Checkers broadcaster Jason Shaya checks in each week with his 10 Thoughts - a series of observations about the team and the hockey world in general.
1) Anyone see the cheap shot attempt by Andre Deveaux on Rassmus Rissenen on Sunday? He tried to punch Rissanen with an upper-cut that just missed during a scrum. Had he connected, it wouldn’t have been pretty. The play was gutless. Someone from Charlotte has to make him answer for it the next time they are in town.
2) Jacob Markstrom, goaltender of the Rampage, is the best goalie I’ve seen in the AHL (not named Justin Peters). His save on Jeremy Welsh in the dying moments of Saturday’s game to preserve a 3-2 victory was epic.
3) Speaking of Peters, his second-period save sequence was a turning point in the game. He made several remarkable stops and it gave Charlotte the boost they needed to push back on the Rampage.
4) NHL general managers Jim Rutherford and Doug Wilson recently discussed cutting down the size of goaltender equipment. The latest claim is that leg pads are too high above the knee resulting in pads that are not simply for protection but also for five-hole coverage. The perpetual war against goalie equipment needs to end. It’s absurd. Shooters have the best technology in skates, sticks and anything else that allows them to be faster, shoot harder and more accurate and all I ever read is that people want goalies to disarm themselves. Enough is enough. There is nothing wrong with goalie equipment.
5) During Saturday’s intermission interview with Wilky, we pumped the tires of the Habs and weren’t so nice to the Caps. Later that night, the Montreal got waxed and Washington destroyed Florida. We don’t like being upstaged.
6) Ok, really funny, New Jersey … you can stop winning now.
7) How much longer until Randy Carlyle gets what he wants and the Leafs trade for Corey Perry?
8) Not only do players fight through injuries, so does the hockey staff. When a Checkers player, who shall remain nameless, smashed his stick on the bench after missing a breakaway, a piece went flying into the foot of equipment manager Steve Latin, Despite the bone bruise (no joke), Steve managed to finish the game. He was seen on Sunday limping.
9) I was watching a Detroit Red Wings game the other day and the broadcast showed Wings forward and Switzerland native Damien Brunner’s parents in the crowd. The broadcasters mentioned Brunner’s parents had never visited the United States in their lives. This struck me as very strange. The greatest country in the history of civilization exists contemporaneously to your time on earth. You’d think you’d make time to come take a look.
10) MSG’s John Giannone got hit in the face with a puck during a Rangers/Islanders game as he was reporting between the benches. Despite bleeding and swelling, he finished the game and showed up the next broadcast sporting a black eye. I would’ve cried and went home.
11) If Michal Jordan keeps playing like he is now, he is going to make the Canes give him serious consideration for a spot next season. This is the best hockey we have seen from him during his pro career.
12) Checkers owner Michael Kahn donated $25,000 to the Go Jen Go project from the Michael A. Kahn Family Foundation on Saturday. The ovation received for Jen was epic during the check presentation. She had absolutely no idea it was coming and the look on her face was priceless. What a monumental moment in team history.
13) Really excited to see the best broadcast team in the AHL when we get back to Chicago to play the Wolves on Thursday night. Jason Shaver and Billy Gardner are two of the best. We don’t play Chicago enough. The games are always good battles.
14) Pitchers and catchers report for spring training this week. Amongst them will not be Donald White, who formally announced his retirement from baseball last weekend. Sad for baseball but great for the Checkers.
