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AHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Play Two on the Road this Weekend

October 20, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


FRIDAY'S PREVIEW: The Checkers will begin a two-game road trip this weekend, starting with a Friday night game at Greenville against the Grrrowl. Former Checkers Head Coach, John Marks, begins his sixth season with the Grrrowl and his 11th season in the ECHL. Greenville (0-1-0) dropped its' regular season opener at South Carolina Saturday night by a score of 3-2. Friday night's game against the Checkers will be the Grrrowl's home opener at the Bi-Lo Center. Two former Checkers, Tyler Deis and Scott Kirton, dot the Greenville roster.

2003-04 VS. GREENVILLE (0-0-0 = 0 PTS) - SEVEN-GAME SEASON SERIES OVERALL - 0-0-0 HOME - 0-0-0 AWAY - 0-0-0 LIFETIME VS. GREENVILLE: 11-18-2

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SATURDAY'S PREVIEW: The Checkers will try to even the seven-game season series Saturday night when they conclude their two-game road trip in Gwinnett (1-1-0) against the Gladiators. Gwinnett started their new season in the ECHL by beating the Checkers 5-3 Saturday night in Charlotte's home opener. The Gladiators dropped their first game of the season the following night in a 4-1 loss at Columbus, Georgia to the Cottonmouths. Gwinnett is the former Mobile Mystics franchise. The Gladiators are coached by Jeff Pyle, who came to Gwinnett when the franchise moved from Mobile. In four seasons in Mobile he led the Mystics to a 137-113-52 record and three playoff appearances. Former Checkers winger, Brandon Dietrich, a first team All-Star for Charlotte in the 2001-02 season, is a member of the Gladiators. Gwinnett will stage their home opener Friday night when they'll host Augusta at the brand new Gwinnett Center.

2003-04 VS. GWINNETT (0-1-0 = 0 PTS) - SEVEN-GAME SEASON SERIES OVERALL - 0-1-0 HOME - 0-1-0 AWAY - 0-0-0 LIFETIME VS. GWINNETT - 5-2-1 (Mobile franchise record included)

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CHECKERS RECENT MOVES AND TRANSACTIONS:

Wednesday October 16 Hartford assigned right wing Brandon Cullen to the Checkers Wednesday October 16 Released left wing Ben Van Depeer Friday October 17 Signed left wing Dave Inman Monday October 20 Released right wing Mike Hartman

NEWS AND NOTES:

· Following Saturday night's 5-3 loss to Gwinnett, the Checkers all-time record in home openers fell to 4-6-1. Current Head Coach Don MacAdam dropped his first home opener and is now 2-1-1 in lid lifters at Cricket Arena.

· Rookie right wing Mike Wirll scored his first Checkers and ECHL goal in Saturday night's 5-3 loss to Gwinnett. Wirll scored his first professional goal last season in a brief stint with the Bakersfield Condors.

· Right wing Blaz Emersic scored his first Checkers and ECHL goal, short-handed, in Saturday night's 5-3 loss to Gwinnett. He had earlier scored goals in the AHL and CHL in his career.

· The Checkers enjoyed an opening night crowd of 6,329, which bettered last season's home opener by 300 fans. The 6.329 was the seventh best home opening crowd of the 22 ECHL teams that had an opener this past weekend.

· Left Wing Mike Hartman dressed and played for the Checkers for Saturday night's opener. Hartman has played in 397 NHL games and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. Center Allan Egeland was another Checkers player on the opening night roster with NHL games to his credit (17), all with Tampa Bay.

· The Checkers power play went 1-5 Saturday night to tie Charlotte for 9th place among the 30 ECHL teams who played over the weekend.

TEAM LEADERS:

POINTS BLAZ EMERSIC (2) GOALS DUSTY JAMIESON, BLAZ EMERSIC & MIKE WIRLL (1)
ASSISTS BLAZ EMERSIC, DOUG CHRISTIANSEN, ALLAN EGELAND & RORY RAWLYK (1)
PLUS / MINUS SEVERAL TIED AT (0)
PENALTY MINUTES MIKE WIRLL (4)

Checkers went 0-1-0 last week.

TICKET INFO: All regular season individual game tickets and preseason game tickets are on sale and may be purchased at the Cricket Arena Box Office, the Charlotte Coliseum Box Office, and all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets may also be purchased by phone by using a credit card and calling Ticketmaster at (704) 922-6500, and through the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

Individual game tickets for the 2003-04 season are priced at $7.00 for balcony seats, $10.00 for end mezzanine seats, $12.00 for side mezzanine seats, $15.00 for circle seats, and $20.00 for box seats.

Season Tickets, mini plans and group tickets remain on sale through the Checkers office. Season tickets prices can now be prorated Further information can be obtained by calling the Checkers office at (704) 342-4423.

THIS WEEK:

BROADCAST INFO
Friday, October 24 @ Greenville 7:05 p.m.
INTERNET - www.gocheckers.com
TELEPHONE - (800) 847-4600, Code 2820

Saturday, October 25 @ Gwinnett 7:35 p.m.
INTERNET - www.gocheckers.com
TELEPHONE - (800) 847-4600, Code 2820

*** All Checkers road game can be heard on the Internet by logging on to www.gocheckers.com, and can be heard over the telephone, TOLL FREE, in the United States and Canada by calling "TEAMLINE" at (800) 847-4600 - CODE # 2820

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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