Home opening weekend is finally here for the Checkers, who are hosting the Iowa Wild for a pair of tilts.
THE MATCHUP
- Record/Standings
- CLT - 1-1-0-0 (5th Atlantic)
- IA - 0-2-0-0 (7th Central)
- Power Play / Penalty Kill
- CLT - 37.5% (t-6th) / 66.7% (25th)
- IA - 0.0% (t-22nd) / 50.0% (t-31st)
- Offense / Defense
- CLT - 3.50 GF/Game (t-11th) / 4.50 GA/Game (27th)
- IA - 1.50 GF/Game (t-28th) / 5.00 GA/Game (t-28th)
- Head-To-Head
- 0-0-0-0
THE STORYLINES
HOME SWEET HOME
After the shortest offseason in team history, the defending Eastern Conference Champions are back at Bojangles Coliseum. Last season the Checkers defended their home ice well, finishing with the fifth-best home record in the Eastern Conference. Their offense came alive at the Coliseum for the end of the regular season, as they went 6-3-0-0 over the last nine games and scored at least four goals in each of those wins.CAPTAIN CARRICK
Ahead of the home opener, Trevor Carrick was named the eighth captain in franchise history. The veteran blue liner is in his 12th season as a pro and his seventh in Charlotte, and his 416 games in a Checkers sweater are the most in franchise history. Carrick is also coming off of a big year in which he set a career high with 50 points and became the third defenseman in team history to hit that threshold.STEEVES POWERS UP
The first two games of the season saw the Checkers enjoy success on the man advantage, converting three times on eight opportunities. Two of those three tallies came off the stick of Ben Steeves, who is now halfway to his 60-game total of four power-play goals last season as a rookie.NEW GUY DELIVERS
Jack Studnicka has wasted no time getting onto the score sheet for Charlotte, leading the team with three points through the first two games of the season. The 26-year-old - who was taken in the second round by Boston in 2017 - ranked third on Ontario last season with 29 helpers and ranked fifth with 45 points.THE PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Charlotte
- Jack Studnicka - 3 points in first 2 games of season
- Ben Steeves - 2 power-play goals in first 2 games of seaosn
- Ryan McAllister - 2 points in first game of season
- Iowa
- Tyler Pitlick - 2 goals in first 2 games of season
- Riley Heidt - 1 goal in first 2 games of season
- Matt Kiersted - First game against Checkers after four seasons in Charlotte
THE INFO
Friday's game is Opening Night presented by Novant Health! The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive a replica Eastern Conference Champions banner courtesy of Novant Health while supplies last.Saturday is our annual My First Checkers Game, where kids tickets are $5 with the purchase of an adult ticket.
If you can't make it to the Coliseum this weekend, the games - along with every game this season - are available via the new AHLTV on FloHockey! Click here to get a subscription.
Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on the Checkers App or online.
