To me, this was the highlight of the ChompTalk radio show this past week- the interview with Jamie Baker.  And I believe this was the highlight of the interview (all transcription errors mine):

ChompTalk: What’s going on with Jonathan Cheechoo?

Jamie Baker: With Cheech- he’s won the Rocket Richard, but he won that the first year out of the lockout.  I think the game has gotten faster every single year. And he’s not – his skating, if he’s got one weakness in his game, and I’m not saying it’s like a glaring weakness, but he’s not the best skater out there.  And you can’t afford to be a half step behind one way or the other, whether it be on the forecheck or on the backcheck.

So they started Clowe on the top line at the beginning of the year, and then they put Setoguchi there, and why is Setoguchi a better fit on the top line?  He’s faster than Clowe. Clowe is a much better fit on the second line, because that line plays a different type of style- Pavelski’s more hockey sense, you got Michalek in force, and Clowe almost plays the power forward, which is what Joe plays on the top line.

So where does Cheech fit in the top 6?  Stop looking at his numbers – Cheechoo – and creating expectations saying where is he going to provide value on this hockey team. What ingredient – and Todd McLellan talked about that a lot in the beginning of the year – what ingredient is he going to be?  And I think Cheechoo has to come back and not think about the numbers, and think about his role on this team.  Is he going to be a third line player?  Is he going to be a fourth line player? Or is he going to be a second or first line player?

If you’re not a first or second, which right now, those two lines, that’s taken.  So find out what your role’s going to be and if you chip in (on the scoresheet), great, and if you don’t, what are you doing? Are you drawing penalties? Are you creating chances?  Are you getting in the kitchen of the players on the other team? Are you playing strong defensive hockey?  Are you finishing your checks? You know there’s all these other things that you can do.  And that’s what I think is going to define how Jonathan Cheechoo plays on this hockey team.  Not getting caught up in the numbers. He’s now living with the big numbers he put up the first year or two after the lockout.  And I think the game has changed since then.

Full audio here.  If you want to go glass half-empty, you could say this means the halcyon days of Cheech are past, and now he’s just a guy with good hands.  Either way, I think the prescription is right on- Cheech just needs to shake off the mantle of the Richard, which has now become a yoke.  Play the high-intensity game that we know Cheech can play, and that will only help the squad.  If he “does the little things right” (and I hate that expression) on the 3rd line and the other team forgets about him and leaves him alone in the high slot, he could start scoring in bunches again.