Your Charlotte Checkers are in the playoffs. Again. Seven consecutive seasons. They clinched their spot this year with a 5-2 win over Providence, and the city of Charlotte looked up from its phone for about thirty seconds before going back to checking the Panthers score. They play their games at Bojangles Coliseum. Not a sellout. Never quite a sellout. But the ones in those seats know exactly what they're watching. Folks, I'll say this plainly: the Charlotte Checkers are the most consistently successful franchise in this city. Seven straight playoff berths. The Panthers haven't done that. The Hornets haven't done that. The Checkers have done it so reliably that this city has started treating it like weather — nice when it happens, but nothing to rearrange your schedule for. Listen. These are not journeymen killing time until their contracts expire. The Checkers are the top affiliate of the Florida Panthers — the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions — and the best organization in professional hockey trusts Charlotte with its best prospects. The players in this building are the future of a dynasty. Take Jack Devine. Twenty-two years old. From Glencoe, Illinois — about fifteen minutes north of where I grew up, and if you think that doesn't make me pay extra attention when he's on the ice, you haven't been reading this column very long. Devine won two NCAA National Championships at Denver. His senior year, he led all of college hockey in assists and total points. All of it. The Panthers called him up to the NHL this season. He played six games, came back to Charlotte, and is getting better every week down at Bojangles (one of the great old hockey buildings in this country, by the way). Then there's Tobias Bjornfot — a Swedish defenseman, former first-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, now a Florida Panthers property — who made the same round trip this season: up to Florida for 11 games, back to Charlotte in March. Both Devine and Bjornfot were named to the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic. Two All-Stars. On a team most of this city couldn't name three players from. The Checkers won five straight before Hartford beat them twice last week, 5-2 both nights, outscored 10-4. It stung. But they were ALREADY in the playoffs before either of those games dropped. The pipeline running from Charlotte to the back-to-back champions doesn't change because Hartford had a good week. Look. I understand why this city is buzzing about the Hornets right now — I (https://cltmercury.com/hornets-unexpected-team-march-2026) and meant every word. But here's what you need to know: while the Hornets were losing 63 games last season, the Checkers were in the playoffs. While the Hornets hadn't been to the postseason since 2016, the Checkers were going every single year, playing for the Calder Cup, sending players up to win the Stanley Cup in Florida Panthers teal. The Checkers don't need your sympathy. They need your attention. These are affordable tickets at a real arena. This afternoon they host Lehigh Valley. The people who know, know. Bojangles Coliseum is right here in Charlotte. Buy a ticket. Go find out what you've been missing. *(While you're at it: (https://cltmercury.com/sports/charlotte-knights-opening-day-guide-march-2026). Charlotte is having a spring.)* *Update: (https://cltmercury.com/sports/bojangles-coliseum-25-million-checkers-eighth-straight-playoffs-2026).*

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