With the return of Frankie Kaberle tonight against the habs the canes had to make a roster spot for him so they've sent down defenseman Anton Babchuk to the Albany River Rats of the ahl.  He'll play for them on Wednesday against Norfolk.  The canes basically only had two guys they could send down without having to clear waivers and one of them was Babchuk.  The other was Ladd who would benefit from time in the ahl but with the recent pathetic play of Trevor Letowski and Eric Belanger the canes need him in their lineup.  Anyways, expect a trade in the next few days to shake things up and get this team playing to their abilities.

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/canes/inde...1&pb=1

Well, Babchuk refused to report to Albany and has been suspended. He isn't heading back to Europe, though. He has been playing very well for this team and deserves to be playing but they need the spots for David Tanabe and Andrew Hutchinson to showcase them for a potential trade soon. Babchuk will remain with the team, without pay, and return to the lineup when those guys are moved. He is a big part in this teams future and it's highly unlikely he'll be moved.

The suspension has been lifted and he played for Albany last night in a 7-3 win over Norfolk. He didn't have any points but he got off 6 shots and finished +2. This game was played without Keith Aucoin in the lineup as well so that makes it even more impressive for Albany.