During the season, Checkers broadcaster TJ Chillot checks in with a weekly blog highlighting everything Checkers hockey and beyond!
Well, I hope everyone has had an amazing holiday season! Hard to believe that 2023 has only a few days remaining, but we’ve got an exciting 2024 awaiting us. I hope your New Year is the best one yet! For the final time this calendar year, let’s jump into the trapezoid! If you’re new here, I’m TJ Chillot - play-by-play broadcaster for the Checkers - here to share some of the thoughts I’ve had about this team in the recent week. We’re heading In the Trapezoid with TJ!
Tight Division
Every year we go through this, but there’s something different this season, in my mind. We know that with the Atlantic Division it’s going to come down to the final week as teams fight for positioning for the playoffs. We know this. What I don’t recall happening in the recent past, was it being THIS tight in November and December. Usually these log-jams space out a little bit in November/December/January with the heat turning on in February, March and April. Right now, if you asked me what two teams will miss out on the playoffs, I can only tell you one, Bridgeport. The other team to miss the playoffs by my estimation? Your guess is as good as mine! It’s a total crapshoot. Even still, don’t sleep on the Islanders, because this is the Atlantic and ANYTHING can happen.
Dennis Cesana
Major props go to Checkers defenseman (or maybe forward?) Dennis Cesana. His “do anything for the team” attitude hasn’t gone unnoticed this season. Here’s a guy who played all of last year with the Checkers contributing in a number of ways during his rookie season. He comes back this year in his sophomore season, and whether it was a slow start or him just being the odd man out in a stacked defensive unit, he was reassigned to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. Talk about a swing. A pretty regular player one year, being sent down to the ECHL in just his second season. For some, that would have some strong negative effects. For Cesana, it fueled the fire. It wasn’t long until he was recalled to the Checkers and ever since his play has been incredibly noticeable. I felt he played his best two games of the year against the Bridgeport Islanders a couple of weekends ago, and the coaching staff must have felt the same, because just when you thought he would be the odd man out in the D-Corps once again, Cesana was asked to play forward this past Friday against Lehigh Valley. I love to see the willingness, love to see the team-first mentality, and for a young player in this league, Cesana is doing all the right things.
Defense Doing Its Thing
I want to sing some praises for the Checkers defensive unit. Aside from the unselfish attitudes (like the above point), this team is getting it done on both sides of the ice. Lucas Carlsson is still the team leader in points, with Santtu Kinnuen also in the top ten. Casey Fitzgerald has been on a bit of a hot streak with points in his last two games played, too. So that covers the offensive side of the ice. How about the defensive side? Well, how about this - only three teams are averaging fewer shots against per game than the Charlotte Checkers. This team is only allowing 27-28 shots per game on average, and it’s a testament to the entire roster, but I have to give credit to the D-men. They’ve been eating pucks, forcing players to the outside for long-range shots that never make it on goal, and have tightened up on the back-end by limiting odd-man rushes. It’s been solid play on the blue line in my estimation.
Next Forward Up
The Checkers have been dealing with some injuries and illnesses to the forward group, and it’s been great to see the team keep up their point streak while dodging the injury bug. We saw Zac Dalpe and Brendan Perlini miss a handful of games, while Gerry Mayhew and Justin Sourdif both missed games last weekend due to an illness. With this kind of shuffling, the Checkers have been living a “next forward up” lifestyle and they’ve made it work. Two guys I have to mention are Mark Senden and Wilmer Skoog. Last Friday, they woke up in Florida, getting ready for a weekend series with the Everblades, only to receive the call that they’re needed in Charlotte. The two young forwards not only made the trip, they were in the lineup for the Checkers game against Lehigh Valley. Both Senden and Skoog played well, with the latter earning an assist in the Checkers OT loss at the hands of the Phantoms. When you talk about next man up, it goes beyond just the top 18. It trickles down to your affiliates, and this team has no qualms with stepping up. Neither does this affiliation tree.
