Rats Included In First Carolina Preseason Game

The Carolina Hurricanes have released the team's roster for tomorrow night's first preseason game at the RBC Center in Raleigh. Notable names include Nicolas Blanchard, Michael Ryan, Pat Dwyer, Brandon Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Bryan Rodney, Jay Harrison, Brett Carson and Justin Peters. The team will face-off against the Nashville Predators at 7pm. Read more at Tracking the Storm.

Important notes: Hurricanes' coach Paul Maurice says D-man Joni Pitkanen is "progressing nicely" and is expected to return for the team's two final exhibition games. If this holds true, the Rats will most likely have Jay Harrison and/or Brett Carson to start the season.

Several of the Rats' "higher-end skaters" are expected to play in all four Carolina preseason games. This means fans in Albany will probably get to see some of the ECHL crop during the Rats' two-game exhibition series with the Adirondack Phantoms. The Rats play the Phantoms in Glens Falls on September 25th and again at home on September 26th.

Nick Dodge has put up a new blog entry.