Silly Photo to Fill Space- Minor League Hockey Mascot

Anyone want to see a minor league hockey game at midnight?

Well, on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 11:59 p.m., the puck will drop in Charlotte, NC, as the home team Charlotte Checkers face the visiting Toledo Walleye.

The Checkers are also hosting an "Icing Autism Night" when they play the Trenton Devils on March 19. Procedes from that game will go to Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org).

While researching this piece, it was interesting to learn that the league in which the Checkers belong the East Coast Hockey League now has teams like The Alaska Aces, The Idaho Steelheads, The Las Vegas Wranglers and the Utah Grizzlies. The ECHL even has a team in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada), called the Victoria Salmon Kings!

In fact, Mark Derlago of the Steelheads was named ECHL Player of the Week.

The ECHL used to include my hometown team The Roanoke Express (1993-2004) from Roanoke, Va., and their rival The Richmond Renegades from Richmond, Va. The Express failed to reach the league's playoffs in the team's later years and they had management turmoil which lead to their abrupt folding.

The Renegades started a new franchise with the same team name in the Southern Pro Hockey League in 2006, but that team folded as well in 2009.

The future is not much brighter for the Checkers as they face the chance of relocating or discontuning after this season.

The Checkers' web site (gocheckers.com) said that the contributions of newcomers Matt Stefanshion and Ryan Crane have helped the team beat their southern rivals, The South Carolins Stingray (based in Charleston, SC) and the Gwinett Gladiators from Gwinett, Ga.

The team also features players like Mike Taylor (forward), Trevor Glass (defense) and Ryan Munce (goalie).

There are some active NHL players from both the old Express team and the Checkers franchise.

Jason Jaffray (Vancouver Canucks) and Vernon Fiddler (Nashville Predators) both played in Roanoke.

Eric Boulton (Atlanta Thrashers) and goalie Chris Holt (Ottawa Senators) once skated for the Skaters.

Those of you who are hockey fans may also want to check out my extensive profile of Washington Capitals' star player Alex Ovechkin, who will be competing for Russia at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. One could not have imagined in 1984 that two Russian players (also Alex Semin) would be playing pro hockey in the capital of the United States! I guess the question is: "Do we credit Reagan?" or "Do we credit Gorbie?" Since this is not meant to be a political entry, I will simply let you decide!