Caniac Karma

Since game 1 of the season in Finland, I’ve listened to every Canes game online since I’m too far away to watch on tv. Then this past week, the new guy at work has been torturing me, talking about how his friend had tickets to the Canes v Rangers game, so he was going. I wanted so badly to go see my boys play since they’d be up here in NYC, but was having a hard time convincing someone they wanted to buy a ticket and go with me. About 2 hours before faceoff, my love and undying support for the Canes paid off in the form of a pair of tickets that someone couldn’t use coming through a long chain of people to me & a friend. I couldn’t have imagined a better away game to watch live! Well, I’d love to see a Canes v Habs game at the Bell Centre, but still, quality-wise, this game was great.

I was the away fan I hate to sit near. I cheered my boys on from just 12 rows up from the blue line. My friend and I were two of maybe 10 people in all of Madison Square Garden that stood up and screamed when the rest of the crowd sat silently observing each of the 4 Canes goals. We yelled shouts of approval to Cam with each of his amazing saves, and threw in a couple cheers for Finland whenever Joni, Jussi or Ruutu were near enough to potentially hear us. Somehow, I managed all this cheering with just a sore throat and no black eye!

As for the more technical side, Cam did have several amazing saves, which isn’t out of the ordinary. Henrik Lundqvist had some amazing saves, too, though and made the game exciting to watch. Since this was the first time I actually got to watch them play this year after the games in Finland, it was great to see the speed of the new guys. Skinner looked great out there, and he’s so freaking young! He even made NHL First Star of the night. I’m hoping he stays with us for a while. He’s been working well with Cole, it seems, and I’m loving the switch of Ruutu to center. The switch created the new Skinner-Ruutu-Cole line, which apparently has already been dubbed the JET line—for Jeff Skinner, Eric Cole, Tuomo Ruutu—and it looks damn good. They got all 4 goals against the Rangers, and just generally looked like they’re going to work really well together. Cole’s even looking better now that he’s working with his young protégé. I hope this shifting of the lines continues to have a positive impact, keeping us in contention this season. For now, one game at a time… Let’s go Canes!

PATs:

• I had every intention of finally writing about the NFL games last night, but got a little distracted. Prepare for an in-depth analysis of the Jets v Packers this week, since I’m capping my celebration of my favorite sports weekend of the year with a trip to the New Meadowlands. The big news from this past week was mostly injuries, which seems to be the theme this season. Romo ended up with a broken clavicle and may be out for the rest of the season. Ouch. Literally. Bring in Kitna… Favre’s consecutive start streak is in jeopardy, thanks in part to the beating his ankle took against my Packers. Guess we’ll have to see on Sunday what Childress actually decides to do.
• I was so excited about the Magic’s great start (well, ok, great preseason), then they go and lose to the Heat. Of all teams… And Dwight got blocked by a little guy in Washington. Boston beat Miami, but then the Cavs beat Boston. Things are all crazy. I’m planning to get to a Magic game this season, whether that ends up happening here against the Knicks or as planned in Milwaukee against the Bucks.
• The Rangers (Texas version) seemed to have lost their spark once they got to the World Series. Based on how close the ALCS and NLCS matchups were, I was convinced this World Series would be a little closer. Maybe things will change with tonight’s game, otherwise the Giants (SF version) will be in a pretty good position for the title.
• Florida v Georgia today! I’m not saying anything on this yet, cause I’m a little too nervous for a pre-game analysis…
• Gator bball won their first exhibition game against Florida Tech (one Florida school I didn’t know existed). I’m excited to see how Billy D’s team will do this season. At least they’re actually televising a game Nov 16^th when we play Ohio State!