Since the last time we talked, the Checkers have had two home games and won them both in thrilling fashion. I’m TJ Chillot - voice of the Checkers - and I’ve got thoughts! Let’s head In the Trapezoid with TJ.
Biscuits and Gravy
No one has more wins at home than the Checkers. Charlotte is 5-1 to start the season at the friendly confines of the Boplex and has itself a nice five-game winning streak at home, too. If that doesn’t tell you about how much they love to play in front of the fans, I don’t know what will. The energy of Bojangles Coliseum is off the charts these days, and I promise you, it helps the team play better.What Monkey?
Gerry Mayhew had one of the best weekends of his career this weekend, with not one, but two overtime winners. It was the first two goals of the season for Mayhew, the longest goal-drought to start the season in his professional career. That’s not to say he was slumping. Mayhew had been contributing on the score sheet with some helpers prior to his big weekend. After the series with San Diego, Mayhew now has seven total points and is tied for second on the team in points.Injury Bug
It’s early in the season and the Checkers have been relatively healthy to this point, but as always, the bill comes due. The pair of games overtime games against San Diego ended up being hard on the bodies. Charlotte lost defenseman Matt Kiersted and forward Skyler Brind’Amour to injuries, and per Head Coach Kinnear after the contest, expect them to be week-to-week. Zac Dalpe also missed Saturday night’s game after a knee-on-knee collision with Pavol Regenda on Friday. Dalpe has been classified as day-to-day, so we’ll see if he’s able to go for any of the matches in California during the upcoming days.Bezeau Is Building
Loved to see the solid offensive play of Riley Bezeau on Saturday night. As a guy who slots in and out of the lineup and hasn’t been a mainstay, the second year pro is making the best of his opportunities. With two assists on Saturday, Bezeau now has three points in five games this year. It’s not always easy getting on the scoresheet when you’re not getting consistent minutes, but it’s players like Bezeau who can that’ll mean a great deal to this team throughout the season.X’s and O’s
Over the past few years that I’ve done the In the Trapezoid, I don’t believe I’ve ever done a segment on just the coaching staff, but after the start to this season, it’s time. The bench-bosses are firing on all cylinders right now and it’s given the Checkers a clear edge in almost every game so far.Let’s look at Friday night against San Diego, the play design of the Checkers’ last-ditch effort with six seconds left was a perfect decision and executed to a T. Then on Saturday, after it became clear that San Diego netminder Alex Stalock was leaving a great deal of huge rebounds, the team shifted their game plan to throw everything they could on goal. It ended up being their highest amount of shots in a single game this season, and they cashed in on a few of those rebounds in the win. A perfect example of taking what the opposing team was giving you.
There's a lot that goes into coaching, from finding chemistry with players, plugging in the right replacements to deal with slumps and injuries, to managing emotions of the locker room to get the best out of your team, and of course the X's and O's. This Checkers staff has had the X's and O's portion on lock so far this season.
