“It was a starting point for us as a group,” said head coach Geordie Kinnear. “It’s a good reminder that you have to respect the process.”
The weekend trip saw the Checkers take down the Thunderbirds on Saturday by a 4-3 score before falling to the Bruins 6-3 the next afternoon. The first tilt saw Charlotte come out of the gates strong and hold on through a push from the home team, while the latter was a back-and-forth contest until Providence took control.
“We were aggressive at times but obviously gave up way too many chances,” said Kinnear. “I’m not a fan of giving up nine goals - I know there was an empty netter too but that means you were losing. We want to clean a lot of that up.”
A specific bright spot on the weekend was Charlotte’s man advantage. The Checkers scored three power-play goals on eight opportunities across the two contests, including cashing in twice during the win over the Thunderbirds.
“It was important in Springfield, you score the two power-play goals, you get on the board,” said Kinnear of his power-play units. “You want to make sure special teams has a good start, and the power play obviously was a positive. It’s a building block for all the aspects of the game.”
With no preseason games on the slate and limited time with their full group of players, those first two road games represented a first true look at what this version of the Checkers could look like - with plenty of room to tweak and grow.
“It’s a lot of teaching,” said Kinnear. “We want to play a certain way, we want to make sure that we’re detailed.”
As the coach mentioned before that trip, he is just as interested in the building at this point in the season as he is in the results.
“We have to respect that it’s the first time this group has been together with me on the bench,” said Kinnear. “It was a building block.”
Using that building block has been the big focus of this week’s skates.
“I told the group that we’re going to respect our process,” said Kinnear. “We’re going to enjoy it but we’re going to move the needle. That’s the only time I get upset, if we’re not looking to get better and if we’re not moving the needle. I felt the guys did a great job today in practice. I’m looking for the group to move the needle, individually and collectively.”
VILMANIS AIMS FOR BIGGER ROLE
The Checkers carried a large roster with them on the road over the weekend, and the coaching staff utilized the two contests to get as many players onto the ice at some point. While three of the forward lines were shuffled around between the two games, the top line remained the same to start both tilts - Jack Studnicka at center with Sandis Vilmanis and Jack Devine on his wings.“I think we were doing pretty good in practice and in the first game,” said Vilmanis. “As you saw, the connections were there.”
For Vilmanis, that’s a positive place to start for his sophomore campaign after posting 27 points in 61 games as a rookie.
“I want to get the coaches’ trust more and play a bigger role on the team,” said the 21-year-old Latvian of the step he’s looking to take in year two. “Be more consistent in my game. I’m going to try to do those things and I think it’ll be good.”
An abbreviated amount of time with a complete roster at training camp means there is still likely to be plenty of tweaking ahead, but Vilmanis is set to keep building chemistry with his linemates.
“We only had a couple of practices with the guys in our lines right now,” he said. “Still, work needs to be done, we need to be better and we’re going to work on that in every practice.”
COOPER'S CREASE
One consistent piece across both games so far this season has been between the pipes.Cooper Black got the start in Saturday’s opener and Sunday’s afternoon matchup - a noteworthy scenario as the netminder did not make any starts on back-to-back days as a rookie last season and only started consecutive games in general on two occasions.
“Last year he got starts where it was - I wouldn’t say predetermined but a lot of heads up,” said Kinnear. “Now we want to challenge people to get better. We’re looking for him to build.”
Black split the weekend’s decision and stopped 26 and 23 shots. Last season there were only three outings where he made more stops than that.
“That’s not an easy team to play against in a back-to-back,” said Kinnear. “Let alone a 3:00 game the next day. It’s an education for him, education for us.”
The Checkers going with Black for both legs of the road trip is a rare sighting. In fact, it was only the fourth time in franchise history that a goalie has started the first two games of the season and the first since 2018-19.
How the crease is handled moving forward remains to be seen. With Brandon Bussi getting claimed off of waivers, the Checkers entered the new season with a tandem of Black and Kirill Gerasimyuk - the 22-year-old Russian who is playing in North America for the first time. Charlotte added to their platoon this week by signing sixth-year pro Kevin Mandolese to a PTO, but the netminder hasn’t yet joined the team for practice.
Regardless of how the group looks, the coaching staff’s mission for Black is clear.
“For him to take a step,” said Kinnear.
WELCOME TO NORTH AMERICA
Ludvig Jansson got his first taste of the North American game over the weekend.“It’s a fast game out there,” said the 21-year-old Swede. “It’s a bit different from back home. Back home it’s maybe more technical, here it’s more skilled and fast paced. It was a big difference.”
Jansson spent the last two years with Lulea in his native country’s top league and helped guide the club to a championship this past season. A fourth-round pick by Florida in 2022, he’s now making the jump across the pond to continue his development.
“I hopefully can bring a lot of speed and offense,” he said. “I want to be a creative player. In the end I just want to win games.”
It didn’t take long for Jansson to make an impact, as he lit the lamp in his Charlotte debut on Saturday, and he’s looking to keep building momentum on the blue line.
“I want to be a trustable d-man,” said Jansson. “I want to play in every situation - if we’re in the lead or if we’re down one or two, I want to play all the time. In the beginning here I have to gain trust.”
Jansson is one of four Swedes that started the season with Charlotte - joining Wilmer Skoog, who is back for his third season in Charlotte, Anton Lundmark, who also made his North American debut over the weekend, and Tobias Bjornfot, who skated alongside Jansson on Friday before being called up to Florida.
Having that contingent of countrymates has made him feel a little more welcome on his new team.
“Of course, it helps a lot,” said Jansson. “Especially with Skoog who has been here for a couple of years. That helps me a lot, to have someone to lean on. It’s nice to clear your mind sometimes and not to think of English, just to speak my own language.”
INJURY NOTES
After missing a bit of training camp, rookie Hunter St. Martin is still waiting to make his pro debut. The 20-year-old has been skating at practice as a part of the extra line of forwards, though - a positive sign.“He’s banged up,” said Kinnear. “We’re excited about the player and the person to be a part of our group. He’s trending the right way, so hopefully he’s taken enough steps this week that we can get him in a game this weekend.”
