Belated Notes at Noon: Checkers At Home Tonight, More Praise For Jeff Daniels
by Bob Wage on May 2, 2011 2:13 PM EDT
in Charlotte Checkers
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The Charlotte Checkers resume their series against the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins tonight at Time Warner Arena with their series all tied up at one game apiece. Charlotte took game one, 3-2 while the "Baby Pens" shutout the Checkers, 3-0 in game two.
Zac Dalpe leads Charlotte in postseason scoring with a total of 9 points, (4G 5A) followed closely by Zach Boychuk with 8 points, (3G 5A). Drayson Bowman, (2G 5A) and Brett Sutter, (2G 5A) are also contributing nicely on offensive as they have seven points each.
Mike Murphy has been solid in net and has a 4-2 postseason record with a GAA of 2.17 and save percentage of .929.
Newly signed defenseman Justin Faulk has made his presence known and has two assists in just five games so far in his short AHL career.
For more information, be sure to check out Hockeymom's Game Day Guide which has the latest and greatest stat info about the Checkers. Feel free to print out the form and take it to the game as a reference if you like. Another nice job by HM.
Canes Country's Game Guide: Checkers vs WBS Penguins
The Checkers will be at home for games on Wednesday and Friday nights as well. Tickets are still available for all three home games. (Friday night is "Free Cowbell Night".)
For more info, check out GoCheckers.com.
Checkers head coach and general manager, Jeff Daniels, has been getting more and more attention, and rightfully so. In this morning's News and Observer and Charlotte Observer,, Chip Alexander had a nice write up about the coach.
Jeff Daniels, Good Coach and Good Teacher
Daniels seems to be well-liked and respected by his players. Obviously, having the ability to teach the game at that level is of paramount importance.
"Jeff is so balanced," center Nick Dodge said. "You always feel very comfortable playing for him, knowing if that you make a mistake he's going to point it out but not rip into you. He's just a good teacher of the game."
Here are a couple more links related to this big series:
Penguins Insider " Game 2 Post-Game 4/30
They delivered several crushing hits — led by Joey Mormina flattening Brad Herauf and Tim Wallace running over Chris Terry — and got into countless post-whistle confrontations en route to a 3-0 victory. They might not be able to match Charlotte skill for skill, but they muck it up way better than the Checkers do. After the game, the Penguins said they weren’t trying to employ any kind of strategy or push any buttons. They said they were just playing the way they like to play. But I think it was part of a plan. I think the Penguins think Charlotte is lacking in the toughness department and they’re going to try to exploit that perceived weakness.
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They said they were just playing the way they like to play. But I think it was part of a plan. I think the Penguins think Charlotte is lacking in the toughness department and they’re going to try to exploit that perceived weakness.
Yes, probably true, like the big league team there’s no size on our farm club either. But the real reason is the Baby Pens play the same system as their NHL club, and it’s defensive focus and playing tough hockey. The winner of this series will be whomever can exert their style of play more often. So far it’s even.
Oooo Off Topic
But a notes at noon kind of comment. Read this on Puck Daddy:
Carolina Hurricanes: So apparently Jimmy Rutherford is still in the “evaluation process” about this season and where the organization goes from here. Oooo, Jim! Pick me! Fire the coach and sign some defensemen! There, I’ve solved your problems.
Guess some of us here aren’t the only ones singing this tune…
Very interesting… I don’t really know what to make of it. My guess would be there was a lot of pressure from above to make the Playoffs this year and JR sacrificed a LOT of valuable assets to try and make it happen. As JR has said before, re-signing a lot of our UFAs was dependent on making the Playoffs… Maybe they are deciding who they can afford to keep and if we can still have the budget to field a competitive team next year.
My bet would be we lose Stillman, Cole, LaRose, and Pitkanen to UFA. Jussi, Joslin, Tlusty, Bodie, and Sutter are re-signed. One bottom pairing D is signed on the cheap to replace Pitkanen but management will hype him up as a top-4 guy. Dalpe, Boychuk, and likely Bowman are regulars next year.
In that scenario… I think we are still actually under the Cap floor. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Canes were a floor team next year. Maybe that means Cole can be re-signed to an over-inflated contract to meet the minimum.
i could live with losing those four
my biggest issue is if we do lose pitkanen, why didn’t we move him for assets prior to trade deadline? he didn’t make a huge impact on our failed playoff run. unless nobody wanted him, but if that’s the case, he could be resigned on the cheap. either JR is losing it or his hands were tied…
"We've got to look at this," Columbus general manager Scott Howson said Monday after exit interviews with the players. "Because whatever we have right now isn't working."
by Sergeant Stinky on May 3, 2011 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Several potential reasons:
a. They thought they had a decent shot at re-signing him (playoff revenue possibly included in that assessment.)
b. They didn’t get a great offer for him because there wasn’t another team that wanted him for the stretch and believed it could re-sign him.
c. They didn’t want to pull the rug out from under a team that had fought hard to position itself in the playoff race deep into the season and didn’t believe they could capably replace him for the stretch run themselves.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Wait, huh?
Which valuable assets were sacrificed?
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Are the articles about JD part of a campaign?
Seeing these articles makes me wonder if they are appearing by chance or if the Canes are orchestrating a campaign to make JD acceptable as a Canes’ coach despite the lack of NHL experience.
I wasn’t thinking about a pro-Maurice backlash, but an anti-PK backlash for not paying to get an established NHL coach. JD may work out if this speculation comes to pass, but the Canes will be open to the accusation of taking the cheap way out instead of going after the best proven coach they can afford.
by curiouscanesfan on May 2, 2011 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions
in fairness, their rosters weren't so shabby when they arrived on the scene
"We've got to look at this," Columbus general manager Scott Howson said Monday after exit interviews with the players. "Because whatever we have right now isn't working."
by Sergeant Stinky on May 3, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
true, but
WIth the exception of our defense—which with Joslin improving and hopefully McBain getting stronger it could be better than what Mo just spent a season coaching…
Offensively, if we re-sign Cole and Jussi, you have a strong forward lineup, and JD would know best if Osala could come in and add size at the pro level or if he needs more time in the AHL. In a salary Cap league, you can’t have everything. We’ve got a good offense, and a good goalie. We need a coach who can play to that offense, get the D to be an ensemble of adequacy, and let Cam be the final word. Mo’s coaching strength isn’t up to exploiting the offense strength we currently posess, especially with the potential youthful additions of Dalpe, Boychuck, et al. Yet this is exactly the kind of team JD is coaching now in the AHL and taking through the playoffs…Hmmm.
JD has shown an adaption abiltiy to match his team against his opponents despite their different strengths and has come out ahead. I like that aspect of his coaching a lot.
Yes, I know, he supposed plays the same system as Mo and the big club… But he’s making it work, and his defense is iffy too, but getting the job done with his goalie’s help.
Brings up an interesting question then… Does anyone think Mo would be having this type of success with Charlotte if the roles were reversed.? Tough and unfair question that it is…
Yes.
With the amount of skill and recent high draft picks we have on that roster, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be competing at the level they are.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:14 AM EDT up reply actions
JD has shown an adaption abiltiy to match his team against his opponents despite their different strengths and has come out ahead. I like that aspect of his coaching a lot.
This is huge. Take the current series with the baby pens. They’re bigger and frankly meaner than the checkers. Last night i saw a team win by basically avoiding the physical game. the checkers out skated and out shot the competition while playing a positionally sound defensive game. Except for the one break down that led to a 2 on 1 and a goal that Murphy had no chance on, they let their speed keep them a step ahead of the baby pens.
it was very much an ‘art of war’ influenced strategy. JD didn’t have them going weakness against strength or even strength against strength. He had that team playing their strength against the baby pens weakness and didn’t let them use their size against us.
I like Joslin and see potential, but I think we are getting ahead of ourselves if we believe he is the savior of what is at best a mediocre defense. Joni has his faults, but neither Joslin, McBain or any of our prospects have yet come even remotely close to showing that they can replace the 25+ minutes a night that Joni played at that level.
Some of Joni’s lost concentration and mistakes are memorable…. but over the course of the season of we broke down the game film on every night and all those minutes, I still contend there were also a lot of very good things he did. Would I want him back…. not necessarily since I just don’t think he has that passionate “over drive” gear that is necessary to be a game changer in key games and playoffs. For whatever reason that just isn’t in him. But you need a guy of his caliber during a long season and we would need to sign a free agent to replace his lost minutes.
Lost in all of this is Gleason. If he plays like he did this past season, and comes with the attitude he gave in the exit interviews where said he thought he played OK, then we are in even more trouble. Sure he’s tough but on many nights he wasn’t even our 4th best defenseman. Honestly I’d rather we re-sign Joni as our offensive minded minute gobbler, trade Gleason and bring in a hard nosed free agent who isn’t caught flat footed and out of position. If we are truly going to get even younger in the forward ranks and the inevitable mistakes that will bring, we better have a solid D or else Cam and the back up will need to post .945 save % to keep us even close to a playoff position,
I agree, just making the comment that with natural improvement in these players (plus having Allen), compared to what Mo had for the majority of last year, we look better next year. But yes, without Joni that would change our defense a lot. He needs to be signed, or someone capable needs to be found to replace him—and that’s a trade for a vet or free agent dealing. Given the market, it’d be better if we could sign Joni before FA opens…
If we have hope the roster will improve, why would we not give Maurice the chance to let the team's performance improve with it?
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:14 AM EDT up reply actions
Absolutely.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:13 AM EDT up reply actions
if one were to look
Both the Canes & Checkers both have poor PP stats…and I think the checkers have a better PK % than the Canes did..i feel that due to the youth and speed of the checkers they made the playoffs and sadly the canes didn’t
What did you do during the playoffs ? Go Checkers v& Chiefs !!
AHL is far different than the NHL, though.
That youth and speed can show up because the drawback of those things (inexperience) is matched by much of the rest of the league.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Checkers take a 2-1 series lead with a win in ot
Brett Sutter gets the ot winner
Post game, highlights
Recap
Good to see the Checkers making a run…..Wish I could go to a game.
Desperation from Day One......let's not wait until the end!
TWC Arena and Checkers' Organization
The TWC Arena is a great place to watch hockey. The Checkers’ organization does a great job as well. Checkers’ hockey is very fun to watch live. I’m heading there Friday.
Anyone else getting a sneaky suspicion Brett Sutter may be a closet find? One who could add a good hard working, gritty level of play for us at the NHL level either as a 3rd line defensive guy who has the occasional scoring touch or as a good energy 4th liner??
He might be a great linemate for his cousin….
I don't know about all that.
At best, it seemed like a 50-50 proposition that he’d ever be an NHL regular in any capacity, much less as a potential top-nine guy.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:18 AM EDT up reply actions
PM will remain next season
this is my hunch. unless something bizarre happens, Mo will be here for at least half of next season and if we are at a standstill, i have no idea what would happen. but ain’t no way they’re going to pay 2 NHL coaches and Daniels IMO will remain in the AHL with the checkers for at least one more season. I hope we can make some good trades and resignings to make the playoffs. if we don’t make the playoffs next season, i think mo is out.
I think Mo will have a short leash next season. As long as he improves the team in those areas where we were deficient last season: faceoffs; power play; 4th line utilization; consistent and not overslotted line combinations; and the team is in the hunt around Thanksgiving then he is safe. If not, there options in the organization even if just on an interim basis ( JD and Barrasso) until the end of the season when a permanent replacement could be announced.
Utilizing your fourth line a lot doesn't make any sense when their talent level lags so far behind the top nine.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on May 4, 2011 3:19 AM EDT up reply actions
Disagree completely on two counts
1. Talent level drop—on this team, last year, there was little difference between the 4th and third lines. At many junctures throughout the season, the 4th line actually generated more scoring opportunities than the top line, and was more responsible in their defensive roles. Besides that, you could make this statement for every team in the league.
2. Hockey is made up of role players, both on individual lines and in roles between lines. We had the players who showed they could both provide energy, be defensively responsible, keep posession in the offensive zone, and provide valuable rest for top lines. A perfect use for the 4th line which isn’t in Mo’s coaching accumen.
Our talent level as noted in other posts—especially as realted to the forwards—was on par with playoff caliber teams. Our scoring for most of the season (12th overall, and previously top ten before Mo’s coach imposed defensive ‘responsibility first’ approach lowered our numbers) showed we had adequate talent, and our 4th line talent was on par with what most other teams were fielding throughout the season, we jus didn’t use them as this coach never has. Both previously here and in Toronto Mo rode players and lines into the ground.
Our major issues are less talent but lack of specific role players (a big hitting forward) which makes a difference in gaining room and gaining puck posession so our goal scoring talent can get space to shoot.
I think the biggest factor is how far the checkers make it in the AHL playoffs.
if JD wins the Calder, he’s going to start looking for the next challenge. Maybe that’s a repeat, but I think he’ll also look to move to the big show. Whether that’s with the Canes or another team is up to PK and JR.
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