Free to Roam

If there's one thing that you'd have to choose as Rob Daum's biggest impact of the Springfield Falcons so far after 8 games, it would have to be that he has turned the puck movers on the blue line loose. The restraints are gone and Cody has gone from tame to Wild again. In his 8 games since Daum got behind the Falcons bench, the former Providence Friar has been on fire.

He's getting much deserved PP time (Mathieu Roy has FINALLY been demoted to the 2nd PP unit) and he has delivered. Credited with 3-1-4 by the AHL, Wild actually has 3-2-5 in that time as Taylor Chorney was wrongly credited with his assist in Wednesday's game against Portland. Speaking of Wednesday's game, see for yourself the goof in score keeping (Chorney is #4 and Wild is #37) and while you're at it also check out his impressive game winning rush in OT.

Taylor Chorney has also been much better in terms of moving the puck up ice and he has been better offensively and defensively. The two are a formidable pairing as both can and will jump into the play, both can skate very well, and both can get the puck out of the zone by quick breakout passes or by skating the puck to neutral ice.

It sure is nice when you have a coach that plays to his teams strengths instead of trying to neuter them of their game. It is no coincidence that the Falcons offense has improved as a result of the defense being given the green light to get involved in the play, and a team that was being badly outscored is now 24GF and 24GA since Daum's arrival.

Special thanks to Soli from HF boards for providing the stats since Daum's arrival here.