When it comes to rookies, the vicious circle of inconsistency is as difficult to avoid as a Winnipeg pothole.

Fortunately for the Manitoba Moose, freshman forward Michael Grabner's circle came back around at an opportune time last weekend. The 20-year-old from Villach, Austria at one time had been the AHL's hottest player with a five-game goal-scoring streak. But he had been a lost soul for weeks and even had been sent to the press box a couple of times before his determination earned him a couple of key goals in Manitoba's 3-1 win at Hamilton on Sunday.

Those were his 16th and 17th goals of the season -- not bad in the big picture but not exactly encouraging when he had 14 goals at the season's halfway point.

"I say it all the time, that how (rookies) turn the corner after Jan. 1 has a big effect on how your team does," Moose GM Craig Heisinger said Wednesday. "You can usually count on your veteran guys and even when they go into a slump, you know they know how to deal with it.

"Michael had a pretty good first half but he hadn't scored in 20 games and to say he's turned a corner would be a little bit unfair to him and it'd be lying if I said it.

"He came up with a good time to break through but it's about consistency, about being gritty every night and about preparation."

Moose coach Scott Arniel said Grabner's weeks of struggle in the new year were almost predictable.

"In my short period here, there's a lot of it, that young guys, there's a span over the eight months you're together that you lose them," Arniel said after practice at Gateway Recreation Centre Wednesday.

"It's part of living on your own, travelling, all the games, practices, and I don't know if it's that they lose their focus, their giddy-up or whatever, and Grabs wasn't scoring and then he wasn't competing and then he wasn't going to the traffic areas to score the goals. Then he got down on himself.

"You could tell in the practices and the games that he was very frustrated because nothing was going in. I think the one constant was to keep working at it, keep taking your shots and battling (because) if you're just a goal scorer and you're not scoring, you look pretty plain. You've got to do other things."

The coach eagerly praised Grabner for coming to life before his slump officially ended Sunday.

He had a strong weekend as the Moose swept three games in Ontario, and he'll be looking for more of that this weekend when the Moose play in Hershey on Saturday and Sunday.

"I think he's a good kid, eager to get to the next level," Arniel said of Vancouver's first-round pick of 2006.

"His big assets are his speed and shot and you've seen it when he wants to pull away from people, he blows right by."

NOTES: The Moose added defenceman Travis Ramsey, 24, and forward Kevin Estrada, 25, on Wednesday. Ramsey was the captain at Maine (NCAA) this season, capping a four-year career there, while Estrada has been one of Victoria's (ECHL) best players this season and earned a call-up, Moose coach Scott Arniel said. Both may play this weekend... on Wednesday, seven Moose (Jimmy Sharrow, Mike Keane, Drew MacIntyre, Daniel Rahimi, P.C. Labrie, Colby Genoway and Zack FitzGerald) had their heads shaved to support the Power 97 Cut for Cancer, with proceeds to support the Canadian Cancer Society. Fans will be able to join in the support and have their heads shaved and/or make donations before the April 5 home game at MTS Centre.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca