Charlotte’s leadership group made it clear that they wanted their captain with them as they collected the Richard F. Canning Trophy as the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference champions.
Alternate captains Will Lockwood, Rasmus Asplund and Matt Kiersted pulled injured captain Zac Dalpe with them to center ice at Bojangles Coliseum for the trophy presentation after last week’s series-clinching win over Laval. Limited by injury to just nine regular-season games, Dalpe has not played since Dec. 18.
But he is a Charlotte fixture who joined the team as a pro rookie during their first AHL season in 2010 as a Carolina prospect, and then returned in 2021 as a veteran leader with the new Florida affiliation. In all, he has played seven seasons in Charlotte, and he has his name dotting the team record book.
“At least in the locker room,” Lockwood said, “everyone understands the impact he’s made on players and in the culture here. Even though he’s only played a handful of games, he’s had such a positive impact on our group. He’s been a huge leader for us and a guy that’s been moving the needle in the right direction for us all year.”
Through the years, Charlotte management has worked to establish stability. Dalpe and head coach Geordie Kinnear came to the city with the Carolina organization from Albany, and they’re once again back representing Florida.
“Zac’s been a part of this group for a long period of time now,” said Kinnear, who was a captain himself with the Albany River Rats. “It’s the environment, having those guys around, going through the ups and the downs…to be able to get us to this point now.”
Securing a first-round bye and then sweeping back-to-back series will earn a team a lot of time off the schedule.
The Checkers have played just 12 games in the 54 days since the regular season ended on Apr. 19. It creates a delicate balancing act for a coaching staff and a team to manage that down time. Head coach Geordie Kinnear has worked to keep his players sharp and focused while also making sure not to push them too hard this late in the season.
The time off has also allowed the Checkers to heal up, rest up, and have ample time to conduct a pre-scout of the Canucks.
“We’re well-rested,” forward John Leonard said, “and everyone’s excited and ready to go. You have some days off, but it’s an opportunity to get better and work on things.”
Said Kinnear, “We’re very fortunate nowadays. You have a lot of teams that have sports science, very good performance coaches, staff, so they help you with that. We found a rhythm within the year of what our guys need, how it worked, the amount of practices, and what the practices look like. We’re pretty dialed into it. You can’t push your guys that hard this late in the season, but I can tell you our guys aren’t afraid of hard work.”
The light game schedule also means more time together, one of the benefits for a close-knit team that plays into June. Defenseman Trevor Carrick and forward Will Lockwood headed off to do some fishing after practice Wednesday.
“Whenever you get to this far, you have to have a special group where they like to be around each other,” Kinnear said. “It’s been a group that’s done that all year, that’s really had fun coming to work.”
And they have had evenings free to watch their parent team, the Florida Panthers, make their way through the postseason and into the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Florida and Charlotte are the first teams from the same organization to reach their respective finals since Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton did so in 2008.
Clearly these breaks have not at all slowed down the Checkers, who will bring an eight-game winning streak into Game 1.
“We’ve utilized that time really well,” Lockwood said, “and I think it’s been a good factor for us.”
After four rounds winding through the Calder Cup Playoffs, the payoff has arrived for the Canucks. The last step is a Calder Cup Finals series with the Checkers.
“It’s obviously a huge step for us as an organization, and I’m happy to see the guys getting rewarded for the way they’re playing and their commitment to what we’re trying to do,” head coach Manny Malhotra said.
With this Abbotsford team, the Vancouver Canucks organization is closing in on its first Calder Cup title. It has been a decade since Vancouver’s former AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, fell to Manchester in the 2015 Finals.
“We’re all very proud of where we’ve got to,” captain Chase Wouters said. “There’s a lot of work left ahead. Charlotte’s a really great team. The mood of the team… We’re focused, we’re prepared, and we’re ready to put our best foot forward.”
For the second series in a row, the Canucks will be facing an opponent they haven’t seen before.
“Texas was no easy task,” defenseman Christian Wolanin said. “They were a great team and very deserving of being in that position, and every game, regardless of how it was won, was a close game. We feel the same about Charlotte. We know that they’re obviously the last team remaining out of the East for a good reason, and we know how good they’re going to be.”
Canucks defenseman Victor Mancini played four games against the Checkers earlier this season when he was with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He also faced them last year in the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Wolf Pack. Malhotra appeared in eight games for Charlotte in 2013-14. But for the most part, this trip to Bojangles Coliseum is new for most of the Canucks.
“The excitement to play a new team,” Wolanin said, “it’s part of the fun of making it this far.”
― with files from Patrick Williams
