Game Preview: Checkers at Rochester (Oct. 5, 2018)

Details
The 2018-19 season is finally here and the Checkers are in Rochester, New York to kick off another quest for the Calder Cup. Here are six things to know before tonight’s puck drop.

1. OPENING UP

As they have every year of their AHL tenure, the Checkers are starting the 2018-19 season on the road. After besting Hartford last season, Charlotte now boasts a winning 4-3-1 mark in openers over the team’s eight seasons. The Checkers have won consecutive season openers just once in franchise history, starting the year with victories in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Game Information

Season Series

  • Oct. 5
    CHA @ ROC
  • Oct. 6
    CHA @ ROC
  • Mar. 15
    ROC @ CHA
  • Mar. 16
    ROC @ CHA

2. A YEAR AGO

The Checkers and Amerks squared off four times last season and emerged with identical 2-1-1 records. The two sides alternated victories across the series, trading lopsided three-goal wins followed by a pair of overtime thrillers.

Rochester’s offensive attack fared worse than Charlotte across the season, ranking 12th overall, but the Amerks had no trouble producing against the Checkers, notching at least four goals in three of the four matchups. The Checkers were similarly impressive during the series, twice hitting the five-goal mark against Rochester.

3. SCOUTING THE AMERKS

Rochester heads into the 2018-19 season with much of the same firepower on their roster. Three of the team’s four leading scorers last season – Zach Redmond, C.J. Smith and Kevin Porter – are returning, as is netminder Adam Wilcox, who appeared in 29 games a season ago.

Some big names did depart over the summer, most notably starting goalie Linus Ulmark, who is in the NHL with Buffalo, near point-per-game producer Seth Griffith and leading goal-scorer Sahir Gill, but the Amerks were able to reload well. Scott Wedgewood joins the goaltending ranks after logging 20 NHL games last season, while forward Wayne Simpson comes aboard after a 42-point campaign with Hershey and draft pick Victor Olofsson makes the jump to North America after leading Sweden’s top league in goal scoring.

4. FRESH FACES

Three Checkers players could make their pro debuts tonight – Cliff Pu, Morgan Geekie and Jake Bean (regular season debut) – while Spencer Smallman would be making his AHL debut. Saku Maenalanen and Michael Fora would be making their North American pro debuts while Michal Cajkovsky and Dan Renouf would be making their Checkers debuts.

5. ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The Checkers fared worse on the road last season as a whole, but showed an upswing toward the end of the year. Charlotte earned at least a point in each of its last eight game away from home to end the 2017-18 regular season.

6. HOW TO WATCH

Broadcasts for all opening weekend games are being offered for free via the league’s new streaming platform AHLTV. Sign up here and catch the action in Rochester. As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app or this link, so tune in and tweet Jason Shaya to let him know you’re listening!