The Checkers’ prospective weekend lineup took a hit this morning with Daniel Altshuller’s NHL recall, but the good news for Charlotte is that they are close to getting their veteran workhorse Drew MacIntyre back between the pipes.
Representing Canada for the second straight year at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland over the holiday break, MacIntyre suffered an injury that forced him out of the tournament after just one appearance. His team would go on to win the tournament, and MacIntyre then returned to Charlotte to rehab his injury while the team was on a long road trip through California.
Though he has slowly been working his way back onto the ice in small doses, MacIntyre took the ice this morning at the Checkers’ practice with the full team for the first time since his injury.
“I feel great,” said MacIntyre. “I’ve been practicing for a while, our team just hasn’t been skating much. But yeah, it feels really good out there.”
With the team getting lots of well-deserved rest time following a particularly grueling stretch of games, head coach Mark Morris hasn’t been able to see MacIntyre’s progress firsthand much up until now.
“He looked good today,” said Morris. “He looked focused. As far as I know, he’s ready to go. I think that the more focus he has in practice and the more he faces shots, the closer he is to playing.”
While this marked his first time practicing with the full team, MacIntyre has had plenty of action of the last week or so. When the team has had optional practices or morning skates, he has been on the ice working with the scratches and a coach. That approach has helped him attack his game from a different angle.
“It’s actually been good for me, doing little simple things and going back to basics,” said MacIntyre. “I think it’s helped my game. That’s my game. When I keep it simple I’m a lot more effective.”
The rehab has also given him time to put in work off the ice as well.
“I’ve gotten in good shape, I’ve been training a lot,” said MacIntyre. “When you’re playing a lot, you don’t always get the time in the gym. So there’s a positive take away from it.”
While the veteran has been able to work on honing his skills and getting his conditioning up, moving back into game-ready status is a big jump. As much as he can put into practice, there are some things that only games can bring.
“It’s just when you throw the mental capacity into the game,” said MacIntyre of the biggest challenge facing him. “When you’re doing practices and whatnot, it’s fine and it gets your timing going, but in games you get nerves and you have to use your brain. It’s different muscles you have to get going. So the biggest thing is just to relax and not make too much of it.”
“For anybody that’s been away, the game brings a higher level of focus,” said Morris. “It’s important that guys get their feel of the puck again and their timing. It’s a big challenge. When you haven’t been facing shots for an extended period of time, it’s pretty quick. And you don’t just get that back overnight.”
Heading into his Spengler Cup departure, MacIntyre was hitting his hottest stretch of the season and helping to kickstart what would be a record-setting run for the Checkers. He was 4-1-1 in his last six contests and was being leaned on a bit more after backup Rasmus Tirronen began to make more frequent starts.
The plan for when he left was to have the two young netminders Altshuller and Tirronen split crease duty until he returned. The Checkers got a pleasant surprise then when Altshuller took complete control of the net from Tirronen, rattling off the most impressive start to an AHL career that the franchise had seen and pushing the Checkers up the standings. Now, with MacIntyre finally back to full health, he can step in and keep that ball rolling.
“It has to bring out the hunger in him to know that there’s a little bit of competition there now, and that’s always healthy,” said Morris. “In-house competition is something that drives successful teams.”
With a pair of contests this weekend with Chicago, Morris is hoping that the netminder will be good to go against the Wolves. After watching his team enjoy their most success of the season from the sideline, so is MacIntyre.
“It’s definitely a different team than earlier in the year,” said MacIntyre. “It’s great to watch, but it’s tough to watch because you want to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to getting back.”
