Checkers Taking a Moment to Enjoy Run to Finals
June 4, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
The Checkers have spent a lot of this season harping on the importance of moving forward after games, taking lessons and turning the page while avoiding looking in the rear view.
After executing a sweep of Laval on Tuesday to advance to the Calder Cup Finals though, there was finally some time to bask in the win.
"I'm definitely going to enjoy it, for sure," said head coach Geordie Kinnear after Game 4. "Because of all the hard work that went in from the whole group."
"It was special," said MacKenzie Entwistle said of the Game 4 win. "We put in so much work all year. It wasn't our best tonight, but good teams find a way to get it done and that's what we did tonight."
While the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals were routs in favor of Charlotte, the close-out opportunity in Game 4 was a much tighter affair. The Checkers found themselves in a 2-0 hole but wouldn't be denied, battling back to tie the game in the second and then overtaking the Rocket with a go-ahead tally late in regulation to complete the sweep.
"Honestly I was trying to get the guys, the whole night, to get in sync a little bit," said Kinnear. "It was probably our worst hockey game of the playoffs, to be honest with you, but when you've played well over a stretch sometimes you get the bounces. We got the bounces at the end."
A pivotal moment for the Checkers came in the early stages of the second period when they were tasked with killing a five-minute major penalty. Not only did Charlotte shut down the Laval power play, it produced yet another shorthanded tally - electrifying a raucous Coliseum crowd.
"We gave up one last game, but to get another shorthanded goal - the crowd got into it a little bit and allowed us to get energized," said Kinnear. "We didn't have a ton of energy tonight, but that loud building and the energy and we started getting in sync and we started to settle in the game a little bit after that."
In just his third game since returning from an injury that kept him out for nearly six months, Entwistle was the one to step up and strike shorthanded. That goal, along with Puljujarvi's late winner, are more examples of the impressive depth that Charlotte has boasted all season. That trait was on full display during the presentation of the Eastern Conference championship trophy, in which a mass of bodies huddled around the trophy - some in gear, some in suits, all contributors in their own way.
"You look at all the suits, I think there was a point in the season where we had 11 first-year players in the lineup," said Kinnear. "A lot of veteran guys were hurt, obviously Entwistle comes in after the shoulder, comes in and has a positive impact. But if it wasn't for the guys behind him that allowed him to get into the lineup and get us to this point, it wouldn't work. I'm just proud of the whole group. You need the depth - from top to bottom, from the Florida Panthers to Savannah, it's critical to our success."
The Checkers are now bound for their second Calder Cup Finals appearance in franchise history. It's been a massively impressive run - this team is the first to beat the defending champions (Hershey) and the regular-season champions (Laval) in the same postseason since the Checkers did it in 2011, and prior to that it hadn't been accomplished since 1972 - and this group will surely celebrate it as such.
But they're well aware that the job isn't done yet.
"Just staying humble and even-keel," said Entwistle of Charlotte's outlook moving forward. "We have a great team in there. We keep playing the way we're playing and it's tough for teams to handle. We've played hard all year, we've played the exact same way all year, and that's what's led us to success."
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