Did your team miss the Calder Cup playoffs last season? Is this an early playoff exit? Or did you experience the playoffs in May and June?
It may have only been a few months since your team last played a game, but everything has changed since the Abbotsford Canucks celebrated a Calder Cup victory on June 23. Few hockey leagues experience as many offseasons as the AHL. Between player turnover, coaching changes, and the annual injection of first-round picks into the pro game, keep up with the AHL
Before you know it, it's already October and opening weekend has arrived. Here's a primer on how the AHL operates and all that's new for the league's 90th anniversary season.
basic knowledge
The AHL will follow a standard 72-game regular season schedule, divided into four divisions.
Come April, the Calder Cup playoff format remains unchanged, with a total of 23 teams participating.
pay homage to history
Dating back to 1936. From that point on, the AHL began playing under the name International-American Hockey League. It is an eight-team tournament that includes the Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Barons, New Haven Eagles, Philadelphia Ramblers, Pittsburgh Hornets, Providence Redskins, Springfield Indians and Syracuse Stars. Buffalo ultimately had to withdraw from the league a month into the regular season, although the AHL would eventually return to the city. Syracuse captured the league's first championship.
Two years later, the league changed its name to the AHL. The Hershey Bears joined the league during the 1938-39 season and have been a member ever since.
During the AHL's first 30-plus years, it placed a much lower emphasis on player development and NHL affiliations were much looser. In 1967, when the NHL doubled in size to 12 teams, the AHL had begun to shift in a more development-oriented direction. Decades later, the league has grown to 32 teams—one for each NHL club—and is a coast-to-coast operation.
As this 90th anniversary season approaches, expect teams to celebrate the league's history as well as their own.
Travel to the Midwest
For the first time since 2004, the AHL All-Star Classic comes to the Midwest. The Grand Rapids Griffins hosted the event that year. This February, the Rockford IceHogs will host the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO on February 10-11. The Tuesday-Wednesday format will include the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on the first night, and the AHL All-Star Challenge, a 3-on-3 round-robin competition, on the second night.
New Calder Cup Champion
Last May, Hershey had to withdraw after its goal of three consecutive Calder Cup titles fell short.
That void was filled by Abbotsford, a team that fought its way through five rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs and defeated the Charlotte Checkers in six games in the Calder Cup finals. Like the 2015-16 Lake Erie Monsters, these Canucks came out strong in the second half and continued to improve. They have grown into a team capable of being a Calder Cup threat when the playoffs roll around in April. In the process, they defeated teams like the Colorado Eagles, Texas Stars, and Charlotte to win the Vancouver Canucks their first Calder Cup.
Deep field for top prospects
The NHL's top developmental league will once again feature some of the best young players. FloHockey prospect expert Chris Peters profiles 16 of the top prospects.
take over
This summer saw the arrival of a new set of head coaches, with some familiar names getting another chance.
In the Eastern Conference, Rocky Thompson takes over the Bridgeport Islanders. The same goes for Derek King and the Hershey Bears. They were joined by John Snowden (Lehigh Valley Phantoms). In the West, Greg Cronin will now lead the Iowa Wild. Brett Sutter (Calgary Wranglers), Mark Lightstu (Colorado), Andrew Lord (Ontario Reign), Jared Nightingale (Rockford) and Toby Peterson (Texas) will all begin their first AHL head coaching tenures.
providence firepower
The Boston Bruins have long taken good care of the Providence Bruins, and this season looks set to bring more of the same richness. This summer, more of the same is happening for the NHL-AHL, the oldest league dating back to the 1992-93 season.
Matěj Blümel led the league with 39 goals for the Texas Stars last season. He was followed by Alex Steeves of the Toronto Marlies in second place with 36 points. Both players hit free agency and both joined the Boston organization. After training camp in Boston, the two will head to Providence to provide a potent one-two combination for head coach Ryan Mugnall.
Rochester's legendary final stand
The legendary red, white and blue shield logo, year after year rivalry with Syracuse University, Blue Cross Arena and Don Stevens.
History is important to the Rochester Americans, and Stevens has been part of the American team's tradition since the AHL in the mid-1980s. Stevens is the AHL's longest-tenured play-by-play man, starting the 1986-87 season in Rochester and remaining there. Stevens will have one final season playing for Amerkes before completing his 40th season with the team. On September 25, he announced that he would retire after the 2025-26 season. Along the way, he reached seven Calder Cup finals with the Amerks, including titles in 1987 and 1996. His tenure also included more than 3,300 Amerks games and chronicled the careers of several Amerks legends, including Jody Gage, Ryan Miller, Chris Taylor, John Tortorella and John Van Boxmeer, among others.
How to watch AHL hockey live this season
From the preseason to the final game of the Calder Cup Finals, fans can watch every AHL game live and on-demand on FloHockey.
NHL FloHockey Prospect Report
The best, most complete coverage of NHL minor league hockey and the NHL Draft can be found on FloHockey. Don't miss the latest prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.
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