CBC-Sports

Timing of Hurricanes captaincy switch puzzling

January 20, 2010 05:20 PM | Posted by   Cassie Campbell  

On Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that their new captain will be Eric Staal and that Rod Brind’Amour will be their alternate.

I have no issue by any means with Eric Staal being named the captain. He’s a great player and obvious choice. He is the face of the franchise with a long-term contract and his on-ice ability speaks for itself. I recognize this is part of the rebuilding process which has to happen in Carolina. And what better way for Staal to learn about leadership when the ship has pretty much sunk?!

I understand the difficulty with which Jim Rutherford had while making this decision. It could not have been easy to take away the “C” from a veteran, but why now? Why embarrass a key veteran of the NHL who lifted your Stanley Cup in 2006 and who no doubt has done anything and everything since arriving into your organization?

I know that Rutherford is a great hockey man and respects Brind’Amour very much. This is evident by the fact that he had previous conversations this year with Rod on this very issue. Of course Brind’Amour was going to do whatever is best for the organization … that is the kind of team guy he is.

The Canes have had a very disappointing season. Their poor start combined with key injuries and some underachievers has left them with a bit of a mess in Carolina. There is no question they have to get younger, but to me, making this captaincy change at this point in the season is showing that Brind’Amour is to blame.

Sure, he hasn’t played as well as we have all seen him play in previous years and Staal is by far the better player, but to do this at this point in the season makes no sense to me, especially when the team’s chances for post-season play is slim to none. Why not wait until the summer time to make the announcement? I recognize that this is a business and fair is not sometimes a word used when making business decisions.

Even making this decision last summer would have been better than at this point in the season.

Calgary Flames – A Western flare

I will not say that everything is perfect in Flames land, especially after a terrible 9-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks this week, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel for a team that is much better on paper than they have shown on the ice.

The Flames have had three previous big-time losses this season and this is how they have responded:

Oct. 12 – lost 6-5 in OT to the Blackhawks after giving up a 5-0 lead. Over their next four games, they went on a streak to get six out of a possible eight points.

Nov. 19 – Another loss to the Blackhawks, this time to the score of 7-1. The Flames then went on a streak that saw them get 11 points out of a possible 12 over their next six games.

Dec. 27 – The Flames had a terrible first period and lost 5-1 on home ice to their division rival Canucks. The Flames then went on to win their next five.

Still, they need to be better!

Hooking penalty?

Nick Lidstrom received a penalty in Tuesday night’s game versus the Washington Capitals’ for hooking Alexander Ovechkin at the 14:30 mark of the third period. He negated a goal, but this hooking penalty should not be called hooking.

When a player puts his stick underneath another player’s stick, especially below the hand position of the opponent’s stick, a penalty should not be called. A player should be allowed to lift a player’s stick - it’s a stick-on-stick play! The ref made the right call according to rules, but I just don’t like it!

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