COMPLETE NUTRITION GAME PREVIEW VS CHARLOTTE 10.21.16
Oct 21, 2016 Charlotte Checkers (0-2-0-0, 0 Points) at Iowa Wild (1-2-0-0, 2 Points)
Iowa welcomes Charlotte for a pair of games this weekend, the first meeting of the season between the two clubs. Iowa continues its seven-game home stand on Friday, going 1-2-0-0 through the first three. The two teams meet for the first of eight meetings this season. Iowa and Charlotte met eight times last year, with the Checkers posting a 5-1-2-0 mark, including a 2-2-0-0 at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa was 3-3-0-2 in the season series and 2-2-0-0 at home last year. Overall, this marks the 21st meeting between the clubs, as Charlotte leads the all-time series mark with a record of 13-5-2-0, including a 7-2-1-0 record in Des Moines. The Wild is 7-11-0-2 all-time with a 3-6-0-1 record at home. Iowa is coming off a 4-3 loss at home on Tuesday to Grand Rapids. The Checkers fell 4-2 at Texas on Saturday.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. Charlotte 10/21 7:00 PM CT iHeartRadio Stream Only
vs. Charlotte 10/22 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio / MC22
vs. Cleveland 10/25 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Milwaukee 10/28 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Milwaukee 10/29 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
10.18.16: Add – C Joel Eriksson Ek – assigned by Minnesota (NHL)
10.19.16: Delete – D Mike Reilly – recalled by Minnesota (NHL)
10.20.16: Add – D Mike Weber – signed PTO
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild was defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-3 on Tuesday night in front of 3,225 fans at Wells Fargo Arena. Trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, Grand Rapids used its power play and a late goal from Kris Criscuolo to push in front of the Wild. Griffins forward Anthony Mantha led the charge with a hat trick, scoring all three goals on the power play. Griffins’ goalie Jared Coreau remained undefeated by stopping 17 Iowa shots. Wild center Grayson Downing and defenseman Zach Palmquist each picked up two points in the defeat. Rookie Joel Eriksson Ek added a goal in his North American debut for the Wild. Iowa goalie Alex Stalock stopped 26 of 30 in defeat.
Iowa Wild
Through the first three games of the regular season, defenseman Zach Palmquist leads Iowa in scoring with four points. After going scoreless in the first game of the season, Palmquist posted back-to-back multi-point games in each of the last two outings. He leads the team with three assists. Rookie forward Sam Anas and center Grayson Downing follow Palquist in scoring with a pair of points each. Downing picked up two assists on Tuesday for his first two points of the season. Anas picked up his first goal and first multi-point game with two points on Saturday night.
Notables –
● Wild forward Jeff Hoggan served as Captain of the Griffins each of the last four seasons. He made his season debut on Tuesday with a goal against his former team.
● Rookie Joel Eriksson Ek made his North American debut on Tuesday, scoring in his first game with Iowa.
● Veteran defenseman Mike Weber is expected to make his debut this weekend.
Charlotte Checkers
The most notable change for Charlotte comes behind the bench with newly appointed Head Coach Ulf Samuelson, who replaces Mark Morris. The aforementioned Morris departed to become the head coach at St. Lawrence University. Samuelsson was a longtime NHL defensemen who won multiple Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in the 1990s. He spent the last three years as the Assistant of the NHL’s New York Rangers. He also served as an assistant in Phoenix with the Coyotes from (2006-11) and with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack in 2005-06. This marks Samuelsson’s first season as an AHL Head Coach.
The biggest offseason signing comes in net with the addition of Michael Leighton. The four-time AHL All-Star was 28-8-8 with a 2.44 GAA and a .918 SV % in 46 games with Rockford last season. He will be critical in the development of young prospects Daniel Altshuller and Alex Nedeljkovic. Altshuller, a third-round pick in 2012, was 10-10-5 with a 2.81 GAA and a .905 SV% in 28 games with the Checkers last season. Nedeljkovic was a second-round pick of Carolina in 2014 (#37th overall). Last year, he was 24-20-4 between Flint and Niagara of the OHL.
The team saw some big departures, starting with forward Zach Boychuk signing with Arizona. Boychuk was among the franchise’s all-time leaders having spent seven seasons in Charlotte. Center T.J. Hensick was signed by Ontario and will take his scoring touch to the West Division. Hensick posted 40 points in 65 games played between Charlotte and Utica in 2015-16. Fellow forward Justin Shugg, a five-year vet with the Checkers, departed for Dinamo Riga of the KHL this summer. He had 35 points (13g-22a) in 59 games played in 2015-16. After five years in Charlotte, defenseman Rasmus Rissanen departs for Jokerit of the KHL.