They hit the ice this morning for practice two days removed from one of their worst losses of the season, a 9-3 blowout in San Antonio. While the nine goals allowed marked a season-high, there was a sense of optimism from head coach Jeff Daniels.
“We didn’t deserve to win, by any means, but I don’t think it was as bad as the score indicated,” said Daniels. “It wasn’t that lopsided, they just scored on their chances.”
As Daniels mentioned, the game was much closer at times than the final reflected. After the Rampage scored on two of their first three shots, Daniels pulled John Muse, a move he described as a combination of giving his team a fresh start and hopefully providing a spark. The Checkers responded by pulling within one goal early in the second period.
The wheels came off after that, however, as the Rampage lit it up for six goals over the next period and a half. With the game getting out of hand, Daniels was given a glimpse of what his team is made of.
“Sometimes you just want to sit back and see what kind of character you have on the team and see how they respond,” said Daniels.
While the team wasn’t able to do anything to stop the blowout, Daniels has been happy with his team’s attitude since, and this weekend’s tilts will be telling.
“It’s fine,” said Daniels of his team’s response. “These guys are pros, they understand that it wasn’t good enough and hopefully they respond this weekend.”
This four-game stretch has illustrated the highs and lows of the team. In the first two games, the Checkers kept two of the AHL’s best offenses to one goal apiece and earned wins. They then followed that up by allowing a combined 15 goals in the next two games, resulting in five and six-goal losses, respectively. Daniels didn’t have a perfect answer for the reasoning behind that discrepancy, but he did have one for how the team must play going forward.
“Some goals just weren’t good goals, some were just mental breakdowns,” said Daniels. “It wasn’t just one thing. I think if we’re on top of our game and playing the right way, we’re not giving up nine or six goals. That’s what we have to do.”
Some other news and notes from this week:
Home Stretch
With 12 games remaining on the schedule, the Checkers currently sit 13 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. While they haven’t been mathematically eliminated, it would take a miraculous string of events for the Checkers to make the playoffs.But the fact that there may be nothing tangible left to play for doesn’t mean the effort level will drop. In fact, these are the games where the organization can learn a lot about its players.
“You want guys that play hard no matter the situation,” said Daniels. “It’s easy when things are going well and you’re in a playoff spot. It’s easy to get up for those games. The true character comes out when you’re out of the playoff picture. How are you going to respond?”
With a roster of guys who have won National Championships, Memorial Cups, Kelly Cups and even a Stanley Cup, there are many players that have not experienced this current situation of being so far out of the race with games left to play. But even so, Daniels sees no need to bring any extra motivation to the locker room.
“We want guys that respond the right way and play hard right to the end,” said Daniels. “If you have to motivate them, those are the guys you don’t want around.”
The Checkers certainly don’t get any kind of breaks in their home stretch, facing several tough opponents at the end of their schedule. But as we saw last week, they are capable of taking down the top teams in the league with their best performances, and the lack of meaning isn’t an excuse to take their foot off the gas.
“The message is that you’re going to play a lot of those type of games coming down the stretch,” said Daniels. “Rockford three times, Grand Rapids, Oklahoma City, a lot of good teams that are in that position where they’re trying to get ready for the playoffs and make sure they’re getting home ice and all that. So we can’t afford to go into games and not bring our best effort.”
Biega's Shot
“I’m happy for him,” said Daniels. “He came in last year and we weren’t sure where he was going to fit in, and then all of a sudden he’s in our top four and playing like a veteran. And obviously in the last couple of weeks he’s been a guy that we’ve really leaned on based on all the call-ups and some injuries. He’s earned that opportunity and hopefully he enjoys it and it goes well for him.”
While it is always a good thing to see players get a shot in the NHL, the loss of Biega leaves the Checkers with a big question mark on the blue line.
“We know he’s playing tonight and we’ll just go from there,” said Daniels on whether Biega would be back for this weekend’s games in Iowa. “So I’ve got to look around and find a D since we only have five right now. We’ll have to see where we’re at Saturday.”
Without Biega, the Checkers defensive corps consists of two rookies (Trevor Carrick and Dennis Robertson), two players that have spent a sizeable amount of time in the ECHL (Austin Levi and Beau Schmitz) and one player on a professional tryout contract (Mike Cornell).
Although Daniels pointed to bringing on a player via PTO as his course of action for this weekend, a move to watch for going forward would be bringing on a Carolina prospect that has finished their collegiate or junior career and are turning pro.
“Obviously we are looking, but a lot of the kids they have are still playing,” said Daniels. “At this time of the year you always have kids come in for the experience, so we’ll just see how their season goes.”
If the team does bring on a prospect, they would follow in the footsteps of current Checkers such as Brock McGinn, Phil Di Giuseppe, Dennis Robertson and several others.
Lineup Notes
LaRose, who has missed 11 games since getting injured during the team’s trip to Toronto, took part in this morning’s practice sans yellow no-contact jersey, which is always a good sign.
“That’s the first time we’ve seen him since he’s been hurt, so we’re just going to take it day by day with him,” said Daniels. “He says he feels good but we have to make sure we’re all on the same page in regards to him coming back.”
Even with his timetable for returning uncertain, the mere presence of LaRose at practice provided a boost to his teammates.
“Rosey came out and gave us a little spark and some energy out there,” said Daniels. “He’s talking on the ice and he keeps the guys loose. He’s a good spark to have.”
Along with those two, the Checkers will most likely be without alternate captain Ben Holmstrom for at least one of this weekend’s contests. Holmstrom was given a match penalty for his actions in the latter stages of Tuesday’s loss in San Antonio.
“I’m assuming he’ll be suspended at least one game since it was a match penalty, but I have not heard back from the league in regards to if it’s one game or how long it is,” said Daniels.
Update: The AHL has since announced a two-game suspension for Holmstrom.
Without Holmstrom, the Checkers will face the Wild this weekend without a healthy extra, meaning Carter Sandlak and Alex Aleardi will both be in the lineup. With the addition of Sean Dolan, the team has five true centers, giving them the flexibility to slide Patrick Brown in from the wing.
