AGAIN) is awful, but having to sit next to Dan Carcillo for the entire 3rd period and OT is almost too much to handle.
June 7th: If you think your Monday is going badly, just remember you could be Chris Pronger. You played like crap last night, didn't get to steal the game puck and 95% of the hockey watching world reveled in it.
June 11th: If you think your Thursday is going badly, just remember you could be my Facebook status. For the next 4 months, you're going to be dull, largely ignored and have nothing to do with hockey. Kinda like a certain hock...oh come on that's too easy. :) Congrats Chicago!
So...long summer already isn't it? Canes-done. Rats-done. You know you're desperate when you start cheering for Philly just because Leights and Lavi are rocking the black and orange.
Well, clearly the guys over at Edwards Mill Road were a little bored too. They were probably sitting around (possibly playing ping pong in the players' lounge) going "hey you guys we need to do something...anything...". Then out of nowhere a little voice probably piped up "I know! I know! Ohh ohhh pick me!" You see when he wasn't texting or hiding under certain people's beds, Tripp had been working on a plan. "We need another Staal" he declared with authority.
Yup it's official, Jared Staal is a Carolina Hurricane. Well as long as they can sign him by June 1st (UPDATE: it seems they have agreed to terms with Jared) and provided, of course, that he makes the team at some point. But forget those small details, we are just inches away from having more Staals than any other team in the league! That means we're guaranteed to win Stanley Cups! It means the hockey gods will smile on us once again! I can see the promos now and they are Staal-tastic! :does a little jig full of sarcasm:
Honestly, no one knows whether this will turn into anything more than a PR stunt, but it did get me thinking about other brother combos in the NHL. We all know about the Sutters, the Richards, and the Staals. But what about lesser known names like the Millers, the Birons and the Cullens?
Some sibling fun facts first: since the NHL's inception in 1917, 47 brother pairs have played together on the same team with 10 of them winning the Stanley Cup together. Brothers have battled against each other 5 times in the Cup Finals (with the most recent incidence of sibling rivalry being in 2003 when the Niedermayer boys of the Ducks and Devils squared off).
The Miller boys are the first of two American born siblings that are making dinner conversations just a tad more tense. Ryan Miller is probably the better known of the two (Olympic hero, goaltender extraordinare), but baby bro Drew has one thing Ryan doesn't-a Stanley Cup ring (with the Ducks). Who do you think gets shotgun now?
The duo never played against (or with) each other until the two met in the NHL as opponents. The two couldn't be more different. Drew is the more "aggressive" of the two, even giving his brother a shot across the mask during their first NHL meeting. Ryan is more "serious, analytical and even-tempered" and once asked for Star Wars Imperial Guards to "guard his room and keep Drew out of it". But, despite their differences, the two are most definitely friends, even if Drew does give his teammates the inside scoop on Ryan's weaknesses.
The Cullen have definitely managed to fly under the radar as far as "NHL brothers" go. While Matt is very familiar to fans all over the National Hockey League, younger brothers Mark and Joe are definitely less well known. Mark played 32 NHL games for the Blackhawks and Flyers in 2005-2006 and plays for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. After being drafted by Edmonton, Joe has spent his whole career in the minors and now is part of the Ottawa Senators organization. The Biron brothers made some history back in November of 2003 when Matheiu (then a defenseman for the Panthers) became the first player in 23 years to score on his brother. Bonus points if you can tell me who the last pair of brothers were that held this record. As Martin Biron, owner of the laser eyes, said:
"The [last set of] brothers probably have been fighting for the last 23 years," Martin Biron joked. "We'll probably be fighting for the next 23 years, my brother and I."
The Canadian born brothers no longer play against each other now that Matheiu has taken his services to Europe and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Martin remains in the NHL as one of the many goaltenders in the Islanders' system.
Odds are everyone has heard of the Lundqvist twins, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't jump at a chance to post this picture: Umm...yeah let's move along. The identical Swedish twins (Henrik is 40 minutes older) became the third set of twins to play against each other in NHL history back in 2006. Growing up the brothers may have had their battles on the ice, but they always considered each other as a best friends first and rivals second. In fact, Henrik (and the Rangers for that matter) has Joel to thank for turning him into a goalie. When a coach asked the group who wanted to be in net, Joel volunteered his brother and the rest, as they say, is history.
Last, but certainly not least, are the Wesley brothers. Glen was, of course, a fixture on the Carolina blueline before hanging up the skates and moving to the front office. But many may not be as familiar with his older brother Blake (also a d-man) who played parts of 7 seasons with the Flyers, Whalers, Nordiques and Leafs before retiring in 1988.
So there you have it. Will the 4th Staal follow in the footsteps of the older three and earn his place in the NHL (and Hurricanes) history books or, like some of the "other brothers" here, will he forever be a footnote on a Wikipedia page? Only time will tell. For the Hurricanes' sake I sincerely hope it's the first one.
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.
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.
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.
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.
