64 replies to this topic

[tozmervo]

I wish I could make tonight or tomorrow. Should some great games. They're away for #3, 4 and 5, but they'll be back for 6 and 7 if the series goes that far. I'll definitely be going to those! Go Checkers!

[cltheel.sdl]

Urbanity, on 12 May 2011 - 01:53 PM, said:

Final Round of the Eastern Division Playoffs begin tonight in Charlotte!

Round 1:  Checkers slaughtered the Hershey Bears (Back-to-back  league champions)

Round 2:  Checkers Chewed up the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Penguins

Round 3:  Checkers are taking on the Binghamton Senators

And I got On-the-ice-banging-the-glass seats for both tonight and tomorrow night's game!

Lucky!  Wish I could be there.  Go Checkers!

[cltbwimob]

Aside from the Checkers being the most successful team in Charlotte right now, here is another reason why they are such a credit to the Charlotte community.

http://espn.go.com/v...clip?id=6521100

[AuLukey]

cltbwimob, on 13 May 2011 - 08:23 AM, said:

Aside from the Checkers being the most successful team in Charlotte right now, here is another reason why they are such a credit to the Charlotte community.

http://espn.go.com/v...clip?id=6521100

That's a pretty amazing story.  I'm glad they are a part of our community.  That really should be on the local news too, it would really generate great response for the family and for the team.

[dbull75]

There have been numerous positive stories on Bug for a good part of the season (both locally and nationally). What the Checkers have done is really great.

BTW - Shouldn't the title of this topic read "Charlotte Checkers AHL Hockey" not "AAA Hockey" ? AAA is more representative of baseball.

[Urbanity]

dbull75, on 13 May 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

BTW - Shouldn't the title of this topic read "Charlotte Checkers AHL Hockey" not "AAA Hockey" ? AAA is more representative of baseball.

How did I miss that?!  

[Urbanity]

Checkers lost to Binghamton Senators in OT last night and exit the Playoffs.  I wanted the Cup, (badly) but credit has to go to the Checkers for making it to the final Eastern Divisional Playoffs in their inaugural season as Charlotte's AHL team.  

Great Team.  Great Season.  We'll be back!

[SmellyCat]

A little tangential here, but it's being reported today that the Thrashers moving from Atlanta to Winnipeg is a done deal.  Since the Flames previously moved in 1980, that makes the ATL 0 for 2 and I highly doubt they'll get a third chance at an NHL team there.  I wonder if that will help open the door for an NHL team in Charlotte someday, since there will be a large geographic hockey void between Tampa Bay and Raleigh.  Just a thought...one can dream.

[dbull75]

SmellyCat, on 19 May 2011 - 11:28 PM, said:

A little tangential here, but it's being reported today that the Thrashers moving from Atlanta to Winnipeg is a done deal.  Since the Flames previously moved in 1980, that makes the ATL 0 for 2 and I highly doubt they'll get a third chance at an NHL team there.  I wonder if that will help open the door for an NHL team in Charlotte someday, since there will be a large geographic hockey void between Tampa Bay and Raleigh.  Just a thought...one can dream.

I agree that Atlanta is done in terms of having NHL teams. That being said, I think as long as there's an NHL team in Raleigh, there will not be one in Charlotte. Part of that is in comparison, the NHL is more regional than the other sports leagues and there isn't enough population to draw from for a second team. It hasn't fared well in the south with the Hurricanes and Lightning really being the exceptions. It would be cool to have a team in Charlotte rival one in Raleigh (much like it would with the NFL and NBA in both cities), but don't see that happening. The state is fortunate to have 3 teams though, which a lot of others states would love to have.

[tozmervo]

Maybe Atlanta will get an AHL team that can play rival to the Checkers

[kermit]

I was at the game last night and it was very busy for a Tuesday night (more than 5,000 were there). I checked this years' AHL attendance data and it shows the Checkers are averaging almost 6,000 fans per game. This puts them eigthth best in the 30 team league (but very close to the top three). Dare I say that Charlotte is becoming a decent (minor league) hockey town. While its great to see the community support the team I am getting tired of the constant 'what is icing' kind of confusion of many fans.

http://theahl.com/st...view=attendance

Edited by kermit, 21 December 2011 - 10:19 PM.

[dbull75]

^There's actually a lot more hockey fans in the Charlotte area than a lot of people realize, especially with the large number of northern transplants. I have several Canadian friends that live here and absolutely love the Checkers and the AHL. Admittedly I'm not much of a hockey fan but I'll go to a game here and there.

Edited by dbull75, 22 December 2011 - 07:50 AM.

[ah59396]

As a die-hard hockey fan and a Canadian, I love having the Checkers in town.  There are plenty of hockey people here, though I find the outlets for the NHL are quite limited.  I typically end up at places like Hooligans or Tavern on the Tracks to watch games if they aren't on Vs.  Either way, Go Hawks.

[kermit]

^ I just checked, the Checkers actually average about 2,000 more fans per game than the Knights (and they have just about the same per game average as the Durham Bulls).

Its not just the NBA strike driving it either -- Checkers attendance is actually down slightly from last year.

[ah59396]

Just a little noteworthy info, the Checkers have recently been posting some MONSTER attendance numbers, including over 13k last Saturday (a record for the team) and nearly 10k last Friday night.  According to the AHL website, Checkers attendance is currently 8th in the league as they average close to 7k a game, 1k+ over the league average.

http://theahl.com/st...view=attendance

It's great to see the Checkers getting the support they deserve, and looking at that list shows how well the team is doing compared to a lot of large "conventional" hockey cities.  Great news for Charlotte, great news for the Checkers, and HOPEFULLY the success of the team continues and influences minor hockey in the area to continue to grow!

[kermit]

^Yup, the Checkers have done _really_ well with Friday and Saturday night games this year. I think part of it was the absence of the bobcats for the first half of the season and part is a pretty good promotions department. The attendance numbers make it look like some of the folks who show up on the weekends are coming back for other games.

Its nice to see a solid fan base for Hockey here. The growing enthusiasm means that I have way more fun at the checkers than at the bobcats.

[dbull75]

kermit, on 02 March 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

Its nice to see a solid fan base for Hockey here. The growing enthusiasm means that I have way more fun at the checkers than at the bobcats.

I'm glad to see the Checkers do well too. I will say they've exceeded my expectations. But lets be honest here, Bobcats aren't much fun to watch right now because they are rebuilding and easily the worst team in the league. Hopefully in a few years both teams will be equally as exciting to watch.

[kermit]

I just returned from a hockey filled trip 'up north' and I discovered two things about the Checkers:

1) The quality of the glass surrounding the ice at the arena is much worse than I had thought. The glass is not particularly clear and the paralax created by the bench and penalty box area is much more pronounced than the other two arena's I saw last week (one NHL and one AHL arena)

2) Beer prices are obscene here. In Detroit (an NHL arena) you can get 24 oz of Molsen (and the standard domestics) for 7.50 (including tax) -- 16 oz of non-bud is 9.20 + tax here

Venting over, none of this is the end of the world. But the only thing between me and genuine happiness is cheaper beer at checkers games.

[tozmervo]

I think the beer pricing can be blamed on the arena. it is pretty laughable how much they charge - I usually end up just going without. if I do get anything its because I've gone into the "premium" area and gotten a Copper. I'm sure as hell not paying that much for a cup of BS like miller light.

[nonillogical]

Huh, I don't remember ever seeing them that high. In the premium area you can get a Copper, Sierra Nevada, Blue Moon etc for $7 something, which is still a lot but not as bad as say, verizon amphitheater. But since a maker's & coke is only $2 more I'm usually happy to just get those, and they always make them strong!