Cup Crazy: Florida Panthers Celebrate Charlotte Checkers Run to Final

The Florida Panthers continue their quest for a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship on Saturday, but the Charlotte Checkers take aim at winning the AHL Calder Cup tonight in North Carolina.

It is not very often that one organization is playing for the top two championships in North American professional hockey, but the Panthers are on quite a run.

So, too, are their Charlotte Checkers.

The Checkers play host to the Abbotsford Canucks in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Final starting tonight.

The Panthers and Checkers are trying to become the first NHL/AHL champion in the same season since the New Jersey Devils and their Albany River Rats won both cups in 1995.

“I get to watch the Panthers on TV, then I go out and be a part of playoff hockey,’’ said Charlotte coach Geordie Kinnear, now in his 10th season with the Panthers.

“You have to be special to get to this point, and we have a special group of players, people, and staff. It has been awesome.’’

The Checkers have not slipped into the Final, no, they stormed through the front door.

Since losing two straight in their opening-round series at home to the Providence Bruins to force a winner-take-all Game 5, the Checkers have won eight straight — eliminating Providence, the two-time defending champion Hershey Bears, and the east-leading Laval Rocket along the way.

“It is crazy when you consider the opponents we have faced, the back-to-backs,” Kinnear said. “It has been a tough task, but the group has really come together.’’

Florida general manager Bill Zito, who won the Calder Cup with Columbus’ Cleveland Monsters in 2016, says that all of the credit to the success of the Checkers goes to Kinnear and the front office staff which includes Paul Krepelka, Gregory Campbell, Brett Peterson, and Bryan McCabe.

“I take immense pride in the fact that I had nothing to do with this,’’ Zito told FHN on Thursday. “If you have been through the process in the American League, you know how difficult this is. What they have done and how they have worked together … we talk about our culture here, and it’s real. It is a tangible thing. That’s the way they contort themselves in how they run Charlotte, it mirrors that [sense of] community and culture. …

“And the players? They don’t want to be there, they want to be here! Yet, they have all bought in. There are not enough accolades that I could bestow on those folks.’’

In their first 30 seasons, the Panthers had never had their AHL team make it to the conference final much less go this far.

Helping turn the AHL affiliate was a goal of Zito when he took over the Panthers in 2020 — and signed on with the Checkers as an affiliate.

Many fans of the Checkers were not happy with the new affiliation, having been with the hometown Carolina Hurricanes for years.

Charlotte won the Calder Cup with the Hurricanes in 2019, after all.

But things have worked out OK.

They even have a former Charlotte player and assistant coach in Kinnear leading the way.

“When you look at the depth part of it, what we’ve done has been impressive because we have had some season-ending injuries and others have been called up at times. We just haven’t missed a beat. Paul Maurice would say the same thing: It’s your leadership group, the guys in the room that keep check of everything, make it fun to come to work every day. It has been amazing to watch.’’

Fans in Charlotte, certainly, cannot complain about the players Florida has brought to town.

The Checkers have been led by goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, who has gone 10-2 in the playoffs with a 1.73/.927.

Kahkonen, who was acquired from Winnipeg at the NHL Trade Deadline for Chris Driedger, has won his past eight starts and has not allowed more than three goals in any of his playoff games.

John Leonard leads the Checkers with six goals, former Panthers forward Will Lockwood has five.

Rasmus Asplund, Jesse Puljujarvi, Michael Benning, and Sandis Vilmanis have also been leading the way offensively.

Captain Zac Dalpe, who helped the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, has been out with a serious ankle injury since December.

Although his playing career appears to be over, Dalpe has been with the Checkers every step of the way.

That means something to a team that tries to be like the Panthers in every way, including having strong leadership and camaraderie.

“He is all in,’’ said Zito, who had Dalpe with the Blue Jackets and brought him to the Panthers. “That may be the most important part because he is a player.”

Added Kinnear: “He has been around since the day he got injured. Never had the ‘why me? attitude, just wanted to see this group have success. His experience, what he has been through, is huge.’’

The Checkers open play in the Calder Cup Final on Friday with Game 2 on Sunday. After that, they have to fly across North America to Abbotsford which is about 50 miles east of Vancouver.

For Charlotte’s series in Quebec against Laval, the team was split up on different flights with some coaches and players being on different connections.

Hey, that’s life in the AHL.

The Checkers do not mind.

Playing hockey in June is always the goal.

“I think credit has to go to Geordie because he runs that team so well,” said Mackie Samoskevich, who played for the Checkers last season, and is friends with many of the players in Charlotte now.

“They have some great players, but his leadership and how he teaches guys — it was great for me, and I was lucky to play for him. I know he wants to win so bad, I knew this was coming. They all deserve it.”

2025 CALDER CUP FINAL

Charlotte Checkers v. Abbotsford Canucks

• Series Schedule (best-of-7 series) — Game 1: @Charlotte Friday 7; Game 2: @Charlotte Sunday 4; Game 3: @Abbotsford Tuesday 10; Game 4: @Abbotsford Thursday 10; Game 5*: @Abbotsford Saturday June 21 9; Game 6*: @Charlotte Monday May 23 7; Game 7*: @Charlotte Wednesday June 25 7.

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 5

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ EDMONTON OILERS

Best-of-7 Series Tied 2-2

• When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: Edmonton 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 5: @Edmonton Saturday; Game 6: @Florida Tuesday; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties