The puck has finally dropped

Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal - Scott Cunningham, Getty Images

The National Hockey League dropped the puck on its 95th season with games played in Boston, Toronto, and Vancouver on Thursday night which the league's Dave Lozo blogged live.

Get in the game

As the players hit the ice, the rosters of Fantasy Hockey managers everywhere were activated.

True veterans of this unique and engaging way to follow the sport and the league had their rosters ready and updated while rookies to the league still have a lot to learn - i.e. activate players who are scheduled to play on a given night because that will be helpful in accumulating points.

Not mentioning names here.

Friday night spotlight

Friday night brings another set of league games to kick off the season for teams and their fans including the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C.

Caniacs have been anticipating the season's start as much as the team has and have provided supportive  turnouts at Prospect Camp and throughout sessions of the team's recent training camp, including the annual Red-White Scrimmage. 

The Hurricanes face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the RBC Center on Friday with the intention of redeeming themselves against the Eastern Conference foe that denied them a playoff spot last April and to get a positive start to the 2011-2012 season in front of their fans.

X's & O's

The new feature titled X's & O's will continue on Friday night as the team's plays will be posted via Twitter and drawn up to help fans understand what the team's new game plan is intended to do.

Follow on Twitter @pksport to get picture posts of play set-ups used in games on the #CanesWhiteboard throughout the season. 

Sample of #CanesWhiteboard showing snapshots of the Hurricanes power play set-up from the Sept. 30 preseason game vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (5 images in sequence):

#1 - Puck starts low

#2 - Cycle to side wing

#3 - Move puck to point as D shifts over

#4 - D returns pass to wing in high slot for shot

#5 - Three options for shots/passes from top wing, center D, or opposite D

Recent Raleigh Sports Examiner news:

Hurricanes ready to strike Lightning on opening night

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Carolina Hurricanes reach last day of camp a different team

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Carolina Hurricanes a week away from home opener

Zac Dalpe cracking the Canes lineup

As the Carolina Hurricanes prepare to begin the regular season on October 7, the team's most recent roster cuts came on Thursday.

The team's 24-man roster takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night and has the team preparing to be in season-ready form over the next week.

Before camp started many speculated that the forward positions would be the only ones to be contested but as training camp has progressed rookies Justin Faulk (19 years old) and Ryan Murphy (18 years old) have made strong cases to contest for a spot with the blue line corps of veterans.

With only two games remaining in the preseason, the next week of practices will really focus on putting together all of the individual and small group positional work that coach Paul Maurice and his staff have been putting the team through.

Hurricanes fans can expect a more quick puck-moving offense and a defense that will 'gap' opposing teams in the neutral zone to cause more turnovers with quicker transition into the offense and increase in shots on goal.

That's the plan anyway.

How quickly the team develops those systems to pay dividends remains to be scene, but they're exciting prospects to consider.

New feature: X's & O's

Stay tuned as a new feature titled X's & O's will show the team's plays drawn up to help everyone understand what they're trying to do during games.

Follow on Twitter @pksport to get picture posts of play set-ups used in the games starting on Sept. 30 during the Hurricanes vs. Columbus Blue Jackets game and throughout the season.

Thoughts and comments are welcome at any time.

Recent Raleigh Sports Examiner news:

Hurricanes roster shrinks with kids still in the mix

After succumbing to the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-1 preseason loss on Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes made their largest roster cut to date on Thursday.Hurricanes President and General Manager Jim Rutherford announced the assignment of 12 players from...

Carolina Hurricanes suffer 3-1 loss to Winnipeg Jets

Flying to the Great White North for the first time this season, the Carolina Hurricanes lost their third preseason game by a score of 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Wednesday.The...

5'9"@9' jumps onto the court in Morrisville

All-Nets.com introduced its new basketball league concept and league, 5'9"@9', at NetSports in Morrisville, N.C. on Saturday.The new concept of play has been created to specifically highlight the talent and skills...

Carolina Hurricanes ground Jets 4-0 in Charlotte

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-0 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. on Sunday as goaltender Cam Ward turned away 36 shots in the team's first preseason win.Not playing in...

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