Checkers season ends as Florida clinches series with 4-0 win
Published on April 17, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
(Charlotte, North Carolina - Tuesday, April 17) The Charlotte Checkers season came to a close Tuesday night at Bobcats Arena, as the Florida Everblades skated away with a 4-0 win to sweep the best-of 5 South Division semi-final series. After dropping the first two games of the series in Fort Myers over the weekend, the Checkers were hopeful of turning things around on their home ice.
Charlotte was also buoyed Tuesday night with the return of veteran goalie, Alex Westlund, and skillful defenseman, Hannu Pikkarainen from their American Hockley League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. But in the end it was Florida goalie, Craig Kowalski, who almost single-handedly sent the Everblades to the South Division finals.
Kowalski made 32 saves Tuesday night, many of the spectacular variety, in shutting down a good Checkers effort. A second-period goal by Jonathan Lehun was all Florida would need on this night. Derek Damon and Dustin Johner scored third-period goals, along with Chris Dyment's empty-net goal with a minute left to seal the win. Westlund, making his first start of the playoffs, made 14 saves in the loss.
The Everblades will go on to meet the winner of the Texas-Gwinnett South Division semi-final series, in the South Division finals. That series is currently tied at 1-1 with game 3 set for Texas on Wednesday.
"They made the most of their opportunities and we just couldn't," remarked Charlotte Coach Derek Wilkinson. "It wasn't from a lack of effort, we just couldn't finish and they did. He (Florida goalie Craig Kowalski) was solid. He's a good goaltender, he's been in the league for a couple of years and he wasn't going to give us anything tonight."
Tuesday's game was the Checkers 11th in the last 17 days dating back to the final week of the regular season. Having to play so many games in such a short period of time may have taken its toll on a Charlotte club that gave a supreme effort, despite the handicap.
Despite the Checkers season coming to an end on Tuesday, there were many positives to the 2006-07 campaign. Charlotte won a franchise second-best 42 games during the regular season, and had numerous players get opportunities at the next level in the American Hockey League. Off the ice, the Checkers averaged nearly 6,000 fans per game in 36 home games, third-best in the 25-team ECHL. The Checkers also had a smooth transistion to first-year owner Michael Kahn, who injected a large dose of enthuasism into the team as evidenced by numerous improvements on and off the ice.
Wilkinson commented on his team's success this season as well as the campaign coming to an end. "I think we had a heck of a year." said Wilkinson. "Forty two wins in the regular season is impressive. I'm proud our effort. I thought we were built for a better run than we were. I thought we'd go a little deeper but we ran up against a great team."
The Checkers and Everblades played to a scoreless first period. Each team had three power play opportunities in the first stanza, but both goalies hunkered down to keep the goose eggs on the scoreboard.
In the second period the Checkers had numerous, quality scoring chances, but Kowalski made every save to keep Charlotte off the board. With 4:30 left in the second, the Everblades finally broke the scoreless tie with the stanza's lone goal. Johner's shot from the right-wing side went wide, deflecting the left-wing circle. Lehun fired the puck past Westlund and Florida led 1-0 after two periods.
In the third period the Everblades converted a two-on-one break for a 2-0 advantage, as Damon beat Westlund at 7:53. Five minutes later Johner had a breakaway and scored for a 3-0 Florida lead, and storm clouds began to gather on the Checkers season. Charlotte pulled Westlund for a sixth attacker with 2:22 left in a desperate attempt to score. But Dyment's empty-net goal with a minute to go in the contest sealed the win and the 4-0 final.
ECHL South Division Semi-Finals: (Best-of-Five) (Florida wins series 3-0)
Friday, April 13 - Checkers 2 @ Florida 3
Saturday, April 14 - Checkers 2 @ Florida 7
Tuesday, April 17 - Everblades 4 @ Charlotte 0
OPENING ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES RESULTS: (Best of Three) (Charlotte wins series 2-0)
Monday, April 9 - Augusta 1 @ Charlotte 2 OT
Tuesday, April 10 - Charlotte 3 @ Augusta 2 OT
CHECKERS TUESDAY NIGHT SCRATCHES: Rick Kozak, Daymen Rycroft and Niko Tuomi
ON RECALL TO (AHL) HARTFORD: Chris Holt and Zdenek Bahensky
FOR BOX SCORE CLICK: .leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1848">php?game_id=1848
NEXT SEASON: Season tickets for the Checkers 2007-08 season are now available by calling the Checkers office at 704-342-4423.
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