DougieSmash
WE'RE IN! WE'RE IN! YES! YES! WOO!
- Jan 2, 2009
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Forgot to mention him but i was big fan of Hedican. Stud dman.
This is actually my serious answer. I loved the energy he played with, and though he was put in a position to play well over his head (and his career suffered for it), he'll always be one of my favorites.
I remember one game at home (against Vancouver, maybe?) where LaRose was on the penalty kill, and basically singlehandily kept it in their zone for his shift. Crowd was going nuts, and John and Tripp said something about how LaRose was a player that really fed off the crowd.
Brindamour and Francis are a close 2nd/3rd. Never took shifts off, just went out and did their jobs quietly and effectively.
Brindy for me. Grew up a flyers fan before the Whale moved down
Brindy.... I grew up a Flyers fan before we had a team.
Forgot to mention him but i was big fan of Hedican. Stud dman.
I have a tough time putting either Hedican or Staal as a favorite. When my kids were young, I used to take them over to watch the Canes practice at the reczone often. They'd hang out front for autographs after practice often, probably 10 different times. Every single time, both of those guys would sneak out the back and avoid signing. I get it that you don't want to always deal with that every day, and there were others that would skip out from time to time, but those two skipped out every, single time. Brindy, Williams, Stillman, Whitney, Wesley, Ward, etc...all made appearances over that time and there weren't that many people there so it would take 5 minutes max to go through the line. Kevyn Adams used to hang out and talk to the kids/fans for a good 20-30 minutes. Maybe we were just there at "unlucky" times and other times I wasn't there they would sign, but it was more than just 1 or 2 times.
Hedican was a blast to watch and was a joy to watch skating, but that sticks in my mind. For just "on-ice" stuff, he'd be up there for me.
I have a tough time putting either Hedican or Staal as a favorite. When my kids were young, I used to take them over to watch the Canes practice at the reczone often. They'd hang out front for autographs after practice often, probably 10 different times. Every single time, both of those guys would sneak out the back and avoid signing. I get it that you don't want to always deal with that every day, and there were others that would skip out from time to time, but those two skipped out every, single time. Brindy, Williams, Stillman, Whitney, Wesley, Ward, etc...all made appearances over that time and there weren't that many people there so it would take 5 minutes max to go through the line. Kevyn Adams used to hang out and talk to the kids/fans for a good 20-30 minutes. Maybe we were just there at "unlucky" times and other times I wasn't there they would sign, but it was more than just 1 or 2 times.
Hedican was a blast to watch and was a joy to watch skating, but that sticks in my mind. For just "on-ice" stuff, he'd be up there for me.
That’s really strange about Hedican. When I did the alumni game a few years back he was by far the most engaging person in the room the entire weekend. Probably a change in mindset after marriage/kids etc. or something like that.
I think the nicest player or former player I met was David Tanabe. He was very friendly. It might have just been a good day for all I know.
The above just enforced my opinion that Jordan was the actual captain of this team and that Slavin should be an alternate and the eventual actual captain. He’s entrenched himself in Raleigh full time and makes appearances year round for the team. In a market like this, in a sport like hockey, you HAVE to get the players out there and engaged with fans. Skinner and Faulk might just be broken from the years of suck at this point.
Saw Eric at FYE after the Cup run. Had just finished 6th grade, waited in line and it was an official event (so not what BBA was talking about), but he made me feel incredibly special to the point that I remember it to this day (only time I met him).
Been to only a few other events with Canes, and a few were very engaging (Kevin Weekes in particular was fantastic at a Skate with the Canes), but based on my limited experience Staal always stood out to me as one of the better, more interactive players I’d met.
Of course, showing up is a different conversation than what you’re like once you show up.
Slavin just seems like a ridiculously good human being. Not even in an annoying Captain America way, but like the kind of guy who'd remember to bring a treat for your dog when dropping off Christmas gifts.
Surprised no one mentioned sami kapanen. Always loved watching him.
Can tell you all that I've never met any Canes player. So there's that.