The schedule for the 2023-24 AHL season is officially out!
You can find printable and downloadable versions here, and as we wait for Opening Night let’s break down some of the highlights from the new slate.
GOING BACK TO CALI
For the first time since the 2016-17 season, there are teams from California on the Checkers’ schedule. Along with the usual cast of Eastern Conference teams, they’ll face off with San Jose and San Diego, two squads that Charlotte hasn’t seen since the 2015-16 campaign. The Gulls and Barracuda will each visit the Queen City for back-to-back contests - with the former coming through the first weekend in November and the latter coming in mid-January. For the other half of the meetings, the Checkers will be making the goliath 2,275-mile trek out to the Golden State on Nov. 10 - swinging through San Jose and San Diego for four contests over a seven-day stretch.
BEAT THE CHAMPS
The Hershey Bears are once again all over the Checkers’ schedule, with the division rivals squaring off eight times over the seven months of play. What makes this year unique is that this marks the first time that Charlotte will face the defending Calder Cup champs in the regular season since 2018-19 with the Toronto Marlies.
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Bojangles Coliseum will be the place to be on weekends in the Queen City. Of the 36 home games on the Checkers’ slate, 29 of them take place on Friday, Saturday or Sunday - with 14 on Saturdays alone.
Additionally, those weekend dates will once again showcase a variety of start times - along with the typical fare, there is a 4:00 and 6:00 Friday puck drop around the holidays in the group, as well as the return of several 4:00 puck drops on Saturdays to cater to the family crowd.
IT’S A HOLIDAY
This season’s home schedule is highlighted by some key holiday dates at the Coliseum. Once again, the week of Thanksgiving is one of the heaviest stretches on the slate - the Checkers will host Cleveland on the Monday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, then the Penguins on the Friday and Saturday following. The following month fans can ring in the holiday season with a pair of games the week before Christmas, and then in March they can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend with a pair of tilts at the Coliseum.
TAKING IT OUTSIDE
Fans may notice only 35 home dates at Bojangles Coliseum this season. That’s because on Jan. 13 the Checkers are hosting the Rochester Americans for the franchise’s first-ever outdoor hockey game. The historic contest will take place at Truist Field in Uptown Charlotte - home of the Charlotte Knights - and fans can sign up to be notified when those tickets go on sale
here.
TRIPLES ARE BEST
Just like each of the last two seasons, the Checkers have three instances of the three-games-in-three-days stretch on their calendar. As is typically the case each three-in-three will come on the road, with the Checkers knocking them all out across the two months of December and January. The first three-in-three is the toughest, with Charlotte visiting Rochester, Lehigh Valley and Hershey on consecutive nights in early December. Three weeks later the Checkers will swing back through Pennsylvania for two games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and one in Lehigh Valley, then knock out their final three-in-three with a pair of games in Springfield and a finale in Providence during the last weekend of January.
