GAME PREVIEW - CHARLOTTE CHECKERS AT IOWA WILD 10.10.15
Oct 10, 2015Charlotte Checkers (0-0-0, 0 Points) at Iowa Wild (0-0-0, 0 Points)
Iowa begins its third season with a weekend series against the Charlotte Checkers. Both teams are looking to bounce back in the 2015-16 season after finishing in the bottom half of the league last year. Iowa concluded its season with a 23-49-2-2 record and 50 points. Charlotte went 31-38-6-1 with 69 points. The Checkers placed 13th in the Western Conference, while the Wild was 15th. The two teams faced off eight times last season. Charlotte won the season series 6-2 and outscored Iowa 26-17. Iowa has an all-time mark of 4-8-0-0 versus Charlotte, including a 1-5-0-0 mark at Wells Fargo Arena. The Checkers have taken the last four meetings, dating back to Feb. 19, 2015. Charlotte is 6-2-0-0 all-time against Iowa, including a 5-1-0-0 record in Des Moines. The teams will meet eight times this year.
Iowa is 1-1-0-0 all-time season openers and home openers. Last year, Iowa fell in its season opener and home opener -posting losses to Milwaukee and at San Antonio.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
Charlotte 10/10 7:00 PM CT iHeartRadio / KXNO (in progress)
Charlotte 10/11 5:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Lake Erie 10/16 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Lake Erie 10/17 4:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
Milwaukee 10/20 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
10.9.15 – Delete – F Jordan Schroeder (recalled Minnesota- NHL)
10.9.15 – Add – F Matthew Neal (signed PTO - from Quad City ECHL)
10.9.15 – Add – F Olivier Archambault (recalled Quad City (ECHL)
Iowa Wild
Iowa brings some new names into the mix with some familiar faces from 2014-15. Iowa loses its leading scorer from last season, as Tyler Graovac earned a spot in Minnesota. That means Iowa’s top returning scorers are Michael Keranen (10-27-37 points), Zack Mitchell (17-18-35 points), and Marc Hagel (12-21-33 points). Hagel found a lot of success against Charlotte last season. He tallied one goal and four assists for five points in seven games versus the Checkers.
Big Debuts
On Saturday night, defenseman Mike Reilly is expected to make his pro debut. Forward Matthew Neal could make his AHL debut this weekend. Winger Christoph Bertschy is also expected to make his AHL/North American debut. Rookie goalie Brody Hoffman has yet to make his pro debut. Ten players will make their Iowa debuts. The Wild roster features 15 players that have skated for Iowa.
Follow The Leaders
Iowa named defenseman Maxime Fortunus the third Captain in team history. He takes over as captain, the same role he held with the Texas Stars for the last three seasons., leading the Stars to a Calder Cup Championship in 2014. That same year – Texas also finished with the best regular season record in the AHL. During the defenseman’s three seasons as captain in Texas, the team made the playoffs all three years and compiled a record of 131-62-21-14
Veterans Tyson Strachan, Brett Sutter, Zac Dalpe, Ruslan Fedotenko and Marc Hagel will all take turns as alternate captains.
New Look Net –
Newly acquired Jeremy Smith will be active this weekend. The Wild acquired Smith from the Bruins organization. Last season he recorded a 22-11-5 record. Smith also finished fourth in the league with a 2.05 GAA and .933 SV %. This marks the first season in Iowa where the team did not return one goalie from the previous season.
Notables –
● Kurtis Gabriel is serving a three-game suspension. He is eligible to return on Oct. 17 at Cleveland.
All In The Family
Iowa Wild forwards Marc Hagel and Brett Sutter each have a relative playing for the Charlotte Checkers. Marc’s brother, Kyle Hagel is a winger for the Checkers. Sutter’s cousin Brody, is also a forward for Charlotte.
Charlotte Checkers
Charlotte returns 13 players from the 2014-15 squad, including: leading scorers Justin Shugg (21-22-43), Zack Boychuk (24 pts in 39 gms). Charlotte added TJ Hensick in the offseason. He posted 60 points in 75 games last year with Hamilton. Rookie Sergey Tolchinsky scored 30 goals and posted 95 points for the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2014-15.
Charlotte returns its starting goaltender from 2014-15 with Drew Macintyre. He posted a 20-26-5 record last year and finished with a 2.84 GAA and .914 SV %.
Notables –
● The Checkers have a new Head Coach with Mark Morris replacing Jeff Daniels.
● Defenseman Jake Chelios is the son of Hall of Famer, Chris Chelios. Jake Chelios appeared in 41 games for the Chicago Wolves last season.