The Checkers played their first home game, at the new Bojangles’ Coliseum Saturday (Nov. 7). The result of the first game in the new coliseum was a 3-0 defeat against the Manitoba Moose. The Checkers did get revenge revenge against the Moose Sunday (Nov. 8) winning 3-2, and get their first home win of the season.
Also on the Checkers’ topic, in his Daily Cup of Joe for Wednesday morning, Matt suggested that he thought it might be time for the Hurricanes to reach to Charlotte for more scoring and even suggested pulling 2 Checkers players at once. You can read that post HERE.
Three Stars for the week
Rasmus Tirronen made sixteen saves on eighteen attempts on Sunday. Tirronen’s efforts helped the Checkers secure the teams first home win of the season and his first win in general for the season. Justin Shugg played his first game back from an injury Saturday night. Shugg is back from an upper body injury that caused him to miss eight straight games. While he didn’t put up any points Saturday, Shugg tallied two assists on Sunday. Both assists resulted in one-timer goals that were, perfectly timed passes by Shugg. He was also the primary assistor on the goal the Checkers scored with twenty-four seconds left in the game to go up by one goal. Jake Chelios is the man that scored the late go ahead goal for the Checkers. Chelios played impressively Sunday night registering five shots to go along with his game-winner for the Checkers. Chelios also looked calm handling the puck in the offensive zone. He made good decisions and tried not to force plays that would result in turnovers.
Who’s Hot
T.J. Hensick had a solid game for the Checkers Sunday night. He was able to put up two assists on Sunday. He played a grind it out game and was a good veteran presence for the young players on this Checkers team. Joakim Nordstrom was with the Checkers Saturday and Sunday night on a conditioning stint for the Hurricanes. He made the most of his playing time, scoring a goal on Sunday. Nordstrom displayed good on ice awareness scoring his goal right from slot. He found the open spot on the ice and was able to blast one home.
Who’s Not
Sergey Tolchinsky has not put up a point in now eight straight games. This is very unexpected, especially considering how talented Tolchinsky is. During the beginning of the season Tolchinsky was constantly visible and active for the entire game. Now Tolchinsky is much less of a presence on the ice than he was early in the season and he is just not as noticeable as he once was. The Checkers will need Tolchinsky to break out of this funk soon if they want to compete with the top teams in the League.
Injury and roster notes
Drayson Bowman, Danny Biega, Erik Karlsson, and Carter Sandlak were all scratches Saturday night. Sergey Tolchinsky, Danny Biega, and Carter Sandlak were all scratches Sunday night. On Sunday (Nov. 8) the Checkers recalled Justin Agosta from the Florida Everblades. Joakim Nordstrom who was sent down to Charlotte Thursday (Nov. 5), was called back up to the Hurricanes Sunday (Nov. 8). Brock McGinn and Brett Pesce are both still on call up with the Hurricanes.
Offensive lines as of now
First line: Zach Boychuk-Derek Ryan-Phil Di Giuseppe
Second line: Sergey Tolchinsky-T.J. Hensick-Justin Shugg
Third line: Brendan Woods-Brody Sutter-Patrick Brown
Fourth line: Erik Karlsson-David Wohlberg-Drayson Bowman
Defense pairings as of now
First Pairing: Trevor Carrick-Jaccob Slavin
Second Pairing: Rasmus Rissanen-Justin Agosta
Third Pairing: Jake Chelios-Tyler Ganly
