Thoughts From My Couch

The Hurricanes likely owe a huge thank you to Martin Necas for Saturday night's win over Philadelphia. After blowing a 2-0 lead given to them by Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, the Canes were on their way to a 3-2 regulation loss. That was before Necas beat Hart clean in the final three minutes of the third period, then began a play that eventually led to the overtime-winning goal for Brent Burns to earn two points. Pair that with some timely saves from Antti Raanta to keep the Canes in the game and it was an excellent comeback from the brink of disappointment of possible losses on consecutive nights. Tonight is their third game at home this season after playing six of their first eight on the road. They've split their two home games, beating Columbus on Opening Night and losing to the Islanders on Friday night.  Projected Lines/Pairs Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis Andrei Svechnikov-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast Stefan ...

The Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and AAC all had been games this week with major implications for both their conference races and the College Football Playoff. While the battle in Happy Valley was tighter than expected and things in Orlando got close, there were some real blowouts in other parts of the country. A lot more of the Top 25 was in action this weekend after eight teams had their byes in Week 8. The teams at the top were trying to keep the status quo, while the teams on the outside tried to shuffle the deck a little to move up the rankings with the first College Football Playoff rankings set to be revealed on Tuesday night. I don't think we'll see too much of a shake-up on November 1 after this week of action, but stranger things have happened.  Game of the Week-  UCF 25,  #20 Cincinnati 21 (Orlando, FL) History and momentum seemed to be on the side of Cincinnati heading into this conference title against UCF. The Bearcats hadn't lost a conference game since losing to ...

There's no time for the Canes to lick their wounds after an embarrassing 6-2 loss last night. The Canes tried to stay in it in the second period with goals from Martin Necas and Brent Burns, but sloppy play with the puck allowed the Islanders to capitalize on every small mistake and they ran away with it in the third period. The turning point in the game was the 5-on-3 at the end of the second period that the Canes were unable to capitalize on when it was still 3-2. Ilya Sorokin was stout and outplayed Frederik Andersen, especially in the third period. It was a rude awakening for the Canes and I expect to see wholesale changes in their game tonight. I'm not sure if it was the long road trip, the long break between games, or if the Islanders were that much better, but it was a poor effort in the final 30 minutes that hadn't been there in any other game this season. The good news is that it's just the seventh game of the season. It's not the end of the world, though m...

After almost two weeks on the road, the Canes are finally back in front of the fans at PNC Arena. The trip out west was largely a success as they went 3-1-1, picking up seven of a possible ten points. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov were both huge parts of the effort. Aho led the team with nine points and Svechnikov scored six of the team's 16 goals on the trip. Both scored in the win against Vancouver on Monday night with Jesper Fast scoring his first goal of the season also, the eventual game-winner. Frederik Andersen wasn't all that busy, facing only 16 shots to win his third win of the season. Despite the good point percentage on the trip, the power play and penalty kill were both under a microscope. The kill hasn't been as lethal this season as it was last year and the power play has been very hit-or-miss. There is still plenty of time to fix both, but they will be things to keep an eye on tonight. The Canes haven't played since Monday, so they've had plent...

For two series that looked to be relatively even, this season's championship series weren't very close. While I picked both winners correctly, I greatly overestimated how well the Yankees and Padres would play. The Yankees couldn't do anything right and the Padres, while fighting until the end, only mustered one win. It seems to fit the theme of the postseason with only two series going down to a deciding game. Here's a look back at the two championship series and a look at how I think the World Series is going to play out.  American League Championship Series- Houston Astros defeat the New York Yankees, 4-0 Game 1- It didn't look like the Yankees were too tired after their tight series with Cleveland. Harrison Bader kept his momentum going by hitting his fourth home run of the postseason in the top of the second to open the scoring. The Astros, well-rested after their sweep, responded quickly in the bottom of the second with an RBI double from Martin Maldonado. Hou...

The trip to Alberta didn't go well for the Canes. After losing 6-4 to Edmonton, the Canes squandered an early two-goal lead and while they would pick up a point, they lost in overtime to Calgary, 3-2. Sebastian Aho and Calvin de Haan provided the scoring for the Canes and if not for an overturned goal in the second period, they could've escaped with the win. A lot of attention was placed on the power play after the loss, with many fans particularly frustrated with the lack of conversion on a double-minor in the final minutes of the third period. Antti Raanta played well in the loss, but the focus for him was the bad goal he allowed to tie the game in the second period. That leaf has been turned and now the Canes must focus on the task at hand. They'll conclude their five-game trip in Vancouver tonight against a struggling Canucks team. This game has all the classic signs of a trap game for the Canes. Vancouver is the last team in the league without a win, they're withou...

Not even eight of the Top 25 teams being off this weekend could stop the action from being fast and furious in Week 8. Four Top 25 matchups were the highlights of the schedule, including two big games in the Big 12, a Top 10 battle in the PAC-12, and a battle of undefeated teams in the ACC. Some huge conference races became a little clearer this weekend as several top teams try to set course for conference championship games and potential playoff berths. In the end, we got an exciting weekend all across the country.  Game of the Week-  #11 Oklahoma State  41,  #20 Texas 34 (Stillwater, OK) While eyes were likely more fixated on the battle between TCU and Kansas State in Fort Worth, this battle between the teams we expected to be at the top of the conference stole the show. The matchup between Quinn Ewers and Spencer Sanders was the battle I was most excited to see since Ewers returned to the lineup a few weeks ago. There were a lot of passes in this game with varying...