New Cane on the Block

After all the trade drama surrounding Ian White, one of our most recently acquired Canes became our most recently traded on Friday when Ian was sent off to San Jose. We got a 2^nd round pick in 2012 in exchange, and with some careful wording, the Sharks also sent us Dman Derek Joslin for “future considerations.” Do with that what you will. It’s sad to see Ian go, but I’m curious to see what our new addition is capable of.

We got to see Joslin play Saturday against the Devils when he and Carson both spent time on the ice vying for the 6^th defensive spot. Joni had come out for the pre-game skate with the team, but ended up sitting out with an LBI (he was hit with a puck again recently), which presented the opportunity for both defensive considerations to show their stuff. From what I hear, the last man standing will snag the spot Ian left open, sending the other to spend some time in Charlotte. One of the tidbits I’d heard about Joslin shortly after the deal was made official was that he had won the Hardest Shot contest in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition in 2009. The Caniac Girl Trio saw- well, heard- one example of his strong shot from our seats in the 300s during the Devils game, and tried to keep a close eye on him for general analysis throughout the game.

Honestly, the Canes’ emotional swing from high-energy win over the Flyers on Friday to lifeless loss to the Devils Saturday made the game hard to watch as closely as we’d intended. We noticed some errors and some great moves, but really, it’s a bit too soon to judge… especially since he found out he was traded, flew in from the opposite coast, played the very next day-- but maybe hardest of all, had to be Tripp Tracy’s 1^st intermission interview-- and all within about 48 hours. His saving grace was that he hadn’t played enough for Tripp to use his if-I-touched-you-I’d-burn-myself line. Hopefully Tuomo and Erik will warn him…

Not sure if we’ll see much more trade action before the deadline, if any. Twitter has been amazing for keeping up with all the action. Definitely makes my ESPN text alerts pale in comparison. As of now, it looks like the team will remain in tact for tomorrow night’s game against the NY Rangers. To borrow a phrase from the infamous Tripp Tracy, this is a game of consequence for sure. Win- we tie the Rangers for 7^th with the advantage, having beaten them 3 out of 4 games, and inch our way closer to the Habs in 6th. Lose- we fall to 4 points behind NY, splitting the series thus far, and staying just 4 points ahead of Buffalo who would have 3 games in hand again at that point. The Caniac Girl Trio will be sitting in the 100s for this one, armed and ready with our signs (including a new “Thank you Cam!” set) and new customized Canes gear (shop.nhl.com is a very dangerous thing…). The Storm Squad girls handing out posters Saturday recognized our signs and chatted with us about them for a bit. Every time we’ve had lower level seats and brought the signs, the good guys have won, so hopefully the new shirts = good ch’i, too!