Canes Archive

The Carolina Hurricanes today announced that the team has acquired center Andrei Loktionov (ahn-DRAY lawk-too-OH-nawf) and a conditional draft pick from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Tuomo Ruutu.

“Andrei is a young, skilled forward who will play on our power play,” said Jim Rutherford, Canes President and General Manager. “Tuomo was a good player for the Hurricanes and we thank him for his contributions to our organization over the past seven years.”

Loktionov, 23, has totaled four goals and eight assists (12 points) in 48 games with New Jersey during his first full NHL season.

The Hurricanes save a huge amount of cap hit (up to $4 million) while acquiring a younger player who fits the team while also tacking on an above-median draft pick as well.

Loktionov, a Voskresensk, Russia native, made his NHL debut for Los Angeles during the 2009-10 season before suffering a shoulder injury. He returned to action the following year, and was a member of the Kings’ Stanley Cup Championship team in 2011-12. Los Angeles’ seventh pick, 123rd overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Loktionov (5’10”, 180 lbs.) has totaled 38 points (19g, 19a) and 20 penalty minutes in 135 career games with Los Angeles and New Jersey. His career statistics are below.

The Hurricanes return to Raleigh today and host the New York Rangers at PNC Arena on Friday (7 p.m., SportSouth, Hurricanes Radio Network).

The Carolina Hurricanes today announced that the team has recalled goaltender Cam Ward from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Ward, 29, was 1-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in two AHL games for the Checkers during his conditioning stint. The Saskatoon, Sask., native has missed the Hurricanes’ last 14 games due to a lower-body injury and the conditioning assignment. Prior to the injury, Ward (6’1”, 185 lbs.) had posted a 6-7-5 record, a 3.15 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage in 19 games with Carolina this season. He is the Hurricanes franchise’s all-time leader in games played by a goaltender (450), wins (220) and shutouts (21). The Hurricanes drafted Ward in the first round, 25th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

The Hurricanes host the Winnipeg Jets at PNC Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network) in the second game of a four-game home stand.

The Carolina Hurricanes may very well have played their best, most complete game of the year in a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues Friday night in a game with a playoff atmosphere.

The Blues, which has the best record of a western conference team against the east teams, fell behind early as the Canes’ Nathan Gerbe scored four minutes in but managed to tie it on a power play goal.

In the second period, the Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner scored after a face off in front of the Blues net to put the home team up 2-1.

Late in the third period, the Canes’ Alexander Semin wrapped it up with a contested empty net goal.

“We knew we had to come out strong against them but we carried it all the way through 60 minutes,” Skinner said. “It’s a big win but we want to focus on the next game, keep picking up points.”

The win, which kicks off a four-game home stand, puts the Hurricanes at 59 points, four behind the second-place New York Rangers. The Hurricanes are now 11-4 since Dec. 31.

Goalie Anton Khudobin, subbing for injured Cam Ward, improved to 12-4 with 26 saves against the second-highest scoring team in the NHL.

The Carolina Hurricanes completed perhaps their biggest win of the season so far on Monday night when they overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period with a furious rally to win 3-2. The victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets moved the Canes into third place in the Metropolitan Division.

With less than nine minutes left in the game, Captain Eric Staal scored between the legs of the goaltender to cut the Blue Jackets’ lead in half. Just a minute later, Staal, camped in front of the goal, tied the score on a nifty assist by Jiri Tlusty from behind the net.

The rally culminated with Jordan Stahl’s forehand goal as he was falling to the ice to give the Canes a 3-2 lead with 5:55 to go.

The Hurricanes’ Anton Khudobin made a couple of strong saves over the last five minutes to wrap up the Canes fourth win in a row.

“We were down two but kept battling,” Eric Staal said. “We knew if we got one we’d be right back in the game. We were fortunate enough to get a couple more after that and win a big one in regulation.”

The Hurricanes, who have won 10 of their last 13 games, are only two points behind the Rangers for second place.

The National Hockey League announced Monday that Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner has been named the league’s First Star for the week ending Jan. 5. It marks the second time Skinner has earned the honor in less than a month, as he was also named First Star for the week ending Dec. 8.

Skinner, 21, scored six goals and earned three assists (9 points) in four games as Carolina earned victories against the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and Nashville Predators. The Markham, Ont, native had two goals and an assist as the Hurricanes came from three goals down in the third period to beat the Canadiens on New Year’s Eve. Skinner followed that up with his second hat trick of the season, including the overtime, game-winning goal at Washington on Thursday.

After earning the primary assist on Brett Sutter’s game-winner against the Islanders Saturday, Skinner had his third multi-point effort with the game-winning goal and an assist against Nashville on Sunday night. Skinner leads Carolina and ranks tied for ninth in the NHL in goals (20) and game-winning goals (4) this season despite missing 11 games due to injury.

Selected by the Hurricanes in the first round, seventh overall, of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Skinner (5’11”, 200 lbs.) has totaled 84 goals and 80 assists (164 points) in 220 career NHL games. He appeared in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, and won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year in 2010-11.

The Hurricanes travel to Buffalo today and will take on the Sabres on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network). The team returns home after the game, and hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs at PNC Arena on Thursday.

Even without captain Eric Staal, the Carolina Hurricanes keep rolling, winning their fourth straight game by topping the Nashville Predators 2-1.

Alexander Semin and Jeff Skinner tallied for Carolina, and Anton Khudobin made 31 saves for his third win in as many starts.

“I thought we did a pretty solid job all game … being responsible defensively and getting pucks in when we needed to,” Skinner said. “It was nice to get one there and have that hard work pay off for us.”

Skinner scored the game-winning goal with just 3:31 remaining in regulation, as he fired one five-hole after Semin and Tuomo Ruutu worked the puck out from behind the net. Skinner has only played in 32 games this season, but he already has a team-leading 20 goals and is second in team scoring with 33 points (20g, 13a).

The difference continues to be his knack of scoring big goals when the team needs them the most.

“He keeps on ticking. I’m really happy for him, and I’m very happy for our hockey team. He’s scoring, and he’s scoring clutch goals. That’s the difference,” head coach Kirk Muller said. “The guys that we needed to score tonight in a grinding-type game … came through for us.”

- Carolina Hurricanes news release

The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that the team has placed goaltender Cam Ward on injured reserve and recalled goaltender Mike Murphy from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an emergency basis.

Ward was suffered a lower-body injury 4:07 into the first period of the Hurricanes’ game last night at Minnesota. He is expected to miss three to four weeks.

Murphy, 24, is 1-2-0 with a 3.81 goals-against average in three games with Charlotte this season. The Kingston, Ont., native has appeared in two career NHL games with the Hurricanes, playing for 36 minutes without allowing a goal. Murphy was Carolina’s sixth-round selection (165th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The team has also activated defenseman Tim Gleason from injured reserve. The team also placed Brett Bellemore on injured reserve after the defenseman suffered a lower-body injury in Carolina’s game at Minnesota on Thursday.

Gleason, 30, has yet to make his regular-season debut after suffering a concussion in Carolina’s preseason game on Sept. 21 at Montreal. The Clawson, MI, native is in his 10th NHL season, and his eighth with the Hurricanes, and will play his 600th NHL game with his next game played. Prior to missing the team’s first 10 games this season, Gleason (6’0”, 217 lbs.) had missed just six games in each of the last three NHL seasons. He ranks fourth in franchise history in games played by a defenseman (474), behind only Glen Wesley (913), Adam Burt (626) and Niclas Wallin (517).

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver (9 p.m. ET, SportSouth, Hurricanes Radio Network). The Hurricanes then will return to Raleigh to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at PNC Arena in the first game of a two-game home stand.

- News release

Tickets for the Carolina Hurricanes’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Charlotte Checkers’ two games in Raleigh are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. The games will be held on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m., and both games will see the Checkers playing the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

Prior to the public on sale, there will be a special presale for Hurricanes and Checkers season-ticket holders on Oct. 16. Hurricanes season-ticket holders can purchase tickets for the two Checkers games at the PNC Arena Box Office with their season-ticket holder identification cards, or via Caniac Account Manager at www.CarolinaHurricanes.com. Checkers season-ticket holders should contact their ticket representatives to take advantage of the presale.

Additionally, there will be a “Skate with the Checkers” event following the Sunday, Feb. 16, game. Admission is $40 and includes rental skates, with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Charlotte Checkers Charitable Foundation. The event will be limited to the first 200 participants and there are a select number of skates in each size. To book, please visit www.bearsdenonline.com.

The Checkers’ two games at PNC Arena this season will mark the second and third AHL games to take place in Raleigh. Charlotte hosted the Norfolk Admirals at PNC Arena on Jan. 6, 2013, marking the first time an AHL game took place in North Carolina’s capital city.

The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Washington Capitals on Thursday at the Verizon Center (7 p.m., SportSouth, Hurricanes Radio Network) before returning home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday at PNC Arena in the first game of a three-game home stand. Individual game tickets for all Carolina Hurricanes regular-season games are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. For information on 2013-14 Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.

- News release

The Carolina Hurricanes will host the Detroit Red Wings in Carolina’s regular-season opener (7 p.m., FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network). At 5 p.m. the band New Sweat will entertain fans at the South Plaza party, featuring inflatables, games, street hockey and more.

Upon entering PNC Arena for Friday’s game, fans can pick up a drawstring jersey bag, courtesy of PNC Bank. Former Carolina Hurricanes player and 2006 Stanley Cup Champion Kevyn Adams will be signing autographs on the concourse outside of Section 108 from 6-6:45 p.m. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:45 p.m. for special season-opening video presentations and team introductions.

Earlier on Friday, fans can enjoy the debut episode of the CanesVision production, Storm Surge, on www.CarolinaHurricanes.com at 10:30 a.m. New Carolina Hurricanes host Amber Jay will anchor the day-of-game show before every Friday home game, and will feature interviews and content from that day’s morning skate.

The opening weekend festivities continue at PNC Arena on Sunday, as Carolina hosts the Philadelphia Flyers (5 p.m., FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network). The South Plaza party will return prior to the game, this time featuring the band Rubber Soul. All fans in attendance at Sunday’s game will receive a 2013-14 Carolina Hurricanes magnetic schedule and magnetic photo frame, presented by Excel Moving & Storage.

Immediately following Sunday’s game, fans 16 and under will be able to walk onto the ice and take a shot on goal for FOX Sports Carolinas Slap Shot Sunday. Lines will form at the top of Sections 115 and 123, with both lines offering the same on-ice shot experience. All participants must have a parent or guardian sign a waiver, which will be available at the promotions kiosk located outside of Sections 108 and 109.

Throughout the weekend, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, popcorn and sodas. During official timeouts, the Hurricanes’ promotion staff will randomly select fans to win prizes, including a team-signed jersey, team-signed stick and four different ticket experiences for future Hurricanes games.

The Carolina Hurricanes open their 2013-14 season on Oct. 4 at PNC Arena against the Detroit Red Wings. Individual game tickets for all Carolina Hurricanes regular-season games are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster.

Six Carolina Hurricanes players have been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Forwards Nicolas Blanchard, Zach Boychuk, Aaron Palushaj and Jared Staal; defenseman Michal Jordan; and goaltender Justin Peters, will join Charlotte’s training camp which opened Monday at Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail, NC.

The Carolina Hurricanes open their 2013-14 season on Oct. 4 at PNC Arena against the Detroit Red Wings. Individual game tickets for all Carolina Hurricanes exhibition and regular-season games are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. For information on 2013-14 Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.