Here’s what TSN said:

 A physical specimen who plays every shift with unbridled passion and aggression, Bogosian likes to make things happen. He has a cannon for a shot, gets physically involved at every opportunity and is a natural born leader, not unlike his father Ike, who was a co-captain of the Syracuse University football team.

And Sportsnet’s mock draft:

 He might not be as ready now as Doughty given that he’s barely 18, but he might also project to be bigger and better down the road. His junior GM calls him a budding Chris Pronger. Normally we dismiss that, but his junior GM also had Pronger in Peterborough and may well know of what he speaks.:

Here’s what ISS said about his strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths

1. Very Competitive

2. Skating / Mobility

3. Offensive skill

Areas For Improvement

1. At times gets caught up ice

2. Needs to fill out and add muscle

Here’s what the TSN said about Stamkos:

Dynamic speed, with and without the puck, there’s not much to say about Stamkos that hasn’t already been said. He does everything at top speed and is equally adept at making plays and scoring goals, though finishing is his strong suit. His defensive game is vastly underrated because of his offensive prowess. He consistently exhibits commitment and character

And the ISS:

NHL Potential: 1st line Centre, and if he continues to progress, he will become a star. Style compares to: Joe Sakic Year Team

He kept his press conference short today when announcing it, saying that he had to in order to make it through it without tears. Understandable for a guy who spent many years of his career with a team who struggled and then ultimately relocated and basically started anew here in the Triangle. (Just as a side note, Wesley is the last of the players who relocated with the team to North Carolina.)

His hard work payed off in 2006 when he finally was able to raise the Stanley Cup above him and then in a very kind act he spent his day with the Cup at Camp Lejuene  before taking it to his church.  He said that his 2nd best memory with this organization was getting to see the fans tailgate and just seeing the development of a fanbase.

Glen WILL be staying with the Hurricanes as Director of Defenseman Development and hopefully he can pass down some of what he learned from Ray Bourque to the younger generation of defensemen.

Rutherford announced that some time during the 2008-2009 season there will be a night where Wesley will have his jersey retired and raised to join Ron Francis’ number in the RBC Center rafters. A very fitting end for a great career.

So after 1,457 and 537 points and more heart than I have seen in any other player I salute Mr. Wesley for all he has done.

The goal for the team is to raise $5,000 and my personal goal is at $125 right now.

Please click here: http://race.komennctriangle.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1030&px=1293965 to view my page where you can donate to this great cause!

You can also click here: http://www.komennctriangle.org/ to view the main page for the Susan G. Komen walk.

Now that I am done with my shameless self promotion…Go Canes!!

• Sergei Samsonov was re-signed for three years after putting up 32 points in 38 games here in NC.
• Tuomo Ruutu, Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Dennis Seidenberg, Niclas Wallin, and Tim Gleason are all playing in the IIHF Championships for their respective countries
• JR is working on getting our RFA’s re-signed starting with Ruutu and Gleason as the top priorities.
• The jury is still out on whether Peter Laviolette will still be behind the bench for the Canes for the 2008-2009 season. Karmanos is expected to sit down and talk with Lavi sometime in the coming week since JR’s thoughts remain the same on the situation.
• The most exciting news from my perspective comes about the open position to back-up Cam Ward. JR indicated that Michael Leighton, our AHL wonder who recently made 98 saves in a 50T loss, is the strongest candidate and stated: “Michael Leighton is in the strongest position of anyone with the year he’s had. He’s done what he needs to do. We’ll wait until June because somebody else may have some thoughts on somebody we haven’t looked at or considered, but we won’t leave it until July 1.”

I will update more when there is something to share. Until then enjoy the Conference Finals!

Have your say in the comments.

UPDATE: He should be okay! Lucky :) 

Last night’s matchup of the Caps and Flyers had an interesting and painful twist when Patrick Thoresen blocked a Mike Green slapshot late in the 3rd period on the penalty kill as the Flyers were clinging to a one goal lead they would eventually blow (thanks to OVE!)

“a ruptured testicle” is what Tarik El-Bashir is saying over at the Washington Post

owwww, good luck buddy, this is one area where women are more fortunate than men.

Reactions around the blogosphere *usually the same idea for all of them*…

The game took a solemn moment when the Flyers left wing Patrick Thoresen, took a shot in the groin and had to be helped off the ice, taken to hospital for tests there is the possibility that one of his testicles will have to be removed, such was the force of the shot that he blocked with six minutes to go in the game.
-HockeyNation

Best wishes and get well soon to Flyer forward Patrick Thoresen, who gave new meaning to “taking one for the team” last night, when he blocked a Mike Green drive by taking the puck to the groin. This is a hard enough way to make a living without having to risk permanent injury. Whatever jersey a player wears, one has to respect the desire to make a play that would lead a player to give himself up in that fashion. Get well soon, Patrick.
-The Peerless Prognosticator

To us it looked as if Patrick Thoresen took the Green slapshot in the man region. If that’s the case, we tip our hat to the guy who is spending the night in the hospital. Sure, he plays for the other team but the Brotherhood does not like to see its members take blows like that in the man region.
-Bleatings from a Caps Nut

“Gentlemen, pray for Patrick Thoresen - Busted Nut”
(BBeR note: only getting a spot here because of the title, nicely done, haha)

Take it easy,
-BBeR

I think this series is the most likely of any to go to a game 7. Many people are automatically going for caps in 5, etc, and I’m not here to say that the Flyers are going to win. I’m here simply to say that these teams have more similarities than you might realize.

Washington finished with 94 points, the Flyers finished with 95. Both teams finished hot: Washington 9-1, Philly 7-2-1.

Washington goals for/goals against was 242/231. Philly’s was 248/233.

Both have little to none playoff experience in net. Biron 0 games, Huet 6 games.

Both teams have 3 cup rings. Was: Federov (3). Philly: Knuble, Hatcher, Dowd

Both have rookie coaches. (Stevens with some experience last year)

Both have impact players injured. (Gagne/Hatcher and Nylander/Clark)

Teams tied for the lead in 4 on 4 goals this season.

So look for a close series, and it’s really a flip of a coin who will come out on top. It will probably come down to which goalie gets hot.

The feeling that all the time, money, emotion I have spent this season as a hockey fan is probably done……well…really I just never thought it would be this hard.

I know a lot of people cheer against the Canes, everyone wants to see Alex Ovenchicken in the playoffs. I get it. But I think a lot of people don’t really understand why this team deserves a better fate than this.

300+ man games lost: Justin Williams, David Tanabe, Matt Cullen, Rod Brind’amour, Chad Larose…the list includes EVERYONE one of our players except for Eric Staal…..all injured at some time or another. We went for 2 months without our Captain…..

The “Rat pack”: Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank, and Tim Conboy. I can’t say enough about these 4 guys. They were our heart and soul when we were sitting in the slumps. They really filled in for guys…who they probably shouldn’t have been able to fill in for. Brookbank went out and dropped the gloves with guys he KNEW were going to beat the crap out of him. What says “I want to be here” more than that?

Ruutu, Samsonov and Corvo: Guys who were on their last leg with their former teams and seemed to find their touch here. Here is to hoping Tuomo AND Samsonov stick around for a while. Joe is stuck with us for a couple years so no worries about him!

Everyone doubted this team…especially when Rod Brind’amour went down. This team has fought like crazy and they really deserved better than this. All of them. They work together as a team and took the blame for every loss instead of pinning it on the other team like some teams do (See: Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers)

So to my team…thank you for all the memories this year. It was a hard road, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other team.