ROSEMONT, IL - The Checkers capped off their record-breaking season Saturday night, beating the Wolves in Game 5 to capture the franchise’s first-ever Calder Cup and deliver the city of Charlotte a championship.The league’s leading playoff scorer Andrew Poturalski wasted no time getting the Checkers on the board, collecting a slick cross-ice feed from Aleksi Sarela and lighting the lamp just 91 seconds after the opening puck drop.
"The guys wanted it really bad. They didn’t want to play any more games and have that week off," head coach Mike Vellucci said. "I was a little nervous that we wanted it too much, but we came out and played the right way and they played great too."Charlotte’s top line continued to heat up in the middle frame as Morgan Geekie added another for his squad, catching a Chicago turnover in the slot and wiring a quick shot under Oscar Dansk. The Wolves got a spark of life in the waning seconds of the period as they finally broke through offensively, but the Checkers reestablished their two-goal advantage early on in the third.Geekie came up big with a faceoff win in the offensive zone and Trevor Carrick ripped the ensuing loose puck into the back of the net to make it 3-1.The Wolves would cut back into the lead twice late in the third period – using an extra attacker both times – to increase the drama, but the Checkers would punch back each time as Poturalski and Zach Nastasiuk each buried a puck into the empty net to seal the team’s fourth straight win and end the series in five games.
"It’s just unbelievable. Being here for three years and building this culture and having fun, we just expect to win and we went out and did it," Poturalski, who won the Calder Cup MVP said. "I couldn’t be more proud of the guys in the room."As he has all season, the AHL’s Most Oustanding Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stepped up to the challenge in the Cup-clinching game, pulling off several stellar denials en route to a 26-save performance. Poturalski, who ended the postseason with a league-best 23 points (12g, 11a) in 18 games, was named the AHL’s Playoff MVP.
"To get the first championship in Checkers history and do it for (team owner) Michael Kahn and the city of Charlotte and all the guys in the room, we truly deserved it. We worked our asses off for that all year. To get that win is definitely something we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives," Poturalski said.
This is the first championship in the Checkers’ nine AHL seasons. The team won six previous championships in various other leagues, including Eastern Hockey League titles in 1957, 1971 and 1972, Southern Hockey League championships in 1975 and 1976 and an ECHL title in 1996