However, it is worth pointing out that if Chris Terry had played in all of the St. John’s IceCaps’ 42 games to date and if in doing so, he had maintained his present pace, he would today be challenging for the American Hockey League scoring lead.
Heading into tonight’s game against the Toronto Marlies at Mile One Centre, Terry leads St. John’s in goals (12, tied with Charles Hudon), assists (19) and points (31) even though he’s dressed for just 24 games with the IceCaps.
What’s more, Terry has been a consistent point-producer — his 10-game scoring streak that ended Sunday in a loss to the Albany Devils is the third-longest by an AHL player this year. And he has maintained that consistency by avoiding the hangovers that often come with players being sent down from the NHL.
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It happened to IceCaps’ centre Michael McCarron after Montreal returned him to St. John’s last season. It could be very well what Nikita Scherbak has been experiencing in the half-dozen games following his demotion from the Canadiens.
However, Terry’s lengthy AHL point streak actually began when he was sent down from Montreal in early December, was broken up by another recall to the Canadiens later in the month and then resumed after another demotion.
No let-up.
“But I know that feeling. I’ve experienced it before when I was up and down quite a bit with Carolina,” said Terry, who spent seven years in the Hurricanes’ organization before signing with Montreal as a free agent last summer.
“Nobody wasn’t to get sent down, but I’ve also learned there’s also no reason to sulk. “That comes with maturity. First of all, you know you’re coming to a team that’s probably pretty happy to have you back. The other thing is that they are going to want the best player for the next call-up, so that’s motivation right there to be that player.”
After being sent down from Montreal Jan. 17, Terry scored in his first game with the IceCaps. Still, St. John’s head coach Sylvain Lefebvre believed the veteran forward was capable of being better.
“I actually didn’t think he played that well that first game back,” said Lefebvre. “I can’t say the reason exactly. Sometimes it’s the travel. Sometimes, you don’t realize how much an hour-and-half time difference can make.
“But whatever the reason, in his second game, he was ready to play.”
Lefebvre said he and Terry had a discussion in between those two contests, but feels it was self-adjustment by the player that led to the improvement
“We had talked, but he already knew he could be better,” said Lefebvre. “And that’s the thing that’s hard for some players to learn, especially at this level and especially when they are young.
“You need to know what type of game you play, what type of game you are capable of playing and to objective about, it … to know when you were good and when you weren’t so good.
“And then to do something about it. That’s what he did. And he did it quickly.”
Notes
The Marlies (18-20-3) enter tonight’s game (7:30) in fifth place in the AHL’s North Division, seven points behind third-place St. John’s (20-16-6) … After going 3-9-0 in December — including a 2-1 loss to the IceCaps in Toronto on Boxing Day — the Marlies have shown some improvement, going 5-5-1 so far this month … Toronto is led in scoring by Brendan Leipsic (11-27-38), Kasperi Kapanen (16-17-33) and rookie defenceman Andrew Nielsen (8-20-28) … St. John’s native Colin Greening has six goals and 14 points in 38 games for the Marlies … The two teams will also play 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Mile One. The quick turnaround is to allow participating players as much time as possible to travel to the AHL All-Star Classic, beginning in Allentown, Pa., on Sunday. The Marlies are being represented ion Allentown by forward Kerby Rychel, while the IceCaps are sending goalie Charlie Lindgren … These games are the last of an eight-game homestand for St. John’s and represent a final chance for the IceCaps to improve on what is a mediocre home-ice record. They are 10-8-2 at Mile One, just slightly better than the 10-8-4 line they have in road games.
bmcc@thetelegram.com
