“Inconsistent,” said team captain Derek Ryan. “That’s exactly what we were this year: inconsistent.”
Charlotte’s up-and-down season was marked by long streaks on both ends of the spectrum. But in the end, that inconsistency came back to bite the Checkers, who missed out on the final playoff spot on the last day of the season.
“I just think it was hard to find traction,” said head coach Mark Morris. “I think the frustrating thing for us was to be so close and to realize that during some of the down times we couldn’t sustain it. Sustaining that traction was something that was really elusive for us.”
Capping that skid off was a pair of lopsided losses to the Ontario Reign in their first visit to Charlotte. While the results of those two games were not ideal, they seemed to spark something in the team.
“A major turning point for me was the weekend that Ontario came and played us here and we got swept at home,” said alternate captain Kyle Hagel. “They pummeled us two nights in a row. But we really came together that weekend and realized that these guys are playing a man’s game out there. They’re in our face after every single whistle, trying to start stuff after every single whistle, and we answered the bell and stuck up for each other. I think that we started building there in December and just took off after the Christmas break.”
“That was so much fun,” said Hagel. “That road trip out to California where we went 5-0-1, that was some of the most fun hockey I’ve ever played.”
That stretch saw the Checkers put up a scorching 14-1-3 record and looked unstoppable.
“There were times where we were awesome and we could beat any team in the league,” said Ryan.
The Checkers dropped a seemingly harmless 3-1 decision to the IceHogs that night, but the loss put the team into a freefall.
“We kept that streak going for a while, and then I don’t know what happened,” said Hagel.
Charlotte spiraled into a 10-game winless streak, and a 2-12-3 stretch caused them to fall from near the top of the division to outside the playoff picture.
“We weren’t very good and we weren’t executing,” said Ryan. “Then we could lose to any team in the league.”
“I think we all tend to get in a rut from time to time,” said Morris. “When we brought that to the attention of the management, they were quick to respond and I think that it made us a better team.
“We sensed that we had kind of hit a stall and the management staff was able to help us to reorganize and build a type of culture that was going to be productive and an environment where winning can happen.”
Gone from the mix were veteran goaltender Drew MacIntyre, all-time leading scorer Zach Boychuk and big offseason acquisition T.J. Hensick, replaced with proven AHL powers Blair Jones and Andrew Miller, former Checkers John Muse and Dennis Robertson, Anthony Camara and young prospects Dane Fox and Valentin Zykov.
“I think it can prove to be a very healthy thing for an organization to try and better themselves and to try and shake up the chemistry and find ways to be more productive,” said Morris. “Sometimes to start anew and build new combinations and defensive pairings or just a bit of a shake up is for the betterment. Not only for the individual, whether they’re coming or going, but a fresh optimistic outlook as a team is necessary to move forward.”
“I think that the players that came in did a really good job of bringing enthusiasm and a bright outlook,” said Morris. “I think that the response from the rest of the team was noticeable.”
Mounting injuries began to take a toll, however, as Ryan, Miller, Jones, Zykov, Camara, Rasmus Rissanen and Danny Biega all missed significant time over the last two months, and the Checkers settled back down into a 5-3-2 stretch. In keeping with the theme of the season, one last streak put an end to the Checkers’ playoff hopes, as they dropped each of their last five contests of the season. Needing help from the Stockton Heat, Charlotte found itself eliminated on the last day of the AHL regular season.
“The changes in personnel, I think in some ways gave us a fresh outlook and we started to gain traction again,” said Morris. “But finding consistency with so many personalities and the myriad of injuries left us on the outside looking in.”
“It’s a hard question to answer,” said Justin Shugg. “When we were winning, the culture in the room was a winning culture. When we were losing, we couldn’t find that. You can’t pinpoint it, and that’s what makes the game so hard.”
“I’m not sure exactly what our age is, but we’re young, and being young usually lends itself to being inconsistent,” said Ryan. “That’s definitely a mark of youth and immaturity for sure. You have to be ready to play hockey and give 100 percent every day, that’s what it’s all about. If you’re not doing that consistently, then you’re going to see streaks like that.”
“When you’re hot, things are going your way, bounces are going your way,” said Brendan Woods. “And sometimes you’re on the other end of it. Every team goes through those, you just hope that you’re not on the losing end as much as you are on the winning end. Unfortunately for us, it was more on the losing end toward the end there where we needed to win games.”
“We improved a lot from last year,” said Hagel. “I think that getting into the playoffs would have just sealed it for everyone and been a finalizing statement of everything we did this year, which would have been awesome. Unfortunately we didn’t get in, but if you take a step back and look at it, we definitely got better. It’s going to hurt a lot just sitting there watching the playoffs over the next few weeks, but I’m still really proud of the group of guys we have here and what we were able to do.
“Sometimes you might have to get a little taste for it and that’ll make you hungrier for it coming back next year. We know that everybody has to get better at every single position in the lineup and we’ll become a competitive playoff team. Hopefully that’s where this organization is going forward.”
