LCS Hockey - No. 1 Goalie, Fans Missing in Carolina

No. 1 Goalie, Fans Missing in Carolina
by Jim Iovino, Ace Reporter

When the thought of writing a feature on the Carolina Hurricanes first crossed my mind, I had my doubts. I mean, I haven't even seen the Hurricanes play a game yet this season.

But wait a minute, I said. No one else has watched the Canes, either.

For the second straight season, the former Hartford Whalers are playing in a temporary home in Greensboro, N.C., while their permanent home is being built in Raleigh. And for the second straight season the Hurricanes are playing in front of fewer fans than they were several years ago on Realtor of the Year Day in the Insurance Capital of the World.

Despite signing the big-name free agent of the offseason, Ron Francis, and suiting up one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes still aren't drawing fans to Greensboro Coliseum.

Last year the Hurricanes saw an average of 9,100 fans scattered throughout the cavernous 21,000-seat Coliseum, which was the lowest average in the league. This season the numbers are even smaller despite the team reducing the capacity of the Coliseum by almost half (11,500) by placing black curtains around the upper deck of the arena and reducing ticket prices by about 25 percent. The curtains, they say, are to make the place more intimate. I'm not sure even Christopher Lowell and his Interior Motives could make an arena with less than 6,000 people in it the least bit intimate... (A few hanging plants and an armoire might help, though.)

The new seating capacity makes it the lowest in the league. However, the Canes still couldn't manage a sellout crowd on opening night. Just 8,195 fans showed up to watch the Hurricanes face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last season's opening-game crowd was 18,661. The team's other home games have seen similar results. Against Dallas, the team drew 5,531 fans, against Vancouver the crowd was 5,573. Carolina's latest home game against Los Angeles drew 5,569 people. The largest audience at the Coliseum so far this season was 10,063 when Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers came to town.

However, rumor has it that some of those "announced attendances" aren't exactly representative of the actual number of fans in the arena. Several play-by-play announcers from around the league have alluded to the supposed inflated numbers the league or team has been providing to the public.

Gary Roberts

Gary Roberts
by Meredith Martini

Unlike Hartford, where poor attendance was based mostly on a bad team on the ice, the small audience in Greensboro can't be blamed on the same thing. The Hurricanes have talent. Besides the aforementioned Francis, the Canes also have offensive stars like Big Keith Primeau, LCS idol Gary Roberts, Sami Kapanen and Ray Sheppard. And those players are producing just like they were expected to.

The offense has been good. The same can't be said for a key member of the Carolina defense. To say goaltender Trevor Kidd is a disappointment is an understatement.

Expectations for Kidd were high coming into this season. Kidd sparkled for the Canes late last season as the team made a surge for the playoffs. Carolina came up short for a postseason berth, but Kidd was outstanding, nonetheless. The 26-year-old goalkeeper finished the season with three shutouts and a 2.17 goals-against average.

Carolina acquired Kidd from the Calgary Flames because they knew he could be a quality No. 1 goalie. But very early in the new season questions arose about Kidd's play. In the first game of the season, Kidd stopped 21 of 25 shots, but let in three third-period goals to the ever-powerful Tampa Bay Lightning offense. The Canes had a 3-1 lead heading into the third but ended up with a disappointing 4-4 tie.

Game two of the season was a road trip to Nashville. Kidd was awful in the early going, letting in three goals on eight shots. At 12:18 of the first Kidd was replaced by Arturs Irbe, who stopped all 22 shots he faced. The Hurricanes, however, weren't able to climb out of the early hole and lost 3-2.

Carolina had two easy early-season games that should have been wins, but instead the Canes could only manage to get one out of a possible four points. Things didn't look any better with two of the league's best teams coming to town - Dallas and Philadelphia.

Hurricane coach Paul Maurice, whose job will be on the line the entire season, saw Irbe had the hot hand in the loss to Nashville and went with him in the following game against Dallas. His hunch paid off, as Irbe was "like wall" as he chomped up 36 Dallas shots en route to a 2-2 tie against the Stars. Irbe, who was picked up as a free agent backup in the offseason from Vancouver, was back in net the next game against Philadelphia. And once again he was up to the challenge, matching the higher-paid free agent goalie, John Vanbiesbrouck, shot for shot. Irbe and the Beezer both finished the night with 18 saves in a hard-fought 1-1 tie.

So in two of the most important games of the early part of the season, against two of the best teams in the league, it was Irbe in net, not Kidd. Does that tell ya something about which goaltender the team is more comfortable with between the pipes?

After those two games against the league's elite, Irbe was penciled in the lineup again the next game against his former team, the Canucks. Irbe was like wall again, stopping 16 of 17 shots in a 3-1 win. Same starting goaltender, same score four days later as Irbe stopped 27 of 28 against the Senators.

For those who cared to pay attention in Greensboro, the Hurricanes had a goaltending controversy on their hands. No matter how many times the head coach said Kidd was still the No. 1 goaltender in Carolina, there was no denying that Irbe was starting to make a name for himself. And he was doing it in a big way.

Kidd finally got another chance to start Sunday when the Canes hosted Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Kidd, his return to action didn't go as planned. With the score tied 2-2 late in the third period, Kidd let in a Sandy Moger shot from 50 feet away to hand the Kings a win, 3-2. Kidd stopped 22 of 25 shots in the game.

So for now it looks like Arturs Irbe is the man in Carolina while Trevor Kidd is relegated to backup duty until he can prove he deserves the No. 1 spot again. For those of us who chose Kidd in a hockey pool, that's bad news.

But for most people in Greensboro who are more concerned about what tires Dick Trickle or Ricky Rudd will be using next week in the big race, the Hurricanes goaltending situation is the last thing on their minds.