I was leaning towards Carolina tonight, or maybe the over, but came across this artice from the Raleigh News and Obsever. Barasso has been playing really well lately, and Carolina is on great spirits after their OT win at Chicago. The goalie situation, which makes no sense to me, might be a distraction though according to this article:
Canes' goal is crowded
Newcomer Kevin Weekes gives the Hurricanes three goalies for season's stretch drive.
PITTSBURGH - Kevin Weekes was supposed to join his new team Wednesday afternoon, but his bags had to take a later flight.
Goalies don't go anywhere without their gear, so Weekes waited around to go with his and spent a large portion of his first official day with the Carolina Hurricanes in Florida while the Canes practiced in Pittsburgh.
Because the Canes already have two goalies, his absence wasn't really noted. His presence today will be.
The Canes acquired Weekes from the Tampa Bay Lightning late Tuesday for forwards Shane Willis and Chris Dingman, placing the goaltender-of-the-future mantle squarely on the 26-year-old's shoulders.
"I've heard that [at] other places," Weekes said, "but the other places I've been were mostly rebuilding teams."
The Canes, though, are mostly built. Weekes is seen as a final piece of the puzzle, not a beginning one.
But the future is one thing; the present is another. Weekes doesn't know any better than anyone else what's going to happen now that Carolina has three goalies -- Weekes and veterans Arturs Irbe and Tom Barrasso -- but he has been in that situation before with three other teams.
"That's something other people focus on more than I do," Weekes said. "I'm just here to help the team win."
Weekes, who is from Toronto, is with his fifth NHL team in five seasons after being taken in the second round of the 1993 draft by the Florida Panthers.
He has a record of 29-82-13 with a 3.24 goals-against average in his career. Along with the St. Louis Blues' Fred Brathwaite, Weekes is one of two African-American goalies playing in the NHL.
And he's no stranger to North Carolina. While in the Florida system, Weekes played two seasons in Greensboro for the Carolina Monarchs of the AHL, and he said he's looking forward to renewing old acquaintances.
The other two-thirds of Carolina's new goaltending triumvirate aren't exactly dancing and singing, however.
"It's a curious situation," Irbe said. "The key is to stay level-headed."
Barrasso and Irbe have been part of three-pronged goalie situations before -- Barrasso with the Pittsburgh Penguins and last month with the U.S. Olympic team, Irbe with the San Jose Sharks -- and Irbe in particular doesn't have fond memories of splitting time with Wade Flaherty and Chris Terreri.
"To be honest, it was terrible," Irbe said. "There was room only for one guy in net. That's hard. Everybody wants to play. All three guys are capable of playing NHL-caliber hockey, so we all want to be there, we all want to be the go-to guy."
Carolina coach Paul Maurice said he expects doling out game time to be the easy part. For now, he won't even think about working Weekes into the rotation until after Friday's home game against the Washington Capitals.
Finding time for all three to get enough work in practice, though, may prove tricky.
"I think we'll be able to accommodate them in terms of getting them enough work to keep them sharp," Maurice said.
All indications are the Canes are willing to carry all three beyond the March 19 trade deadline, but it's rare an NHL team will waste a roster spot on a third goalie.
Barrasso, who will be a free agent after the season, is the obvious trade target, but goaltending-poor teams are looking at higher-profile goalies such as Ed Belfour and Mike Richter at the moment. It may take until the trade deadline for serious interest in Barrasso to coalesce.
"Obviously, our general manager has a plan," Barrasso said. "What his plan is, I don't know. That's why he's the GM and I'm a player. I'm not quite sure what he's planning to do, but I know three goalies is probably not the direction they're going to want to take for a significant period of time."
While the goalies grumbled, the rest of the team simply was surprised by the trade.
A contending team on a hot streak don't usually give away useful players such as Willis and Dingman a month before the playoffs in deals with an eye to the future. And after Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Canes have won three straight, all on the road.
That may be a measure of how much Carolina GM Jim Rutherford likes Weekes, but it's still not seen very often.
"You expect this a lot of times when things aren't going well or a team is struggling," Carolina captain Ron Francis said. "That's when you see moves made. It's a little different because we've won three in a row. Everybody was feeling good after the overtime win and to hear about [the trade] kind of puts a damper on the celebration."
The question now is whether Rutherford is done. Clearly, the Canes aren't going to play the rest of the season with 11 forwards instead of the usual 12.
In addition to help on defense, he'd still like to get a top-flight left wing to play with Francis and Jeff O'Neill, which would allow Sami Kapanen to move to the right, where he's more comfortable, and give the Canes more scoring depth.
Barring that, players in Lowell (AHL) --such as Craig MacDonald, Craig Adams, Jaroslav Svoboda, Mike Zigomanis and Jeff Heerema --could get auditions.
"We'll see how the balance on the forward lines shakes out," Rutherford said. "We won't necessarily make changes up front through trades -- I'm not saying that's not a possibility -- but we have some guys right now in Lowell who are ready to come in here and play."
One who isn't, apparently, is Lowell goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier. He came over from the Philadelphia Flyers with Rod Brind'Amour for Keith Primeau but the acquisition of Weekes may signal the end of his days as a Carolina prospect.
Canes' goal is crowded
Newcomer Kevin Weekes gives the Hurricanes three goalies for season's stretch drive.
PITTSBURGH - Kevin Weekes was supposed to join his new team Wednesday afternoon, but his bags had to take a later flight.
Goalies don't go anywhere without their gear, so Weekes waited around to go with his and spent a large portion of his first official day with the Carolina Hurricanes in Florida while the Canes practiced in Pittsburgh.
Because the Canes already have two goalies, his absence wasn't really noted. His presence today will be.
The Canes acquired Weekes from the Tampa Bay Lightning late Tuesday for forwards Shane Willis and Chris Dingman, placing the goaltender-of-the-future mantle squarely on the 26-year-old's shoulders.
"I've heard that [at] other places," Weekes said, "but the other places I've been were mostly rebuilding teams."
The Canes, though, are mostly built. Weekes is seen as a final piece of the puzzle, not a beginning one.
But the future is one thing; the present is another. Weekes doesn't know any better than anyone else what's going to happen now that Carolina has three goalies -- Weekes and veterans Arturs Irbe and Tom Barrasso -- but he has been in that situation before with three other teams.
"That's something other people focus on more than I do," Weekes said. "I'm just here to help the team win."
Weekes, who is from Toronto, is with his fifth NHL team in five seasons after being taken in the second round of the 1993 draft by the Florida Panthers.
He has a record of 29-82-13 with a 3.24 goals-against average in his career. Along with the St. Louis Blues' Fred Brathwaite, Weekes is one of two African-American goalies playing in the NHL.
And he's no stranger to North Carolina. While in the Florida system, Weekes played two seasons in Greensboro for the Carolina Monarchs of the AHL, and he said he's looking forward to renewing old acquaintances.
The other two-thirds of Carolina's new goaltending triumvirate aren't exactly dancing and singing, however.
"It's a curious situation," Irbe said. "The key is to stay level-headed."
Barrasso and Irbe have been part of three-pronged goalie situations before -- Barrasso with the Pittsburgh Penguins and last month with the U.S. Olympic team, Irbe with the San Jose Sharks -- and Irbe in particular doesn't have fond memories of splitting time with Wade Flaherty and Chris Terreri.
"To be honest, it was terrible," Irbe said. "There was room only for one guy in net. That's hard. Everybody wants to play. All three guys are capable of playing NHL-caliber hockey, so we all want to be there, we all want to be the go-to guy."
Carolina coach Paul Maurice said he expects doling out game time to be the easy part. For now, he won't even think about working Weekes into the rotation until after Friday's home game against the Washington Capitals.
Finding time for all three to get enough work in practice, though, may prove tricky.
"I think we'll be able to accommodate them in terms of getting them enough work to keep them sharp," Maurice said.
All indications are the Canes are willing to carry all three beyond the March 19 trade deadline, but it's rare an NHL team will waste a roster spot on a third goalie.
Barrasso, who will be a free agent after the season, is the obvious trade target, but goaltending-poor teams are looking at higher-profile goalies such as Ed Belfour and Mike Richter at the moment. It may take until the trade deadline for serious interest in Barrasso to coalesce.
"Obviously, our general manager has a plan," Barrasso said. "What his plan is, I don't know. That's why he's the GM and I'm a player. I'm not quite sure what he's planning to do, but I know three goalies is probably not the direction they're going to want to take for a significant period of time."
While the goalies grumbled, the rest of the team simply was surprised by the trade.
A contending team on a hot streak don't usually give away useful players such as Willis and Dingman a month before the playoffs in deals with an eye to the future. And after Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Canes have won three straight, all on the road.
That may be a measure of how much Carolina GM Jim Rutherford likes Weekes, but it's still not seen very often.
"You expect this a lot of times when things aren't going well or a team is struggling," Carolina captain Ron Francis said. "That's when you see moves made. It's a little different because we've won three in a row. Everybody was feeling good after the overtime win and to hear about [the trade] kind of puts a damper on the celebration."
The question now is whether Rutherford is done. Clearly, the Canes aren't going to play the rest of the season with 11 forwards instead of the usual 12.
In addition to help on defense, he'd still like to get a top-flight left wing to play with Francis and Jeff O'Neill, which would allow Sami Kapanen to move to the right, where he's more comfortable, and give the Canes more scoring depth.
Barring that, players in Lowell (AHL) --such as Craig MacDonald, Craig Adams, Jaroslav Svoboda, Mike Zigomanis and Jeff Heerema --could get auditions.
"We'll see how the balance on the forward lines shakes out," Rutherford said. "We won't necessarily make changes up front through trades -- I'm not saying that's not a possibility -- but we have some guys right now in Lowell who are ready to come in here and play."
One who isn't, apparently, is Lowell goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier. He came over from the Philadelphia Flyers with Rod Brind'Amour for Keith Primeau but the acquisition of Weekes may signal the end of his days as a Carolina prospect.
