Following a 17-year break from ice hockey, the Checkers returned in 1993 and made the playoffs ten times, including winning the ECHL Championship in 1996.

[2] Soon after winning the Jack Riley Cup in 1996, Sabates sold controlling interest minority partner Tim Braswell, who claimed he could make the team more popular.

However, in a case of exceptionally bad timing, this came just as the NFL's Carolina Panthers were due to open their new downtown stadium.

The team's popularity faded, forcing Braswell to sell the Checkers to Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldrige in 2000 for $3 million.

[4] On January 21, 2010, it was reported that Michael Kahn, who had bought the team from Sabates and Scheer in 2006, was in talks to buy the Albany River Rats, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.