head coach: Paul Maurice

roster: C - Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Kent Manderville, Bates Battaglia. RW - Sami Kapanen, Nelson Emerson, Kevin Dineen, Steven Rice, Stephen Leach, Kevin Brown. LW - Robert Kron, Martin Gelinas, Paul Ranheim, Stu Grimson, Gary Roberts. D - Steve Chiasson, Glen Wesley, Curtis Leschyshyn, Kevin Haller, Adam Burt, Sean Hill. G - Trevor Kidd, Kirk McLean.

injuries: Gary Roberts, lw (pulled rib muscle, due back after Olympics); Stephen Leach, rw (strained neck, also due to return after the Olympics); Kevin Dineen, rw (knee, sat out last game only as a precaution).

transactions: 1/29 -- recalled Kevin Brown, rw, and Nolan Pratt, d, from New Haven (AHL); 2/2 -- sent Brown and Pratt back to New Haven; 2/7 -- recalled Brown from New Haven.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Northeast Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Pittsburgh   58  29  16  13    71  160  132
Montreal     56  28  21   7    63  168  141
Boston       56  23  22  11    57  140  138
Ottawa       58  23  25  10    56  130  140
Buffalo      55  22  21  12    56  143  138
Carolina     57  21  29   7    49  139  161

game results:

1/27 at Florida      L 3-0
1/28 at Tampa Bay    W 3-2    
1/30 at NY Islanders L 2-0    
2/01 Montreal        L 6-3
2/04 Tampa Bay       T 3-3
2/07 at Boston       W 3-1

team news:

by Brad Kane, Hurricanes Correspondent

It took a visit to the locker room from General Manager Jim Rutherford himself to send the Carolina Hurricanes into the Olympic break on a positive note. Rutherford's personal plea with the team that "they're better than this" inspired the 'Canes to a 3-1 victory over Boston that, in essence, keeps their season alive. A huge win for Carolina, it may very well be the contest that means the difference between hockey or golf in late-April.

It was in this very space last issue that three then-upcoming road games against Florida, Tampa Bay, and the Islanders were all deemed must wins. Well, one win and two losses later put Carolina onto life support. However, a late-rally tie versus Tampa Bay and a road win over the hated Bruins has the Hurricanes breathing again...barely, but breathing nonetheless.

In all, the nine-game stretch between the All-Star and Olympic breaks turned out a wash for Carolina. The 'Canes went 4-4-1 during that period. While that's certainly not what the team hoped for, they can take stock in their road accomplishments over that time. The last two weeks saw not only the victory at Boston, but a win in Tampa. They're still one of the NHL's worst road teams, but they are getting better.

THAT LITTLE TOURNAMENT IN JAPAN...
Carolina's Olympic representation will be small, with only Keith Primeau (Canada) and Sami Kapanen (Finland) playing for their respective teams. Robert Kron was rumored to be an injury replacement for the Czech Republic, but his chances to play in Nagano were dashed when Pittsburgh's Robert Lang was named to the team a few weeks back. Despite the lobbying on Kron's behalf of Czech superstar #1 himself, Jaromir Jagr, it wasn't enough. Supposedly, a rift that developed some time ago between Kron and Czech coach Ivan Helinka is to blame for his omission. Many 'Canes players, most prominently Kapanen, were disappointed to hear the news. On the bright side, having just two players participate should leave Carolina well-rested and ready to go come late-February.

ARENA TROUBLES
Carolina's new arena, and home, in Raleigh was scheduled to open in time for the 1999-2000 season. It was announced recently, however, that that may not happen. The extremely wet winter in the Carolinas has hampered construction, as has changes that have been made to the original plan for the new building. Construction team workers had said that November 1999 is looking more like a realistic target. If so, that could mean an extended stay in Greensboro. A worst case scenario could see the 'Canes playing in Greensboro the entire 99-00 season. The team does have a contingency plan in place should that occur, but it should be noted that the old AHL Carolina Monarchs, displaced to New Haven, CT, by Carolina's temporary stay in Greensboro, are to move back south in 1999 when the Hurricanes head off to Raleigh. It is therefore possible that the ex-Monarchs (now the Beast of New Haven, and, ironically, Carolina's farm club), may not be able to return in 1999. It's also possible that both the Hurricanes and the Monarchs/Beast will have to share the Greensboro Coliseum for one year. You know, by now you'd think that Hurricane team officials are used to this sort of thing...

GOING, GOING, GONE
The Fords, that is -- not the team. No need to worry about that...yet. The Ford giveaway, where one lucky fan at each of the last 20 home games would win a new Ford car or truck, came to a close during the Lightning game. The results, you ask? Well, it cost the team $230,000 to purchase the vehicles, while attendance for those 20 games increased an average of 1,300 a game over the first 11 games of the season. (From 7,400 to 8,700.) The promotion was not in place for those first 11 games. You do the math, simply because it hurt my brain to figure it out. At any rate, it's a promotion that has been deemed a success by team officials, so that should count for something right there.

Perhaps a more disturbing promotion result came from the vouchers given away at Greensboro and Raleigh Ford dealers. In this little bit of marketing genius, anyone test driving a Ford between November and January received a voucher for two free tickets to a Hurricanes game of their choice. Seemed like a solid idea. The team had 50,000 vouchers printed. The final total actually used? Just over 10,000. Did I hear someone say "Chevy fans"? 'Canes marketing director Rick Francis said it best: "We've all learned a lot of lessons this year."

DOWN ON THE FARM
OK, the Olympics are in full swing and the NHL is off until February 25 (The Hurricanes don't play again until the 28th). What's a loyal 'Cane fan to do? Why, scout the future 'Canes, that's what! After all, the minor and junior leagues don't stop in mid-season for some silly tournament invented by some Greek guys, like, two gazillion years ago! Let's take a quick, abbreviated look at some possible future Hurricanes you can check out while the big 'Canes hibernate for two and a half weeks (take that, The Hockey News!):

Carolina's AHL farm team in New Haven, which the Hurricanes share with Florida, boasts plenty of baby 'Canes. However, only a couple of them are actually considered possibly NHLers of the future. Two of them, forwards Bates Battaglia and Kevin Brown, were in uniform for the 'Canes for the last game before the Olympic break.

Brown leads New Haven in scoring with 20 goals and 47 points in 45 games (all stats through Sunday). He's not considered a prime prospect (he's been kicking around the minors for a couple years now), but he does well filling in on the big club when needed.

Battaglia is in his first year of professional hockey, having played collegiately at Lake Superior State. He is considered more of a prospect that Brown, and could one day draw a regular shift as a checking-line center. Both players are set to play in the AHL's all-star game Wednesday.

Other New Haven players of note include guys like Nolan Pratt and Steve Halko, both defensemen who've played with Carolina this season, and goalie Mike Fountain, who's dressed for the 'Canes but has not appeared in a game. None are considered top prospects. One guy who could be considered a prospect is center Byron Ritchie. Ritchie has struggled this year, with just 12 goals and 25 points in 49 games. He was, however, a torrid scorer in the Western junior league. He's a tad undersized, which may be leading to problems adjusting to the pro game.

Speaking of the junior leagues, they're usually where the real talent lies, since the best junior league prospects tend to skip the minors altogether and go straight to the NHL. The top junior prospect for Carolina is defenseman Nikos Tselios, the team's first-round choice in this past summer's entry draft. Currently playing for the Ontario league's Plymouth Whalers (also owned by Hurricane owner Peter Karmanos -- as if you couldn't already tell by the team's nickname), Tselios has 29 points in 47 games. He's not considered an offensive threat; more of a two-way guy. Of course, he is the cousin of Chris Chelios (and his surname is pronounced the same way), so that's definitely in his favor.

Among other junior league prospects:

Medicine Hat's Trevor Wasyluk -- Drafted in 1996, he's only played 14 games this year, registering 11 points. I'd like to say that that's due to injury, but truth be told, I really have no idea why. He's got loads of speed, but alas, no hands.

Kitchener's Mark McMahon -- Also picked in 1996, he's having a surprisingly good year. A defenseman, until recently he was leading Kitchener in scoring. Still, he has 11 goals and 44 points in 49 games, good numbers for a late-round pick.

Tri-City's Aaron Baker -- Another '96 pick, he's Carolina's lone goalie not currently playing professionally. He's on a bad team this year, having a bad season himself. In 53 games, he's got a goals against of 4.99 and a save percentage of just .869. At least he's playing a lot.

Val D'Or's Francis Lessard -- Drafted in 1997, he's Carolina's only prospect in the entire Quebec junior league. A defenseman, he's got just nine points in 34 games, but offense is not his forte. Beating people up is. He's got 208 penalty minutes, so he must be doing a good job.

Other prospects of note not playing in the junior leagues include North Dakota University's Brad DeFauw, a big, physical winger drafted in '97, and Andrei Petrunin, a water-bug of a forward who scores first and thinks defense later. Petrunin, class of '96, is a largely unknown commodity. What is known is that he used to be a linemate of Boston's Sergei Samsonov back in their junior days in Russia. Petrunin, currently playing in Russia, could be a huge scorer in the NHL, but his lack of size (he's only 5'8") will more than likely hold him back from making much of a dent in North America.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the cupboard is pretty much bare in Carolina. The two guys that could have been considered top future talents for Carolina, goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and winger Hnat Domenichelli, were both traded to Calgary in the past year. Tselios is really the only prime prospect left in the Hurricane system, and his potential is not all-star caliber. This has never been a franchise that has drafted well -- it's about time it started.

WHATNOT
Tampa Bay's Bryan Marchment has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL for his knee-on-knee hit on Carolina's Kevin Dineen last week. Marchment was already suspended once by the league for kneeing Dallas's Mike Modano earlier this year. If going after an NHL star like Modano got Marchment a small suspension, this corner says that Marchment should be put away for a long, long time for going after the heart and soul of the Hurricanes. Good riddance, you bum.

You probably know by now that former Hurricane Geoff Sanderson was traded again recently, this time from Vancouver to Buffalo. It seems curious that the Canucks would give up on Sandy so quickly (just nine games), considering that he's been out with a separated shoulder. He never got the opportunity to show what he's worth in Vancouver. Here's to hoping that he gets a better chance with the Sabres -- a Carolina archrival in the Northeast Division. Carolina fans won't get to see Sanderson in a Sabres uniform in Greensboro this year, but the 'Canes will visit Buffalo April 8.

Carolina has the dubious honor of having the third highest total of short-handed situations so far this season. Only Phoenix and Vancouver have more. This turn of events has left head coach Paul Maurice frustrated. Witness the following quote, made recently: "I just know that there's only two other teams that's killed more penalties than we have. That would be fine if we were a team of hooligans. We have a lot of church-going men in that locker room. We play a pretty clean game of hockey." Makes me wonder if they all attend services together...

After the tie versus Tampa Bay, where a Jeff O'Neill goal with just over a minute left prevented a loss to the hapless Lightning, Maurice came up with an interesting next-day practice agenda -- bowling. Yep, that's right, the Hurricanes put the sticks and pads away and went bowling instead. Wanting to break the monotony of practice, and forget the fact that they had to come from behind to tie the worst team in the NHL, Maurice had the team board a bus without telling them where they would be going. After a stop at an elementary school to talk with students (only Glen Wesley and Curtis Leschyshyn were expected by the school), the team ventured to a local alley for a day of bowling fun and excitement. No word on who had the highest score.

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