Mindless Juices

Well, guess what? That's right, The Carolina Hurricanes... my Carolina Hurricanes are the Stanley Cup Champions of 2006. After one hell of a year, this team deserves it. Why, you ask? In February, Erik Cole was boarded and suffered a massive neck injury. Specifically, he had three fractured vertebrae. He was on track to have a killer season. At the time, I think he had something like 25 goals in 50 games. It was a huge blow to the 'Canes' offense. Erik was our breakaway specialist and his chemistry with various lines was just starting to boil. Glen Wesley has played more playoff games than any other active player in the NHL WITHOUT winning a Stanley Cup... until last night. Cam Ward, this 22 year old rookie goalie, performed like a veteran throughout the season and the playoffs. His composure and skill was simply unbelievable. Keep in mind that his BACKUP, was the goalie for the Swiss national team in Torino. Moreover, Cam grew up admiring the Oilers... they were HIS team... he watched Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier win cup after cup. Ray Whitney used to be the stick boy for the Edmonton Oilers. Doug Weight was injured in game 5 and sat out for games 6 and 7. And, Rod Brind'amour who took the reigns from Ron Francis, our last captain who took us to the finals a few years ago... Rod led this team like no other captain has led. According to his teammates, he IS the leader of this team. On the ice, it's Rod Brind'amour who has either started or sealed almost every "come-from-behind" victory. During the playoffs, after Rod gave his captain's speech to the team, Peter Laviolette had nothing else to say; Rod had covered it all. And speaking of Peter Laviolette, he took our U.S. team to the Olympics... sure, they didn't do such a good job, but the honor of being the coach is huge. Also, keep in mind that he only had a matter of weeks, and in some cases, a matter of days to take individual hockey players and make them a team. My point is, the U.S. Olympic committee knew Pete was a fine coach and with a Stanley Cup under his belt, he's proven it. Last night, the 'Canes played their absolute best. Skating, passing, shooting, hitting and defense were all played the 'Canes way... hard & fast & accurate. The chemistry was as good as it ever looked throughout the season despite it being Cole's second game after returning, pulling Joe Vasicek and putting in Chad LaRose, Doug Weight being out on injury and a last minute line change to Eric Staal's offensive line. The Oilers played well and played hard, but it's tough to win three games in a row. The 'Canes had the energy and "the seventh man" of the fans at the RBC Center who remained standing throughout the entire game. Read some articles: Pay attention to the hospitality of Caniacs Cam Ward wins the Playoff MVP Trophy and honor Photos from Caniac fever sweeping the capitol Other blogs with pics: Nick's Angela's Josh's