Charlotte Checkers Home Opener Friday, October 15 - Thinking of Going?

Once this season starts, the Carolina Hurricanes will not be playing a game at the RBC Center for almost a month.  The team plays an exhibition game against the Atlanta Thrashers on October 1, (an afternoon game for which the club is giving away free tickets), then the next appearance they make at the RBC is not until October 27 when the Washington Capitals come to town. 

Are you interested in watching some live hockey during the downtime?

While the opponent is yet to be determined, the Charlotte Checkers know that they will have their home opener on Friday night, October 15.  They are looking to sell out this event and want to make it a night to remember because not only is this a significant moment in franchise history, it's also an important night for the sport of hockey in North Carolina.

There should be several familiar faces performing for the Checkers.  Obviously, there is not room for everyone to make it to the NHL, so look for players like Bryan Rodney, Michal Jordan, Kyle Lawson, Jared Staal, Jonathan Matsumoto, Matt Kennedy, Chris Terry, Nick Dodge, and others to be playing that night.  There is a good chance that Mike Murphy will be in net.    

The Hurricanes play Thursday night, then do not play again until Sunday night as they make their way through the "mother of all road trips," so there is no conflict with the home team.

We have been in communication with some staff from the Checkers and they are willing to include a special "Canes Country.com Night" as a part of their opening night celebration.  Benefits for Canes' fans might include things like discounted tickets for the game, discounted bus transportation, (round trip from Raleigh), discounted hotel accommodations, and meal coupons for local restaurants.  

The Checkers are still working out the details on some of these partnerships, but there are several different possibilities for Caniacs who are interested in attending.  While some fans might enjoy a bus trip, others might prefer to drive themselves or take a train, but still use the discounted game tickets and hotel information.  These are the types of details we need to know.

Most importantly, we need an approximate head count as to how many people might be interested in attending.

This is very early in the process and we realize that plans change, but if you might be interested in attending we ask that you take just a couple minutes of your time to fill out a brief survey so that we can gauge interest.

You can access the survey by clicking the following link, Canes Country Checkers Survey.  Again, it should just take a couple of minutes and it would really help us to determine if there is enough interest in this to go through the trouble of organizing everything.  There is a place for comments and/or suggestions on the survey, but as always, feel free to discuss this in the comments below.  

If you have friends who might be interested in attending who are not necessarily regulars here at the Blog, they are welcome to take part as well.  Please have them come and fill out the survey.  Everyone is welcome.