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The Manitoba Moose are winning a lot of hockey games these days, and that has allowed a few of their players to diversify their portfolios a bit. Or is it the other way around?
Moose head coach Randy Carlyle doesn't seem to care, as long as his players continue to perform outside the box and win games.
"When you have an opportunity to make a contribution, sometimes it's measured in goals and assists, sometimes it's measured in physical play, sometimes it's measured in physical confrontations, and the players have to accept that," Carlyle said yesterday, while his players enjoyed a day off. "Our expectation of them is that they all can contribute in some manner outside of their comfort zone."
Point streak
Take veteran defenceman Johnathan Aitken, for instance. He is in no way, shape or form a goal scorer or point getter, but he will ride a career-high five-game point streak into Friday night's home game against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Aitken, 26, scored his first goal of the season and added an assist on Sunday afternoon in Edmonton, where the Moose downed the Road Runners 4-3 and improved their North Division-leading record to 17-7-0-2.
Aitken, who was Manitoba's unsuccessful nominee for AHL player of the week, never had more than three consecutive games with a point during the first five years of his AHL career. In other words, or as Carlyle not so subtly put it, "It's very, very unexpected."
Aitken may disagree with his coach's liberal use of the word "very." He is on pace to score three goals and add 21 assists, which would shatter his best AHL season of two goals and 12 assists with the Providence Bruins in 1999-00.
"It's welcome any time a player has personal success and he's making a contribution to the team's success," Carlyle said. "It's like the chicken before the egg: Is it because the team's playing well or is it because he's playing well that's making the team play well?
"It's a combination of both things and we're gonna continue to push. It's not so much that we're gonna push for the offensive output from Johnathan Aitken. We're gonna push for a more consistent, abrasive type of game from him."
That, of course, is right up Aitken's alley.
AROUND THE GLASS: Now that the Canadian junior team has invaded the MTS Centre, the Moose will conduct an old-school practice today by going outdoors. They will work out at the Roblin Park Community Centre, which is located at 640 Pepperloaf Cres. The practice begins at 11 a.m. ... The Moose host the Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30. It will be their last action until after Christmas ... One of Manitoba's North Division foes, the Syracuse Crunch, added some firepower yesterday with the signings of twin brothers Chris and Peter Ferraro. The 31-year-old Americans had been playing in Sweden but are returning home in an attempt to help the Crunch improve their 10-9-3-3 record. Peter has 229 goals in 523 career AHL games, while Chris has 169 goals in 433 contests. Syracuse is the 13th team they have played on together since 1990-91 ... The AHL player of the week is Albany River Rats right-winger Aleksander Suglobov, who had five goals and two assists in three games.
