Welcome to Checking In!

Checking in will be a roughly weekly report on the Hurricanes AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers.  The column is doubly wonderful.  First, it will provide another source of regular Checkers coverage from a Hurricanes viewpoint.  Second, it will help in the career development of aspiring young sports journalist Jordan Futrell.  Jordan is a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and also a life long Hurricanes fan.  Please support Jordan as he hones his craft!

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The 2015-16 Checkers are stocked with a lot of young talent, and it will be interesting to see who will be called up to the Hurricanes this season. Michal Jordan and Chris Terry both signed one-way deals with the Hurricanes over the offseason and are unlikely to return to Charlotte this season. A couple other notable players who also will not return are Jared Staal who was cut about a week ago and Chad LaRose who made comeback to the game a year ago but did not re-sign this summer.

Sergey Tolchinsky and Brett Pesce are players who are new this year to the Checkers. Noah Hanifin who was the Canes first round draft pick this off season and is up with the Hurricanes right now could also see time in Charlotte at some point this season. Tolchinsky is a small crafty forward who went undrafted and was signed by the Hurricanes in 2013. Pesce is a defenseman the Hurricanes drafted in the third round in the 2013 draft.

The Checkers also have Mark Morris as their new head coach this season. He replaces Jeff Daniels, who coached the team the past seven seasons, but has failed to make the playoffs the past two. Morris most recently coached the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. The Checkers this year will also be playing in newly renovated Bojangles Coliseum.

The Charlotte Checkers started off the season with a bang in winning their first two games of the season,beating Iowa 4-1 on Saturday (Oct. 10) and 5-4 on Sunday (Oct. 11).

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Checkers off to Hot Start

Three stars for the week
Trevor Carrick was a solid presence on defense both games and scored the tying goal on Sunday with less than two minutes left. In his first two games in the AHL, Sergey Tolchinsky demonstrated the potential to be a star, handling the puck calmly and patiently. He tallied a goal and an assist over the weekend and scored the game-winning shootout goal on Sunday. Brock McGinn played like a man amongst boys over the weekend. McGinn’s assertive play netted two goals over the weekend.

Who’s hot
Brett Pesce handled to puck well over the weekend and looked calm under pressure. He tallied two points over the weekend. T.J. Hensick scored one goal in the first game and tallied an assist in the second game for two points for the weekend.

Who’s not
Drew MacIntyre was pulled in the second game after allowing four goals in the first two periods.

Injury and roster notes
There were no injuries over the first two games. Erik Karlsson, Carter Sandlak, Jake Chelios, and Tyler Ganly were all healthy scratches. Danny Biega was called up to the Hurricanes after James Wisniewski tore his ACL against Nashville and returned in time to play in Charlotte’s game on Sunday. Brock McGinn and and Brett Pesce were both called up on October 14 to fill the spots of injured Wisniewski and Riley Nash.

The forward line pairings as of now:

• First line: Phil De Giuseppe-Derek Ryan-Zach Boychuck
• Second line: Brendan Woods-T.J. Hensick-Justin Shugg
• Third line: Kyle Hagel-Brody Sutter-Sergey Tolchinsky
• Fourth line: Carter Sandlak-David Wohlberg-Patrick Brown

The defense pairs (now minus Brett Pesce) are:

• First pairing: Rasmus Rissanen-Keegan Lowe
• Second pairing: Trevor Carrick-Danny Biega
• Third pairing: Jaccob Slavin-Tyler Ganly

Up next for the Checkers is a Friday game in Milwaukee and a Saturday game in Chicago.