GDT: Canes v. Pens 3/19 7:00

A Pivotal Global Event?

The Canes face the Pens twice in the next 12 days. Calvin de Haan practiced yesterday in a regular jersey but with a full face shield. He’s unlikely to play tonight though. I expect we’ll see Mrazek in goal tonight.

Thanks to the loser point the Pens earned on Sunday, their position is safe for now. They’re 3rd in the division and lead the Canes by 3 points with 2 more games played. They’re 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Malkin is week to week with an upper body injury. Crosby is closing in on his first 100 point season since 2013-14; he has 92, 4th in the league. He’s 7th in assists with 59. Jake Guentzel has 36 goals. Matt Murray has started the last 2 in goal but was pulled on Saturday after allowing 4 goals on 13 shots. He bounced back with 36 saves on Sunday. He and Casey DeSmith have similar numbers, with a GAA around 2.80 and a .916 Save %. Their PP is 5th at 25.2%, the PK is 17th at 80.4%

Fox Sports Carolinas for TV.

The crowd tonight is going to be much smaller than the average crowd over the past 3 months (GOLD game prices, Tuesday night, no specials, TONS of tickets still available). The smaller crowd likely will be filled with a LOT of Pens fans. Just for my sanity we have to handily win this game (please?)

Please win

I never look forward to walking into the PNC and seeing a bunch of opposing jerseys in the crowd. But that's the price we pay for living in a non-traditional hockey market with a great working/living environment that attracts a lot of people from all over. My hope is that someday the Canes will be "big and bad" enough to routinely quiet the other team's fans in our building. Let's do it tonight with a big win over a team we're chasing. Go Canes!

Pretty much the most important game of the season...to date. :sarcasm

I'm happy to have Jordan Staal in the lineup for this matchup with the Pens, because Crosby has been EVERYWHERE for Pittsburgh over the last couple of weeks. Jordan has always done a halfway decent job of at least frustrating him if not actually keeping him off of the scoreboard. Nobody really does that all that often. Here's my keys ... the first line needs to be FLYING out there. The Pens and Canes both like to match 1st to 1st a fair amount, and the best way to slow down their offense is to make those guys chase your top line around the defensive zone. The Pens are like the tide ... when they get rolling in one direction they tend to stick with it. The big play here is to get on the board first and get that tide headed out away from shore. Their D isn't all that good even after their deadline patch job and has some real lumbering beasts. Make 'em earn their paychecks. And always remember ... that team plays with a level of arrogance that sometimes leaves other teams with the impression that they're better than they actually are. They have the same number of wins as the Canes and it's freaking mid-March. They AREN'T better than you. Don't forget it.

ThinIce said:

But that's the price we pay for living in a non-traditional hockey market with a great working/living environment that attracts a lot of people from all over. My hope is that someday the Canes will be "big and bad" enough to routinely quiet the other team's fans in our building.

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As you alluded to, that's the price you pay for having a team that cannot routinely engage its own fan base because it's been so mediocre to bad for so long. It's not that we're a non-traditional market. That's just an excuse. Every market that's not Original 6 can be called a non-traditional market at some point.

Probably the most significant game as far as playoff implications that this team has played since 4/9/11, when we lost to Tampa on the last day of the season. A win would have clinched a playoff spot.

Elsker said:

Pretty much the most important game of the season...to date. :sarcasm

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Not sure if Letang is still out tonight for sure, but if you catch the Pens without Malkin and Letang you should be thankful. The Canes really need to stay out of the box and not play from behind tonight. This one is a huge four point game that will go a long way to securing a playoff berth because Thursday's game once again is daunting to say the least. One point back of the Pens with 2 games in hand with a win tonight sure sounds a helluva lot better than 5 points back!

CanadaCanes said:

Thursday's game once again is daunting to say the least.

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Tampa just clinched the President's Trophy. They have the Caps tomorrow and then the Canes on Thursday. If there is a good time to catch Tampa (and there likely is not), this might be it.

bagopux said:

Tampa just clinched the President's Trophy. They have the Caps tomorrow and then the Canes on Thursday. If there is a good time to catch Tampa (and there likely is not), this might be it.

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They're on freaking autopilot at this point.

Oh, great! It’s Tim Peel!

Referees:
Brad Watson #23, Tim Peel #20

Linesmen:
Bryan Pancich #94, Michel Cormier #76

Neither team has a great record with these refs this year. The Canes are 0-3 with Watson, 1-2 with Peel. Pens are 1-2 with Watson, 0-1 with Peel. Watson is 4th with 51% of his penalties called on the home team. But he’s also 6th in home win % at 60.0%.


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bagopux said:

As you alluded to, that's the price you pay for having a team that cannot routinely engage its own fan base because it's been so mediocre to bad for so long. It's not that we're a non-traditional market. That's just an excuse. Every market that's not Original 6 can be called a non-traditional market at some point.

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FWIW, the trend towards visit fans supporting New York metro area teams and Pittsburgh teams in increasing numbers in smaller market venues isn't just an NHL thing ... it has spread to other sports. And sometimes other traditional market fans also overwhelm smaller market stadiums and arenas ... the St Louis Cardinals in baseball, Toronto and Buffalo in hockey, the Patriots in football. It's a thing at this point. I used to go to Cardinals games in Atlanta in the 80s and there were a smattering of St Louis fans in the stands, but last year when I went to a game in Atlanta's new stadium it was probably 30% Cardinals fans and the Cards weren't even good. Same thing happens in Panthers Stadium when the Steelers play in Charlotte, and pretty much every time the Yankees play anybody on the road. This train has picked up steam over the decades ... due to what factors, I have no idea. I assume generation after generation of Rust Belt economic decline is a primary factor, but that can't be all there is to it.

I'd guess that the arena tonight will have probably 25-30% Pens fans, if not more. And they'll be concentrated in the lower bowl which makes it even more frustrating. Go kick their Yinzer butts and it's sweet ... lose and it's a freaking nightmare.

I think a lot of it has to do with where people have relocated from. The "newer" teams in most sports are in cities/metro areas that have had an influx of population from other areas. For us, that is primarily NY/NJ/PA. When that coincides with excellence by a team over the years, (Pens, Yankees, Cardinals) those fans tend to show up. If we didn't have a boatload of folks from the Pittsburgh area here, OR if the Pens or Steelers had not been dominant teams over the last 20 years, then the fans wouldn't show up. Plus some areas are just die hard fans for their area - and Pittsburgh is one of those.

Most of the early adopter Hurricane fans were already NHL fans before the Canes arrived here. So they already had a favorite. On top of that it hurts us with the recent and almost antique streak of losing hockey is that we haven't generated a lot of enthusiasm and or new fans in the area over the past 10 years.

If we start winning, that will change, but unless single game tickets are not available, you're still going to have Pens fans showing up, (and other Northeastern fans) because those folks live here.

It also is worse with the Pens because they've got a lot of locals from the areas, they've been the best or at least one of the best teams in hockey since the Canes have been here, and almost every year, so their fans have for the most part remained Pens first Canes second, and I'm guessing a higher percentage of their kids are Pens fans. Heck, there are tons of Pens fans here who go to the Pens games and no nothing about hockey other than the Pens are good and the Canes suck and it's a good chance to go and feel superior to the locals.

Tell ya what ... I've been to a LOT of Canes/Pens games over the last 21 years and both teams have been good and bad over that period. But I don't believe that I have EVER sat near a Pens fan who didn't, rather loudly, believe that their team is awesome and that ours sucks. Honestly, that's the part that gets on my nerves ... that arrogant assumed superiority even if it's not backed up in reality.

jeffbear said:

Tell ya what ... I've been to a LOT of Canes/Pens games over the last 21 years and both teams have been good and bad over that period. But I don't believe that I have EVER sat near a Pens fan who didn't, rather loudly, believe that their team is awesome and that ours sucks. Honestly, that's the part that gets on my nerves ... that arrogant assumed superiority even if it's not backed up in reality.

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Comes with the light blue?

"...that arrogant assumed superiority even if it's not backed up in reality!"

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Oh how true and well-stated! Experienced and recognized many times over the years. Several years ago, seated in the lower shoot-twice end, there was a line of Pens fans seated just behind us. In the spirit of friendly competition, I tried to strike up a conversation by asking if they lived here or came for the game and the response - if it could be called that was a sneering look like I had two heads or something. We won that game - so much for arrogance and slinking off.

Had a similar experience with Leafs fans too. The game where Brind'Amour was taken out. We were down by three and I jovially remarked that the come-back was going to be spectacular. It was and we won that one too. Still jovial, I tried to get a high-five from any but only one gal (absolutely drop-dead gorgeous) begrudgingly gave in. The rest still sneered and groused - yeah it hurts to lose, especially like that but it doesn't hurt to be a bit friendly. I try to. But secretly did my own sneering with the thought that 'pay-back is hell, ain't it'? Maybe I let it slip... ?

Yeah, I know more than a couple of Pens fans who couldn't name 8 skaters in the lineup tonight. But they obviously know more about the game than some born in the south idiot. And it's not just Pens fans. I know a TON of Bruins fans who go to one or two Canes games a year, to see the Bruins. Even though they have no idea who those Bruins are.

Brock McGinn with a wrister, 1-0 Canes.

But the Pens get it right back. rrr:

Typical NHL, shit officiating yet again, these two clowns just get in each other’s way.

No bueno.