Lerxst Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 Well, they had a great run and got much further than anyone thought they would, but the Hurricanes seem to have the hit the wall and are one loss away from seeing Detroit skate with the Stanley Cup. I hate Detroit, but they are the best team this year and deserve it. I have been a bit critical of the Hurricanes road to the finals, since the East is a much weaker conference, but they got there and no one can take that away from them. And, as a hockey fan, I can say honestly that this has been a great playoff year, although I am not liking the ending to it. :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foosball God Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 I thought the Canes played some of their best hockey in the beginning of this one, but once they had to abandon their system because we were up 2 goals it was all over. Hopefully they finish it out in front of the home fans in Hockeytown. BTW, that was a cheap shot by Fischer, he should be suspended for a game for that cross check to Westland's face. Intentional or not you must be more in control of your stick, and in this case it didn't look all that unintentional. thumbs_d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSULions Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 Foosball God:I thought the Canes played some of their best hockey in the beginning of this one, but once they had to abandon their system because we were up 2 goals it was all over. Hopefully they finish it out in front of the home fans in Hockeytown. BTW, that was a cheap shot by Fischer, he should be suspended for a game for that cross check to Westland's face. Intentional or not you must be more in control of your stick, and in this case it didn't look all that unintentional. thumbs_d Thank you for noticing that piece of crap hit on Westlund! I couldn't believe that the all the refs missed that blatant hit, which should have DQed him and he doesn't even get a friggin' penalty! angry That was probably the final nail in the coffin, as Carolina should have had a 5 minute PP opportunity and instead the Wings hit on another nice play to tally the 3rd goal of the night! :mad: Can't believe that blood on the ice, and NO CALL! That just sucks big time! I saw on SportsCenter this morning that they are reviewing the hit, so at least they may fine his *** and hopefully suspend him for at least 1 game for that ****! eek! I was impressed with the Wings this game as they really seemed to be hitting on all cylinders. I was also proud of the Canes fans that stayed to the very end of the game and gave their team a standing O! Very cool and it will give us something to build on for next year. I am not ready to concede Game 5 just yet, but I don't think the Canes can realistically pull off 3 straight wins against this team, so kudos to both the Wings and the Canes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
policyvote Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 Agreed on all counts: Carolina is clearly the best team the East had to offer this year; they're a great young team with big things still yet to come; that Fischer hit was terribly dirty and he should pay for it. Peace policy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egret Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 Agreed. The 'Canes have had a great run. It was really cool to see hockey doing great in the south. The cheerleaders were definitely an added bonus to the Finals. BTW, the Fisher hit was pretty Lemieux-esque. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little retaliation in game 5. That will add some excitement to the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSULions Posted June 11, 2002 Share Posted June 11, 2002 Egret:Agreed. The 'Canes have had a great run. It was really cool to see hockey doing great in the south. The cheerleaders were definitely an added bonus to the Finals. Yes, they are pretty sweet eye candy! There are four of them and they come out on the ice between periods and use a sling shot to hoist T-shirts and other Canes stuff into the crowd. They station one of the girls at each corner in the arena to help pump up the crowds during a PP or after a goal. Sometimes they go around in the stands to get things going, give out prizes, etc. The Canes management has really done a terrific job winning over the folks in Raleigh, as the team struggled terribly in Greensboro (about 70 minutes north of Charlotte and 80 minutes west of Raleigh) and played to a half full arena their first year in the ESA. The cool thing is that they listened to their fans, they lowered ticket prices by around 10% from year 1 at the ESA to year 2 and they continued to work on building a better team for the fans. Gradually, fans started coming out more and more and once they got a taste of good hockey the fan base started to grow. Now, you can see what a good team that has gone deep into the playoffs has done to the fan base... they have become hockey crazy! I just wish the Canes were in Charlotte, instead of the Hornets, but that is another sore subject. :mad: At least I can get to a few games and watch them on TV when I can! Hopefully, now that the league has taken notice of my Canes and the fan support in Raleigh, we might actually be on a few ESPN broadcasts during the season! wink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltaire Posted June 12, 2002 Share Posted June 12, 2002 I have to admit that I have been impressed with the Canes play in this series. I admit, that I thought the series was over after Colorado was deposed. This attitude was further reinforced by the absense of Philly, Boston, or New Jersey on the other end of the ice. Or another origional six teams like Montreal or Toronto. I didn't pay much heed to Carolina really and predicted a sweep. They play their system well and the hockey isn't pretty, but it works for them. They just don't seem to have a finisher at the other end to pull out these close games. Pete Karmanos is a 100% class guy and he really deserves this. I'm glad for the people of NC to see some hockey success. Policy says the 'Canes are the best team the East had to offer this year, I think that's being gracious. But they certainly represented themselves well. This series could easily be 2-2 right now. Frankly speaking, it's still not over until the final nail is in. Carolina needs to play as best they can and go down fighting, I think they will. This is a team with pride and character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Azazello13 Posted June 12, 2002 Share Posted June 12, 2002 the 'canes have a chance to really build on this run and become a serious eastern conference power for years to come. first of all, they've got a good talent base to build on. francis and irbe are obviously getting pretty old, but with kapanen, o'neil, cole, vasicek, svoboda, weekes, and all their defensemen they're in good shape. and financially, keep in mind that teams bring in about $1.5 million for each home playoff game. plus, 'canes tickets are now going to be tough to come by next year. what that all means is that they'll have the dough to go after a stud free agent or two this summer or otherwise improve their team. some of the mid-level teams in the east that have made it to the finals in the past kind of squandered their opportunity to take a major step forward as a franchice (panthers, sabres). but i think carolina's in a great position to be good for a lot of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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