Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010)

Charlotte Checkers
City:	Charlotte, North Carolina
League:	ECHL
Conference:	American Conference
Division:	South Division
Founded:	1993
Home Arena:	St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice at Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Colors:	navy, red, black, silver, white
Owner(s):	Michael Kahn
General Manager:	Jeff Longo
Head Coach:	Derek Wilkinson
Affiliates:	New York Rangers (NHL), Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)
Franchise history
1993 to Present:	Charlotte Checkers
Championships
Regular Season Titles:	none
Division Championships:	none
Conference Championships:	none
Kelly Cups:	1995-96

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

The Checkers were founded in 1993 and played from then until 2005 in Cricket Arena. In 2005, they moved to St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The team set their all time attendance record of 11,237 on February 10, 2007 in a 6-3 loss against the Texas Wildcatters. Their previous record was 10,894 in a win against the Florida Everblades in November 2005. As of February 20, 2007, they are second in the ECHL in attendance, increasing their attandance by 45% over their inaugral season at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Many people claim that the new arena is part of the reason for increased attendance as well as an increased interest in hockey in North Carolina due to the in-state NHL 2006 Stanley Cup champions, and also the influx of northern transplants into the Charlotte region. However, it should be noted that Charlotte's minor-league hockey influence is much older, dating to 1956, when the Eastern Hockey League's Baltimore Clippers moved to Charlotte after a fire destroyed part of the Baltimore team's arena. They played games in the Charlotte Coliseum (now Cricket Arena) for the balance of the season. The team decided to stay in Charlotte, adopting the Checkers nickname in 1958. The team joined the EHL's other Southern franchises in forming the Southern Hockey League in 1973, where it played until the league's demise in 1977.

The current Checkers are named for the teams of the past, and for years were known for an orange and electric blue checkerboard pattern logo. However, it is possible that the Checkers name comes from the hockey term "checking".

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, PTS = Points, PCT = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Records as of October 30, 2006.

Season	League	Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	Coach(es)	Result
1993-94	ECHL	East	68	39	25	0	4	0	82	0.574	281	271	1519	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1994-95	ECHL	East	68	37	22	0	9	0	83	0.544	274	261	1949	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1995-96	ECHL	East	70	45	21	0	4	0	94	0.643	294	250	2251	John Marks	Won Championship
1996-97	ECHL	East	70	35	28	7	0	0	77	0.550	271	267	1799	John Marks	Lost in round 1
1997-98	ECHL	Southeast	70	35	24	11	0	0	81	0.579	251	237	1662	John Marks	Lost in round 2
1998-99	ECHL	Southeast	70	29	30	11	0	0	69	0.493	221	262	1264	Shawn Wheeler	Out of Playoffs
1999-00	ECHL	Northeast	70	25	38	0	7	0	57	0.357	186	254	1680	Shawn Wheeler, Don MacAdam	Out of Playoffs
2000-01	ECHL	Northeast	72	34	26	12	0	0	80	0.556	247	252	1416	Don MacAdam	Lost in round 2
2001-02	ECHL	Northeast	72	41	20	11	0	0	93	0.646	256	207	1599	Don MacAdam	Lost in round 2
2002-03	ECHL	Northeast	72	41	28	3	0	0	85	0.590	262	234	1735	Don MacAdam	Out of Playoffs
2003-04	ECHL	Southern	72	31	32	9	0	0	71	0.493	206	230	1460	Don MacAdam, Derek Wilkinson	Out of Playoffs
2004-05	ECHL	East	72	39	26	7	0	0	85	0.590	226	219	1301	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 3
2005-06	ECHL	South	72	33	34	5	0	0	71	0.493	232	254	1634	Derek Wilkinson	Lost in round 3
2006-07	ECHL	South	4	3	1	0	0	0	6	0.750	19	11	105	Derek Wilkinson	T.B.D.
Totals	1	5	993	467	355	76	24	0	1034	0.470	3226	3209	21374	4	9/13 Playoff Seasons, 1 Championship

Current Roster

As of March 31st 2008. Taken from Checkers Website.

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth
1		Chris Holt	L	June 5, 1985	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
30		Mike Ayers	R	December 28, 1975	Hingham, Massachusetts, USA

Defencemen
#		Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
2		Ryan Constant	L	May 1, 1985	Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Manitoba, Canada
3		Michael Busto	R	June 10th 1986	Burnaby, BC, Canada
5		Mark Smith	R	April 18th 1983	Edmonton, AB, Canada
6		Kenny Smith	L	December 31, 1981	Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA
8		Matt Waddell	L	January 20, 1984	Vernon, BC, Canada
17		Kenton Smith	L	September 10, 1979	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
24		Kirk DeWaele	R	March 24, 1976	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
19		Jared Nightingdale	R	October 3rd 1982	Jackson, Michigan, United-States

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
7		Tom Pyatt	C	L	February 14th 1987	Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
10		Garrett Peters	RW	R	January 12 1987	East Providence, Rhodes Island, USA
11		Lee Falardeau	C	L	July 22, 1983	Midland, Michigan, USA
13		Blake Bellefeuille	C	R	December 27, 1977	Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
16		Bruce Graham	F	L	December 2, 1985	Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
20		Justin Maiser	LW	L	January 29, 1983	Edina, Minnesota, USA
21		Jeff Kyrzakos	C	R	February 6 1985	Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
11		Mark Lee	F	L	September 11 1984	Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, Canada
11		Chris Caprano	LW	R	December 20 1983	Medford, Massachusetts, USA
11		Kaleb Betts	LW	R	January 10, 1983	Maple Ridge, BC, Canada

Staff
Title	Staff Member
Head Coach	Derek Wilkinson
Assistant Coach	Allan Egeland
Trainer	Brandon Dionne
Equipment Manager	Mike Brown

Team captains

• 2005-2006
  • C - Kenton Smith
• 2006-2007
  • C - Jan Vodrazka

NHLers

Peter Worrell played in Charlotte during the 2005-06 season.

Daniel Girardi played in Charlotte during the 2005-06 season.

Notable players

Dusty Jamieson

Retired numbers

4 - Kurt Seher

External links

• Charlotte Checkers Official Website
• ECHL Official Website
• The Checkerboard, fan-based message board