The Charlotte Checkers stumbled to the finish line in 2017, finishing their most recent stretch of games 1-2 after the holidays. With the new year (and more games) here, the Checkers sit firmly at 21-12-0-1 and 2nd in the league in goal scoring.
Prior to Christmas, the Checkers split a pair of games with the Hershey Bears despite outscoring the Bears 10-6 over the two games. In the first, the Checkers went down 5-0 just 14 minutes into the game before a furious comeback fell just one goal short. But the momentum carried into the next day, where Aleksi Saarela’s first AHL hat trick powered the Checkers to a 6-0 walk on Carolina Football Night, featuring jerseys designed by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.