1) The Checkers will have to endure a seven-hour bus ride from San Antonio after the game on Friday to play in Oklahoma City the following day. Why would anyone think that back to back games against teams that are over 460 miles apart is a good idea? Especially now that the team is a final push for the playoffs, every game is hugely important. To go into the biggest game of the year against the Barons on Saturday having been sleep deprived is completely unfair and unnecessary.
2) Last week’s game against Iowa on Wednesday was a debacle of epic proportions. By the last faceoff, Iowa had four players left on the bench. After almost every whistle in the third period, a Wild player would jump a Checkers player to get into a fight. Here is Iowa, the last-placed team in the conference with all that anger after being waxed by Charlotte. Yet, where was all this pride and emotion the previous two months when you’re losing almost every night? Suddenly, when the season is basically over, they cared enough to get mad.
3) At one point, an Iowa forward, who has scored exactly zero goals this season, jumped Zach Boychuk, who had five points in that game. Good thing Boychuk turtled or he could’ve been seriously injured.
5) Jared Staal has piled up the offensive chances the past few weeks and was finally rewarded with a goal on Sunday. He hasn’t had the bounces go in his favor the past couple of games but persistence pays off. He’s playing the best hockey I’ve seen from him in the past four seasons right now.
6) A belated happy birthday to Chris Sutter, the younger brother of Checkers captain Brett Sutter. Chris had a blast this week hanging out with family and friends in Charlotte celebrating his 21st birthday. He had a few nights to remember along the way.
7) If the Checkers make the postseason, the most underappreciated contributions will have come from defensemen Dan Biega and Michal Jordan. The two have been paired together almost since the season started and are out there in every major scenario for the team.
8) The Checkers had their annual golf tournament yesterday. It’s always interesting to hear which players are the best at golf but if I had to guess, I think Mark Flood would win the green jacket.
9) Nine years ago today, Pope John Paul II returned to the House of the Father after losing his long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He will be officially canonized later this month. His message of peace and hope still radiates around the globe. “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” – JP2
10) The most important games of the season are coming up this weekend. The two-game set in OKC may very well determine the future of the Checkers. A postseason spot hangs in the balance and the Checkers must find a way to win on a difficult set of three games in three nights. If the Barons get Mark Arcobello back, they will be far more formidable than we saw at Time Warner Cable Arena when they gave the Checkers all they could handle. It’s not playoff hockey yet, but you’d never know by the way these past few weeks haven been played. Join us online for the games on AHLLIVE, TuneIn Radio and ESPN 730 for every minute of the action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
