SERIES PREVIEW: WOLF PACK TAKE ON CHECKERS IN FIRST ROUND
Apr 23, 2024There’s a first time for everything. Thursday night, at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Hartford Wolf Pack and Charlotte Checkers will meet for the first time in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The sides locked in their first-ever battle on Saturday night, and will now duke it out to see who moves on to the Atlantic Division Semifinals.
Both of these teams tasted playoff success last spring, and both are hungry for more this time around.
If the Wolf Pack are to win a series in back-to-back years, they’ll need to do so as road warriors. Due to the distance traveled, the entire series will take place in Charlotte. The Wolf Pack will be the designated home team for last change in Game 2 of the series, which takes place on Saturday afternoon.
The full Atlantic Division First series schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Thursday, April 25th, @ Charlotte (Bojangles Coliseum, 7:00 p.m.)
Game 2^: Saturday, April 27th, @ Charlotte (Bojangles Coliseum, 4:00 p.m.)
Game 3*: Sunday, April 28th, @ Charlotte (Bojangles Coliseum, 4:00 p.m.)
^Hartford designated home team for last change
*If nec.
The Checkers controlled the recent head-to-head matchup, winning eight straight games dating back to the 2022-23 season. The Wolf Pack struck back in the most recent meeting, however, downing the Checkers on April 14th in a potential series preview.
Now, the Wolf Pack will hope to use that momentum to claim the first-ever series between these former affiliates.
History: As mentioned above, this is the first playoff series between the Wolf Pack and the Checkers. The sides have met 48 times in the regular season since the Checkers joined the AHL in time for the 2010-11 season.
All-time, the Wolf Pack are 12-29-3-4 against the Checkers and 3-19-2-1 in Charlotte.
Despite never playing against each other in the postseason, there is a history between the Wolf Pack and Checkers. Before joining the AHL, the Checkers were the ECHL affiliate of the Wolf Pack and parent New York Rangers. They served as the ECHL affiliate of the Rangers from 1996-2010, and the ECHL affiliate of the Wolf Pack from their inception in 1997 through 2010.
2023 Rewind: A season ago, both of these teams claimed victory in their respective First Round series. The Wolf Pack swept the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-0, outscoring them 13-2 in the process.
The Checkers, meanwhile, dropped Game 1 of their series to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a score of 4-3. A 5-4 victory in double overtime of Game 2 kept the season alive for the Checkers, who completed the comeback with a 6-0 victory in Game 3.
The Wolf Pack would knock off the Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division Semifinals, winning the series 3-1. Hartford claimed a 1-0 victory in Game 1 in Providence, then stunned the crowd with a 2-1 triumph in Game 2. Despite falling in Game 3 6-3 at the XL Center, the Pack took care of business in Game 4, downing the Bruins 4-0 in downtown Hartford.
The Checkers saw their season end in the Division Semifinals, falling to the Hershey Bears 3-1. After dropping the first two games at home, the Checkers got on the board with a 2-1 victory at the Giant Center in Game 3 to stay alive.
They couldn’t hold off the Bears in Game 4, however, falling 6-2.
Hartford’s season ended in the Division Finals against those same Bears, as the Wolf Pack were swept in three games.
Head-to-Head: The Checkers opened the eight-game season series with seven consecutive victories before the Wolf Pack got on the board in the final meeting on April 14th.
The Checkers posted a record of 7-1-0-0, claiming 14 of a possible 16 points. The Wolf Pack did manage to take two of their losses to overtime, going 1-5-2-0 and claiming four of a possible 16 points.
At the Bojangles Coliseum, the Checkers went a perfect 4-0-0-0, while the Wolf Pack managed a point thanks to an overtime loss on March 12th (0-3-1-0).
In most statistical categories, the advantage went to the Checkers as well. They outshot the Wolf Pack 254-174 throughout the eight-game series, outscoring them 25-10. At five-on-five, the Checkers outscored the Wolf Pack 16-5.
The sides can both talk about their penalty-killing units as strengths. The Wolf Pack went 86.49% on the kill during the season series, tacking on two shorthanded goals in the process. The Checkers went 90.63% on the kill, holding the Wolf Pack to just three powerplay goals on 32 shots.
With that said, the Wolf Pack did strike twice on the powerplay in the most recent meeting on April 14th, with both goals coming in the second period and turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Top Performers: Karl Henriksson led the Wolf Pack in scoring against the Checkers this season, scoring five points (2 g, 3 a) in seven games. Henriksson missed the meeting on February 28th at the XL Center dealing with an injury.
Brett Berard has three points (2 g, 1 a) in his last two games against the Checkers. Berard scored near the end of the game on April 7th in Charlotte, then scored a powerplay goal and set up teammate Brennan Othmann for a goal on April 14th. In all, he posted four points (3 g, 1 a) in the season series. His three goals led the Wolf Pack in that category.
Connecticut natives Mackie Samoskevich and Spencer Knight were the top dogs for the Checkers during the regular season series. Samoskevich scored a team-leading five goals and eleven points (5 g, 6 a) in eight games. He also had the best +/- among forwards with a +9.
Knight, meanwhile, went 5-1-0-0 in six starts against the Wolf Pack. He allowed just nine goals and posted a goals-against average of 1.48 and a save percentage of .933. Knight also collected two shutouts in his six starts.
Defensively, Casey Fitzgerald posted a +10 in eight meetings, while occasional defensive partner Mitchell Vande Sompel went +9 in six games head-to-head after coming over from the Chicago Wolves on March 8th.
How to Watch: Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack Alex Thomas will have you covered for all three games, if necessary, of this series. ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starts at 6:45 p.m., before puck drop goes at 7:00 p.m. for Game 1 on Thursday night.
‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ will start at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th, and Sunday, April 28th, ahead of 4:00 p.m. puck drops for Games 2 and 3.
You can watch each Wolf Pack playoff game live on AHLTV, and you can listen for free on Mixlr.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.