Checkers training camp is 'built' by Timberstone Homes

Paul Branecky

The players placed on waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday have all cleared, meaning that they will stay on the Checkers’ roster for the time being.

Goaltender Justin Peters, defensemen Mathieu Roy and Bobby Sanguinetti, and forwards Chris Durno, Jon Matsumoto, Jerome Samson and Brett Sutter were all eligible to be claimed by other NHL teams up until noon on Friday, meaning that they could have left immediately with no compensation. Their clearance provides a boost to the Checkers roster, which is finally beginning to take shape.

Of that group, only Durno and Roy will suit up for the Checkers’ preseason opener against Lake Erie at Extreme Ice Center tonight, as coach Jeff Daniels aims to get a look at less established players before making cuts on Saturday. The team's full lineup is below.

“We’ve got some first-year players on AHL contracts and we want to see what we have,” said Daniels. Other players recently assigned to Charlotte who will be in the lineup include goaltender Mike Murphy, defenseman Justin Krueger and forward Chris Terry. Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk will sit out.

FRIDAY’S LINEUP

GOAL

Mike Murphy John Muse

DEFENSE

Brett Bellemore Ryan Donald Michal Jordan Justin Krueger Chris Murray Rasmus Rissanen Mathieu Roy

FORWARD

Matt Beca Nicolas Blanchard Chris Durno Mike McKenzie Cedric McNicoll Matt Pistilli Scott Pitt Justin Shugg Justin Soryal Jared Staal Chris Terry

Though some of Thursday’s AHL assignments required waivers and some did not due to their combinations of age and experience, all share the common disappointment of not having made the Hurricanes roster. That was particularly true of the forwards, who were thought to have a good chance starting in the NHL but, according to Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice, didn’t pose a serious challenge to Zac Dalpe and Jiri Tlusty.

“The camp started well with fitness testing and practices, but for whatever reason the things I wanted to do during the games didn’t quite happen,” said Boychuk, who played 23 games with the Hurricanes last season, scoring seven points. “They told me I had a good camp, but that I might have lost a little bit of the dynamic side that I used to have.  They told me I was worrying about systems too much and was afraid to make mistakes.

“Now I’m going to come down here and work as hard as I can and try to get back to get back there as soon as possible.”

Daniels, who deals with similar circumstances each year, understands the initial letdown.

“It’s a tough day,” he acknowledged. “They’re disappointed and they’re upset because they trained all summer long to try to make the big club. At some point there's going to be injuries and they'll have to call somebody up. At that point I can only recommend who’s playing well, so they can’t come down here and mope, and if they do that it's going to affect their play and affect the team."

Provided the incoming players do handle things the right way, which certainly seemed to be the case with Boychuk, their presence should only help the Checkers, no matter how long their stay might be.

“Especially up front, it’s really the core of our offense,” said Daniels. “These guys have proven that they can produce at this level.”

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