Through eleven games this season, the Checkers have not registered consecutive wins, making them one of four AHL teams with that distinction. The team has had five two-game series thus far, splitting four of those, and with a schedule that is heavy with those two-game stands, the Checkers will need to find a way to put those wins together if they want to gain any sort of momentum.
In beating Texas just one game after being on the wrong end of a lopsided blowout, the team showed they were capable of rebounding from bad games and playing well. But there is no time to dwell on previous games, even the wins.
“It’s no different than moving on after a tough game on Saturday, we’ve got to move on from a good game on Monday,” said Daniels. “Yeah, we played well, but we’ve got to prove it again.”
The Checkers are coming off arguably their biggest win of the year so far, a 3-1 trouncing of the defending champion Texas Stars, but have struggled following those victories up. In the games following their three other wins this season, the Checkers are 0-3, with a combined score of 14-4. More specifically, they have had trouble in the first period of those matchups, getting outscored 9-0 and outshot 49-20 in the first frames alone.
“I think the last couple times we’ve kind of relaxed the next game and thought it was going to be easy again, but it takes hard work,” said Daniels. “You look back at those games, the first period we weren’t ready to play.”
With a two-game series in San Antonio coming up this weekend, coach Daniels is stressing to his team not to get caught up in the past contests, but to go in and get the job done, and hopefully come home with a winning streak.
“We had a good win, but let’s make it a better win tomorrow.”
Other news and notes from opening weekend:
LEADERS
“They’ve been great,” said Daniels. “Without a doubt, they’ve been outstanding leaders both on and off the ice.”
Michal Jordan, one of the last remaining original Checkers, along with Greg Nemisz, acquired last season, and Ben Holmstrom, added in the offseason, are wearing letters this season. They, along with veterans like Kyle Hagel and Chad LaRose and established Checkers like Justin Shugg have helped ease the transition that the rookies face coming into their first season of professional hockey.
“We have a lot of first year players learning the pro game and learning to live on their own,” said Daniels. “We’ve had guys take them grocery shopping and teach them how to cook, and then teaching them how to practice and taking them upstairs for extra workouts.”
With rookies like Brock McGinn, Phil Di Giuseppe and Trevor Carrick on the precipice of breaking through with their game and putting points on the board, the influence of those leaders could help push them to where they want to be.
“I think in the long run they’re going to learn a lot from those guys,” said Daniels.
The Road To Recovery
“There’s really no timeframe,” said Daniels. “They’re on the ice but they’re not practicing. They’re not coming on the road with us, so we’ll see where we’re at when we get back.”
While those two find themselves out of the lineup, Justin Shugg has finally recovered from his injury and, per Daniels, will play this weekend in San Antonio. The forward hasn’t appeared in a game since getting hurt against Chicago on October 12, so his presence will be a welcome addition to a Checkers team that is struggling to put pucks in the net.
“Shugg is going to be huge,” said Daniels. “He’s probably our most skilled player up front. He’ll help five-on-five, he’ll hopefully give us a spark on our powerplay and hopefully he can create some offense for us. He’ll be a good addition.”
As for Holmstrom and Brown, they have obviously been impactful players, but their return seems to be far enough away that Daniels is more interested in preparing the team he has for their next test.
“They’ll give us more depth up front,” said Daniels. “But we’re just going to focus on what we have going into tomorrow night’s game.”
PTOs PROVING THEIR WORTH
A.J. Jenks joined this year’s team on October 24, returning to Charlotte having played 63 games in a Checkers sweater in his career. The familiarity between Jenks and the organization was a major factor in his signing, and the decision has proven to be good one.
“He’s gotten better and better, said Daniels. “Jenks has experience here and he looks real comfortable.”
The other two forwards, Andrew Rowe and Kyle Jean, are newcomers to the team, but not the AHL. Rowe has established himself as a standout scorer at the ECHL level, and Jean has displayed a similar offensive flair, putting up 10 points in nine games this season with Greenville. Rowe has appeared in three games so far and Jean has played one, but both have shown that they can make a positive impact on the team.
“I think Andrew has gotten better each game and looked a little more comfortable and tried to create a few more plays,” said Daniels. “And I think Kyle came in and did a good job of protecting the puck and using his size and made some plays out there. It was a tough game because it was a three-in-three for him and he had to travel back from Orlando.”
All three were brought in to fill holes left in the lineup, either by injuries or suspensions, but are being given a shot to prove their worth to the team, and what their future holds will be up to how they play.
“They looked good this week in practice and they know it’s about the opportunity they have right now,” said Daniels. “And just because we get healthy bodies back doesn’t mean those have to be the guys that go. If they’re going to make us better, we’ll find room for them.”
