Happy Thanksgiving !

It's Canadian Thanksgiving and  the Canes will not be in too much of a holiday mood  as they go through the paces at the Air Canada Centre. After spending the off day in Washington, it's back to work today.

They spent their  day taking in the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions NFL game. For many of the players it was their first experience at an NFL venue. It was a "players only" event which is good given that they need some time to figure out what happened  on Saturday.

The Canes fell victim to a trend we are seeing all over the NHL in the early going and that is inconsistent play on a game-by-game basis. As I watched San Jose and Colorado last night you could see it there, too. The Avalanche started their season on Wednesday with a win over the Dallas Stars. The following night they were "listless" as they were completely handled by Nashville.

Last night, they totally dominated San Jose who looked much like the Canes did against Washington.

Reasons? Who knows - parity, back-to-back scheduling, I don't know. The only thing that registers is that the answers come from deep inside the  dressing room. That's why team events like the one they had yesterday afford the players a chance to decompress and then return to work today with a healthy mindset. They will start with a meeting, video session and then a practice at 2:00 pm. It will be long day at the rink, but  given the schedule and the spacing of games the Canes have a chance to re-establish their game on get on a roll.

Updates...

Bret Hedican joined the team in Washington yesterday.  There is a very good chance he will be ready to play tomorrow. Cory Stillman (torso) will give it a shot in practice today but I would say  he is doubtful for the Leafs' game. I spoke with him this morning,  and he is still experiencing a great deal of pain in his left side as result of the car accident on Thursday. This one requires patience.

The same can be said for Mike Commodore. He has a similar problem as Stillman. Commodore's could take longer. He remains out on a day-to-day basis, but I think it could be a week-to-week thing, we'll see. Andrew Ladd is quite sore after turning his ankle in Washington on Saturday. He iced it during the trip here and was in some pain last night. He too will be evaluated today.

Happy Holidays !