I’m sure your watching the game and will probably post on it, but I figured I would start the ball rolling.. Carolina is getting cheated tonight in washington bad.. holy man Ovechkin can do whatever the hell he wants and not get a call, including leaving his feet and charging Hedican through the glass, and they charge a penalty to Hedican for what? trying to defend himself?? The after the whistle hit on Staal that should have been a 5 minute major (or 10 minute game misconduct) gets called as a 2 for 2 whitewash and refuses Carolina a power play. And what the hell late in the game when Carolina gets a powerplay and before it even starts they call a ridiculous bench minor on Carolina to again refuse the Canes the power play. Twice Canes players got thrown into Huet and BOTH times the Carolina player was called for interference. I read on Yahoo what a shame it would be for Ovechkin to be playing golf during the playoffs and I guess the NHL front office decided that would be a shame as well and are making sure that washington makes the playoffs and Carolina doesnt. I agree that Carolina should have clinched the division a long time ago and not even be in this position but tonights game has been total and utter bull****. Thanks NHL for knocking Carolina out of the playoffs as the only team in the league who’s won 18 of thier last 20 and could easily run to the finals again.

The tricky thing about playing in the markets in the Southeast is, in my opinion, that because there is little to no external pressure all pressure on the team has to come from within. Teams have to be willing to kick themselves in the head when they need it, because rarely will their markets’ mediots do it (except for Luke DeCock, possibly the best beat reporter we’ve ever had covering the Hurricanes).

Case in point: Damien Cristodero, the Lightning beat reporter at the St. Pete Times–he is possibly the biggest homer in the Division. To him, the Lightning collectively walk on water and piss ginger ale, and reading his columns is aggravating because he’s all “sunshine and sugar trees” and rarely if ever does he take the players or coaches to task for anything.

The teams in this division don’t need blind homer mediots like that. They need more guys like Luke, who’s been known to drop the hammer squarely on the collective head of the Hurricanes when they’ve made questionable decisions or when they’re playing like dogs.

Washington and Carolina seem to be the only two teams in the Division that honestly give a damn about actually getting and staying good–which in the grand scheme of things is a tragedy, because really? The sooner the whole division gets off their duffs and starts acting like they give a damn the sooner people will stop bagging on us as “The Southleast”.

The players here find themselves in a good climate, a nice area, and without the media forcing a microscope up where it doesn’t belong. The pressures here are entirely different. Though the factors I’ve mentioned aren’t entirely bad (a player can “just play” - which many love), it does lead to complacency in some. In our case JR/Lavi kept upping the ante until the team took notice. I think that’s usually the best remedy. The fact that we got some great talent in the bargain speaks volumes about our leadership.

Hockey has always been and will always be my favorite sport. I’m one of the few natives around here over 30 that can say that honestly. Thanks for speaking up for the fans, and for the sport as well. I’ll keep reading.