Red & Black Hockey

Entries with the tag: Anton+Babchuk

Babchuk sends Canes to the playoffs

by David Lee on 04/04/09 at 09:57 PM ET
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On Saturday, Carolina extended their winning streak to eight games and their home streak to eleven games by beating the Penguins 3-2 in overtime. It was a hard-fought game, and in the end it was once again Anton Babchuk who scored the winner.
Babchuk’s goal from the top of the right circle went through a screen and past M-A Fleury for his 14th goal and his fourth game-winner of the season.

Cam Ward won his eighth straight game and his 38th of the season. The latter ties a franchise record set by Martin Gerber in 2006.

Most important, the win clinches a playoff spot for the Hurricanes. The way things are looking, there’s a fair chance that Carolina could even get home ice advantage in the first round. Sadly, due to budgetary restraints at La Maison du RBH I’ve exercised the right of refusal on playoff tickets. I’ll be watching from home, but I have an opportunity to rent a seat on a per-game basis.

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Tags: Anton+Babchuk, Carolina+Hurricanes, Pittsburgh+Penguins, playoffs,

Anton Babchuk; from pariah to hero

by David Lee on 03/26/09 at 05:21 PM ET
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On Wednesday night, two of the three hottest teams in the Eastern conference went head-to-head at the RBC Center. The Senators had won five games in a row and eight of their last ten while the Hurricanes had won four in a row and had gone 7-1-2 in their last ten. It was a tense game, but Carolina won 2-1, extending their overall winning streak to five and their home winning streak to nine. The latter matches a franchise record.

One of the hockey clichés that I despise the most is “you need your best player to be your best player”. There’s no doubt that Eric Staal is Carolina’s best player, and there’s also no doubt that he’s been playing very well lately. However, any number of players could be called Carolina’s “best player of late”. Cam Ward, Rod Brind’Amour, Ray Whitney, Tuomo Ruutu, Eric Staal. Anton Babchuk.

What was that last one?

Babchuk, a 24-year old Ukranian defenseman was the Blackhawks first round draft pick in 2002 and was acquired in January of 2006 in exchange for defenseman Danny Richmond. Since then, “Babs” has had his ups and downs with Carolina including a demotion to Albany, a failure to report there, a subsequent suspension, a year spent in what is now the KHL. His return to training camp this past fall was met with lots of skepticism from the fans, but he earned a roster spot and has surprised even his harshest critics. Lately, he’s been one of the Hurricanes’ best.

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Tags: Anton+Babchuk, Carolina+Hurricanes,

Canes defense remains a mystery

by David Lee on 09/29/08 at 05:28 PM ET
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The Hurricanes have trimmed their training camp roster to 33 players, and with the regular season just 10 days away, there are still quite a few lineup issues to be resolved. The most intriguing issue is the blueline. There are still nine defensemen in camp, and only three of them—Joe Corvo, Tim Gleason and Joni Pitkänen—are guaranteed roster spots. And this doesn’t count the enigmatic and AWOL David (aka ”Avi”, aka ”Snuggles”) who has not shown up for camp and claims he is still concussed.

The News&Observer has opened the floor for the debate: How will the defensive pairings be filled out? Everybody agrees that Gleason, Pitkänen and Corvo are in the top four. The debate is about who among Anton Babchuk, Tim Conboy, Frantisek Kaberle, Josef Melichar, Dennis Seidenberg and Nic Wallin will play every night, who will be a healthy scratch, who will be relegated to Albany, and finally who will be traded to Los Angeles. To make matters more confusing, free agent Bryan Rodney is among the last men standing after another round of cuts on Sunday.

Filed in: Carolina Hurricanes | Red and Black Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Anton+Babchuk, Bryan+Rodney, Carolina+Hurricanes, David+Tanabe, defensemen, Dennis+Seidenberg, Frantisek+Kaberle, Joe+Corvo, Joni+Pitkanen, Josef+Melichar, Nick+Wallin, Tim+Conboy, Tim+Gleason,