Monarchs drop two at home

Ned Lukacevic makes a move on Bruin goalie Brian Finley

(photo courtesy of: www.unionleader.com)

The Manchester Monarchs are beginning to suffer from the void up the middle. To the extent that they moved nominal wingers Lauri Tukonen and Jeff Giuliano to center to patch up the riddle made up of strong wings and weak pivot.

“We aren’t blessed with guys with an enormous amount of experience at the center position,” said Monarchs coach Mark Morris. “We’ve got guys taking turns doing the job in the middle, a very important position. I think the stability that a real solid centerman gives is essential. We’ve tinkered a little bit. We’ve given opportunities to guys like Tukonen, Noah Clarke and Giuliano, but if you ask any of those guys their normal position is not in the middle.”

Another move was made to bolster the struggling defence as Shay Stephenson was getting ice time on defence in the season opening games. The moves did not exactly pay immediate dividends as the Monarchs dropped a close game vs Providence Bruins 0:1 on Saturday October 14, and then followed up with a losing cause against the Portland Pirates 4:5 on Sunday.

They don't play again until Friday October 20, when they hit the ice in Springfield against
the Falcons.

Looks like tidbits from another installment of coach Morris' quasi-blog should be preached and practised in the upcoming games if Manchester does not want to lose sight of the conference leaders. While the power play and the penalty kill have been more than adequate, avoiding penalties is one of the minors the Monarchs need to major in:

"[...] we need to stay out of the box. There is a fine line between playing with an edge and taking needless penalties. The latter has been a sore spot in our game in the early going".

Let's see if the team can play hard and clean in Springfield.