AHL champion Charlotte Checkers will have a familiar face as their new head coach
Ryan Warsofsky, who directed the American Hockey League’s top penalty-killing unit as Charlotte Checkers’ assistant coach, was named Wednesday as head coach of the reigining Calder Cup champions.
The announcement was made by the Carolina Hurricanes, the NHL parent club of the Checkers.
Warsofsky replaces Mike Vellucci, who left the organization last month to become head coach of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Checkers’ first regular-season game under their new head coach will be Oct. 5 in Hartford, Conn. The AHL released the 2019-20 schedule Wednesday.
Warsofsky, 31, will be the youngest current head coach in the AHL and the youngest head coach in Checkers history. He’s also the youngest head coach hired in the league in since Providence appointed Bill Armstrong, then 30, in 2000.
Warsofsky was an assistant with the Checkers for one season and headed a defense that ranked second in the AHL, allowing 2.49 goals per game. He also directed a penalty-killing unit that climbed from 24th the season before he arrived to No. 1 in the AHL in 2018-19.
He was head coach of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays in 2016-18, compiling an overall record of 88-44-12. He became the second-youngest coach to lead a team to the ECHL finals in 2017.
Warsofsky played collegiately at Sacred Heart College and Curry College, then played one year of professional hockey (2011-12) in two lower-level U.S. minor leagues before turning to coaching.
Checkers schedule set
The Checkers will open their home season Friday, Oct. 11, with a 7 p.m. game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The team’s 2018-19 AHL championship banner will be raised prior to the contest.
Some other highlights from the schedule:
Thanksgiving weekend: The Checkers will have three home games that weekend, facing Cleveland on Nov. 27 and Providence on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
Long road trip 1: Charlotte will be on the road for seven straight games from late December to mid-January.
Toronto visits: The last two AHL champions play Jan. 18-19 in Charlotte. Toronto won the Calder Cup in 2018 and lost to the Checkers in the Eastern Conference finals in May.
Brutal trip: The Checkers play six road games in eight days in late March.
Vellucci’s homecoming: Mike Vellucci’s return to Charlotte with his new team, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, will be Jan. 24-25. It’ll be the Checkers’ only home games against the Penguins.
Balanced schedule: Despite the two long trips, the Checkers have a nearly balanced home-away schedule. They have four road and four home games in October; five home and seven road in November; seven home and five road in January; six home and six road in February; seven home and seven road in March; and three home and three away in April.
2019-20 Checkers Schedule
Date, Time, Opponent
Oct. 5, 7 p.m., at Hartford
Oct. 6, 3:05 p.m., at Springfield
Oct. 11, 7 p.m., Bridgeport
Oct. 12, 6 p.m., Bridgeport
Oct. 18, 7 p.m., at Utica
Oct. 19, 7 p.m., at Syracuse
Oct. 25, 7 p.m., Lehigh Valley
Oct. 26, 6 p.m., Lehigh Valley
Nov. 1, 7 p.m., at Cleveland
Nov. 3, 1 p.m., at Cleveland
Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Springfield
Nov. 9, 6 p.m., Springfield
Nov. 15, 7 p.m., at Hershey
Nov. 16, 7 p.m., at Hershey
Nov. 20, 7:05 p.m., at Lehigh Valley
Nov. 22, 7:05 p.m., at Lehigh Valley
Nov. 23, 7:05 p.m., at W-B/Scranton
Nov. 26, 7 p.m., Cleveland
Nov. 27, 7 p.m., Cleveland
Nov. 30, 6 p.m., Providence
Dec. 1, 1 p.m., Providence
Dec. 4, 7 p.m., at Syracuse
Dec. 6, 7:05 p.m., at Rochester
Dec. 7, 7:05 p.m., at Rochester
Dec. 13, 7 p.m., Syracuse
Dec. 14, 6 p.m., Syracuse
Dec. 17, 7 p.m., Hartford
Dec. 18, 7 p.m., Hartford
Dec. 21, 6 p.m., Lehigh Valley
Dec. 22, 1 p.m., Lehigh Valley
Dec. 28, 8 p.m., at Cleveland
Dec. 30, 1 p.m., at Cleveland
Jan. 4, 7:05 p.m., at Providence
Jan. 5, 3:05 p.m., at Providence
Jan. 8, 7:05 p.m., at W-B/Scranton
Jan. 10, 7:15 p.m., at Hartford
Jan. 11, 7 p.m., at Bridgeport
Jan. 14, 7 p.m., Hershey
Jan. 15, 7 p.m., Hershey
Jan. 18, 6 p.m., Toronto
Jan. 19, 1 p.m., Toronto
Jan. 24, 7 p.m., W-B/Scranton
Jan. 25, 6 p.m., W-B/Scranton
Jan. 31, 7 p.m., at Toronto
Feb. 1, 4 p.m., at Toronto
Feb. 7, 7 p.m., Hartford
Feb. 8, 6 p.m., Hartford
Feb. 11, 7 p.m., Rochester
Feb. 12, 7 p.m., Rochester
Feb. 15, 6 p.m., Springfield
Feb. 16, 1 p.m., Springfield
Feb. 21, 7:05 p.m., at Binghamton
Feb. 22, 7:05 p.m., at Binghamton
Feb. 25, 7 p.m., at Hershey
Feb. 28, 7:05 p.m., at Lehigh Valley
Feb. 29, 7:05 p.m., at Lehigh Valley
March 1, 5 p.m., at Hershey
March 6, 7 p.m., Utica
March 7, 6 p.m., Utica
March 10, 7 p.m., Cleveland
March 11, 7 p.m., Cleveland
March 14, 6 p.m., Providence
March 15, 1 p.m., Providence
March 20, 7:15 p.m., at Hartford
March 21, 7 p.m., at Bridgeport
March 22, 3:05 p.m., at Providence
March 25, 7 p.m., at Hartford
March 27, 7 p.m., at Utica
March 28, 7:05 p.m., at Springfield
March 31, 7 p.m., Binghamton
April 1, 7 p.m., Binghamton
April 4, 6 p.m., Hershey
April 5, 1 p.m., Hershey
April 8, 7:05 p.m., at Springfield
April 10, 7:05 p.m., at Providence
April 11, 7:05 p.m., at Springfield
This story was originally published July 10, 2019 at 12:03 PM with the headline "AHL champion Charlotte Checkers will have a familiar face as their new head coach."