Who is your favorite Cane?

Negan4Coach

Fantastic and Stochastic
Aug 31, 2017
5,786
14,671
Raleigh, NC
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.

Agree. He's hands down my favorite player. One of the few who played every game like he gave a shit. He was like a cannonball during the '09 playoffs.

Runner up: Tom Kostopolus. Because I enjoy watching a guy who is powerless to stop it have the ever living dog crap punched out of his face.
 

Svechhammer

THIS is hockey?
Jun 8, 2017
23,437
85,963
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.

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Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,103
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.
 

Joe McGrath

Registered User
Oct 29, 2009
18,055
37,805
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.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,985
137,357
Bojangles Parking Lot
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 had the same experience of Staal. He was never rude or anything, and he'd show up and do the formal team appearances. But outside of those required interactions, I very rarely saw him make contact with fans if he could avoid it. With all due respect to the fact that it's a personality thing to want to interact with strangers, if you're gonna be the next guy in line for the C after Francis and Brind'Amour, in an organization which to that point in time had had a great deal of success and a decent sized group of hardcore fans, it's really not OK to be the guy who hustles past little kids without making eye contact.

FWIW, both Skinner and Faulk do the same thing. Jordan Staal, to his credit, does not.
 

Joe McGrath

Registered User
Oct 29, 2009
18,055
37,805
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.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,103
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.

Fair enough. Like I said, it's a small sample size and maybe I was just there on the wrong days. He does come across as a much more outgoing and engaging guy (when I've seen him interact with others and in interviews) than Eric.
 

A Star is Burns

Formerly Azor Aho
Sponsor
Dec 6, 2011
12,270
38,841
Meh, I have a hard time blaming any of these guys for that type of stuff as I'd likely be the same way. I personally don't tie it back to leadership or lack thereof, but to each their own. I live out of town and only come down specifically for games several times a year at this point, so I haven't had many player interactions. The only time I interacted with Eric was when we stumbled across the area where the players left after a game. He drove by, signed some stuff for everyone waiting, made quick small chit chat, seemed nice enough. He certainly wasn't any better or worse than the other 5 or 6 guys that stopped that night.
 

Anton Dubinchuk

aho
Sponsor
Jul 18, 2010
25,984
54,314
Atlanta, GA
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.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,985
137,357
Bojangles Parking Lot
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.

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.
 

Unsustainable

Bunch of Jerks
Apr 14, 2012
37,229
102,288
Charlotte, NC
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.

You young people
 

Hulkacaniac

You MUST
Jun 4, 2015
1,712
9,331
NC
Well I guess if we're doing storytime..

Storytime: Back during the cup win I was still in grade school. I went to the cup parade with my family. We had all gone back behind the stage because people were going to see the Stanley Cup (which I suppose was rather unattended). While we heard the raucous noise from the stage and cheers from the crowd, each of us went one by one to get a picture touching the cup. When my turn came I nervously hesitated. But my parents pleaded me on, so I skampered on over to it. Extending my hand onto the cup, I turned to face the camera. In that moment, I heard a voice behind me say, "Excuse me, kid, I gotta take this." I immediately retreated away and turned my head back. There I saw rod brind'amour himself picking up the cup to carry onto the stage. So instead of a souvenir picture of me touching the cup, I got a picture of me smiling in amazement as I watch brindy pick up the cup. A fun memory captured in a snapshot.
 

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