Friday, September 11, 2009

Hurricanes' Propsects Are Tournament Champs!

"It was a good win. It was a good week. You come out here and come together as a team for five days, you might as well go out and win the thing. We had a good group of guys who played hard for four games. It feels good. We've got a lot of talent in that room, a good group of guys and I think we just had fun with it. ... Worked hard and enjoyed it."
--Captain Nick Dodge
(Photo from Hockey's Future)

The Carolina Hurricanes' prospects have won the tournament in Traverse City! With only five defenseman and 11 forwards, the Canes defeated the Minnesota Wild tonight in the championship game.

Carolina was led to a 4-1 victory on goals by Chris Terry, Zach Boychuk, Brandon Sutter, and Stefan Chaput, all of whom are set to play in Albany next season!

The first two tallies were traded early in the first period. The Hurricanes scored 6:16 into the game, as Chris Terry notched his second of the tournament, assisted by Matthew Pistilli and Beau Schmitz. Matt Kennedy was penalized for slashing less than a minute later and the Wild capitalized on the power play, knotting the game at 1-1.

The score remained tied through the end of the first period, with the Wild ahead on shots 11 to 5.

The Canes continued to struggle in the shot department in the second period, but Zach Boychuk took control of game, scoring his fourth goal in four contests, and putting Carolina up 2-1 at the 7:10 mark.

The goal apparently inspired the team, as the Hurricanes began to catch up on shots.

Brett Bellemore was sent to the box for tripping with under two minutes remaining, but Brandon Sutter put home a shorthanded goal, giving Carolina a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.

Three minutes into the third, Chris Terry was assessed a charging penalty, while Matthew Pistilli and the Wild's Marco Scandella received coincidental roughing minors.

The Canes killed off the power play, which lasted for a minute and 16 seconds before being interrupted by another roughing call on Minnesota.

As time clicked away, the teams traded power plays one more time, but neither scored.

Stefan Chaput sealed the deal with an empty netter, putting Carolina up 4-1 with just over a minute remaining. He was assisted by Drayson Bowman.

Mike Murphy registered his third win of the tournament, stopping 31 of 32 shots.

Justin McCrae and Michal Jordan sat out with injuries.

Expect more coverage over the next 24 hours.

Update: Brandon Sutter is happy with the outcome of the tournament. Hockey's Future has a short recap.