Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks

Archive for September 18th, 2008

Starting the season off right…oh wait.

18 Sep 2008 @ 6:40 AM

JWillie out 4-6 months with blown Achilles tendon, Warchief getting knee cleaned up — N&O

That thump-thump-thump sound you hear is me beating my head on the desk. The Warchief’s surgery I dig–he’s just getting the knee cleaned up.
Now, I can dig that we’re one of the best-conditioned teams in the NHL. It’s cool, it’s a badge of honour and all (I guess), but there comes a time when you have to go to the training staff and ask them “Dude, WTF?” Setting aside the flu that tore through the locker room last season, the ‘Canes are in injury trouble. Look at the man-games lost to serious injury in the last two seasons (608–not the ridonkulous amount that teams like the Islanders had, but still significant when you consider that it’s spread out over several guys rather than one or two), and you’re forced to wonder:

1) what the hell the training staff is huffing

and

2) whether or not Pete Friesen’s balls-out approach to conditioning is a good thing anymore.

The Hurricanes should look long and hard at Pete and his gang, and ask themselves if dudeman is still worth it.