I never can sleep
which is why you always see me post in the middle of the night
but it's nearly impossible after a big night of shows since we go from stage to celebrating a good show in the neighborhood bar... then I get home at like 3am and feel like it's noon.
So I may as well stop dragging my feet and update my Canes...
When we last left the team had just undergone major changes and had bounced back from a four win second section. Section three showed that we were back on the right track at least with a 12-6-2 record, posting our best stretch yet clawing our way back to 11th which is actually only 5 points out of 3rd as we'd then overtake Florida for 1st place in the conference. The team was really clicking and posted a lot of 5-2 wins. The PP bounced back but the PK kept sliding; at least we were able stay even in goals for and against at 75. Balastik still led the team a few points from the 30 goal 60 point mark and won his second Rookie of the Month honors this time for January (he'd won October too and would go on to win March as well!).
Things were going great rolling into the Olympic break. The Canes sent quite a contingent to Torino. Czech Republic selected Josef Vasicek, Finland selected Sami Kapanen, Russia selected Lowell backup 'tender Ilya Bryzgalov, the Swiss then took Lowell star Martin Gerber (who I really only kept as he resigned to a 2-way deal) and USA selected Eric Cole.
Vas put in a solid if unspectacular effort for the Czechs. Kapanen played to a solid 7.22 average rating with Finland. Bryz played all seven games for Russian and did well posting a 7.43 average rating and a 2.53 GAA. Gerber got in two games but unfortuantely didn't play well at all. Cole was fantastic with six goals in eight games leading the US to the Silver Medal
Our first game back as well as the first game of the 60-82 set ended up reflecting our whole season as we scored five goals but Buffalo threw a snowman at us still winning by three goals
bringing us two days later into a matchup with Ottawa and it was even worse than I feared as they soundly thrashed us by six goals 1-7
There was a closed door meeting where GM Minty challenged the team to get their heads out of Torino and/or their asses and play some hockey so we could have a good playoff push.
Things looked like they were turning around for us up 4-1 on the Wings at he 42 minute mark but we watched it slip away again as they scored the leveler with just over a minute to go, leading to a shootout loss.
Two more games pass with no points for the Canes. I'm looking at the schedule and shaking my head, popping Tylenol and TUMS like they are candies. After this Washington game it's Colorado then back to back with Ottawa, then with conference leaders Florida, then to the east coast for NJ, and a Philly game bookended by two games with that darn Buffalo team that threw us around 5-8.
Again 46 minutes into the Washington game, we score our 5th to go ahead 5-3 but can't hold that lead. Looks like a nother shootout until with just 13 seconds left in OT Balls fires one home and we take the 6-5 OT win. That doesn't change the upcoming schedule but the confidence is back with the boys and oddly enough we win the Colorado game and BOTH Ottawa games all by the same 4-2 score
This makes the Florida game
huge as we could pull to within 2 points of the conference lead. And... they pretty much dismantle us 2-5.
We need big points on the upcoming nightmarish East Coast clash and we claw our way to a 4-3 ot win over the Devils to start it out. Then there's freakin Buffalo again and we eventually lose a 5-6 game there after a shootout. We beat Philly in a great 3-1 win so at least we are getting our points, now we just need to beat Buffalo.
We once again join Sherman and Mr. Peabody in the way-back machine and play that 80's hockey Buffalo seems to draw out of us for some reason. Again it is without any success, this time it's 4-7 instead of 5-8
and that left us pretty close to mathematically eliminated from post season play. The team ended spiralling to a 2-7 close to the season,
firmly out of the playoffs.
At award time it was no surpise that Jaroslav Ballastik won the
Calder Trophy with his 45g43a 88 point season. He was also named to the NHL Rookie All-Star team. He cited me as GM being the key reason he won the award
Finishing just a point behind him with 41g46a for 87 points was Eric Cole who was voted Fan's Player of the Year.
Their centerman Eric Belanger finsihed the season 3rd in scroing on the team with 22g and 56a and was also rewarded as the runner-up to the
Selke Trophy! Needless to say the three will continue to make up our first line in 2006!
Andy Delmore had a helluva impressive season at D with 20g32a; fourth in scoring on the team.
Here's how the
team stats and
year end standings came out.
On to better times, the impressive finish for Lowell in the AHL:
I'd virtually stolen Phaneuf as he was only being regarded as a 3* player at the time due to a separated shoulder that had him out four months. I gave up Chris Kunitz, Jim Vandermeer and a 3rd rounder
He came back in time for some NHL games and then I sent him to finish the last eight games with Lowell to get his form back before they entered their playoffs. For extra experience Niitty went to Lowell at year's end playing their last two games as well (though Gerber had since tallied a 1.74 GAA in 38 games...). Lowell pretty much sailed through to a
Calder Cup win losing only three games during their championship run. Here's a rundown of the impact players:
I'd traded the rights to Ryan Bayda and a 6th rounder for
Daniel Widing who I signed as a FA in my Washington game and played rediculously well in the AHL. He finished his season in time to join Lowell for their last two rounds and again was rediculous, playing nine games and scoring in the last eight straight for 9g 5a in just 9 games!
Niitty was amazing in the AHL playoffs posting a 7.84 avg rating from his 1.50 gaa, .939 sv% effort. Phaneuf had 13 points posting a 7.73 avg rating. Three other players who had impressed all year at Lowell were Matt Keith posting 11 points in 18 games following a 31g21a 62 game season, Antoine Vermette with 15 pts in 20 games coming off a 18g30a 68 game season and Joe Corvo with 7g6a on D during the playoffs and a 17g29a season of 68 games.
Equally impressive, in their own way, were the
Lowell 'Box Brigade: the Darcy's, Verot and Hordichuk, George Davis and Gordie Dwyer. Hordichuk posted 259 PIM in just 56 games and Gordie Dwyer posted 112 PIM in just 25 games! The playoffs didn't slow down the Darcy's either posting 68 and 57 PIM. Regular season plus playoffs Darcy Verot put up an eye popping 418 PIM and Darcy Hordichuk put up 316 PIM!
I have slashed and burned to kept payroll low and it's around 24.5 mil now so if I get a few million increase from the board to 31 or so I hope to sign a second line scorer, a defensive anchor (hopefully Kubina) and a solid 3/4 D man (like Vaananen) in Free Agency. I'll probably trade for a 2nd and third line center in the offseason too. I'm not inteding to keep Yelle and both Stillman and Kapanen are "on the bubble". I wil most likely resign then trade Boucher and play Niitty with Bryz as backup.
Hopefully next year will find us battling for the Cup not golfing in June!!
so I keep putting off posting about it because it's got me so 
but I will bite the bullet soon and record my final stats and update my team's story. 
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Still number one 
