The Charlotte Checkers have their blueprint for how to play when they open the Calder Cup Playoffs later this week.
Head coach Geordie Kinnear’s Checkers went into Hershey this past Saturday night in their second-to-last regular-season game and put forth a template for postseason success. Up against the AHL’s regular-season champion, the Checkers came away with a 4-1 victory, leaving the Bears with something to think about should the teams meet at some point in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
A club with excellent skaters up and down their lineup, the Checkers frustrated and swarmed Hershey the entire night. Will Lockwood delivered his fifth goal in eight games while rookie first-round pick Mackie Samoskevich took his point streak to six games (four goals, five assists) before it ended yesterday in a loss at Lehigh Valley. And of course goaltender Spencer Knight continued his stellar second half, stopping 24 shots when the Bears did manage to break through. He finished his regular season having allowed one goal or less in five of his final six starts.
The weekend wrapped up a stretch of nine of 11 games on the road for the Checkers, and Kinnear admitted that the past several weeks have been a grind for his players. Charlotte now returns home to open their first-round series against Hartford on Thursday.
Kinnear is upbeat about his club as they tied up their remaining loose ends down the stretch to ready themselves for the postseason.
“I think we’ve played some really good hockey since the All-Star break, to be quite honest. We were right there in the playoff bubble, and if you look at the group, it was a total team effort. It’s a credit to the group. You need depth to be able to win in the end.”
Checkers captain Zac Dalpe helped to finish off Hershey with an empty-netter and is ready to pursue the Calder Cup. Last season he spent his spring with the Florida Panthers as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s a good time of year to be playing the way we’re playing,” Dalpe said. “Everybody says it, but we wanted to create a culture and identity, and I think that’s what we’re doing in the month of April.”
Now the Checkers are back home in Charlotte, where they went 19-13-4-0 this season.
“I know the guys are looking forward to getting home and playing in front of our fans,” Kinnear said.
Four members from the NCAA champion University of Denver Pioneers have an opportunity to go after another title this spring, this time in the AHL.
The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Sean Behrens to a three-year entry-level contract that starts next season, and he made his pro debut over the weekend with the Colorado Eagles. The 21-year-old Behrens was taken by the Avalanche in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft and had 31 points (four goals, 27 assists) in 44 games as a junior with Denver this season. He was named to the Frozen Four all-tournament team as Denver won the NCAA title for the second time in three seasons.
Behrens and the Eagles will face Abbotsford in a Pacific Division first-round series.
Forward Massimo Rizzo has joined Lehigh Valley as well after signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rizzo, 22, had 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) in 30 games for Denver in 2023-24, his third season with the club. A seventh-round pick by Carolina, Rizzo was acquired by the Philadelphia organization in a trade last August.
Rizzo and the Phantoms will take on Tristan Broz and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Broz, 21, was a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2021 and put up 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 43 games for the Pioneers this season, including scoring the overtime winner in their national semifinal against Boston University.
And defenseman Shai Buium made his pro debut with Grand Rapids over the weekend after tallying 36 points (seven goals, 29 assists) in 43 games for DU in 2023-24. The 21-year-old Buium was Detroit’s second-round choice in the 2021 NHL Draft.
― with files from Patrick Williams
