The Calder Cup is Staying in Charlotte for Another Year
allbeardnoteeth.com
If it wasn’t for the pandemic, this headline would be great news. It would mean the Charlotte Checkers hockey team had successfully defended the Calder Cup after winning it for the first time last year. But for the first time in the 82-year history of the Cup, it will not have the opportunity to be defended. The season had been suspended due to the global pandemic and was ultimately ended two days ago. “After a lengthy review process, the American Hockey League has determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions,” stated AHL President David Andrews.
Fans around Charlotte were excited to see what this year’s Checker team was able to do in the playoffs. After a rough start to the season with new coaches and several new players, the team finally came together in December and put together a nice run to catapult them into third place in the Atlantic Division when the season became suspended. It would have been really interesting and fun to watch this team compete in the playoffs and attempt to defend the Cup. But unfortunately for the team and the fans, that won’t happen. I guess the only bright side in all of this is like the title states, “The Calder Cup is Staying in Charlotte for Another Year.”
We will all have to wait until next season for the attempt to defend the Cup. But that brings up a few more uncertain points that we will have to keep an eye on going forward. The first being we don’t know what next season will look like. When will it start? Will we even have it at all? And if so, will fans be allowed in the arenas? The AHL doesn’t rely on money from television contracts like the NHL and other professional leagues, but instead they rely on fans actually going to the games. And we just don’t know when that will occur again. There’s so many uncertainties that it’s difficult to go ahead and look forward to next season.
The other uncertain thing surrounding the Checkers right now is the near certainty of the team linking up with another NHL franchise since the Carolina Hurricanes are closing in a deal to become affiliated with AHL’s Chicago Wolves. It’s looking very possible that the Checkers would become affiliates of the Florida Panthers franchise. So if that happens, that means new coaches and a new roster. While we would welcome them to the city, it would be a shame for some of the players to not be able to defend the Cup. It wouldn’t feel the same with a brand new affiliated team defending the Calder Cup that a team of another affiliate won. But at the end of the day, the city of Charlotte and the Checkers are champions and we look forward to more hockey games, whenever that may be.
Garett