Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan entered the 2014-15 season with five NHL games and 267 AHL games under his belt.
Yet the 24-year-old was recalled to the 'Canes on Nov. 25, mocked in a viral Michael Jordan comparison in his fourth appearance and, 34 games later, boasted the first six points of his NHL career.
Head coach Bill Peters was happy to keep seven or eight defensemen on the roster for most of the year, cycling different players through healthy scratch status each game to spread around experience and playing time in a lost season.
Jordan benefited from the scheme, regularly playing over more established NHLers like John-Michael Liles, Brett Bellemore and Tim Gleason.
At times, Jordan flourished as a result of this treatment.
His two goals—both on the power play—resulted from thinking one step ahead and pinching deep into the offensive zone, leading to a pair of tap-in scores.
He grew in confidence in all three zones, and his 1.61 blocked shots per game (61 in 38 games) led all defensemen on the team's end-of-season roster. He took ju ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Michal Jordan’s Fight for NHL Job Continues Beyond 2014-15 Breakout Year
April 20th, 2015 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
Advertisement