FanHouse Jim Rutherford

Every Monday during the season two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Bruce Ciskie and Christopher Botta talk about the sudden struggles of last year's playoff darlings, the Carolina Hurricanes.

---

---

When Cam Ward went down with a grisly injury on Saturday night a bad season got much, much worse for the Carolina Hurricanes. Their star netminder got cut by a skate early in the first period and had to be taken to the hospital. As of Sunday night Ward was still in a Columbus hospital and the team expects that he will miss at least 3-4 weeks.

With the goaltending duties left to former sixth round pick and journeyman backup Michael Leighton, GM Jim Rutherford moved quickly to get some goaltending help. For now, that help comes in the form of 36-year-old veteran Manny Legace.

After suffering a "lower body injury" in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, Erik Cole's status for Game 2 has been up in the air during this painfully long two-day break. Cole was injured during Monday's game when he was on the receiving end of a Matt Cooke hit that included knee-on-knee contact.

According to Adam Harris of WRAL, Cole participated in Thursday's morning skate, and it appears he will be available for the Hurricanes when they hit the ice for Game 2. The news doesn't sound quite as promising for his teammate, Tuomo Ruutu.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Scott Walker made some headlines on Sunday night for his one-punch knockout (pictured right) of Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward in the closing minutes of Boston's 4-0 win in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Walker was issued 17 minutes in penalties for the hit, including a two-minute instigator penalty.

Because the NHL is supposedly cracking down on late-game message sending and brawling, any player that receives an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of regulation -- or overtime -- is automatically suspended for the following game. The NHL's wheel of discipline, however, has decided to rescind that rule, as Walker will be available for Game 6 in Carolina on Tuesday night.

Two years ago, the Washington Capitals were just another NHL franchise. In fact, they were a pretty poor one. They didn't draw well, they didn't win, and they weren't making money.

The situation was so bad that you could have conceivably thought their future in Washington was in peril. One coaching change and the development of a true superstar later, the thought of the Capitals moving is almost as stupid as thinking the Montreal Canadiens could head out of town.

So let's think twice before we assume that the Coyotes have to leave Phoenix to be successful, on ice and off of it. Though the team is drawing extra scrutiny because, unlike the Caps, they play in a warm-weather market, the proof is there that the climate and location aren't the issues here.

With Atlanta's 5-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday night, the Thrashers quietly slipped into first place in the Southeast Division past a struggling Carolina Hurricanes team that was busy dropping a 5-4 decision to the Maple Leafs in Toronto. After a 11-4-3 start, the Hurricanes have sleepwalked through the last two months of the season, posting an 11-18-1 record over their last 30 games.

In any case, it's clear the stress is getting to Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, and he vented his frustration on the air in Carolina in a 10-minute interview on 850 AM: The Buzz earlier today, saying that "The team has clearly underachieved," and that he was in the process of deciding whether or not it was time to step in and make some major changes. In particular, Rutherford took pains to say that he thought that he might have made a mistake by keeping so many players from the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion, adding that too many of the holdovers seemed to be satisfied after winning their first Cup.

When it comes to making changes, Rutherford said that the quickest fix would be to shuffle role players on the third and fourth line, but at this point that wouldn't make a difference in Carolina. Instead, Rutherford said in order to make a lasting impact he would have to deal one of the team's more "popular players". And by inference, he seemed to make it clear that the only player on the roster who wasn't going to be available would be Eric Staal, who Rutherford singled out for some fulsome praise.

When he was asked whether or not he was thinking of replacing head coach Peter Laviolette, Rutherford made a half-hearted attempt at being evasive: "Everything gets factored in now ... Not going to answer that question directly, but I have indirectly answered your question."

Ouch. Carolina is in Ottawa tonight. Hope everyone packed a few extra changes of clothes.

UPDATE: And Craig Adams is the first to earn a free flight out of town -- in this case, to Chicago! So much for not shuffling fourth line guys, eh? Thanks to J.P. for the pointer.