Carrick’s grace period over, wants to be impact player for Whalers

By Matt Mackinder –

After Connor Carrick gave up a full ride to the University of Michigan to instead play in the Ontario Hockey League with the Plymouth Whalers, some wondered if his previous two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program would prepare him for the OHL grind.

In the simplest of answers – yes.

Carrick, an 18-year-old defenseman with the Whalers, said his early-season adjustment period went smoothly, and now he wants to elevate his game to a higher level. More importantly, he wants to see the Whalers start to elevate their overall game and pull away in what has become a crowded West Division.

“One thing I’ve learned about this league is that if you want to be considered a contender, you have to be a dominant team and be consistently dominant,” said Carrick, a Chicago-area native. “I think we have another level here. With the NTDP, I saw other (USHL) team’s best every night and some of those teams just plain didn’t like us for one reason or another. Here, you play a team like Windsor and you get hit more in the first five minutes than you would the whole game against most other teams.

“I think my grace period is over and now it’s time for me to find that other level. My goal every game is to be the best player on the ice and I think I need to improve on being tough to play against, being that nasty player no one wants to face.”

In the first three months or so, Carrick, a Washington Capitals’ prospect, has seen what the rivalries Plymouth has with Windsor, Kitchener and London are all about. More than that, he’s taken the time to really experience the OHL away from Compuware Arena.

“They tell you coming in that it’s a lot more hockey and it is,” said Carrick. “We play 68 games (in the regular season) and over the past month or so, we’ve had mid-week games and then two on the weekend. What they tell you is true – it’s a grind. Going on the road, I had heard about the arenas in Windsor and London and Kitchener and they are for sure great places to play. Sitting in the locker room before a game in London, someone said that if you’re not up for a game like this playing in front of 9,000 fans, you have no future in this game.

“I have also liked the atmosphere of the rinks in Guelph and even Owen Sound. Those are smaller rinks, but they have the fan support and the atmosphere and it really surprised me the first time we went there.”

Another aspect of his good vibes with the Whalers has been Carrick’s relationship with head coach and general manager Mike Vellucci.

“I really like coach Vellucci and I think he does a great job,” Carrick said. “One thing I noticed right away is that he always seems to get the best out of his players. He keeps a tempo on each player and for me personally, he’s been the one to calm me down if I’m struggling. I guess the best way to explain coach is that he keeps you honest. You know what he expects and if you don’t give it to him, he’s not a happy guy.”

An alternate captain as a first-year player is not altogether a rarity, but for Carrick, he said he was humbled to get a letter and played the team-first card next.

“Numerous other guys could have been named a captain, but this is a responsibility I wanted,” said Carrick. “I just want to try and keep going out and leading by example and hopefully, earning my teammates’ respect along the way. In all honesty, we have so many quality leaders on this team that anyone could have been given an ‘A.’”

When Carrick’s rights were acquired from Guelph in July, he was immediately anointed as the Whalers’ new power-play quarterback and a player who could step right in and handle a 30-minute workload during any given game.

So far, Carrick has had no issues with playing time, but rather, with injuries piling up and players in and out of the lineup, having a consistent defense partner has been inconsistent, to say the least.

“Our power play as a whole, with the five guys we put out there, should not be performing where it has been, which is somewhere in the lower half of the league,” Carrick said. “As for my role, it’s been all I have hoped for and I couldn’t be happier.

“Points are great and they look good, but like I said, my goal for each game is to go out there and be the best defenseman on the ice in whatever manner that is. If we need a goal, I want to be the one to make the play. If I have to play against the other team’s top line, I’ll do that.

“We haven’t played to our full potential yet and I’m hoping we can find that other level here pretty quickly. We have all the tools to be a contender, but we’re not even through the first half of the season, so once the second half comes, we should be clicking and getting to that other level.”