On Fridays, We Play Checkers!

Checkers is a game that is nearly known universally, and it goes by a couple of other names in different parts of the world. For example, in England, the game is called draughts whereas the game is known as "dum" in Singapore and Malaysia. There are some variations to the games as well as international draughts are played on a larger 10x10 checkerboard as opposed to the standard 8x8 checkerboard usually seen, and Canadian checkers and the Singapore versions can be played on a 12x12 checkerboard. Everything remains the same: two opponents using pieces in contrasting colours to take control of the board through strategy.

Normally, HBIC isn't following the competitive checkers scene that exists, but it's also not often that you see a professional hockey team use an April Fools' Day joke as an official jersey for an entire season.

Knowing that the Charlotte Checkers are going all-in with the checkers logo, they made the announcement on Friday that the checker logo jersey, seen to the right, will be the team's official alternate jersey for the 2022-23 season, and the Checkers will wear them every Friday for games! Not surprisingly, the Checkers' first home game of the season is on Friday, October 14 where they'll meet the Hartford Wolf Pack, so get yourself ready for a home-opening night of Checkers hockey as they wear the checkers jersey! In total, the Checkers will wear these checker logo jerseys ten times this season as they play on Friday nights at Bojangles Coliseum with January and April being the only months they won't be seen thanks to the Checkers having no Friday home games in those months. Otherwise, Friday nights will see the Checkers in the checkers jerseys!

The press release put out by the Checkers regarding this Friday clothing situation actually had a number of interesting points of which I wasn't aware before reading the information. The Checkers point out that this jersey started as a prank, but we already knew that thanks to the April 1 social media post seen above. Having any jersey presented by a business is emetic, and we need teams to stop doing that entirely. The part that stopped me in my tracks, though, was when Charlotte stated that "[t]his marks the first time that the Checkers will don an official alternate jersey throughout a season since 2016-17". I did not know that about the Checkers!

As a guy who usually dislikes black jerseys, this one won't break that trend. What I do like is that the Charlotte Checkers were able to poke a little fun at themselves last season by wearing this April Fools' Day prank last November against Lehigh Valley for a game. In looking at some of the jerseys worn over the years for promotional games, this checkers jersey might actually be the best of them, and it seems that the Checkers may have realized this in making it their official alternate jersey. I can't say I know the thought process behind this decision, but this is a solid logo that, while tongue-in-cheek, represents the "Checkers" with the crown on it representing Charlotte as "The Queen City".

If you're headed to Bojangles Coliseum on a Friday night for some hockey action, make sure you're wearing the right jersey as the Checkers will take the ice in their official alternate jersey for the 2022-23 season. I don't know how good the Checkers will be this season when it comes to results on the ice, but at least they'll have some fun wearing checker pieces as their logo while playing the game.

Let's just hope that everyone else isn't playing chess!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!