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Moose coach yanks leading scorer

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 01/29/2010 12:16 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

WORCESTER, MASS. -- Manitoba Moose head coach Scott Arniel issued a rare public rebuke of one of his own players here this afternoon, calling out his leading scorer Sergei Shirokov in advance of the club’s game tonight against the Worcester Sharks.

Arniel yanked Shirokov from the top line in practice here this morning, putting newly arrived Vancouver Canucks right winger Jannik Hansen in Shirokov’s spot on the line with Marco Rosa and Michael Grabner.

Arniel didn’t mince words when asked about the move after the skate.

"Changes have to be made," said Arniel. "Sergei has to work harder. He’s got to work harder when he’s away from the puck, he’s got to work harder when he goes into the corners to battle for pucks.

"We’ll shift it around a little. He has to be better, as do a lot of guys. To score goals, you have to work to go into traffic and hard to play areas. Hopefully, he gets a little bit of the message here and is better tonight."

The Moose have scored just 11 goals in losing their last five games, four of them by wide margins.

The addition of Hansen -- a proven AHL goal scorer who’s also shown some touch with Vancouver -- to the Moose lineup provides the Moose with a potential offensive spark they’ve been lacking.

Hansen said he welcomes the opportunity to play after being a healthy scratch the past few weeks with Vancouver. "It’s been awhile since I played last and obviously you want to play hockey games," said Hansen, who arrived here Thursday evening and skated this morning for the first time with his new teammates.

"I’ve seen where they are the last few games and hopefully I can help them out a little bit. The NHL is obviously where I want to be -- no question -- but I will get a chance to play here and I’m looking forward to it."

Game time tonight is 6:05 p.m. CT.

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