Carolina Hurricanes
@ Edmonton Oilers

Wednesday, Dec 7, 2011, 7:30 PM MST
Rexall Place

Canes Country

Trying to figure out Tomas Kaberle - Shutdown Line
Out of all of the things that have gone wrong for the Hurricanes this year the one near the top of everyone's list is the play of Tomas Kaberle. Thought to be a good replacement for Joe Corvo, he was signed to a three year deal worth $12.75 mil. over the summer but he has been anything but that. Kaberle has no goals and only five points in 26 games, has been on ice for only nine goals at even strength and has made numerous mistakes in his own zone that have led to chances and goals for the opposing team. It's gotten to the point where he's been scratched for one game and even GM Jim Rutherford has called him out. Kaberle has always been overrated as an offensive defenseman but he has never been this bad in his career before.

Eastern Conference Pythagorean Expectations - Shutdown Line
It's a little past the quarter pole of the NHL season and you'll see some interesting things in the standings. The Florida Panthers are leading the Southeast, the Washington Capitals are out of the playoff race, the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs would make the playoffs if the season ended today and the Islanders are the worst team in the East. Okay, maybe that last one isn't too far-fetched but there's definitely a lot of things going on that many didn't predict at the beginning of the year.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Calgary Flames 12/06/11 Scoring Chances - Shutdown Line
Where do I begin with this game? Should I talk about how Carolina got off to a horrible start and ended up in a 3-0 hole? Maybe it would be better to start things off on a more positive note and say how the Canes scored six goals for the first time in forever and were even with the Flames in scoring chances. That sounds pretty good at first glance but not when you consider that they registered a good chunk of those chances late in the game when they were trailing the Flames. I could also try to be positive and talk about Mike Murphy's NHL debut, but Murphy wouldn't have needed to come in if Cam Ward didn't give up six goals on 32 shots.

Slow Start Dooms Carolina: Flames 7, Hurricanes 6 - Canes Country
The Carolina Hurricanes dropped their seventh straight game on Tuesday night, 7-6, as they fell behind the Calgary Flames early, and never fully recovered.

Hurricanes Add John MacLean To Coaching Staff - Canes Country
Not long after his long-time teammate Ken Daneyko tweeted it, John MacLean was officially named an assistant coach under new Carolina Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller.

G28 Hurricanes at Oilers - Lowetide
The Hurricanes lost in Calgary due to a missed extra point last night and they're pretty awful. Having said that, the Oilers aren't exactly lighting things up over the last month so fans shouldn't be too confident. In their last ten, Edmonton is 4-5-1 and the Hurricanes are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.

Game Day "Hurricanes" - Oilers Jambalaya
Whitney is struggling still to get out of that pre-season mode but expect to see his game change somewhat tonight. Expect 19+ mins out of him and a factor tonight.

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