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GDT: Canes @ Bruins 1/6 7PM

I'm a bit more concerned about Ward's two short-side GA's on two back-to-back shots (one of which was by Ryan Nash of all people) than I am about Darling's GA's due to breakaways and odd-man rushes that get the goalie moving.

But Darling also made some big stops on a few of those breakaways and at least held the third. Plus he seals the short side well during play and nearly covers the other post with his reach without cheating like Cam does at times (that short side thing). But get them moving and all sorts of holes open up.

Jury is still out on him for me. His history with us is strewn with bad goalie implementation strategies, poor offensive goal support, and some horrific team-wide (forwards, too) defensive play in front of him...with a coaching system that makes no adaptations for anyone or anything.

We're not helping him, in my opinion, but he may yet be all we supposedly need him to be...which is just be an average NHL goalie...we'll take care of the rest.

And, while I'm here. Jeff Skinner, and linemate Derek Ryan, both -5 for last night's adventure, with Lindholm close behind at -4. That line got smoked.
 
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CarolinaPen said:
Darling may also go down as the worst signing in team history if he can't get it turned around.
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Alex Semin says hi.

Worst goalie in Canes history? Only if you factor in expectations. Kirk McLean, Pat Jablonski, Tyler Moss, Jamie Storr, Mike Fountain, Mark Fitzpatrick, John Grahame all had worse numbers. But none of them were brought in to be the #1 goalie and handed a 4 year contract.
 
funny thing about Kirk Mclean was his W/L record was 4-2 with the Canes even though his other stats were not that good. I suppose the Canes scored a lot during those 4 wins .
 
Aho officially listed as day to day. That’s probably the best we could have hoped for.
 
I've seen social media photos of Aho both in the locker room and on skates at the Skate with the Canes event this afternoon, although also saw someone noting they saw an ankle wrapped. He seemed in good spirits in the photos, even taking mock face-offs for photos with kids on the ice.

Still, I also understand and have seen that the org is holding back an official statement until he's been completely evaluated, which might not be completed until Monday morning.

But, yes, I was first relieved when he wasn't taken to the hospital (so hopefully nothing broken). And yes, no apparent knee issues.

Encouraging.
 
So, I didn't watch this disaster, but am hearing that the loss was all Darlings fault. Didn't Ward start? Did he give up 2 goals on 2 shots? Or am I reading the box score wrong?
 
TheBigKahuna said:
So, I didn't watch this disaster, but am hearing that the loss was all Darlings fault. Didn't Ward start? Did he give up 2 goals on 2 shots? Or am I reading the box score wrong?
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Anyone who says that the loss was all Darling's fault knows very little about the game of hockey.
 
HeyKurtz said:
Anyone who says that the loss was all Darling's fault knows very little about the game of hockey.
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There is a Twitter troll who did just that. He also suggested that Darling's poor play was caused by a relapse. It was pretty revolting. He was called out pretty heavily by Canes fans, Mrs. Darling and even Scott himself, who posted a picture of his Stanley Cup ring.
 
I think many of us knew Cams coach would turn back into a pumpkin eventually. And his backup ride is a broken down bicycle. Darling needs to step up his game, drastically.
 
Yeah that first period killed the game. Glad the new on Aho isn't as bad as I feared. And Trolls are trolls. Scott darling mostly gave up shots that I don't think many would save. (in this game) but the D was not in front and the Bergeron line Skated around the canes like Pylons that move a little. that was the embarrassing part. and Ward looked terrible on those 2 shots.
 
Aho is on the ice for practice in a regular jersey, working with the TSA line. Stempniak and Wallmark are also fully participating. Checkers are off until Friday, I guess Wallmark stays until after Thursday's game in DC?
 
andyt said:
Alex Semin says hi.

Worst goalie in Canes history? Only if you factor in expectations. Kirk McLean, Pat Jablonski, Tyler Moss, Jamie Storr, Mike Fountain, Mark Fitzpatrick, John Grahame all had worse numbers. But none of them were brought in to be the #1 goalie and handed a 4 year contract.
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1. Tomas Kaberle gives a waive also. Semin at least had the one decent season, albeit a short one. Kaberle played less than 30 games of a 3 year free agent contract before we dumped him back on Montreal. And would have been the worse Canes defenseman that you'd actually heard of before we got him but for the hideous Kevin Hatcher reign of fatness and ineptitude.

2. Yeah ... we got Grahame at least hoping that he could get his act together and share the starting job with Cam, who was still a child at that point. So he sorta counts. The rest of those guys were brought in to backup an "established" starter.

One thing is certain ... Darling thus far is the worst signing of Ron Francis' tenure as GM. Thus far ... he could still get his head together and show something, says the biggest cynic around. Keepers are weird and changing teams is harder than fans think it is.
 
andyt said:
Aho is on the ice for practice in a regular jersey, working with the TSA line. Stempniak and Wallmark are also fully participating. Checkers are off until Friday, I guess Wallmark stays until after Thursday's game in DC?
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That Aho news is just awesome to hear!!! Wallmark looked good in his brief stint, is Stempniak the healthy extra when ready and PDG goes down or gets plucked on waivers?
 
There are times I am quite pleased with my lack of knowledge of social media-- twitter and instagram are not something I've tried. However, I truly hope Darling starts rounding into the #1 he was hired to be-- we need this to work out and so does he. CWard is in no way the holy grail or panacea for this team.
 
CanadaCanes said:
That Aho news is just awesome to hear!!! Wallmark looked good in his brief stint, is Stempniak the healthy extra when ready and PDG goes down or gets plucked on waivers?
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Stempniak probably goes into the lineup if and when he's healthy because he would give us another experienced option for that second power play unit. IF he's ever healthy.
 
SlapShots said:
There are times I am quite pleased with my lack of knowledge of social media-- twitter and instagram are not something I've tried. However, I truly hope Darling starts rounding into the #1 he was hired to be-- we need this to work out and so does he. CWard is in no way the holy grail or panacea for this team.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason Darling just has not seemed to be able to gain any confidence this season. Some huge stinkers stick out the most so far, but he has made some gorgeous saves and the defense in front of him has not been stellar at times but at some point he has to show he can string a few solid games together when given the chance. What scares me the most is for such a big man in the net he seems to be down on his knees a lot.
 
This is the goalie this team was gushing praise about last year. I watched the games he played against the Canes and did not see what all this high praise was all about. I remember when they signed him this board was also full of praise and I mentioned his need for more foot speed but then held my tongue thinking I was missing something. This is the first time I have commented about this goalie since my statement that he needs to pick up some foot speed when he was signed. He did play one excellent game with a high rate of skill and speed but has not been able to match that since. For some reason I am still willing to give him a chance to settle in and be comfortable hoping he can prove me wrong. This coaching staff has a way of ruining goalies.
 
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