CHARLOTTE, NC—The Checkers announced today the release of their schedule for the 2011-12 season. The 76-game schedule includes 38 home contests, of which 24 are weekend dates, up from 22 last season.

Charlotte, now in the Midwest Division of the American Hockey League’s Western Conference, will begin the season on the road with a two-game set on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8 against former division rivals, the Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning).

The 2011-12 home opener will take place Saturday, Oct. 15 against the Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues) and will feature a giveaway of 3,500 3’ x 5’ Checkers house flags, presented by Time Warner Cable, and 7,000 schedule magnets, courtesy of Presbyterian Hospital.

“We’re looking forward to our second AHL season and are excited about the new schedule,” said Checkers vice president Shawn Lynch. “With an increase in weekend dates compared to last season and a more structured road schedule, we will be able to deliver an even higher level of sports entertainment value.”

Also announced today are Carolina Hockey Packs, which include the home opener, the NHL preseason game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets (Sept. 25) and four other Checkers games of choice for as low as $100. Details can be found at www.gocheckers.com or by calling 704-342-4423.

Single tickets for the home opener and four other October dates will go on sale August 29th at 10 a.m. at www.ticketmaster.com and the Time Warner Cable Arena box office. The remaining games will go on sale in mid-September. The promotional calendar, outlining promotions, giveaways and theme nights, will also be released in September.

Season tickets and mini-plans for the 2011-12 season are on sale now and begin as low as $10 per game. Ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.

Click the following links for downloadable schedules (instructions below):

Printable PDF schedule | Google Calendar | .ics format (Outlook, iCal, iPhone, iPad) | .xls format (older Outlook)
 
2011-12 schedule (Home games bolded):

Instructions for downloadable schedules:

Instructions for Importing .ICS into Outlook:
1.  Right click on the one of the above links to download. Select Save Target As or Save As and save the file to your local computer or network.
2.  In Outlook, select File, and click Import and Export.
3.  Highlight Import an iCalendar or vCalendar file and click next.
4.  Find where you downloaded the .ics file on your local machine and select that as the file to import.
5. Click OK to add the Checkers schedule to your Outlook Calendar.

Instructions for Importing .XLS into Outlook:
1.  Right click on the above link to download. Select Save Target As or Save As and save the file to your local computer or network.
2.  In Outlook, select File, and click Import and Export.
3.  Highlight Import from another program or file, and click next.
4.  Select Microsoft Excel and click next.
5.  Select the file you downloaded on your local machine as the file to import.
6.  Select your Calendar for the destination folder.
7. Click Finish to update your Outlook Calendar.

Instructions for Importing into iCal:
1. Right click on the one of the above links to download. Select Save Target As or Save As and save the file to your local computer or network.
2. In iCal, select File, and click Import.
3. Check Import an iCal file and click Import.
4. Select the file you downloaded on your local machine as the file to import.
5. Select a destination calendar to place the schedule in (ex. home, work) or create new calendar.

Instructions for Importing into Entourage:
1. Click on the one of the above links to download. Select Open With and select the Microsoft Entourage program.
2. The schedule should automatically import into your Entourage Calendar.

Instructions for Adding a Google Calendar:
1. Log into your Google account.
2. Click on the one of the above links to open the Google Calendar.
2. To add the calendar into your Google Calendars, click the Add Calendar icon in the bottom right corner of the calendar.  The calendar will then add itself as an Other Calendar in your Google Calendars.