“I’m proud of the effort,” said Head Coach Geordie Kinnear.
The whirlwind weekend featured three different teams on consecutive nights, with the Checkers facing off against a litany of division opponents.
“Friday against Providence, they’re an elite hockey team and that was a good game - it could have gone either way,” said Kinnear of Charlotte’s wild overtime loss to the Bruins that saw it net the equalizer in the final minute. “We showed resilience in the end to get the goal there by Kiersted. I’m proud of the effort.”
Next was a big 5-2 win over the Islanders.
“Saturday, we were missing a lot of players and pieces but it’s more opportunity for guys to step up,” said Kinnear. “I thought a lot of guys did that big time. That’s what it’s about, sometimes you have to dig in and find ways to win hockey games.”
The finale didn’t fall the Checkers’ way, though, as they dropped their matchup against the Thunderbirds 5-2.
“It was a tall order on Sunday with regards to losing another key piece in Nasher,” said Kinnear, referencing the fact that leading scorer Riley Nash missed the game due to injury. “We had a three-in-three with travel and we had a team waiting for us that had only played one game. The first period we got back on our heels a little bit, but you look at the second period there was a lot of dig in.”
The Checkers returned home briefly this week, logging some practice and some rest before shipping out for another three-in-three this coming weekend. They’ll be looking to squeeze as many points out of the trip as they can, and while the results from this past weekend weren’t ideal, the play gave them plenty to build on.
“We obviously fell short but I’m proud of the effort,” said Kinnear.
STEPPING UP
The Checkers went through some roster upheaval just before their big road trip this past weekend, seeing Alex Lyon, Zac Dalpe and Grigori Denisenko all recalled to an ailing Panthers squad. Combined with the loss of Connor Bunnaman to injury the week before, and Charlotte suddenly had a fair amount of holes to fill in the roster.They turned to their ECHL affiliate in Florida for a couple of pieces in Xavier Cormier and Oliver Chau. The former is on an AHL deal with Charlotte and was recalled for the second time this season, while the latter joined the club on a PTO. Both rookie forwards were thrown right into things, with Cormier appearing in one contest and Chau suiting up for two while making appearances on Charlotte’s power-play unit.
“It’s an opportunity for some guys to come up from Florida to prove that they belong at this level and make the most of their opportunity,” said Kinnear.
In addition to those ECHL reinforcements, the Checkers made use of their surplus of skilled defensemen and tapped Dennis Cesana to fill in at forward for Saturday and Sunday’s tilts.
“I asked Dennis to play forward and he gave us great minutes,” said Kinnear.
The move not only showed the coaching staff’s confidence in the young blue liner’s ability to make an impact, but it illustrated the buy-in from the team across the board.
“We’re all about team,” said Kinnear. “It’s a tight-knit group and he wanted to do whatever to help the team. That’s what he did and I’m proud of him, I thought he played really well against Bridgeport up front and on the power play.”
It wasn’t just the skaters who stepped up either. With Alex Lyon gone, the Checkers have turned to the tandem of Mack Guzda and J-F Berube between the pipes. After turning in a stellar effort in Saturday’s win, Berube was called upon in relief to start the second period on Sunday - marking the first time that he has played in consecutive games - and stood tall for Charlotte once again.
“I thought he was excellent in Bridgeport,” said Kinnear. “Came up with a key save on Andreoff in a key part of the game. You can just tell his confidence level from his timing.”
The Checkers have carried three goalies for the majority of the season, with Lyon and Guzda handling the bulk of the workload. In fact, from the start of the season until Jan. 10, the veteran netminder had only appeared in two games. But as he has been called upon more over the last two months, Berube has delivered - since Jan. 11, he is 3-1-1 in six appearances with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.
“He’s worked extremely hard,” said Kinnear. “It’s not always easy in practice to be the third guy sometimes. It’s kind of like Cesana, we needed him to step up and he stepped up. I’m proud of the teammate, player and person he is.”
The good news for Charlotte is that Nash’s injury doesn’t appear to be long term - the alternate captain took the ice for the team’s practice on Tuesday - and would be a welcome piece back for the Checkers. In the meantime, they’ll continue looking for players to step up.
“He’s just day-to-day,” said Kinnear. “We’ll continue to gauge it day-by-day. Obviously it’s a tough schedule coming up - we go back on the road for three and then it’s right back after it again - so we’re going to need our depth to be contributors and have a positive impact in all the games.”
BOWLBY BLOWS UP
Throughout the season, Henry Bowlby has created more than his fair share of chances. Using his combination size and speed, the forward has been a dangerous weapon driving to the net, but had only converted five goals through his first 43 games.But now those bounces are going his way.
Bowlby has lit things up for Charlotte as of late and potted six goals in the last eight games - a stretch that has included two different three-game point streaks.
“Confidence is a wonderful thing,” said Kinnear. “It didn’t go easy for him at the start of the year and he was hard on himself - like anybody who wants to be good is. It’s going in for him right now so he’s just got to continue.”
Bowlby is part of a growing list of Checkers who have found their scoring touch out of a slump this season, and he can look to those teammates for an example of how to keep that momentum rolling.
“It’s like I said with Gerry [Mayhew], you have to continue to do the right things, master your craft and be consistent,” said Kinnear. “Bowlbs is more consistent now in his second full year as a pro.”
ADDING CONACHER
The Checkers added a big name to their roster last week, signing Cory Conacher to a PTO.The 33-year-old forward has 681 pro games under his belt and is nearly a point-per-game player in his 356 appearances at the AHL level.
An undrafted product out of Canisius College, Conacher worked his way up the ladder and carved out 193 NHL games to this point in his career. After spending the last two seasons in Swizterland’s top league, the veteran is aiming to make a splash back in North America.
“You look at Cory, he’s been a winner and has probably defied the odds along the way with his career,” said Kinnear. “But what I like when talking with him is that he’s hungry. You look at Zac Dalpe and why he’s been successful, it’s because he’s hungry and has a passion to play the game. Cory fits that category. He loves to play hockey and loves to compete.”
Conacher has racked up the accolades over his career. He was a part of the historic 2011-12 Norfolk Admirals campaign - in which he won both AHL MVP and Rookie of the Year, led the league in goals and captured a Calder Cup. He led two other teams to Calder Cup Final appearances in 2014-15 and 2016-17, he won a Swiss league title in 2015-16 and he’s made multiple postseason AHL All-Star teams.
“He’s a playoff-type guy who knows how to win,” said Kinnear. “He knows how to score goals in traffic areas. We’re excited to bring him on board.”
Conacher - who hasn’t yet joined the Checkers as he works through his visa process - appeared in two games for Belleville in early November but hasn’t played since, so there’s bound to be an adjustment period for the veteran. But as the competition ramps up and the playoff race tightens, he could prove to be a key piece for Charlotte down the stretch.
“He hasn’t played a lot this year, so he’s going to have to come in and find his way a little bit,” said Kinnear. “But we’re excited to have the caliber of person and the competitor that Cory is.”
