Checkers, Wolves are AHL finalists, but they’re also total strangers

They are separated by 760 miles, but they might as well be worlds apart.

Two teams that have never seen the other play will meet Saturday night in Game 1 of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Finals at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

The Charlotte Checkers, who had the AHL’s best regular-season record and are Eastern Conference champions, will face the Western champion Chicago Wolves at 6 p.m. It will be a learning experience for each team.

“It’s tough not seeing a team all year, and then playing them in the Finals,” said winger Andrew Poturalski, Charlotte’s playoff scoring leader. “You don’t know what to expect.”

To cut on expenses, the AHL does not have teams in the East face teams in the West. That only happens in the finals.

Head coaches Mike Vellucci of Charlotte and Rocky Thompson of Chicago have spent the past two weeks accumulating video and talking to coaches and scouts.

“We’re doing our homework,” Vellucci said. “We’ve done a lot of video.”

Thompson told Chicago-area media this week that Charlotte is a powerful team that kills penalties extremely well and can score in a number of ways. Vellucci described the Wolves as “an older team” with an explosive scoring attack and a strong power play.

But until the puck is dropped, it’s all guesswork.

“We’ll have to take it one game at a time and adjust our game to the way they play,” Checkers defenseman Trevor Carrick said. “I think at this point in the playoffs, though, it’s going to come down to hard work and who wants it more.”

The Checkers, in their ninth season as an AHL franchise, are in the Calder Cup Finals for the first time. Chicago won the Cup the last time it reached the finals, in 2008; the Wolves also won it in 2002.

One possible area of difference between the teams is the home-ice advantage. The Checkers, who host the first two games and then possible Games 6 and 7, have drawn considerably bigger crowds this season than the Wolves, who will be home for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if needed).

“It’s a great building,” Vellucci said of the coliseum. “It’s loud, the acoustics are great.”

“I know the crowd’s going to be great, as they always have been,” Carrick said.

5 Players to watch

Alex Nedeljkovic, Charlotte: Ned, as he’s known on the team, is reigning AHL Goalkeeper of the Year. He has a 2.28 goals-allowed average in the playoffs, and his backup, Dustin Tokarski, is 10-0 in goal this season with Charlotte.

Martin Necas, Charlotte: Necas, 20, the No. 12 pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2017 NHL draft, has two goals and five assists in the playoffs. He and linemates Patrick Brown and Tomas Jurco dominated Toronto in the semifinals.

Morgan Geekie, Charlotte: A 20-year-old forward, Geekie leads all AHL rookies in playoff scoring (15 points) this season.

Daniel Carr, Chicago: Carr, 27, is the AHL’s Most Valuable Player. He scored 71 points (30 goals, 41 assists) in 52 games before being injured and missing the last quarter of the season. He has scored five goals since returning in the playoff quarterfinals.

Cody Glass, Chicago: Glass, 20, is one of the bright stars in the Vegas Golden Knights’ system. He spent most of this season in junior hockey but has six goals and six assists in the playoffs.

Worth mentioning

▪ The last time the Checkers and Wolves met was in the first round of the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs. At the time, Charlotte was in the Western Conference. The Checkers lost the series 3-2. No players on the current Wolves roster played in that series, but eight current Checkers were on the 2017 team, including Poturalski.

▪ All seven games of the Calder Cup Finals will be carried by the NHL Network. Game 1 won’t air until 2 p.m. Sunday, and Game 4 will air at 1 p.m. Friday. All other games in the series will be broadcast live.

▪ While the Checkers have never won the Calder Cup, they’ve won hockey titles before. They won the Eastern Hockey League playoffs in 1957, 1971 and 1972; the Southern Hockey League in 1975 and 1976; and the ECHL in 1996.

About the Chicago Wolves

▪ They’re based in Chicago but are not the top farm team of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. The Wolves are affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights.

▪ They play home games at Allstate Arena, in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont. Capacity for hockey is about 17,000 – nearly twice the capacity of Bojangles’ Coliseum. But the Wolves are averaging only 3,925 fans for home playoff games. The Checkers are averaging 6,791.

▪ The Wolves don’t quit. They were down 2-0 to Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, then won three straight contests to take the series. They also were down 2-1 to San Diego in the semifinals before winning three in a row.

▪ This is the Wolves’ 25th season as a franchise. They belonged to the now-defunct International Hockey League before joining the AHL for the 2001-02 season.

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 6:27 PM.