Eye of the Hurricane, Head on a Swivel

Thursday, April 2nd finds you recovering from tasty pranks brought to you by the Fool on the First. But if you are set to attend the match-up between two Eastern Conference, Playoff-bound, Atlantic Seaboard hockey clubs at the RBC Center (NY Rangers @ Carolina), you will be rewarded with the most-appropriate of gifts - the Cam Ward bobblehead.

Will someone in NC please snag one of these gems for the Frozen Pill? Post a comment below the post w/your email addy if you are so inclined and gift-oriented, and I'll shoot you a mailing address.

For the love of all that is glorious netminding, I hope they incorporate a two-dimensional 'bob' on this bad boy. Not only the standard up and down, but a side-to-side bobble is required to capture the true likeness of the re-emerging greatness of head-on-a-swivel, Cam Ward.

Say it with me - "Goalie Cam". This shall, henceforth, forthwith be yon new designation in the heart of Hurricane country to redefine the term:

GOALIE-CAM.

He sees the puck, the picture is clear, no need for review. It's captured with the Goalie Cam.

The NHL named Ward the 3rd Star of the week for the period ending March 29th. Posting a 3-0-0 record with a 1.33GAA (.935 save percentage) in wins against FLA, OTT and NJD, it marks the 4th time in the 2008/09 NHL season Cam Ward has been named one of the NHL's 3 Stars of the week. He was named the first star the week prior (March 22nd).

Just a few short weeks ago, On Goal Analysis was closely monitoring the Carolina Hurricanes' play to evaluate their performance against our Playoff Qualifying Curve (PQC) -would they snag that elusive, remaining playoff berth in our IN/OUT calls for the East? Or would they continue to ride the line along the Curve, flirting with the 'Sharpen Skates' designation (just shy of an OGA IN Call) or would they remain In the Curve?

But the 'Canes worked a little trade-deadline magic to swippy-swap around and bring Erik Cole back into the fold - rescuing him from the wild North of EdmonFun - returning the prodigal son to the path of the Hurricane. In the meantime, GOALIE-CAM was constructing his own Category 5 safe house in the net and the Hurricanes, unlike the previous couple seasons, found themselves with a relatively healthy team.

Since early February, Ward has started all of the Hurricanes' previous 24 games going 16-6-2 with a 2.31GAA. The Hurricanes, as a result, have climbed from 'just out of playoff contention' to their current home in the 5th seed with 91 points.

Of course, teams in the East are still jockeying for position with the 8th seed (currently Montreal) sitting at 88 points. But compared to our analysis of team play against the PQC, OGA believes the Carolina Hurricanes have done the work, fought the scoring slumps and hung in there in tough games just enough throughout the earlier and middle parts of the season to ride the momentum they have created for themselves.

A Hurricane often grows in strength as it approaches the point of impact. And for this season, it appears Carolina has secured a date for the Chase of Lord Stanley's Cup.

Didn't see it coming? Should have payed closer attention to the Goalie Cam.

So, please, I beg of thee, residents of the Raleigh-Durham area, somebody score me one of them Cam Ward Bobbleheads. I'd like to conduct a little experiment with how it behaves, stationed on top of my televsion when the 'Canes get a chance to take on those beloved Caps in the second round of the playoffs.

I'll use thermal imaging, like the Ghost Hunters do, to monitor suspicious bobbles during play (when no obvious breeze is present) and post the video on the home page at www.ongoalanalysis.com. Just like in 2006, me wonders if the Eastern race towards the Cup Finals might not be haunted again by the likes of (then-rookie), Conn Smythe-winning MVP, Ward who seems to be gaining strength with each passing game. Watch for it on the Goalie-Cam...



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