Checkers ready to finally resume playoffs

CHARLOTTE – Scott Laughton sat at his locker before practice Saturday, pretending to blow dust off of his gloves. It has been that long since the Charlotte Checkers have played a game.

Sunday afternoon at Bojangles' Arena, the Checkers will finally get the chance to play again when they take on the San Antonio Rampage in the start of the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference Finals.

"You joke about the long layoff but you'd rather be waiting a week to play a game than clean out your locker and have to wait until October to play," said Laughton.

When the official action resumes, the Checkers will have had five full days off since sweeping the Grand Rapids Griffins in round two of the playoffs on Monday.

"The rest is nice but having to turn on the intensity, then turn it off, and then turn it back on is kind of annoying," said Checkers alternate captain Dylan Reese. When asked if he would have rather seen the series go a couple of extra games, Reese's reaction was as expected. "Not whatsoever," he said with a grin.

The break led Charlotte head coach Jeff Blashill to run a full team scrimmage Friday, rather than practice. Blashill explained his reasoning against some who viewed the idea as reckless and a chance for players to be injured.

"You can only practice so much before you lose your edge a bit," said Blashill. "I don't think my guys are rusty but this does get them focused ahead of Game 1. In case you haven't noticed, we have many guys out of the lineup that don't deserve to be. It helps them be game-ready and keeps them involved."

Depth has certainly been on the side of this year's roster, perhaps even more than last season's Calder Cup-winning team. Defenseman Alex Biega has been one of the Checkers who has been unable to consistently crack the playoff lineup despite a strong 62-game regular season.

"Coach Blashill has been very up front with me -- with all of us -- about our roles for the playoffs," states Biega. "We know how good our team is and it sucks to sit out, but there are only so many spots in the lineup. I'm ready to go when my number is called."

The Checkers have dominated for their second-consecutive playoff run. They are 7-0 this postseason and have won nine straight playoff games dating back to last year.

Positively, the winning streak has allowed Blashill the leisure to rotate players into the lineup without much worry of harming their fortune. In Monday's Game 4 against Grand Rapids, Biega and fellow defenseman Mattias Backman, along with forward Tomas Nosek, were awarded  the opportunity to draw in. Similarly, former starting goaltender Drew MacIntyre succeeded in his chance to close out their first-round series with the Greenville Road Warriors, rather than John Gibson.

"Mac was our guy down the stretch after Gibby was called up," said Blashill. "He's an important part of our team and deserved the opportunity."

The Checkers' next opponent, the Rampage, caught fire late in the regular season and their momentum has carried into the playoffs. The affiliate of the Nashville Predators has won 17 of their last 22 games, including series victories over the top two teams in the Central Division, the Texas Stars and Quad City Mallards.

Their top line of Erik Haula, Andrej Nestrasil, and Jordan Martinook have combined for 39 points in the nine Rampage playoff games. Haula and Nestrasil are tied for the league lead in playoff points, each with 14.

Similarly to the Checkers, the Rampage have not played since Tuesday night when they disposed of the Mallards in five games. "Hopefully those guys have cooled off," said Checkers defenseman Taylor Fedun.

The teams split their regular season series 2-2, with all four games being won by the home team. It could cause a bit of worry to the Checkers if this were to hold pace -- this series is being played under a 2-3-2 format to cut back on costs.

It was the Rampage who ended Charlotte goalie John Gibson's 19-game winning streak earlier this season.

"Maybe we should just win in four then," Blashill smirked. "San Antonio is a nice place to visit and will be an even better place to visit in celebration."