1) Friday's home opener looked a lot like the third game of the season in Chicago. The team was heavily out-shot and out-played but Drew Macintyre gave them a chance to win. Saturday was a much better effort and the emotions boiled over into four fights. The result was the same however; no points garnered in the standings.
2) Cory Stillman says that this group of young forwards may be the most talented the Checkers have ever had but they are still very raw and need time to develop their game. Stillman, winner of two Stanley Cups, was on the bench for both games at home against Grand Rapids.
4) Nazem Kadri on comparing himself to John Tavares: "Talent-wise, there’s not too much difference, to be honest." Kadri may be right about having as much talent as Tavares. The fundamental question is, what are you doing with that talent?
5) The Checkers face a winless Iowa Wild on Friday and Saturday night in Des Moines. I don't think it's unfair to say at this point that Charlotte must take points home after the weekend. You can only stumble out of the blocks for so long until you're out of the race. Listen to both games live on TuneIn Radio. 7:45 p.m. pregame show followed by a puck drop shortly after 8 p.m. EST.
6) To paraphrase Sun Tzu: You can be successful even if you aren't a disciplined team by having a great penalty kill. But, if you're team is unable to kill off power-plays against and constantly finds itself shorthanded, you will never win.
7) On the bright side, it seems like any moment now, Brock McGinn is going to score his first professional goal. I think he's getting better every single game. Once he figures it out, he will be a player to watch.
8) The greatest goaltender in NHL history, Dominik Hasek, will have his number retired in Buffalo on Jan. 13. It is particularly apt that the game will be against Detroit, the team Hasek won two Stanley Cups with. If you had to pick one goalie in his prime to win one game, Hasek is the guy. The bigger the moment, the better he performed.
9) I can't imagine it would be possible to train harder than Chris Terry did this summer to prepare for the NHL season. His hard work has paid off with three goals in four games. I've said in the past that he will go down as one of the best players to put on a Checkers sweater. He is further proof that patience and perseverance can give anyone the upper hand when their time comes.
10) Great work this weekend by the Checkers front office to put on two flawless game productions over the weekend. Many hundreds of hours go into putting every game on and we appreciate the fans'' support. Congrats to Tera Black, Eric Bridenstine, Shawn Lynch and the rest of the staff for their effort.
