Checkers to face Atlantic City in Decisive Game Five on Wednesday
April 8, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. â On Wednesday, April 10, the Checkers will meet the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies for the decisive fifth game in their best-of-five Northeast Division Semifinals series. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cricket Arena. The Boardwalk Bullies forced a Game Five by defeating the Checkers 6-0 in Game Four on Saturday night in Atlantic City.
The Checkers are 3-1-0 in four meetings with the Boardwalk Bullies in Charlotte this season. The Checkers earned 7-3 and 6-2 victories in the regular season before splitting a pair of 4-1 decisions in Games One and Two of the Northeast Division Semifinal series. The Checkers finished the regular season with a 24-7-5 home record, seventh best in the East Coast Hockey League.
Checkers' center Kevin Hilton and Bullies' left wing Luke Curtin are tied for third in playoff scoring with seven points apiece. Hilton leads the ECHL with six playoff assists while Curtin is tied for third with four playoff goals. The Checkers and Bullies have combined for 23 goals and 356 penalty minutes through the first four games of the series.
Checkers' power forwards David Oliver and Vince Malts will be returning to the lineup for Game Five. Oliver, who has not played since March 30, tallied 28 points (17g, 11a) and 169 penalty minutes in 59 games during the 2001-02 regular season. Malts is returning to the Checkers after serving a two-game suspension stemming from an altercation with Atlantic City's Mark Loeding in Game Two. Malts, who was acquired via trade with Pee Dee on December 14 notched 20 points (11g, 9a) and 110 penalty minutes in 40 games as a Checker. He totaled 31 points (13g, 18a) and 194 penalty minutes in the 2001-02 regular season.
Wednesday's game marks only the third time in the Checkers' nine seasons that they will take the ice in the deciding game of a playoff series. The Checkers are 1-1 those games with their series win coming in the second round of the 1996 Riley Cup Playoffs against South Carolina. The Checkers earned a 5-2 home win and went on to win the 1996 ECHL Championship. Last season, the Checkers faced their only other Game Five and were defeated 5-2 in Dayton at the hands of the Dayton Bombers.
Tickets for Game Five and all Checkers' playoff games are available at the Cricket Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, charge-by-phone at 704-522-6500, and through the Checkers web site www.gocheckers.com.
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