The Charlotte Checkers outlasted the host Chicago Wolves, 5-3, in Game Five of the 2019 Calder Cup Final on Saturday to win the first American Hockey League postseason championship in franchise history.
After dropping Game One at home in overtime last week, the Checkers reeled off four consecutive victories, including three by 5-3 scores. Andrew Poturalski (New Hampshire) scored two goals for Charlotte in the clincher, including the game-opening goal, plus one of two empty-net tallies in the third period that stood up as the game-winner. Poturalski, who played two NCAA seasons at UNH, also claimed the Jack Butterfield Trophy as this year's AHL playoff MVP, scoring 12 goals in the postseason. Charlotte captain Patrick Brown (Boston College), who scored a goal in each of the previous two games, was the first Checker to hoist this year's Calder Cup.
The Checkers, who moved to the AHL from the ECHL in 2010, a total of 16 years after they won the league playoff title at that level, were also the top team in the AHL during the 2018-19 regular season with an overall 51-17-7 record. They then won the Eastern Conference playoff crown by dethroning defending AHL champion Toronto in the conference final, after recording series victories over Providence and Hershey.
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