The American Hockey League has released the Checkers' schedule for the 2016-17 season. In addition to the usual array of schedule downloads, including printable and importable calendars, below are a few highlights and notes from the 76-game slate.

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Kicking Things Off

Charlotte Checkers 2015-16 Schedule

Schedule Downloads

The Checkers will kick off the regular season on the road for the seventh time in the franchise’s seven-year AHL history, opening with a two-game set in Texas followed by a trip to Iowa one week later.

The team’s season debut at Bojangles’ Coliseum is Oct. 28, as they will open at home against the Grand Rapids Griffins for the second time in team history.

In season openers, the Checkers are 3-2-1 and have earned at least a point in the standings in four of their last five. Charlotte is 2-4-0 overall in home openers and has not won one since the 2012-13 campaign.

Matter Of Time

Of the 38 home dates this season, 24 will take place on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. New this season, all Friday home games will have a 7:15 start time and all Saturday home games will have a 6:00 start time. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday games will remain at 7:00, while Sunday contests will begin at 1:00.

Back At Bojangles'

Heading into their second year back at their new/old home, the Checkers will enjoy big chunks of home ice advantage, especially in the second half of the season. Their longest home stand comes in January, where they will host eight consecutive contests and spend the final two weeks of the month in the Queen City.

Down the home stretch of the regular season, Charlotte has three home stands lasting six, six and four games, respectively, while not leaving for more than six games at a time. The final home stint comes in early April, with the team welcoming San Antonio and Texas to town for a four-games-in-six-days slate.

Road Warriors

The inverse of the Checkers’ beneficial back end of the schedule is that they will spend a lot of time on the road starting off. From the opener on Oct. 14 to Jan. 10, Charlotte will play 24 road games compared to 12 home games.

The longest road trip is technically an eight-game trek through their division rivals, but the good news for the Checkers is that it is broken up by the Christmas break. After two games in Cleveland, the players will return to their respective homes before meeting back in Winnipeg eight days later to continue to trip.

The good news comes in the second part of the season, however. As mentioned earlier, Charlotte’s schedule is weighted with a lot of home games late on the slate. So from Feb. 4 to the end of the season on April 15, the Checkers will only play nine road contests, while 16 will take place at home.

The Checkers will wrap up the regular season on the road for the sixth straight season, battling the Grand Rapids Griffins twice before the season finale in Chicago.

Back To Back

The Checkers will take the ice on back-to-back nights 28 times this season, the most in team history. Eighteen of the instances will occur at home, and nine come in the final two months of the season.

The good news is that the Checkers only have to deal with the dreaded three-games-in-three-nights scenario twice: once in Iowa and Rockford in early November and once in Milwaukee and Rockford in mid-February.

New Foes

The 2016-17 season will see the Checkers square off with three teams for the first time. The Stockton Heat and the Bakersfield Condors move onto Charlotte’s schedule, replacing the San Jose Barracuda and the San Diego Gulls from a year ago. Ontario returns to the slate to round out the three California opponents that the Checkers will face.

The other new opponent is the freshly minted Tucson Roadrunners. As the new affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, the Roadrunners spent last season in the Eastern Conference as the Springfield Falcons.

Opponent Breakdown

As was the case last season, the departure of Oklahoma City and Norfolk from the league has evened out the Checkers’ opponent distribution.

The Checkers will play each team in their division eight times, with the exception of Rockford, who they will face just four times. The Pacific Division opponents on the schedule – Texas, San Antonio, Stockton, Bakersfield, Ontario and Tucson – will all face Charlotte four times each.