Just because the Canes are on the All-Star break doesn't mean we can't have some hockey action in the Old North State.

It's Race Night at Time Warner Cable Arena, and the Charlotte Checkers expect a full house of nearly 15,000 in the building tonight as they face the Rockford IceHogs, the top affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Checkers find themselves with a Midwest Division-leading 56 points, second behind Oklahoma City in the Western Conference, and hold a 4-1 record against Rockford including a 4-3 shootout win last night in this building.

Listen live to the action at gocheckers.com or watch on Time Warner Cable channel 520. You can also watch on AHLLive if you're fortunate enough to have a subscription. No live blog, but feel free to jump in the comments.

Short postgame recap: The Checkers took a 2-0 lead, then Rockford came back to take a split in the back-to-back, winning 3-2. Of primary importance to the Canes was the status of Zac Dalpe, who was checked from behind in the boards by the IceHogs' Ben Youds early in the second period and didn't return. Coach Jeff Daniels said that he didn't really have an update after the game, so we'll see what happens. At this point it's unknown whether Dalpe will return to Carolina after the NHL All-Star break.

By combining on a first-period power play goal, goal-scorer Bobby Sanguinetti and Chris Terry extended their respective points streaks to eight games, tying a Checkers franchise record. Sanguinetti now has scored four goals in six games after going 29 games without lighting the lamp to start the season, and leads the Checkers with nine points over that six-game stretch.

Click for postgame audio from Chris Terry, Bobby Sanguinetti and Jeff Daniels

The American Hockey League made it official today, the Charlotte Checkers will be a part of the Western Conference next season.  The Checkers will join Chicago, Milwaukee, Peoria, and Rockford in the Midwest Division. 

The top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs.  The official press release follows after the jump:

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Thursday night's game showed that the Binghamton Senators have some serious offensive firepower.  Friday, they showed that they have a pretty stout defense to go with that offensive cavalry.

Behind a 35-save shutout from Robin Lehner, the Senators took a 2-0 series lead after beating the Charlotte Checkers 3-0 on Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.  The Checkers now face the prospect of climbing out of their two-game deficit with the next three games on the road, a place no one wants to be and a place the Checkers haven't found themselves yet this postseason.

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After a wild 7-4 loss last night, the Checkers look to even the AHL's Eastern Conference final at 1 with a win tonight over Binghamton.  We're live in Charlotte with all the action, so if you aren't near a TV (the game is on Time Warner Cable channel 520 in the Triangle and Charlotte) or a satellite radio (it's also on Home Ice on SiriusXM), we've got you covered here.

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And now for something completely different.

Shortly past the half-way mark of the opening game of the AHL's Eastern Conference Final, goaltender Justin Pogge skated to the Checkers crease, his first appearance in the post-season since Game 2 in Hershey, which frankly, seems like eons ago. Remarkably, he was the 4th goalie to appear tonight, and at the time there were eight goals already on the scoreboard overhead, with the Binghamton Senators ahead by a score of 5-3.

As many have observed the Senators are nothing like the teams the Checkers have faced and eliminated in the first two series of their Calder Cup run. Whereas rounds one (vs Hershey Bears) and two (vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) featured tight checking, overcrowded neutral zones, countless blocked shots, and a scrum following every whistle, tonight the home team encountered tremendous transition play, sudden turnovers, speedy rushes with brilliant passing, and a healthy display of sniping skill from all four lines the Sens put out. 

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The first game of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals is set to begin at 7:05pm at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.The Charlotte Checkers and Binghamton Senators (Ottawa's affiliate) face off tonight in this best-of-7 series which will determine which team goes on to the Calder Cup Finals. 

Mike Murphy  (7-3, 1.79 GAA, .944 Save %) is expected to get the start (his 11th consecutive since he returned from injury in game 3 of the Hershey series last month), while the highly regarded 19-year-old Swede Robin Lehner (7-2, 2.59 GAA, .926 Save %) will be manning the pipes at the other end of the rink for the Sens.

Good news if you couldn't make it to Charlotte: every game in this round will be broadcast in the Carolina's for Time Warner Cable Customers on Channel 520. They'll also have it up in the Binghamton area on TWC Sports Channel 23 (HD Channel 813). If neither of those is an option for you, AHLLive.com will have free radio and pay-per-view video streaming.

For roster notes, stats and other informaton on both teams check out the 3-page pdf:  Canes Country's Game Guide: Checkers vs Senators (Game 1) .

Also, the Checkers have their in-house Series Tracker with stats, notes and links. For the Sens, their beat writer, Joy Lindsay is in Charlotte, and has posted updates over at her blog or in the Binghamton paper's B-Sens page . You can also refer to the Senators own site.

I'll be at the game and will drop in with some comments during the game - let me know if you have any questions I can answer from inside the arena.

According to a recent Charlotte Checkers press release, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford will meet with the media tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Charlotte to announce the details of a Canes preseason game to be played in the Queen City this coming September. 

There have been some reports indicating that the Hurricanes would be playing an exhibition game next season at the home of their AHL affiliate, but no details had been released yet.  Tomorrow we will know more. 

This will be the first time Rutherford has been in front of the media since the Hurricanes were eliminated.  Will he address anything else?

This season Carolina hockey fans enjoyed the ability to check in regularly with the Hurricanes' prospects in the AHL playing with the Charlotte Checkers. So names and faces of the young guns like Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman, Jon Matsumoto, Bryan Rodney, Justin Faulk, Mike Murphy and so on and so forth are very familiar in these parts.

Tonight they begin their 7-game series at home vs the Binghamton Senators, to determine the Eastern Conference Champion and earn the right to play the Western Conference counterpart for the AHL's Calder Cup. If you can't make it to Charlotte, Time Warner Cable customers can watch live on Channel 520 in the Carolinas. With Game 7 between the Sharks and Red Wings not starting till 9pm, this ought to be the perfect way to kick back and enjoy some hockey viewing this evening.

As familiar as you are with our Checkers after the success they've enjoyed thus far, how well do you know the Binghamton Senators, many of whom spent a significant part of the regular season in Ottawa playing NHL hockey before returning to the AHL club for their Calder Cup run? After the jump, I've got six names to know before the puck drops tonight.

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