Carolina Hurricanes – Not Getting Their Money’s Worth

On September 30th this year, the Carolina Hurricanes signed Cam Ward to a 6 year extension worth $37.5 million.  On the surface it seemed like a great deal.  The Canes got the franchise goaltender that essentially won them the Stanley Cup and took them to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.  His stats over the past three seasons had been getting better and better.  The Canes felt that along with Eric Staal and a bunch of role players, there was no reason why they couldn’t content year in year out as long as they had Ward and Staal.

That however, was the best part of the Hurricane’s season.  It started out so unassuming, a loss here, a loss there, and all of a sudden we are at 10 in a row.  Ward had looked terrible through most of the defeats and Staal got himself injured.  Then the fit hit the shan as they say and Ward was sliced on the thigh from an errant skate during a game with Columbus.  He spent two months on the shelf.  In the meantime, not only did the Canes not bring up long time minor league goalie Justin Peters, they elected to go after, semi-retired goalie Manny Legace simply because they knew Michael Leighton would not be able to carry the load and at least Legace was a starter before.

Unfortunately this didn’t pan out as well as we hoped for.  The Hurricanes spiraled into the lower depths of the NHL standings, until a couple of weeks ago, I read a Yahoo article on how the Canes are the worst team in the league . . . and it’s not even close.  With Ward back in the lineup, Canes fans have been expecting some wins.  Instead they have gotten a Ward that is simply not ready to come back.  The Hurricanes, and Ward and Staal in particular have always been a second half team.  They are certainly going to need it this season.

As far as Cam Ward’s autographed cards are going, they are very inexpensive.  In fact I found 3 I could have had for a dollar.  The card below is his SPx rookie card, and that has been going for around $15.  I don’t think Ward is done, I think he needs to get back in the groove.  With goaltender coach Tom Barraso working with him, we should see some improvements soon.  If he gets hot, like he usually does in the second half, his cards are going to shine again.  Everyone loves a goaltender and no one’s cards go up in value more than streaky goaltenders.