CANES SHUT OUT AT HOME, ANYONE SURPRISED?

Carolina

The game ended up a stinker for the home town red and when the smoke cleared, a 1-0 shut out at the hands of the Devils left the Carolina Hurricanes fuming.

So much so, in fact, that the team dealt disgruntled top line centerman Olli Jokinen, prospect Matthew Lombardi and a first round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Brad Richards and a second round choice.

"You are asking me how I felt about the game?" questioned Joel Quenneville. "Gee, let me see. We did very little to invoke any sort of pressure. We took too many penalties, we did not score on our 3 opportunities during the game and other than Brodeur, no one came to play. I guess you could say I am not feeling that good about the whole thing. I am sort of conflicted."

Insert Brad Richards

The talented playmaker has been off to a much better start this season than Jokinen, who once again failed to produce last night. Richards is one of the faster pivots in the league and the hope is that he will excel with fellow Team Canada stars Jarome Iginla and Dany Heatley, two players who have not been off to fantastic starts either.

"Richards brings a pile of speed and a whole lot of offense," said Quenneville. "I guess the idea is that right now he could probably not play the rest of the season and likely end up as our leading scorer at the end of it all. Hopefully him just being here sparks a little life into this reject convention we have going on here. That is the hope anyways."

The Canes season does not get any easier, however as the next two home games are against the Sabres and the Predators, two teams who can easily put a lot of pucks in a net in a game.

Look for Richards to be in the first contest starting Saturday.