T-Birds to Face Charlotte Checkers in First Round of Calder Cup Playoffs
AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

T-Birds to Face Charlotte Checkers in First Round of Calder Cup Playoffs

Published on April 19, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds will begin their quest for the Calder Cup against the Charlotte Checkers in the best-of-3 First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Springfield will be the #6 seed in the Atlantic Division and take on the #3 seeds from Charlotte.

All games in this First Round series will be played inside Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte; the full series schedule is as follows:

Game 1: Wednesday, April 22 @ Bojangles Coliseum, 7:00 p.m.

Game 2: Friday, April 24 @ Bojangles Coliseum*, 7:00 p.m.

Game 3**: Saturday, April 25 @ Bojangles Coliseum, 7:00 p.m.

*Springfield will receive the customary home team "last line change" in Game 2, despite being listed as the away team on the schedule

**Game 3 only will be played if necessary

This marks the second time the T-Birds and Checkers will meet in the Calder Cup Playoffs, as the two clubs previously squared off in the 2022 Atlantic Division Finals. In that series, Springfield swept the Checkers in three straight games en route to a berth in the Calder Cup Finals.

The defending Eastern Conference champions, Charlotte enters the postseason after boasting a regular season record of 44-23-5-0. The Checkers' head coach, Geordie Kinnear, was the Thunderbirds' first head coach and served in that role from 2016 until 2020.

The Checkers picked up wins in six of the eight regular season meetings between the teams and posted a mark of 3-1-0-0 against the T-Birds at Bojangles Coliseum. However, the T-Birds earned three of a possible four points in the two most recent meetings between the clubs on Feb. 27 (3-2 OTL) and Feb. 28 (5-1 W) inside the MassMutual Center. The two most recent contests were also the only two games played by Springfield against the Checkers since Steve Ott took over the reins as head coach on Jan. 20.

Springfield posted a record of 19-13-2-0 under Ott's leadership, helping the T-Birds overcome a 2-10-2-1 start to earn their second straight postseason berth and fourth in the last five years as the AHL affiliates of the St. Louis Blues.

All games of the First Round series can be seen on AHLTV powered by FloHockey and heard over the air on NewsRadio 560 WHYN and the iHeartRadio app.

Thunderbirds' Pay As We Play playoff plans are available now for no upfront cost and will still be in effect should the T-Birds advance to the next round. In addition, 2026-27 season tickets are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).

Check out the Springfield Thunderbirds Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 19, 2026


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