Canes offer Wesley one year contract

[talkingcanes]

http://www.newsobserver.com/hurricanes/story/2663664p-2470182c.html

looks like JR is staying busy. hope we have something wonderful to show for all the work on Opening Night.

[guinevere]

I'm glad they're pursuing Welsey and ANOTHER defensemen but I really think the bulk of our problems lie in offense and to some extent goaltending. Maybe without the drama of last season the golatending will improve but overall our offensive numbers were worse than our defensive numbers compared to the year before. I"m not all that convinced letting Hlavac go and keeping Slovoda was the best idea.

Guin

[Jeff O Rocks]

I'm glad they're pursuing Welsey and ANOTHER defensemen but I really think the bulk of our problems lie in offense and to some extent goaltending. Maybe without the drama of last season the golatending will improve but overall our offensive numbers were worse than our defensive numbers compared to the year before. I"m not all that convinced letting Hlavac go and keeping Slovoda was the best idea.

Guin

I agree Guin....Glen is a good D man and he manages to get the job done... and I agree about Jan...I think we will miss him more than JR realizes....but hopefully we will have a great season and all pieces of the puzzle will fall into place!!

[Turbulence]

I disagree, Guin. :beatup: While the offense was putrid last year, the defense was even worse. And the goaltending was stellar before the concussion. Weekes was posting all-star numbers, and after he came back he succombed to the collapsing team around him. We have enough proven offensive talent-Ron, Rod, O, Cole, and to a lesser extent Vrbata are all proven talents in the NHL, and budding stars such as Bayda and Heerema showed flashes of brilliance after coming up from Lowell, and our forewards on the powerplay (with everybody healthy) are very solid with Brindy, Murray, JD, and the Adamses. With D this year we have 3 NHL-calibur players and some young guys who need maturing. Our very first priority should be to shore up this defense with Markov, Wesley, and the 'other' free agent JR talks about getting. This is the D-corps that made Irbe swiss cheese when Weekes was down, putting the offense in a hole that it couldn't recover from game after game. Though the offense does have its holes, LW depth perhaps, defense is what we're lacking most and need the most. I think if we have to let go a struggling LW to get a strong NHL defenseman we need to because our defensive corps is what needs the most help.

:spin:

[guinevere]

And humbly accept your opinion and disagree right back at you. Weekes numbers were trending downward even before his concussion. This is a man who historically has had flashes of brilliance and flashes of not so brilliance. We would have lost to Detroit if he hadn't been injured. And with regards to our defense if you compare this past years goals against with the previous year and last years goals for with the previous year you will see that offense took a larger downturn. We set a record last year as the lowest number of goals ever scored by a franchise. I agree we have some promise in our younger offensive players but promise only. Do we bring them up early and risk burning them out. Are they ready to take on NHL level of play in an ongoing fashion? I do believe our defense has some issues that need shoring up but totally disregarding the need for another strong offensive player is a mistake. With the exception of a few, the rest of our offense are really only ready for the 3rd and 4th line (IMHO)

Guin

[nccanes]

Okay, the whole team sucked last season :sick: . I think the performance/numbers, etc. can be intepreted every which way in trying to find "the problem".

I've said before that for me that's what makes next season so precarious, there is no magic player(s) that will swoop in and be the remaining puzzle piece(s). The missing pieces were caused by various things, so imho, JR has to address multiple things.

Having said all that, w/o Markov signed our D looks like this:

Hill
Hedican
Ward
Wallin
St. Jacques
Malec

Who the hell is the next in line here? Halko and Tselios are gone (not that I'd feel warm about them being 7/8).

It would be great to add offensive firepower, but he cannot ignore the defensive void at this point.

All in my very humble, worthless opinion! :) :p

PS - It is so fun having Guin in the mix again - posting opinion and fun stuff too! :kiss:

[guinevere]

http://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/div75.gifNo no, I agree- adding two more defense -Wesley and Markov, Klee, the Michelin man, whoever is definately needed. I just see a need for an experienced offensive guy to shore that up as well -adding Murray yet taking away Hlavac did not fill the bill (again IMHO).http://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/div274.gif No magic bullet noted..aye Eileen.

As far as not being around. You guys make me feel a little unworthyhttp://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/div294.gif.. all so wise, so all knowing so... (cough cough - fur ball sorry).

[nccanes]

No hiding Guin. I don't disagree with your offensive concerns (are your concerns offensive? ;)).

I do think that once they shore up the defense, we may not see any changes in the forwards before the season begins. And I can understand the feeling that that is not enough and JR is ignoring or waiting to try and find that piece. Or maybe he's satisfied with that final puzzle piece that the dog has chewed and it doesn't quite fit in the puzzle. ;)

[Turbulence]

Hell yes we need help on offense...particularly at LW. I'd love to add Arvedson or Whitney, (or Kariya :p )or another veteran guy like that. But our depth of NHL-calibur d-men really is pitiful.

[guinevere]

Okay.... if they sign Wesley and another defensemen plus Arvedson I will be a happy camper (an even happier camper if JR is wisked away by trolls and forced to do slave labor putting aglets on the ends of shoelaces)http://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/em72.gifhttp://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/em74.gif

Guin

[Jeff O Rocks]

I will be a happy camper (an even happier camper if JR is wisked away by trolls and forced to do slave labor putting aglets on the ends of shoelaces.

.....or gets bit*h-slapped daily like Mo got!! :laugh: ;)

[nccanes]

Either more posturing, or the Canes are moving beyond Wesley:

Meanwhile, it looks as if former Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley won't return to the Hurricanes. Rutherford offered Wesley, who was traded to Toronto late in the season, a one-year contract, but Wesley has rejected it.

"It would appear he's going to go elsewhere for a long-term deal," Rutherford said of Wesley.

[1Irbegirlforever]

As far as not being around. You guys make me feel a little unworthyhttp://websmileys.bei.t-online.de/div294.gif.. all so wise, so all knowing so... (cough cough - fur ball sorry).


You silly girl.. :D You were definitely missed! :)

[Jeff O Rocks]

Either more posturing, or the Canes are moving beyond Wesley:

Meanwhile, it looks as if former Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley won't return to the Hurricanes. Rutherford offered Wesley, who was traded to Toronto late in the season, a one-year contract, but Wesley has rejected it.

"It would appear he's going to go elsewhere for a long-term deal," Rutherford said of Wesley.



oh well!! :roll: Does Glen really think a team will give him a long-term deal at his age?? I know he is not that old, but not young in "hockey years"... :eek2:

[nccanes]

Today's quote:

"Last year Glen waived his no-trade for a shot at the Cup with the Leafs, and now he would like to stay," Rick Curran, Wesley's agent, said. "But if he moves to another country with his family, buys a new home and puts his kids in school there, he would understandably like more than one year."


"Another country". Heehee. Sounds rather ominous. ;)

[talkingcanes]

Today's quote:

"Last year Glen waived his no-trade for a shot at the Cup with the Leafs, and now he would like to stay," Rick Curran, Wesley's agent, said. "But if he moves to another country with his family, buys a new home and puts his kids in school there, he would understandably like more than one year."


"Another country". Heehee. Sounds rather ominous. ;)

gotta love agent speak! it sounds like poor old Glen would be uprooting his family to move to a 3rd world country all for the love of sport :beatup: