The Mater's, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Duke Blue Devils

Masters - score updates - what’s Tiger doing? Played five holes this morning to finish the first round +1, and was right back on to the course about 40 or so minutes later … not sure if it’s an advantage or not for players to get a few holes on the course early or not … 1. It’s a longer day and a fast turnaround, but the counter to that is you’re warmed up and have a feel for the course … 2. Do you feel like you’re trying to catch up to the leaders who finished Round 1 yesterday, so you might reach a bit on shots? Everyone handles it differently, but it is what it is

 

Jared McCain of Duke announced today he’s going pro … this is of no shock to me; projected by many of the ‘experts’ to be drafted in the first round, seen some mocks of him in the 20’s - GO FOR IT … My guess is we’ll hear Kyle Filipowski announce his intentions for the NBA Draft in the near future

Tyrese Proctor coming back to Duke - massive for John Scheyer because there’s a case where Scheyer could lose his starting five … Proctor will be the 2nd most tenured player back for Duke, anticipating Jeremy Roach returns for a 5th year, and that Filipowski leaves for the NBA … Roach, Proctor, and assuming Caleb Foster all return, that’s a lot of experience that’s much needed for a big time recruiting class that’s coming in, where they can shepherd in the youth

 

Carolina Hurricanes are in action tonight - Game No. 80 on the road at St. Louis - Chicago on Sunday, then Columbus on Tuesday to close out the regular season … There’s still a lot to be gained - looking at the standings, the New York Rangers lost yesterday to the New York Islanders, meaning a win today by Carolina in any way, shape, or form puts the Hurricanes within one point of the Rangers for the top spot in the Metro division, and allows Carolina to stay ahead of Boston for the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference … but there’s still much for this Canes team to figure out, both individually, and as a team … We’ve seen Andrei Svechnikov the past two games play like the Svech this team needs - a consistent scoring threat that’s physical, wins battles along the wall, and - more importantly - staying out of the penalty box!

Evgeny Kuznetsov - he’ll be playing his 18th game with the Canes tonight - didn’t produce any points his first three games with Carolina (to be expected), but then had a four game point streak where he scored 2 goals and had 3 assists … in the 10 games since - 0 goals, 2 assists, -2 while averaging over 14:30/game … if he’s going to be this team’s No. 2 center, and skate on the power play, he needs to be a consistent threat on the ice; not a 5 points every 4 games, but needs to guide a line where he’s creating chances for Necas and Teravainen, because when Carolina has scoring threats throughout the line, that’s when they’re most dangerous. Can’t all fall on the top line and the power play

 

The Carolina Panthers overall have had a good offseason so far … O-line signings, the Diontae Johnson trade was great, the long-term deal for Derrick Brown is amazing, but there are still holes to be filled, upgrades and needs. Dan Morgan & Dave Canales are not going to fix everything in one offseason, but there are still two positions that are need of a high end player upgrade, one on each side of the ball. 

Tight End - Tommy Tremble is okay, but still 23 years old, Ian Thomas is not much more than a blocker/ST guy.