Charlotte Checkers
Charlotte Checkers | |
---|---|
City | Charlotte, North Carolina |
League | American Hockey League |
Conference | Eastern |
Division | Atlantic |
Founded | 1990 |
Home arena | Bojangles Coliseum |
Colors | Red, black, silver, white |
Owner(s) | Michael Kahn |
General manager | Gregory Campbell |
Head coach | Geordie Kinnear |
Captain | Zac Dalpe |
Media | AHL.TV (Internet) |
Affiliates | Florida Panthers (NHL) Florida Everblades (ECHL) |
Franchise history | |
1990–1993 | Capital District Islanders |
1993–2010 | Albany River Rats |
2010–present | Charlotte Checkers |
Championships | |
Regular season titles | 1 (2018–19) |
Division titles | 2 (2018–19, 2021–22) |
Conference titles | 1 (2018–19) |
Calder Cups | 1 (2018–19) |
Current uniform | |
Current season |
The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional
History
The franchise was originally based in Troy, New York, as the Capital District Islanders from 1990 to 1993. They then became the Albany River Rats from 1993 to 2010, until the River Rats were sold to MAK Hockey, LLC, led by Charlotte beer distributor Michael Kahn, owner of the ECHL Checkers.[1] The new ownership relocated the team to Charlotte for the 2010–11 season, renaming the franchise the "Charlotte Checkers", and relinquished the ECHL franchise to the league.[2][3]
The Checkers are the second North Carolina-based team to play at the highest level of minor-league hockey, following the
The AHL Checkers' first home game was October 15, 2010 at the
In late 2014, the Checkers announced they would return in the following season to the
In Charlotte on May 9 and 10, 2018, in game four of the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs, the Checkers and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms played the longest game in the history of the American Hockey League. A 1–1 tie was broken by a Phantoms' goal at 6:48 of the fifth overtime period, more than six hours after the game began. The Checkers made 95 shots against Lehigh Valley goalie Alex Lyon.[12]
The 2018–19 season was the Checkers' best season as an AHL team to date and one of the best in Charlotte's hockey history. They won their first division title with 110 points and the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the league's best regular season record. It was the first time a Charlotte hockey team had broken the 100-point barrier since the SHL Checkers earned 101 points in 1974–75. They defeated the defending champion Toronto Marlies in the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Calder Cup final. They defeated the Chicago Wolves in five games to win their first AHL title, and the seventh hockey championship by a Charlotte-based team.[13]
The following 2019–20 season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Calder Cup was not awarded. Following the cancelled postseason, the Hurricanes ended their affiliation with the Checkers after ten seasons,[14] resulting in the Checkers affiliating with the Florida Panthers beginning with the 2020–21 season. However, due to the ongoing restrictions during the pandemic, the Checkers were one of three teams that opted out of the 2020–21 AHL season.[15] When the Checkers returned for the 2021–22 season, they remained the primary affiliate of the Panthers, but agreed to also serve as the affiliate for the 2021–22 expansion team Seattle Kraken. The Kraken's general manager Ron Francis formerly worked for the Hurricanes when the team was still affiliated with the Checkers.[16]
Season-by-season results
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for |
Goals against |
Standing | Year | Prelims | 1st round |
2nd round |
3rd round |
Finals |
2010–11 | 80 | 44 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 97 | .606 | 265 | 243 | 3rd, East | 2011 | — | W, 4–2, HER | W, 4–2, WBS | L, 0–4, BNG | — |
2011–12 | 76 | 38 | 29 | 3 | 6 | 85 | .559 | 209 | 214 | 3rd, Midwest | 2012 | Did not qualify | ||||
2012–13 | 76 | 42 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 92 | .605 | 226 | 202 | 2nd, South | 2013 | — | L, 2–3, OKC | — | — | — |
2013–14 | 76 | 37 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 77 | .507 | 228 | 241 | 4th, West | 2014 | Did not qualify | ||||
2014–15 | 76 | 31 | 38 | 6 | 1 | 69 | .454 | 172 | 231 | 4th, West | 2015 | Did not qualify | ||||
2015–16 | 76 | 36 | 32 | 3 | 5 | 80 | .526 | 214 | 229 | 5th, Central | 2016 | Did not qualify | ||||
2016–17 | 76 | 39 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 86 | .566 | 212 | 208 | 4th, Central | 2017 | — | L, 2–3, CHI | — | — | — |
2017–18 | 76 | 46 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 96 | .632 | 261 | 212 | 3rd, Atlantic | 2018 | — | W, 3–0, WBS | L, 1–4, LV | — | — |
2018–19 | 76 | 51 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 110 | .724 | 255 | 189 | 1st, Atlantic | 2019 | — | W, 3–1, PRO | W, 4–0, HER | W, 4–2, TOR | W, 4–1, CHI |
2019–20 | 61 | 34 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 73 | .598 | 202 | 172 | 3rd, Atlantic | 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
2020–21 | Did not participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic | 2021 |
Did not participate | |||||||||||||
2021–22 | 72 | 42 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 90 | .625 | 234 | 197 | 1st, Atlantic | 2022 | BYE | W, 3–1, BRI | L, 0–3, SPR | — | — |
2022–23 | 72 | 39 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 86 | .597 | 235 | 220 | 3rd, Atlantic | 2023 | W, 2–1, LV | L, 1–3, HER | — | — | — |
Players
Current roster
Updated March 22, 2024.[17][18]
Team captains
- Bryan Rodney, 2010–11
- Brett Sutter, 2011–14
- Michal Jordan, 2014–15
- Derek Ryan, 2015–16
- Patrick Brown, 2016–19
- Roland McKeown, 2019–20
- Zac Dalpe, 2021–present
References
- ^ "Capital District Sports announce River Rats sale". Albany River Rats. February 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
- ^ "AHL Hockey coming to Charlotte in 2010-11". Charlotte Checkers. February 15, 2010. Archived from the original on February 19, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
- ^ "Charlotte added to AHL for 2010-11". American Hockey League. February 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 2018-02-15. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
- ^ "CHECKERS DOUBLED UP, 4-2, IN HISTORIC OPENER". Charlotte Checkers. October 15, 2010. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "CHECKERS BLANK WHALE IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD!". Charlotte Checkers. February 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ Lasko, Seth (April 10, 2015). "Charlotte Checkers looking to leave Time Warner Cable Arena with team attendance record". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ Niedzielski, Nicholas (April 11, 2015). "Checkers fall to Rockford in front of record crowd". Charlotte Checkers. Archived from the original on 2015-04-18. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ Brough, Jason (November 25, 2014). "The Charlotte Checkers would like to move back to Bojangles' Coliseum". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
- ^ Branecky, Paul (December 9, 2014). "Checkers Make Return to Bojangles' Coliseum Official". Charlotte Checkers. Archived from the original on 2015-02-09. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- Charlotte Business Journal. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-02-14. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
- ^ "Charlotte City Council Approves Funding to Renovate Bojangles' Coliseum". Charlotte Checkers. December 8, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-02-19. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
- ^ "MARATHON MEN: PHANTOMS WIN LONGEST AHL GAME EVER". American Hockey League. May 10, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-10. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
- ^ Niedzielski, Nicholas (June 9, 2019). "CHECKERS WIN CALDER CUP CHAMPIONSHIP". Charlotte Checkers. Archived from the original on 2019-06-10. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "Wolves forge partnership with Carolina Hurricanes". Chicago Wolves. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ^ "28 teams to participate in 2020-21 AHL season". American Hockey League. January 4, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- ^ Pelletier, Justin (July 2, 2021). "No longer affiliated with the Canes, the AHL's Checkers now have two NHL parent clubs". The Herald-Sun. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "Charlotte Checkers Team Roster". Charlotte Checkers. March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ "Charlotte Checkers current roster". Elite Prospects. March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.