For the first time this season, the Stars will welcome the Charlotte Checkers to the Cedar Park Center. The Carolina Hurricanes AHL team has missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and is hungry to make it into the postseason despite their unique geographical challenges. I have to tip my hat to the Checkers, who could have balked at travelling to California this season. They will go coast-to-coast to play three of the five AHL clubs in the Golden State.
In their quest to become a playoff team, the Checkers ousted the only head coach they'd known in the AHL: Jeff Daniels.