Weekly Report: April 13, 2015

The Checkers ended the home portion of their schedule this weekend with a thrilling win over the surging Rockford IceHogs, but the season isn't over just yet.

Following a practice this morning, the Checkers will embark on one last road trip to close out the 2014-15 campaign, beginning Wednesday night in Rockford.

Week in Review

Rockford 2, Checkers 0

The Checkers welcomed a red hot IceHogs team to town for the first time this season and nearly derailed Rockford's impressive run in front of the biggest crowd in franchise history. Despite being outshot by a 10-4 margin in the first, the score remained deadlocked at zero. The scoreless battle was finally broken up by a power-play strike midway through the second from Spencer Abbott. The home team buckled down after that and held the IceHogs at bay, but could not muster up any offense of their own. Rockford iced it with an empty netter late to seal the 2-0 win. Despite the loss, Drew MacIntyre turned in a strong performance, stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced. The game was preceded by AHL president Dave Andrews presenting Kyle Hagel with the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the league's Man of the Year. Full recap

Checkers 4, Rockford 3

In the last game they will play at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Checkers left in style, topping the IceHogs with some late-game heroics. After Rockford quickly put two pucks past Rasmus Tirronen, who was making his pro debut, the Checkers roared back with back-to-back goals of their own to tie the game heading into the second. The scoring evaporated in the middle frame, and the deadlock proceeded to the third. Haydn Fleury, also in his pro debut, lit the lamp for his first pro goal to put the home team back on top, but the IceHogs answered later in the frame when Brandon Mashinter took advantage of a penalty shot opportunity to even things once again. But it was Brock McGinn who came through in the clutch, roofing a rebound from the right side of the crease with under four minutes left to lift the Checkers to one last victory at Time Warner Cable Arena. Full recap

Notables

Man of the Year

The American Hockey League honored Checkers forward Kyle Hagel with the Yanick Dupre Award for outstanding contributions to the community in a surprise ceremony prior to Saturday's game against Rockford. It marked the first league award for Hagel, who has captured five team awards from five different teams (Rockford, Peoria, Hamilton, Portland) in his five AHL seasons.

Hagel leads the Checkers and ranks 18th in the AHL with 154 penalty minutes. He ranks fourth in the AHL with 22 major penalties, all of which are fighting majors.

Turned Away

The Checkers' 2-0 shutout loss to Rockford on Saturday was their sixth shutout of the season, tying a single-season franchise record set in 2011-12. It was their first at home since April 6, 2013 (Milwaukee), with each of the team's eight shutouts since then all taking place on the road.

Charlotte is the only AHL team that has yet to record a shutout of its own.

Fill The Building

The Checkers' crowd of 13,219 on Saturday was the largest in team history, eclipsing the old mark of 13,102 set on Feb. 25, 2012.

Sunday was the team's last-ever game at Time Warner Cable Arena before returning to Bojangles' Coliseum for their 2015-16 home opener on Saturday, Nov. 7. It moved to to the facility while still a member of the ECHL for the 2005-06 season and has posted a home record of 96-79-16 since moving to the AHL prior to the 2010-11 campaign.

Turning Pro

Several of the newcomers to the Checkers hit milestones in their young careers this past week. Brett Pesce was the first to make it into the lineup, making his pro debut on April 2 and recording his first pro point, an assist, the next night. Roland McKeown made his debut on April 11 and notched his first point the next night as well.

Rasmus Tirronen and Haydn Fleury wach made their first appearances as a pro in the team's final home tilt Sunday afternoon. Tirronen made 32 stops and earned his first pro win, while Fleury foudn the back of the net for his first pro goal and point.
Of the newcomers that have been practicing with the Checkers, Josh Wesley remains the only one not to appear in a game yet.

MacIntyre's Workload

Checkers goalie Drew MacIntyre, who has played in 11 of the team's last 15 games, set a franchise record by appearing in his 49th game of the season on Saturday. In doing so, he broke the old mark set by Justin Pogge in the inaugural 2011-12 campaign. He now ranks sixth in the AHL with 2,816 minutes played and is second with 1,394 saves.

MacIntyre's most recent victory in Norfolk on March 25 was the 211th of his career, moving him into a tie with Nick Damore for ninth in AHL history. He is now just 21 away from tying Frederic Cassivi for fifth. MacIntyre, a 31-year-old veteran now playing his 12th professional season with his eighth AHL club, has a 211-142-26 record, 2.48 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 402 career AHL games dating back to the 2004-05 season.

Though he has yet to record a shutout, MacIntyre has won five games by a 2-1 score. He owns a .920 save percentage in overtime games this season (46 saves on 50 shots) and has stopped 21 of 23 in the shootout. He is tied for second in the league in shootout victories this season (4-1 record).

LaRose's Shorty Success

With his goal on April 3, Chad LaRose is now tied for the AHL lead with five shorthanded points. That also establishes a new franchise single-season record, snapping the previous mark of four, set by both Brett Sutter and Chris Terry during the 2010-11 season. Three of LaRose's shorthanded points this season have been helpers, tying him for the league lead in that category as well.

LaRose now ranks fourth on the Checkers all-time shorthanded points list. He has factored in on five of the team's eight shorthanded goals this season - a total that is five more than its league-low total from last season.

Eliminated

The Checkers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last week. This will be the third time in Checkers' five seasons as an AHL franchise in which they did not qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs and the first time that they have missed the postseason in back-to-back years.

Ranks

• Kyle Hagel ranks fourth in the AHL in major penalties (22)
• Chad LaRose is tied for the AHL lead in shorthanded assists (3) and shorthanded points (5)
• Drew MacIntyre ranks second in the AHL in saves (1,394)
• Phil Di Giuseppe ranks fifth among AHL rookies in shots (163)
• Trevor Carrick ranks fifth among rookie defensemen in scoring (28) and is tied for fourth among AHL rookies in power-play assists (11)
• Patrick Brown is tied for the AHL rookie lead in shorthanded assists (2)

Injuries

• Jared Staal - missed two games starting 4/11
• Greg Nemisz - missed 52 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• At 18 years and 277 days, Haydn Fleury became the youngest to ever play for the Checkers when he made his pro debut on 4/12
• Fleury also scored his first pro goal in his debut
• Roland McKeown recorded his first pro point on 4/12
• Kyle Hagel played his 350th professional game on 4/11
• Danny Biega recorded his 100th AHL/professional penalty minute on 4/11
• Roland McKeown made his professional debut on 4/11

Transactions

Incoming

• April 12 - (D) Keegan Lowe reassigned from Carolina (NHL)
• April 9 - (G) Daniel Altshuller recalled from Florida (ECHL)
• April 8 - (D) Haydn Fleury signed to amateur tryout contract from Red Deer (WHL)
• April 8 - (D) Danny Biega reassigned from Carolina (NHL)
• April 6 - (D) Roland McKeown signed to amateur tryout contract from Kingston (OHL)

Outgoing

• April 6 - (D) Austin Levi assigned to Florida (ECHL)
• April 6 - (D) Mike Cornell released from professional tryout contract

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	13.2%	28th	28th
Penalty kill	85.1%	t-10th	11th
Goals per game	2.23	29th	29th
Shots per game	29.26	21st	22nd
Goals allowed per game	3.03	22nd	t-22nd
Shots allowed per game	32.99	29th	28th
Penalty minutes per game	17.60	22nd	22nd

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Justin Shugg (40), Chad LaRose (36), Trevor Carrick, Brendan Woods (28)
Goals	Justin Shugg (20), Chad LaRose (18), Brock McGinn (14)
Assists	Trevor Carrick (21), Justin Shugg (20), Chad LaRose (18)
Power play goals	Zach Boychuk, Chad LaRose, Justin Shugg (6)
Shorthanded goals	Chad LaRose, Greg Nemisz, Brendan Woods (2)
Game-winning goals	Brody Sutter, Chad LaRose, Justin Shugg (3)
Shots on goal	Justin Shugg (164), Phil Di Giuseppe (163), Chad LaRose (160)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (154), Keegan Lowe (106), Brendan Woods (101)
Plus/minus	Brett Pesce, Roland McKeown (+2), Greg Nemisz, Dennis Robertson (+1)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (19)
Goals-against average	John Muse (2.59)
Save percentage	John Muse (.919)