January Checkers vs. October Checkers? It’s two different teams

The Charlotte Checkers team that opens a six-game home stand Friday evening is a much better team than the squad that opened the season three months ago.

Take it from coach Geordie Kinnear, who recently said, “The guys are gaining confidence.”

Or just look at the standings. Charlotte, which started the season with three victories in its first seven games, had won six of seven before dropping games Saturday and Monday in Cleveland.

The Checkers have climbed to fourth place in the American Hockey League’s Atlantic Division, prior to Friday’s 7 p.m. faceoff at Bojangles Coliseum against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And Charlotte, which has gone 6-3 since mid-December, isn’t far off the division lead.

Their overall record, 18-11-2, isn’t far removed from the 19-8-4 mark a year ago at this time. That Checkers team finished second in the Atlantic Division and reached the Calder Cup playoff finals, losing to Abbotsford.

Charlotte’s 2025-26 squad is a young team, but its oldest player, 31-year-old defenseman Trevor Carrick, said Kinnear is the right person to bring the young players together.

“Geordie creates an atmosphere where he passes the leadership to the guys, and that builds a tight-knit group,” Carrick said.

Forward Sandis Vilmanis, 21, is tied with forward Wilmer Skoog and center Gracyn Sawchyn for the team scoring lead at 19 points. Sawchyn is only 20. And forward Ben Steeves, with 16 points, is 23.

Goalkeeper Cooper Black, who at 6-8 is among the tallest players in the AHL, is a relatively young 25.

Steeves leads the team with 38 penalty minutes.

The Checkers have managed to grow and thrive, despite occasionally feeding players to their NHL parent squad, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Just last week, for example, Florida called up defenseman Tobias Bjornfot from the Checkers. Bjornfot had a plus-5 rating at the time he was promoted to the NHL.

Kinnear said the Checkers are still learning to deal with things such as lengthy road trips.

“Being a young group, the mental toughness and physical toughness come into play a little bit,” he said, adding that he continues to see growth in those areas.

You won’t find many Checkers players among the AHL statistical leaders.

In fact, the only top-10 performer is Black, whose 2.41 goals-against average puts him ninth in the league.

Kinnear, though, is happy with the lineup. He recently singled out Sawchyn, who has six goals and 13 assists this season.

“He’s what I call a competitive scorer,” Kinnear said. “He’s just so competitive. He loves to score, loves to play on the inside, and loves the game of hockey.”

And Vilmaris made Checkers’history this week, becoming the first active Charlotte player ever named to an Olympic squad. He was picked to play for Latvia in the Winter Olympics next month in Milan, Italy.

“I’ve had a lot of time to learn from the players in Charlotte,” said Vilmaris, in his second year with the Checkers. “I feel more confident in every game I go out there on the ice.”

If the Checkers are to make a push up the standings, they’ll have several opportunities. Charlotte also has six-game home stands in late January and early February, and again in mid-March.

The Checkers host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday and Saturday (6 p.m.), then entertain the Springfield Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. They close the home stand against the Hershey Bears at 4 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18.

NASCAR Night: Friday will be NASCAR Night for the Checkers. NASCAR drivers including Joey Logano, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon and Ross Chastain are scheduled to sign autographs and meet fans before the game.

Sellout: If you don’t have tickets for Tuesday’s game against Springfield, you’re out of luck. It’s Throwback Ticket Night, with reduced ticket prices, and the game is sold out.