Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010)

Charlotte Checkers
City	Charlotte, North Carolina
League	ECHL
Operated	1993–2010
Home arena	Time Warner Cable Arena
Colors	Powder blue, navy blue, red, white
Owner(s)	Michael Kahn
Franchise history
1993–2010	Charlotte Checkers
Championships
Regular season titles	none
Division Championships	none
Conference Championships	95-96
Kelly Cups	95–96

The Charlotte Checkers were an American ice hockey team in Charlotte, North Carolina, and played in the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League).

Franchise history

Following a 17-year break from ice hockey, the Checkers returned in 1993 and made the playoffs ten times, including winning the ECHL Championship in 1996.^[1]

The Checkers franchise was founded in 1993 and played from then until 2005 in Bojangles' Coliseum. In 2005, they moved to Time Warner Cable Arena. The team set their all time attendance record of 12,398 on February 21, 2009 in a 5-2 win against the Florida Everblades. Their previous record was 11,237 in a loss against the Texas Wildcatters in February 2007.

On January 21, 2010, it was reported that negotiations were underway for the owner of the Checkers to buy the Albany River Rats, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.^[2] On February 10, the sale of the River Rats to the Checkers owner was confirmed, with the Rats taking on the Checkers identity starting with the 2010-11 season. As a result of this, the Checkers' ECHL membership was relinquished to the League at the end of the 2009-10 ECHL season, ending the franchise's ECHL history.^[3][4]

Season-by-season record

Records as of 2009-10 season.^[5]

Season	Conference	Division	Regular Season										Post Season Result	Individual & team honors
			GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Pct	GF	GA	Coach
1993-94		East	68	39	25	1	3	82	0.574	281	271	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1994-95		East	68	37	22	4	5	83	0.544	274	261	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1995–96		East	70	45	21		4	94	0.643	294	250	John Marks	Won Championship	Riley Cup Riley Cup MVP (Nick Vitucci)
1996-97		East	70	35	28		7	77	0.55	271	267	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1997-98	Southern	Southeast	70	35	24		11	81	0.579	251	237	John Marks	Lost in round 2
1998-99	Southern	Southeast	70	29	30		11	69	0.493	221	262	Shawn Wheeler	Out of Playoffs
1999–00	Southern	Northeast	70	25	38		7	54	0.357	186	254	Shawn Wheeler Don MacAdam	Out of Playoffs
2000-01	Southern	Northeast	72	34	26	6	6	80	0.556	247	252	Don MacAdam	Lost in round 2	ECHL MVP (Scott King) Leading Scorer (Scott King)
2001-02	Southern	Northeast	72	41	20	3	8	93	0.646	256	207	Don MacAdam	Lost in round 2
2002-03	Southern	Northeast	72	41	28	3	0	85	0.59	262	234	Don MacAdam	Out of Playoffs
2003-04	Eastern	Southern	72	31	32	4	5	71	0.493	206	230	Don MacAdam Derek Wilkinson	Out of Playoffs
2004-05	American	East	72	39	26	2	5	85	0.59	226	219	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 3
2005-06	American	South	72	33	34	2	3	71	0.493	232	254	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 1
2006-07	American	South	72	42	27	1	2	87	0.604	252	220	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 2
2007-08	American	South	72	34	31	1	6	75	0.472	212	219	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 1
2008-09	American	South	71	34	29	2	6	76	0.535	217	224	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 1
2009-10	American	South	72	43	21	4	4	94	0.653	253	223	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 2
Totals			1205	617	462	33	93			4141	4084			1 Riley Cup 3 individual player awards

Notes: There were no conferences in the ECHL prior to the 1997-98 season. Games tied at end of regulation went directly to shootout from 1995–2000

Playoffs

• 1993–94: Lost to Greensboro 2-1 in first round.
• 1994–95: Lost to Greensboro 3-0 in first round.
• 1995–96: Defeated Roanoke 3-0 in first round; defeated South Carolina 3-2 in quarterfinals; defeated Tallahassee 3-1 in semifinals; defeated Jacksonville 4-0 to win championship.
• 1996–97: Lost to South Carolina 3-0 in first round.
• 1997–98: Defeated Birmingham 3-1 in first round; lost to Pensacola 3-0 in quarterfinals.
• 1998–99: Did not qualify.
• 1999–00: Did not qualify.
• 2000–01: Lost to Dayton 3-2 in first round.
• 2001–02: Lost to Atlantic City 3-2 in first round.
• 2002–03: Did not qualify.
• 2003–04: Did not qualify.
• 2004–05: Defeated Columbia 3-2 in first round; defeated Gwinnett 3-1 in quarterfinals; lost to Florida 4-2 in semifinals.
• 2005–06: Lost to South Carolina 2-1 in first round.
• 2006–07: Lost to Florida 3-0 in first round.
• 2007–08: Lost to Gwinnett 3-0 in first round.
• 2008–09: Lost to South Carolina 4-2 in first round.
• 2009–10: Defeated Toledo 3-1 in first round; lost to Cincinnati 4-2 in quarterfinals.

Team records

Single season

Goals: 48 Sergei Berdnikov (1993-94)

Assists: 61 Matt Robbins (1994-95), Scott King (2000-01), Kevin Hilton (2000-01)

Points: 101 Scott King (2000-01)

Penalty Minutes: 352 Eric Boulton (1996-97)

GAA: 2.43 Scott Meyer (2003-04)

SV%: .923 Scott Meyer (2003-04), Jeff Jakaitis (2008-09),

Wins: 32 Nick Vitucci (1995-96)

Shutouts: 3 Scott Meyer(2003-04), Alex Westlund(2006-07)

• Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender

Career

Career Goals: 174 Darryl Noren

Career Assists: 229 Darryl Noren

Career Points: 403 Darryl Noren

Career Penalty Minutes: 213 Steve MacIntyre

Notable players

• Scott Bailey
• Eric Boulton
• Eric Cairns
• Daniel Girardi
• Chris Holt
• Dusty Jamieson
• Antti Laaksonen
• Jason LaBarbera
• Steve MacIntyre
• Darryl Noren
• David Oliver
• Matt Robbins
• Paxton Schafer
• Rob Tallas
• Shawn Wheeler
• Derek Wilkinson
• Peter Worrell
• Joe Zappala

Retired numbers

• 4 - Kurt Seher

References

1. Mancuso, Jeff; Pat Kelly (2005). Hockey in Charlotte. Arcadia Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 0-7385-4230-X. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
2. Wage, Bob (January 22, 2010). "AHL To Charlotte Closer To Becoming A Reality?". Canes Country. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
3. Press release (February 9, 2010). "Capital District Sports Announces River Rats Sale" (PDF). Albany River Rats Hockey. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
4. Press release (February 17, 2010). "ECHL Concludes Mid-Season Board of Governors Meeting". ECHL.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
5. "Season-by-season record". hockeydb.com. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-12-01.

External links

• Charlotte Checkers Official Website