MANCHESTER -- Parity can be a life-saver.
Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Manchester Monarchs have been able to stay in the AHL playoff hunt thanks to balance throughout the league. The Monarchs (28-26-2, 58 points) sit in second place in the Atlantic Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference heading into Thursday night's game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Already a young team from an experience standpoint and hampered by injuries and key call-ups to Los Angeles all season, the Monarchs have suffered through losing streaks of six and seven games already this year.
That would be enough excuse for most teams to pack it in. But the Monarchs have fought through it and are surviving, and league balance is a major factor in that.
As always, there are the strong Calder Cup contenders at the top (St. John's, Norfolk, Oklahoma City all in the neighborhood of 70 points) and the teams playing out the string at the bottom like the defending champion Binghamtom Senators (AHL-low 45 points).
But it's the rest of the league all jammed up in the middle that has made it so that the Monarchs, gutting it out, are in the thick of the fight. Of the 30 AHL teams, 20 of them are within 15 points of one another and teams continue to trade punches within their own conference.
“It's definitely balanced. Everyone plays everyone, you don't really venture out into the other conference,” said Monarchs defenseman and assistant captain Andrew Campbell. “We had a couple of long winning streaks as well that helped us out and made up for these losing funks we've been in. Every game is important and we've got to start stashing away points because it's really tight.”
Monarchs head coach Mark Morris has been tested all season with a lineup that hasn't been consistent from night-to-night, let alone week-to-week. As a result, young players continue to log more ice time than they would under ideal conditions.
“We've just tried to gut it out. We're squeezing the kids for all we can just trying to max out their potential,” Morris said. “There are times when it's very gratifying to see them have shifts in games where they are really getting the nuances of the game that it takes to play. Yet, old habits creep in and they're hard to break.”
If the Monarchs can continue to hang in there, help could be on the way. Veteran David Meckler (hand injury) is skating again but is still a ways off from returning. NHL veteran Trent Hunter joined the team Tuesday and his 497 NHL games would mean a lot to the young squad.
Currently called up to L.A., big bodies and scoring threats Dwight King and Jordan Nolan could also be back in Manchester at some point.
“We've still got over 20 games left and Nolan and Kinger are up and we could get one or both of them back. Mecks is going to be back,” Campbell said. “We're going to get some depth back, we've just got to keep going and find some chemistry.”
The next stretch of games is huge. Of the next seven games for Manchester, six are against Eastern Conference teams within six points of the Monarchs.
The balance means the playoff hunt will come down to the wire.
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THURSDAY'S game at WBS will be a chance for the Monarchs to exact some revenge. On Jan. 20 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins beat Manchester 4-1. The game is the only Thursday game on the Monarchs' schedule this year.
“They're quick, they're strong, they're experienced. They took it to us pretty hard last time we played down there and we really didn't have a chance in that game,” Morris said. “We started slow and they just turned the burners on and the game was pretty much over before we got our bearings. We'll have to be a lot better.”
The Monarchs have a rare Friday night off before returning to Verizon Wireless Arena for games Saturday (Albany, 7 p.m.) and Sunday (Providence, 3 p.m.).
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CARTER CAMPER is expected to make his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins tonight in St. Louis. The rookie was called up from Providence Monday. Camper has been outstanding in the AHL this season with 14 goals and 24 assists to lead the P-Bruins in scoring.
Camper is small (5-foot-9) but quick and was a Hobey Baker finalist at Miami-Ohio. Given that it's his first NHL game, look for a lot of energy (and some nerves) from Camper tonight.
Ian Clark covers pro hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is iclark@unionleader.com.
