“The biggest thing is understanding that your role might change when you get up top,” said Stillman, who is in his second year as the organization’s director of forward development following his retirement as a player in 2011. Why do some players take longer to make it than others? Fifteen years later, I was on the first line.” “For being a high pick, I took the long way in order to play on the fourth line. “I was a high draft pick to the NHL (sixth overall in 1992), got sent back to junior and played two years in the minors,” said Stillman, a point-per-game player on the Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup team. Assistant coach Geordie Kinnear played 461 games in those leagues before getting his first taste of the NHL in year seven.Ĭory Stillman, who, along with Glen Wesley (defensemen) and Greg Stefan (goalies), spends significant time with the Checkers during the season, can also pass along lessons from personal experience. Daniels ended up playing a total of 425 NHL games, but not until he had played 515 in the IHL and AHL.
You have to prove yourself, and those guys have.”įor players like Bowman, Nash, Bellemore and Peters, it’s a message that required some reinforcement, which the organization’s player development staff was happy to provide. Some guys have taken a little longer than others to make the jump, but it starts down here. “They deserve all the credit because they’re doing all the hard work.
#Nhl rebuilt 2004 coaches professional
“From a young age, they made a commitment to being professional hockey players,” said Checkers coach Jeff Daniels, who is in his sixth season as head coach of the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate. To date, the former group is an example of how things are supposed to work – taking players who were productive in juniors and in college and slowly molding them into those capable of playing at the highest level. Olympic team, and Ryan Murphy played their games with the Checkers but had the pedigree that was always going to make their stays quite short. Others, like defensemen Justin Faulk, who recently made the U.S. While the Carolina Hurricanes made a total of 81 recalls involving 26 different players in Charlotte’s first three AHL seasons, this is the first in which the longer-term fruits of that labor are beginning to show.įour players who spent significant time with Charlotte in recent seasons – forwards Drayson Bowman and Riley Nash, defenseman Brett Bellemore and goalie Justin Peters – have been with the Hurricanes for most, if not all, of the season, seemingly cementing themselves as full-time NHL players.
At the end of the day, the Checkers’ goal is to get as many players to the NHL as possible.