Carolina Hurricanes: Triangle Offense, Indy Week

Canes battle but fall to Penguins, 5-3

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:36:00 -0400

PNC ARENA—The Canes were able to say that they accomplished all the points of their game plan Tuesday night. They got goals from the bottom two lines and from their defense.…

Fragile Canes drop seventh straight home game

Chris Vitiello — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:00:00 -0400

PNC ARENA—In the space of 31 seconds Saturday night, the Carolina Hurricanes' season officially ended.

Left so wide open he could have paused to write a journal entry about it before he shot the puck, Derek Stepan beat Dan Ellis from the slot on an early second-period New York Rangers power play.…

Players approve NHL realignment plan

Chris Vitiello — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:42:00 -0500

RALEIGH—The "South-least" division looks to be coming to an end.

The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) approved a league realignment plan on Wednesday that would create four divisions—two of seven teams and two of eight teams—out of the existing six divisions.…

Canes move forward without Ward

Chris Vitiello — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 06:52:00 -0500

RALEIGH—Cam Ward won't be minding the Canes' net for a while.

Ward suffered a third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee when teammate Justin Faulk slid into him Sunday night in Florida.…

Mr. Semin goes to Washington, Canes lose again

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:10:00 -0500

FOX SPORTS CAROLINAS (TV)—Players switch teams all the time in hockey. Free agents put themselves on the open market in droves every summer.…

Ward hands one to the Jets, Canes drop second straight

Chris Vitiello — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:56:00 -0500

PNC ARENA—Kirk Muller is a ruthlessly positive man. If you fell down the stairs, he would shout down at you, “Now you don’t have to dust.”

But after last night’s 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, in which Cam Ward looked below average, Muller sounded like he was trying convince himself about his starting goaltender.

“He’s a good pro.…

Canes gel on the road to lead division

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 07:27:00 -0500

FOX SPORTS CAROLINAS (TV)—Remember grumbling about the Hurricanes a couple weeks ago? In a word, they were middling.…

Hat trick for the captain; Canes win their first of the year

Chris Vitiello — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:22:35 -0500

PNC ARENA—The first time the little boy threw the hat, it barely left his hand. The second time, held aloft by his dad, he bounced it off the top of the glass and it fell back in his arms.…

Why did the Canes hear boos? It's the lockout, stupid

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:55:00 -0500

PNC ARENA—In 1944, the poet William Carlos Williams published a crucial book called “The Wedge.” Wartime conservation had shut down his regular publisher, New Directions, so the tiny Cummington Press brought it out in an edition of 380, which was all the paper they could get their mitts on during the war. Williams’ famed preface opens with a blunt acknowledgement of the international—and individual—situation: “The War is the first and only thing in the world today.”

This sentence should be adapted and drilled into the minds of all hockey players: “The Lockout is the first and only thing in the rink today.”

Paint it over the locker room doorways.…

Canes look rusty in season-opening loss to Panthers

Chris Vitiello — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:56:00 -0500

FSN CAROLINAS (TV)—We waited through a four-month lockout for this?

The Carolina Hurricanes opened the shortened 2013 season with a whimper, surrendering four first-period goals in a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Mercifully, this was Florida’s home opener, so Canes fans didn’t have to pay for tickets to see their team’s meager display.…

Caniacs rejoice! Hockey's back!

Chris Vitiello — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:37:00 -0500

RALEIGH—Caniacs will be smiling today. After 113 days, the National Hockey League lockout is over.…

Carolina pays its Calder Kid

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:54:00 -0400

Does Cheerwine come in champagne bottles?

The Carolina Hurricanes locked up another component of the team’s core by inking 20-year-old forward Jeff Skinner to a six-year contract extension. The deal keeps the gifted scorer in the red and black for the next seven years since it begins after his current deal expires in spring of 2013.…

Mercurial retrograde? Hurricanes ink Alexander Semin to one-year deal

Chris Vitiello — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:43:00 -0400

You often encounter the word "mercurial" in the world of sports. Sports journalists slap the adjective in front of the names of inconsistent players.…

Canes acquire Jordan Staal on draft day

Chris Vitiello — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 06:24:00 -0400

Cue up Sly and the Family Stone, Canes marketers. It's a Staal family affair in Raleigh.…

Will Staal have a stall next to Staal?

Chris Vitiello — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 05:00:01 -0400

Even though the Triangle is finally getting its full summer swelter on, and the only ice on your mind has beer bottles nestled down into it, it's time to talk hockey.

As the National Hockey League entry draft begins on Friday night in Pittsburgh, trade rumors are flying and the Carolina Hurricanes are right in the thick of them.…

Hockey playoffs becoming violent farce

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:10:00 -0400

It’s safe to say that I’m thankful the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t make the playoffs this season. In fact, that’s about the only thing that’s safe about the National Hockey League right now.…

Why you should catch a Canes game this weekend

Chris Vitiello — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:03:53 -0400

RALEIGH, NC—When a team is mathematically eliminated from the National Hockey League playoffs, newspapers put a lower-case “e” in front of the team’s name in the NHL standings.

The Carolina Hurricanes don’t have their “e” yet, but somewhere a typesetter has taken it out of the drawer and polished its leaden face.…

Canes won't go away, drop Panthers for fourth straight win

Chris Vitiello — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:02:00 -0400

PNC ARENA, RALEIGH—I am skilled, as it turns out, at avoiding jinxes.

In order to snap my team out of a bad stretch of play in a game, I can sense just when to change clothing or turn my jersey inside-out.…

After All-Star break, Canes look to the future

Chris Vitiello — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:20:00 -0500

Before you click away elsewhere, take a quick look at the Carolina Hurricanes’ roster. And, as you read it, refresh the page a few times.…

Samson's first career goal can't save Canes

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:04:18 -0500

RBC CENTER, RALEIGH—Jussi Jokinen fished the puck out of the net. With a flick of Jerome Samson’s wrist, the two-dollar disk had instantly become the most valuable object in the rink.…

New Year's capitulations: Canes succumb to Isles

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:14:00 -0500

RBC CENTER, RALEIGH—When you hang a fresh January on the kitchen wall and toss the old calendar in the trash, you hope that the forgettable parts of the old year somehow go in the landfill too.

But in their 2012 debut, the Carolina Hurricanes look agonizingly the same as they did in 2011.…

Overtime is Staal's time

Chris Vitiello — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:39:00 -0500

RBC CENTER, RALEIGH—A month ago, the Canes would have folded. But in the last home game of the year, they didn't.…

Pens' onslaught sinks Canes

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:29:26 -0500

FSN SOUTH (TV)—Justin Peters has some new bruises.

In his first start of the season in net, Peters faced 52 shots from the Pittsburgh Penguins, holding them to just one goal through two tied periods.…

Canes enjoy a holiday win over Senators

Chris Vitiello — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:01:58 -0500

RBC CENTER, RALEIGH—Cam Ward was talking, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“Get your ice cold beer!…

Coyotes dumpster-dive for 4-3 win over Canes

Chris Vitiello — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:36:41 -0500

RBC CENTER, RALEIGH—In the past, packs of coyotes hunted the American prairie, swarming their prey. Today, they have adapted to scavenge off the humans who’ve encroached upon their habitat, rummaging dumpsters for suburban food scraps to survive.…