Patrick Williams delivers the FloHockey AHL Power Rankings each week throughout the regular season.
Back on the road go the Charlotte Checkers.
The last time the Checkers hit the road, they went 6-2-2-0 on a 10-game trip that stretched nearly three weeks before finally coming to an end March 7 at Lehigh Valley. This one will be a six-game trek that opens Wednesday night at Bridgeport.
In between these two road journeys sat a six-game homestand. Though that 10-game march was a bit of an aberration on the Charlotte schedule, this on-and-off pattern to their slate is not. It’s a typical scheduling pattern for the Checkers, who occupy the Eastern Conference’s southern-most market. Six at home. Six on the road.
Before they flew out of Charlotte this week, they made sure to do so on an upbeat note following a pair of poor home outings against the Hartford Wolf Pack last week. Smarting from a pair of 5-2 setbacks, the Checkers unloaded on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to close out a six-game homestand. Those two victories had them outscoring the Phantoms, 11-3, to give them a 4-2-0-0 finish to that homestand.
Wednesday’s game with the Islanders could be particularly significant for the Checkers, whose playoff magic number is down to one. A victory clinches the team’s fifth consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs since they affiliated with the Florida Panthers in 2020. Earning a point with an overtime or shootout loss would get them in as well as would the Providence Bruins defeating the Springfield Thunderbirds in regulation.
After stopping in Bridgeport, a potential early playoff opponent, the Checkers will go to Hartford for games Friday and Saturday. From there it’s on to the North Division for a visit to Rochester followed by back-to-back match-ups with the Toronto Marlies. A four-game homestand will then wrap up Charlotte’s regular season.
2026 Charlotte Checkers vs Hartford Wolf Pack
Last June the Checkers went to Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals, the closest that a Florida affiliate has ever come to winning that trophy. Several offseason personnel departures last summer, the Checkers came back with a decidedly different roster.
Could they make another run into June this time? Florida, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion, is out of contention. That will mean not having to deal with postseason roster recalls, a major advantage for any Calder Cup contender. They can handle the road, too; their 19-8-3-1 mark away from home is fourth-best in the AHL. They are also a bunch that has defeated the AHL’s top two teams this season, Providence and the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Whether they clinch this playoff berth against Bridgeport or at a later point, the next three-plus weeks will be a chance to fine-tune themselves as they prepare to chase the Calder Cup once again.
1) Providence Bruins (–)
James Hagens, the seventh overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, is the latest addition for the AHL’s top team. The 19-year-old comes to the P-Bruins as a Hobey Baker Finalist with Boston College and led Hockey East in scoring. Already a top Calder Cup contender, the P-Bruins will have another piece to their line-up as they attempt to establish the AHL’s top regular-season record.
2) Grand Rapids Griffins (–)
A team that started the season 32-3-2-1 and had positioned itself to make a run at several AHL records has turned decidedly average in the past two months. Since that start they are rather average 12-10-2-0. With Axel Sandin-Pellikka joining the Griffins on loan from the Detroit Red Wings, maybe the Grand Rapids blue line can get a boost.
3) Ontario Reign (–)
Only getting a split in two-game trip to Iowa, the Pacific Division-leading Reign face a demanding week against two of the AHL’s hottest teams in the Henderson Silver Knights and Tucson Roadrunners. The stakes for taking first place in that division are massive – it means avoiding the potential trap door that is a best-of-three first-round series.
4) Laval Rocket (–)
Kaapo Kähkönen has been an ace for the Rocket for much of the season, but especially in the past month with Jacob Fowler first sick and then recalled to the Montreal Canadiens. Kähkönen gives the Rocket reliability each night in net, and he allowed just two goals in leading Laval to a pair of wins.
5) Syracuse Crunch (–)
Syracuse stacked up 17 goals in three wins last week, including a sweep of their two-game home set with the Cleveland Monsters. Center Matthew Peca and defenseman Ian Mitchell, both acquired in deadline trades earlier this month, have made quick impacts. The Crunch look like a team capable of making a legitimate run at the Calder Cup.
6) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (–)
After taking a 5-1 beating from the Laval Rocket, the Penguins saved their week with back-to-back wins at Belleville and Toronto. Now they get another crack at the Rocket, this time on home ice this Saturday.
7) Charlotte Checkers (–)
8) San Jose Barracuda (+1)
Getting a break from the schedule, the Barracuda had the last-place Abbotsford Canucks visit for back-to-back games. They handled that task capably. Veteran netminder Laurent Brossoit is back from the San Jose Sharks as well.
9) Colorado Eagles (-1)
The Eagles have 10 games left to figure themselves out. A 1-1-1-1 homestand against the San Diego Gulls and Coachella Valley Firebirds did not provide much in the way of answers. Now they have a six-game trip facing them. They do get a break with the trip starting out with two match-ups against a Calgary Wranglers team that is out of contention.
10) Coachella Valley Firebirds (+2)
Moving into the top-10 are the Firebirds after a pair of road victories at Colorado. They have taken six of their past seven outings going into Wednesday night’s home day with Calgary. This weekend they get another chance to face San Jose after last week’s 5-1 road loss to the Barracuda.
11) Bakersfield Condors (-1)
The Condors righted themselves last week, shutting out Calgary. That win followed two losses in which they had allowed a combined 13 goals.
12) Henderson Silver Knights (+2)
With victories in seven of their past eight games, the Silver Knights might be the AHL’s most dangerous team at the moment. They have 44 goals in their past six wins, the latest being a 7-2 dismantling of the visiting Texas Stars this past weekend. Raphael Lavoie won the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week after a 5-3-8 effort in four games. Alexander Holtz has provided instant production, going 2-7-9 after joining the club from the Vegas Golden Knights. They have a home showdown with Ontario on Wednesday night before going to Milwaukee for a pair of weekend contests.
13) Cleveland Monsters (-2)
Like the good team that they are, the Monsters had a pair of very winnable games, and they won them. Going to Hartford for a two-game visit, they took care of the Wolf Pack and kept themselves within striking distance of second place in the North Division. With the Toronto Marlies heating up, though, they need to continue to pick up points to avoid falling to fourth place and facing a best-of-three first-round series.
14) Texas Stars (+1)
That poor night at Henderson aside, the Stars have been quite dangerous themselves and have run up seven wins in their past eight games. A pair of home wins against the Chicago Wolves were the Stars’ lone break from a Pacific Division-heavy schedule; they are in the middle of eight of 10 games against Pacific Division clubs. Their West Coast trip continues Wednesday in San Jose.
15) Chicago Wolves (-1)
Chicago has fallen into a 1-7-0-1 slide that has left them on much shakier ground in the Central Division standings. They can’t keep the puck out of their net and allowed 15 goals in three losses last week. Seven of their next eight games are on the road as well with their hold on second place down to just four points.
16) San Diego Gulls (+1)
It was a productive week for the Gulls, who won three of their four games. Coming back home from a split at Colorado, they beat up on Bakersfield, 7-4, and then polished off Calgary. They are on track for their first trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs since 2022.
The Rest
17) Tucson Roadrunners (+1)
18) Toronto Marlies (-1)
19) Rochester Americans (+1)
20) Manitoba Moose (-1)
21) Milwaukee Admirals (+3)
22) Bridgeport Islanders (+4)
23) Springfield Thunderbirds (–)
24) Belleville Senators (-2)
25) Hershey Bears (–)
26) Lehigh Valley Phantoms (-5)
27) Rockford IceHogs (+2)
28) Iowa Wild (+4)
29) Utica Comets (-2)
30) Calgary Wranglers (-2)
31) Hartford Wolf Pack (–)
32) Abbotsford Canucks (-2)
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