Open Letter to Mr. Rutherford, GM of the Carolina Hurricanes

Went to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between my Carolina Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabres. Pretty sad that approximately 5,000 Sabres fans ventured down from Buffalo. What a sorry impression to give to the rest of the hockey world. "Those darn country hicks can't even sell out their arena to their own fans." Well we did sell it out, just 5,000 of the opposition bought tickets. And it was loud. On all three Buffalo goals, it sounded like we were in Buffalo's home arena. When a Let's Go Buffalo chant started up, the Let's Go Canes chant drowned it out, but still.

And it goes to Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Kormanos. Many people don't know this, but after round two, season ticket holders discovered that their ticket strips for Round 3 went up, way up. Many, like some on the website letsgocanes.com could not afford the $1000+ amount they would need to layout. Some bought individual tickets, some didn't buy any at all. You always can understand jacking up the price for us Joe Blows who buy individual tix, but *YOUR SEASON TICKET BASE?* Is this really the group you want to pi$$ off? (Wow, my first piece of vulgarity on this site. Sorry for those family-friendly viewers, but had to be said!). They said that after round 1 vs. Montreal, the rest would be pure profit. Nothing like raising the amount of profit due to your Mr. Kormanos. Now, like a good owner, will he fork over some of that to resign Doug Weight? Give Peter Laviolette the 1+ million due to him for an awesome job coaching? I am sure not. After an incredible run, much like 02, they will allow all our UFAs to ride out of Dodge, and we'll suffer another lackidasical year next year with average attendance at 12K. With games under 10K. And we'll continue to be the laughing stock of the NHL.

Thank you Peter and Jim. Great job. Way to see us fans for what we are--moneybags.