NHL All-Star Spotlight Justin Faulk

Congrats Justin

On June 26, 2010 in the Staples Center the Carolina Hurricanes made the 37th overall pick; they picked a young man by the name of Justin Faulk from St. Paul, Minnesota. Now at the age of 22 he leads all defenseman on the team with 26 points so far and averages around 26 minutes a game.

Faulk signed a big contract in March 2014 for 6 years 29 million dollars; a contract that is worth every penny for what this young man brings to the team. In his young age he is very mature and already has the leadership of a veteran player.

For at 22 year old hockey player he is very accomplished already;  he was a member of Team USA U-17 and U-18 teams, winning gold with the U-18 team at the IIHF World U-18 Championships. He was a member of the 2011 NCAA National Champion University Minnesota Duluth, he was on the 2012 NHL All-Rookie Team at the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend in Ottawa. For this young man I think his biggest accomplishment came on January 1, 2014 when he was names to the 2014 USA Olympic team that was heading to Sochi, Russia for the Winter Games.

Just like Skinner, Lindholm, and Rask; Justin Faulk is the future of the Carolina Hurricanes and is showing everyone why. He might bring this rough and tough physical game on the ice but off the ice he is a wonderful person. Justin is actively involved with the Kids and Community Foundation and always loves getting out with the kids and showing them some hockey basics.These are the things an NHL player like Justin Faulk is all about, its not always about what you do on the ice but also about how you carry yourself and how you represent the community and Justin for only being 22 years old is one of the most respect Hurricanes in the locker room already.

That's why on January 10th when Justin Faulk was named to the NHL All-Star game in Columbus no one was surprised. CONGRATULATIONS JUSTIN and we will be cheering for you in Raleigh.

Here is a list of the weekend events starting tonight!

Friday: NHL All-Star Draft on NBC Sports at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday: NHL All-Star Skills Competition on NBC Sports at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday: NHL All-Star Game on NBC Sports at 5:00 p.m.

January 23-25, 2015

Finally Some Winning...... But is it Too Late?!?!?

Caniac's Still Waiting 

2015 has been a complete turn around for the Carolina Hurricanes; they are starting to look like a team that should have showed up back in September. The Carolina Hurricanes are currently in 28th place in the league with 37 points and hold a record of 16-25-5. At the current pace the Hurricanes are on pace to get roughly 65 or less points on the whole season which will not get you into the
playoffs once again. To put that number into perspective; Anaheim has played 46 games (same as the Hurricanes) and has 66 points that is leading the whole league.

When the calendar flipped and the key pieces returned to the line-up so did the Hurricanes, for the month of January they hold a record of 6-2-1. For many long-term fans this is not usual; they are a team that is always playing better hockey in the second half of the season. This season is one of those unique ones that it doesn't matter what the team does in the spring because they had such a horrible first half that they cant dig out and go for that playoff push like previous season.

The Hurricanes are just trying to salvage some part of the season; players are really starting to click and make themselves look good for other teams that might need them for a spot into the summer. Some players that have found a stride in the month of January are Eric and Jordan Staal, Brad Malone, Jay McClemet, Patrick Dwyer, and Anton Khudobin.

Brad Malone 

With Jordan Staal returning to the line-up on December 29th it has sparked not just team but his brother Eric as well. Eric Staal has found his confidence and scoring touch that everyone has known for the past 10 season. With both Staal's on a line that makes Carolina a bigger and stronger team. The 4th line of Brad Malone- Jay McClement- Patrick Dwyer are the strongest of this team and the only line that has not been touched since they found their scoring touch. Brad Malone came over from Colorado and brought a physical game with him. Once he got that first goal the flood gates opened, he has 3 goals now and is piling on the assists.

The goal tending is the one things that has not been called into question this season for the Hurricanes; both Cam Ward and Anton Khudobin have been amazing. It took Dobby a little longer to get his first win of the season but since then he has won 5 of his last starts in net. We might be seeing some players leave to head to a playoff contender but that is part of the business and Ron Francis has already said that he will only made the trade if it makes our team better.

With the All-Star break upon us now, this gives the Hurricanes some time to heal up and get ready to continue playing good team hockey. Hurricanes return from break with a 7:30 start at PNC against the Tampa Bay Lighting.

Television Premiere Dates: January and February

Don't miss your favorite shows and the premieres of some highly anticipated new shows! 

JANUARY

Monday, January 19

8:00 pm: The Fosters (ABC Family)

9:00 pm: Chasing Life (ABC Family)

Tuesday, January 20

10:00 pm: Justified (FX)

Thursday, January 22

9:00 pm: Backstrom (Fox)

10:00 pm: Nightwatch (A&E)

Saturday, January 24

9:00 pm: Black Sails (Starz)

Tuesday, January 27

10:00 pm: Sirens (USA)

Wednesday, January 28

10:00 pm: The Americans (FX)

                 Suits (USA)

Thursday, January 29

8:00 pm: Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

9:00 pm: Scandal (ABC)

10:00 pm: Parenthood (NBC) - Series Finale 

                 How to Get Away With Murder (ABC)

FEBRUARY

Sunday, February 1

6:30 pm: Super Bowl XLIX (NBC)

Immediately following Super Bowl: The Blacklist (NBC)

Wednesday, February 4

8:00 pm & 9:30 pm: Fresh Off the Boat (ABC)

9:00 pm: Earth: A New Wild (PBS)

Thursday, February 5

9:00 pm: The Blacklist (NBC) - Time Period Premiere

10:00 pm: Allegiance (NBC)

Sunday, February 8

9:00 pm: The Walking Dead (AMC) - Midseason Premiere

10:00 pm: Better Call Saul (AMC) - First Night of Two Night Premiere Event

Monday, February 9

10:00 pm: Better Call Saul (AMC) - Second Night of Two Night Premiere Event

Thursday, February 12

8:00 pm: The Slap (NBC)

Sunday, February 15

12:00 am: Comic Book Men (AMC)

Tuesday, February 17

8:30 pm: Repeat After Me (ABC)

9:00 pm: Rizzoli & Isles (TNT)

Thursday, February 19

8:30 pm: The Odd Couple (CBS)

9:00 pm: Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Series Finale

10:00 pm: Vikings (History)

Monday, February 23

10:00 pm: The Night Shift (NBC)

Tuesday, February 24

10:00 pm: Outlaw Country (WGN America)

                 Gangland Undercover (History)

Wednesday, February 25

8:00 pm: Survivor (CBS)

9:30 pm: The Amazing Race (CBS)

10:00 pm: Catfish (MTV)

Friday, February 27

12:01 am: House of Cards (Netflix)

2015 Critics' Choice Movie Awards

The Broadcast Film Critics Association holds The Critics' Choice Movie Awards to honor the finest films and actors of the year in 28 categories. This year's show broadcast live from the Hollywood Palladium hosted by co-host of LIVE with Kelly and Michael and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan.

Red Carpet Arrival pictures can be found here.
A full list of winners can be found here.

Birdman lead this year with thirteen nominations and garnered 7 awards including Best Ensemble, Best Score awarded to Antonio Sanchez, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy for Michael Keaton.

Ellar Coltrane won Best Young Actor/Actress for his role in Boyhood, Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, Richard Linklater took home the award for Best Director, and the film won Best Film. The Grand Budapest Hotel won Best Comedy, and Best Costume Design. Julianne Moore took home the award for Best Actress for her role as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's in Still Alice.

In the Action category, Bradley Cooper took home Best Actor in an Action Movie for American Sniper, while Emily Blunt won Best Actress in an Action Movie for Edge of Tomorrow and Guardians of the Galaxy was awarded Best Action Movie.  The Lego Movie took home Best Animated Film, which meant even more after a snub this morning in the Oscar nominations.

During the ceremony, Kevin Costner, Ron Howard, and Jessica Chastain received special honors. Costner was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Ron Howard was presented with the LOUIS XIII Critics' Choice Genius Award which honors an icon who has demonstrated unprecedented excellence in the cinematic arts, and Jessica Chastain received the first ever Critics' Choice MVP Award recognizing her as an extraordinary actor for her work in multiple standout movies (Interstellar, Miss Julie, A Most Violent Year, and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) in a single year.

One of the best takeaways of this year's show is Jessica Chastain's speech accepting the Critics' Choice MVP Award: “Today’s Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. And, it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry, and to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and racist agendas. I’m an optimist, and I can’t help but feel hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all these beautiful people in this room. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up. Thank you.” 

Oscar Nominations 2015

Watch the nominee announcement here or read the list of nominees here.

The nominees for the night's biggest category are:

This past year saw its fair share of amazing films made, from big blockbuster hits to small indie projects. The Oscars race is a difficult thing as accolades do not singularly determine a film's worth, and many great films have gone, and will go, unrecognized. All of the films in the Best Picture category deserve their spot there, and yet there are many more films that could easily have been one of the eight nominees.

Leading the nominations is Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel with nine nominations each followed by The Imitation Game which received eight nominations.

Watch the Oscar race conclude on Sunday, February 22.

Partial List of Nominees:

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum, Imitation Game

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Bendict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightly, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Golden Globe Awards 2015

The 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards were broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel and produced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returned to host the awards for the their third consecutive year, and the last year of their contract.  Their monologue was as hilarious as ever and poked fun at the Sony Hack, the fact that George Clooney is getting a lifetime achievement award when his wife, Amal, probably deserves one more, the Cosby sexual assault allegations, and much more. Here's hoping they are asked to host again very soon, or move up to hosting the Oscars.

The night included a surprise appearance by Prince, and Margaret Cho dressing up as the newest member of the HFPA, a North Korean journalist, taking a picture with Meryl Streep, and commenting  on the show's quality as well as Orange is the New Black's placement into the comedy category. Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig cracked themselves up quoting not-so-famous movie lines from various films before presenting the award for Best Screenplay and Tina Fey looked great in a tuxedo.

Heading into the awards, Birdman led the way with the most film nominations, seven, followed by Boyhood and The Imitation Game which each had five nominations and Fargo held the most television nominations with five.

Birdman took home Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for Michael Keaton and Best Screenplay presented to screenwriter Alejandro González Iñárritu.  Boyhood won Best Motion Picture - Drama, Richard Linklater took home the award for Best Director, and Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for the film. The Grand Budapest Hotel was awarded Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. Eddie Redmayne was awarded Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for The Theory of Everything. Amy Adams won Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for her role in Big Eyes. Julianne Moore took home Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Still Alice.  Into the Woods did not take home a single award.

Fargo took home best Miniseries or TV Movie beating out it's main rival, True Detective, and Best Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries for Billy Bob Thornton.  Kevin Spacey won Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama for his role in House of Cards, his first Golden Globe win and eighth nomination.   Maggie Gyllenhaal won Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for The Honorable Woman. The Affair took home the award for Best Television Series -Drama and Best Actress in a Television Series - Drama for Ruth Wilson.

Gina Rodriguez won Best Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for Jane the Virgin in the CW's first Golden Globe win and nomination and Transparent took home the award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical in the first Golden Globe win and nomination for Amazon Studios.  Jeffrey Tambor also took home the award for the Best Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical which he dedicated to the transgender community.

George Clooney was presented with the Cecil B. Demille Award for Lifetime Achievement and gave a moving speech which touched upon the fact that winning is far from everything and a mention of how proud he is to be his wife's husband.

A full list of winners can be found here.

Red Carpet Fashion

Jessica Chastain looked stunning on the red carpet in a gown from the Atelier Versace collection and jewels by Piaget.

Emily Blunt was  a vision in a beautiful white gown by Michael Kors and hair in a braid halo.

Amy Adams looked radiant in a light blue Versace gown and Tiffany jewels.

Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler looked amazing in Antonio Berardi and Stella McCartney with jewelry by Beladora respectively. 

Rosamund Pike showed off her gorgeous figure in a cutout white gown by Vera Wang just 5 weeks after giving birth to her son.

Uzo Aduba shined in a beaded gown featuring ruby details by Randi Rahm complimented by sleeked back hair.

Anna Kendrick exuded beauty and confidence in a nude/Bordeaux degrade embroidered ball gown by Monique Lhuillier.











Pictures from Getty Images and the Associated Press. 

People's Choice Awards 2015

The 41st Annual People's Choice Awards awarded today's most popular shows, movies, and stars live from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.  Mom stars Anna Faris and Allison Janney hosted the show. The biggest stars of today were in attendance for the event which was kicked off by a sub-par monologue from the hosting duo which included them poking fun at their being asked to host.

The night included performances from Lady Antebellum ("Freestyle"), Fall Out Boy ("Centuries"), and Iggy Azalea ("Beg For It"). Wacky antics took place throughout the show by the hosts as well as the presenters, some including the use of selfie sticks, calling their moms and backup dancers that were incredibly unnecessary. It would also appear that Walgreens was a participating sponsor or a lot of people in attendance are individually employed as spokespeople.

Some of the night's big winners were Stana Katic who took home awards for Favorite TV Crime Drama and Favorite TV Dramatic Actress (and queen of the red carpet), and Big Bang Theory which took home Favorite TV Show and Favorite Network TV Comedy. Adam Sandler took home his ninth career PCA for Favorite Comedic Movie Actor.  Ben Affleck was presented with the Choice Humanitarian Award for his work with Eastern Congo and Betty White took home the Favorite TV Icon award. A full list of winners can be found here.

Red Carpet Fashion

 Stana Katic looked dreamy and elegant in this embellished gown by Carolina Herrera. The flawless look was 

Melissa McCarthy looked sleek and stunning in a chic pantsuit and jewelry by Forevermark.

Gabrielle Union  looked flawless in a glamorous deep v-neck gown.

Kristen Bell was gorgeous on the red carpet in Monique Lhuillier, and just a few weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Delta.

Red Carpet Pictures from Getty Images.

A more complete list of Red Carpet looks can be found here.