There were plenty of high and low points over the weekend, but the Checkers were able to emerge with a split thanks to a convincing victory on Saturday to avenge Friday’s tight loss.
With actual game action finally under their belts, the Checkers were able to drill down this week in practice.
“Just keep building,” said head coach Geordie Kinnear of the focus this week. “We showed them why we were successful in certain areas of the game, why we weren’t in other areas, things to improve on - both individually and collectively. I thought it was a good week of work.”
One of the main points of emphasis coming from the coaching staff day in and day out is building an identity as a team. Heading into the year there was a blueprint on how they envisioned their team would play. Now that they’ve seen this group in action, the challenge becomes balancing that initial game plan with the realities of the team on the ice.
“As a coach you have a certain way you want to play,” said Kinnear. “But you always have to adjust to your personnel a little bit. I think we’re a young eager group that wants to skate, so we want to play to those strengths. We want to continue to build that, but that will be a process moving forward.”
BLUE-LINE PRODUCTION
Fresh off a strong rookie campaign, Santtu Kinnunen stole the show on opening weekend with two helpers in each contest - giving him a team-best four points thus far this season.“He’s a natural hard worker and he has passion for the game,” said Kinnear. “I think you can see that when he plays and when he practices, he loves to be out there, he loves to compete and he loves to make plays. His growth has been very evident.”
Kinnunen’s eye for playmaking was on full display against the Penguins, and his offensive flair is representative of how dangerous Charlotte’s back end can be. “It’s the way the game is played. In the modern-day game everyone has to be a part of the attack.”
DALPE'S BIG NIGHT
Zac Dalpe hit another milestone in his impressive career over the weekend, skating in his 500th AHL game on Saturday night.Dalpe’s career has spanned 14 years and six different teams in the AHL alone, and perhaps no one has seen as much of that run as Kinnear - who was behind the bench for both game one and game 500.
“I’m proud of him,” said Kinnear after Saturday’s game. “I’m proud that he’s a Charlotte Checker and I’m proud of seeing him from day one in the American Hockey League to where we are now. We’ve come full circle and we’re enjoying being around the rink together.”
The magnitude of the milestone was not lost on Dalpe, who was also quick to share the accolade with those around him.
“I’m most proud of the people sticking with me through the ups and downs,” said Dalpe after the game. “I’ve had a lot of injuries in my career, and I’ve been staring at this number for a while. To get to this number is a testament not only to my hard work but my wife and my dad and my brothers and my extended family. It’s special. You grow up wanting to play pro hockey and the fact that you get to lace them up for 500 in any league is a privilege. I’m just happy to finally get it out of the way.”
That 500-game mark becomes even more impressive when you look at what Dalpe has been able to do at the NHL level as well - logging 168 games at the top level and affixing himself as a piece of Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
“The job we have, we’re obviously blessed,” said Kinnear. “He’s been blessed to have a great hockey career. You look at him last year with the Stanley Cup Finals, I know that meant a lot to him because he’s put in a lot of hard work in the minors and the mental challenges along the way.”
The Checkers captain isn’t showing any signs of slowing down either, posting a pair of assists through the first two tilts of this season.
IN THE CREASE
One of the more intriguing storylines for the Checkers coming into the season was how things would shake out between the pipes.Making up Charlotte’s goalie platoon is Spencer Knight - a first rounder with an NHL pedigree looking to get back on track after missing the back half of last season, Mack Guzda, a second-year pro who shined for Charlotte through the ups and downs of his rookie year, and Ludovic Waeber, a standout in the top Swiss league for the last several years who made the jump to North America this season.
“We have three goalies that allow the team to play with confidence, that’s part of their job,” said Kinnear during training camp. “We’re just taking it a day at a time, continuing to get better, being in the moment, and the opportunities will come as we move forward, as we all know. Since I’ve been here we had a year with eight goalie wins, so we’re going to need everybody. The great teams use everybody. We’re looking forward to having a good group.”
Knight got the nod on opening night - his first game action since Feb. 18 - and, despite ultimately being saddled with the loss, looked strong between the pipes with 23 saves on 25 shots.
“You ask your goalie to keep you in the game,” said Kinnear after Friday’s contest. “A 0-0 hockey game going into the third, we had a couple of mistakes that end up in the back of the net. I thought for the first game in a while that he was really solid for us.”
Guzda started in the following night’s rematch and turned in a gem of a performance, stopping 32 of 33 en route to Charlotte’s first win of the season.
“Hard work always pays off,” said Kinnear. “The hardest part is doing the work when you’re in the moment, and I’m proud of the work he put in. You always want to reward your work and obviously he was one of the guys rewarded tonight.”
The Checkers are now set to embark on a grueling slate of five games in eight days. They start with back-to-back tilts in Toronto over the weekend, then travel to Rochester for a midweek bout and then quickly return home to host Bridgeport two days after that. Kinnear said that the great teams use everybody, and this chunk of the schedule could be his team’s first chance to take advantage of the deep goalie corps.
