The NHL and the Carolina Hurricanes released the official logo to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game. The announcements of the logo has been the biggest news since the announcement of the all-star game in Raleigh. The logo is underlined with the Hurricanes logo and looks great in my opinion.

The other news was the announcement of a 5,000 ft banner to hang off the RBC Plaza in downtown. The banner will feature former All-Stars Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Hurricanes captain Eric Staal.  The banner should be completed by Saturday for the 5th annual Raleigh Wide Open.   The NHL and Carolina Hurricanes will also be selling the first 2011 All-Star Game gear such as hat and t-shirts.  Hope to see all you Caniac’s at Raleigh Wide Open this weekend.

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Riley Nash 2007 Oilers 1st Round Pick looks to make impact for Hurricanes in 2010-2011

\The Carolina Hurricanes have only made a couple minor signings, as expected, over the last couple of weeks with the chance that some like Riley Nash could show huge return. The Hurricanes also went the way of cheap and two-way contracts to players such as Justin Pogge, Brett Carson, and Bryan Rodney.

The biggest decision the Hurricanes have made in the last couple of weeks was to give Justin Peters and Justin Pogge each two-way deals. With the deals it sees the Hurricanes parting ways with a guy I, and many others, would have liked to see come back, but in the end money wins in this deal as Manny would make considerably more money than Peters and Pogge. With that being said the adversity that is all but certain to happen with a young team in 2010-2011, it would have been nice to have a guy of Manny’s stature to help the young kids.

The news that I have liked the best is that Riley Nash has decided to forgo his senior season at Cornell and join the professional ranks with either Carolina or Charlotte next season. Riley Nash is a 2007 first round pick by the Edmonton Oilers that has played three years of NCAA hockey and averaged more than a point a game for all three seasons. Nash said that he felt he has a realistic shot of making the roster out of training camp with the retirement of Rod Brind’Amour and the deadline deal of Matt Cullen last season. Nash has the potential to be Carolina’s third or fourth line center next season behind Staal, Sutter, and Jokinen. I think Nash would fit in perfectly next year as a fourth line center and with line shifting maybe a third, either way this kid has serious potential over the next couple of seasons.

On the defensive end the Hurricanes resigned two defensemen that were mostly stable last season in Bryan Rodney and Brett Carson. The biggest surprise for me was the lack of qualifying offers from the Hurricanes to Brett Carson and Alexandre Picard. With the lack of offers, I was sure that would be the end of both their stays in Raleigh. Right now it still looks that way for Picard, but Carson took a lesser deal to stay with Hurricanes. Brett Carson was one of the most underrated of Carolina’s defensemen in 2009-2010. Carson showed real growth through out the season and became a pretty steady defenseman for the Hurricanes down the stretch, even scoring 2 goals and assisting on 10 more. Bryan Rodney has always been a traveled player and a power play specialist since joining the Hurricanes organization. Rodney has always hated being associated as the power play specialist and seems to have taken strides to improve his overall defensive play in order to become a more rounded play. Rodney usually is first in line to be called up if there is a defensive injury. This year Rodney would like to pass that role on and get more NHL time as this could be the year he has been waiting for and should be interesting to see if he can make the opening night roster.

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The Carolina Hurricanes have made very few moves in July, only signing three players to contracts with the biggest being the return of Joe Corvo.  With the team going young for next season the most interesting event happening in July was the prospects camp which included first round pick Jeff Skinner.

First off in a surprise move the Hurricanes brought back defenseman Joe Corvo for another two years at a cheaper rate for a total of 4.5 million.  “Joe has been a really good player for us over the last three seasons, and we feel that this solidifies our defense,” said Rutherford. “We appreciate him working with us to get this deal done. He said that he really wanted to stay in Carolina and this commitment confirms that.”  Corvo returns to Carolina after a trade line deal that saw Carolina recieve Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala, and a 2nd round pick in 2011.  With Joe’s return it gives the Hurricanes another veteran defenseman to help mold the young roster next season in to what everyone hopes will be a winner down the road.

The big event this week, prospect camp, gave us a look at the newest Hurricanes including Jeff Skinner and Jared Staal. Skinner impressed with a great shot and physical play even at his size. Jared Staal is much bigger and filled with potential. Staal and Riley Nash come in with prospect camp experience and it showed as they were the two that really stood out during the four day camp. During the camp the prospects learned proper nutrition and the way to a healthy lifestyle to further their careers. If the Hurricanes manage these players right, the future could be bright in Carolina.