DAWES WORKING ON WHEELS

Carolina

On a day where news is limited by lack of action, the Carolina franchise looks to one of it’s future stars and his development.

Nigel Dawes, the smallish sniper, has taken new strides to improve his game, literally.

"Nigel has really worked hard on increasing his overall quickness," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "He's been committed to making himself a complete player and one of his weaknesses has been his ability to elude checkers. Small guys like him need that edge, so to speak. He has the talent, he just needs to put it all together."

Dawes, 20, who had started off slowly, found himself on a new line with captain Brandon Reid and newcomer Junior Lessard.

"We felt he needed the veteran presence to be successful," said the coach. "Usually I can get a good feeling about guys and what their needs are. It just seemed to me that he needed two guys who had some leadership to help him find his stride again."

Look for Dawes to make a return to the lineup sometime this weekend.