Mo Goes, plus RiverDogging It

As the only known Carolina Hurricanes fan in this sector of blogspace, I’m a bit tardy in commenting on the Canes axing Paul Maurice and hiring former Islanders boss Peter Laviolette. Never fear, though — Eric McErlain and Vancouver Canucks Op Ed have been exchanging fire over this all week, completely embarassing me in terms of thoroughness and depth of coverage of a team neither of them appear to care much about.

Eric pretty much nailed it in his last article, that this was as much a business decision as a hockey one. During the Cup run two seasons ago, several local writers commented that the Canes were doing something once thought impossible: the Canes were managing to unify the sports fans of the Triangle behind one banner, as opposed to the often-bitter divisions between Duke, UNC, and N.C. State fans that the region’s other major-league sport, ACC basketball, illuminated. Drawing those fans is necessary to the Canes’ long-term survival; problem is, those programs’ fans are used to winning — or at least competitiveness. Canes fans didn’t see that last year, when for the last two months 2/3 of the players on the ice belonged in the AHL. To get those fans back, the team needed to start off quickly this year, and it just didn’t happen. Even the diehards were getting upset, and an incipient fan rebellion absolutely demanded a response.

Firing Maurice was the easiest way to do that, and probably gives the best chance of improvement of any practical move. (Peter Karmanos absolutely will not break the bank on a superstar.) I’ve got to disagree with the Canucks guys on one thing: the Canes have plenty of talent, they’ve just played well below their level in the offensive zone. Jeff O’Neill, Erik Cole and Radim Vrbata have all had extreme trouble scoring goals — the team can’t lean on rookie Eric Staal all season long. Five games of poor scoring is bad luck; 30 is a team problem, and the roster had enough turnover during the offseason that I’d be hesitant to make a blockbuster move.

In other hockey news, I finally made it to a Richmond RiverDogs game a few weeks ago. The R-Dogs are the United Hockey League team that replaced the ECHL Richmond Renegades, who suspended operations at the end of last season.

Unfortunately, I don’t see much future for the R-Dogs. High ticket prices (the lowest is $13 after city taxes and service fees) do a good job of discouraging family attendance — mom, dad and two kids run you $57 once you get done parking the minivan in the garage across the street (and you don’t want to risk the open-air lots nearby). Announced attendance was about 2,600, but I’d be shocked if actual attendance broke 2K; my casual estimate during the second period was closer to 1,600. About one-third of the dasherboards had no advertising at all, and the R-Dogs’ jerseys were conspicously bare of ads (which I prefer as a hockey fan, but I’m afraid the team desperately needs the revenue).

The hockey itself wasn’t bad — more action than I’d seen at Renegades games the past two seasons, and if the Dogs had a regional rival, the small nature of the UHL (10 teams) would work in the team’s favor by allowing them to emphasize rivalry games. Problem is, the closest team is in Glens Falls, NY. One distinct plus: the ECHL’s no-touch icing is gone from the Coliseum, and will not be missed.