Canes to monitor the minutes

There can be a fine line in preseason games between getting the veteran players enough work to be beneficial but not overdoing it. It is, after all, an exhibition game. "You want to make sure you don't take a player completely out of what is a normal rhythm," Canes coach Paul Maurice said this morning, before the trip to Atlanta for tonight's game against the Thrashers. "There's no sense playing your veteran guys 12 or 13 minutes, because that's not even close to a normal game. "What we want to do is avoid anybody getting into what might be in the (regular) season being a 22-23 minute game based on special teams. We really monitor that. Other than that, we're just trying to keep everybody in something of a natural rhythm." Among the Canes' older guys getting their first preseason action are Rod Brind'Amour, Scott Walker, Sergei Samsonov and Nic Wallin. But Maurice and the coaches will get a good look at such young fow...