AHL announces divisions for 2015-16

[RFA]

It's not much of a stretch to think that if a team is willing to pay more for travel that they'd be willing to pay more for better players as well.

 

[210]

Bull doody. The point Axe had was proved.

From the 00-01 champion through the 13-14 champion, 9 of the 14 teams, over 67%, had heavy travel schedules (Saint Johns, Chicago (2), Houston, Milwaukee, Hamilton, Texas, Grand Rapids, Norfolk).

So 8 different teams with heavy travel won the cup 9 times and 3 teams won it 5 times with Hershey winning 3 of them.

So heavier travel schedule has won more cups by a large margin. Point proved.

If you go to the NHL, how many times has the Eastern Conference won the cup in the past 15 years?

Yes or no: the only reason those 8 different teams won the Calder Cup was because they traveled more?

 

[go comets]

I think that the original eastern ahl teams (Rochester, Hershey,Springfield,Portland,ect) were around long before the old IHL teams were allowed to join the league. I'm sure it was understood at that time that the eastern teams had little to no interest in traveling out west,and it would be the mid west teams doing the traveling if they wanted to be part of the ahl. Same thing still holds true today with the new west cost teams. The eastern teams get their way cause they are grand fathered In. Hope those Cali teams and their fans have fun playing the same opponents all year long!!!

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

Bull doody. The point Axe had was proved.

From the 00-01 champion through the 13-14 champion, 9 of the 14 teams, over 67%, had heavy travel schedules (Saint Johns, Chicago (2), Houston, Milwaukee, Hamilton, Texas, Grand Rapids, Norfolk).

So 8 different teams with heavy travel won the cup 9 times and 3 teams won it 5 times with Hershey winning 3 of them.

So heavier travel schedule has won more cups by a large margin. Point proved.

If you go to the NHL, how many times has the Eastern Conference won the cup in the past 15 years?

Really, what point was proved? Only that the particular teams that won the Calder Cup were playing the best hockey at the end of the year. The thought that teams win a championship in ANY league because they travel more is ridiculous.

 

[Theoriginalalex]

Confirmed again at yesterday's All-Star presser in Syracuse that the Texas teams are playing 76, the Cali teams 68. Divisional playoffs, qualification rules for Pacific Division still TBD.

Now we resume our argument over whose fault it is that there's no inter-conference play. Why are we having this again, anyway?

 

[210]

Confirmed again at yesterday's All-Star presser in Syracuse that the Texas teams are playing 76, the Cali teams 68. Divisional playoffs, qualification rules for Pacific Division still TBD.

Now we resume our argument over whose fault it is that there's no inter-conference play. Why are we having this again, anyway?

They should keep it just the way it is, by point total. If AHL West wants to play less games, too bad for them when it comes to playoff qualification.

 

[axecrew]

They should keep it just the way it is, by point total. If AHL West wants to play less games, too bad for them when it comes to playoff qualification.

My thoughts exactly...

 

[Frank Booth]

That won't happen because the rest of the AHL has capitulated so much to these jerks already. I don't think they can bend over forwards anymore than they have so far.

 

[Theoriginalalex]

They should keep it just the way it is, by point total. If AHL West wants to play less games, too bad for them when it comes to playoff qualification.

Absolutely. The Cali-5 already had the reast of the league over a barrel about the schedule. Can't the Texas teams fire back and stand firm on this. I'm sure they would get votes from the rest of the divisions to support them. And what, is the Cali-5 going to make good on their threat to start their own league when it's already May?

 

[axecrew]

Absolutely. The Cali-5 already had the reast of the league over a barrel about the schedule. Can't the Texas teams fire back and stand firm on this. I'm sure they would get votes from the rest of the divisions to support them. And what, is the Cali-5 going to make good on their threat to start their own league when it's already May?

Why would the texas teams want to fire back? This works in their favor they will play 8 more games thus a possible 16 more points than their "division" rivals. So truthfully any basic playoff format using points or wins is in their favor.

Besides the california teams don't need playoffs......they need practice because afterall isn't that what its all about.

One last point...the teams voted last all star break not to decrease the amount of games this coming season. If the ahl allows the california teams to play less games, what chance do the others really have of changing it? They already voted against it and that was ignored.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Confirmed again at yesterday's All-Star presser in Syracuse that the Texas teams are playing 76, the Cali teams 68. Divisional playoffs, qualification rules for Pacific Division still TBD.

Now we resume our argument over whose fault it is that there's no inter-conference play. Why are we having this again, anyway?

You mean inter conference is all there is. You mean out of conference?

Really the league is too big. In an ideal world every East/West team would play a home and home so every team can be seen at every arena. Unfortunately that's just not gunna happen because minor leagues is all about travel. That's why you see more divisional games than anything.

As for the games.....I don't mind they play 8 less. It can only hurt playoff chances. Don't know why this bugs so much.

 

[210]

I think it's moot anyway because eventually they're going to form their own AAA-level league no matter how much the AHL bends over backwards for them.

 

[Disengage]

You mean inter conference is all there is. You mean out of conference?

Really the league is too big. In an ideal world every East/West team would play a home and home so every team can be seen at every arena. Unfortunately that's just not gunna happen because minor leagues is all about travel. That's why you see more divisional games than anything.

As for the games.....I don't mind they play 8 less. It can only hurt playoff chances. Don't know why this bugs so much.

Interconference play = East vs. West

Intraconference play = East vs. East or West vs. West

 

[RowdyFan42]

I think it's moot anyway because eventually they're going to form their own AAA-level league no matter how much the AHL bends over backwards for them.

Which they should've done from the very beginning. Two AAA leagues works for baseball (barely; the PCL's too far spread out, if you ask me); if hockey is going to have baseball's classification system thrust upon it, it might as well structure its actual leagues properly. But nooooo, Lord David has to have his 30-for-30 manifest destiny, no matter how untenable a coast-to-coast minor league is.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Why would the texas teams want to fire back? This works in their favor they will play 8 more games thus a possible 16 more points than their "division" rivals. So truthfully any basic playoff format using points or wins is in their favor.

If that's how it works and it favors the Texas teams then fine but they'll probably do some BS like points percentage.

At the very least teams within the same division should play the same number of games especially if they are moving to the in division NHL playoff format.

 

[Rumblick]

Which they should've done from the very beginning. Two AAA leagues works for baseball (barely; the PCL's too far spread out, if you ask me); if hockey is going to have baseball's classification system thrust upon it, it might as well structure its actual leagues properly. But nooooo, Lord David has to have his 30-for-30 manifest destiny, no matter how untenable a coast-to-coast minor league is.

Come on, Rowdy - do you seriously think LD has any say in ANY of this? He barely had any control when the NHL didn't want to take things over - at this point, he's barely more than window dressing.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Which they should've done from the very beginning. Two AAA leagues works for baseball (barely; the PCL's too far spread out, if you ask me); if hockey is going to have baseball's classification system thrust upon it, it might as well structure its actual leagues properly. But nooooo, Lord David has to have his 30-for-30 manifest destiny, no matter how untenable a coast-to-coast minor league is.

What should be done is since baseball every level has two leagues that don't play in season is just merge the ECHL and AHL. I think its been stated more than once results don't at all matter. You divide up the teams by geography. They all play under the AHL rules that are now and call it a day. The only time the two leagues would meet is the finals. A west/Midwest AHL and an east coast one. It could work. There'd be some parameters to hammer out but why not? I don't see the service of the ECHL being its own league anymore. They try too hard to want this affiliation ****. Obviously if you consider something like this you either bump up the number of contracts an organization has so they can fill 2 teams(or help to)

 

[wildcat48]

The playoff format has been circulated to the owners so they digest what it will look like. I've heard they are going to adapt some sort of qualifying round to determine who gets into the post season.... I'm not sure if its league-wide or just the Pacific division.

 

[Theoriginalalex]

Why would the texas teams want to fire back? This works in their favor they will play 8 more games thus a possible 16 more points than their "division" rivals. So truthfully any basic playoff format using points or wins is in their favor.

Oh, I should have clarified this. The rumor is that they will use points percentage, so, no matter how many games the Pacific plays, they'll have the same mathmatical shot as everyone else.

The playoff format has been circulated to the owners so they digest what it will look like. I've heard they are going to adapt some sort of qualifying round to determine who gets into the post season.... I'm not sure if its league-wide or just the Pacific division.

Well, that would be interesting. I wonder if it'll be similar to the old 10 teams per-conference format of the early 2000's, when virtually everyone made the playoffs.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001–02_AHL_season

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

I think it's moot anyway because eventually they're going to form their own AAA-level league no matter how much the AHL bends over backwards for them.

I hope they do, good riddance.

I'm not even sure how Lord David can keep a straight face at a news conference or with the non Cali owners. What an embarrassment to the league and to him...and his legacy...which isn't great to begin with.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

The playoff format has been circulated to the owners so they digest what it will look like. I've heard they are going to adapt some sort of qualifying round to determine who gets into the post season.... I'm not sure if its league-wide or just the Pacific division.

What a cluster muck this is. Wish the 5 Cali teams would form their own league.

Are those 5 NHL franchises really this powerful? 25 vs 5?

 

[Theoriginalalex]

Here's an article that explains the proposed playoff format pretty well. Of course, Andrews also said back in February that they were staying with 6 divisions and 1-8 playoffs, so things can change.

http://www.syracuse.com/crunch/inde...r?hootPostID=8b5f210cc11b6fa7b9f1645afd7ae9b0

 

[Nerdlinger]

What should be done is since baseball every level has two leagues that don't play in season is just merge the ECHL and AHL. I think its been stated more than once results don't at all matter. You divide up the teams by geography. They all play under the AHL rules that are now and call it a day. The only time the two leagues would meet is the finals. A west/Midwest AHL and an east coast one. It could work. There'd be some parameters to hammer out but why not? I don't see the service of the ECHL being its own league anymore. They try too hard to want this affiliation ****. Obviously if you consider something like this you either bump up the number of contracts an organization has so they can fill 2 teams(or help to)

So running with this idea, how about several regional leagues consisting of a mix of AHL and ECHL teams, like so:

Atlantic Hockey League (10): Bridgeport, Hartford, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Manchester, Portland, Providence, Reading, Springfield, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Northeast Hockey League (10): Adirondack, Albany, Binghamton, Brampton, Elmira, Rochester, St. John's, Syracuse, Toronto, Utica
Southeast Hockey League (8): Charlotte, Florida, Greenville, Gwinnett, Norfolk, Orlando, South Carolina, Wheeling
Midwest Hockey League (8): Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Indy, Kalamazoo, Lake Erie, Toledo
Central Hockey League (12): North Division (Chicago, Iowa, Manitoba, Milwaukee, Quad City, Rockford); South Division (Allen, Missouri, San Antonio, Texas, Tulsa, Wichita)
"Mountain West" Hockey League (10): Mountain Division (Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Rapid City, Utah); Pacific Division (Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Stockton)

 

[RowdyFan42]

Come on, Rowdy - do you seriously think LD has any say in ANY of this? He barely had any control when the NHL didn't want to take things over - at this point, he's barely more than window dressing.

I will grant you that at THIS point, in 2015, Andrews is fairly useless. I believe it's been documented that the west coast expansion wasn't his idea. However, someone had to have had the goal of every NHL team having its own full AHL squad, and I highly doubt it was the NHL (meaning the league as a whole and the main office, not individual team executives). Someone got us to where we are today, and it might as well be Andrews. That may sound fairly ignorant, but just like Gary Bettman, it's part of his job to be the face of the league, to take the credit when things go right and take the blame when things go wrong.

What should be done is since baseball every level has two leagues that don't play in season is just merge the ECHL and AHL. I think its been stated more than once results don't at all matter. You divide up the teams by geography. They all play under the AHL rules that are now and call it a day. The only time the two leagues would meet is the finals. A west/Midwest AHL and an east coast one. It could work. There'd be some parameters to hammer out but why not? I don't see the service of the ECHL being its own league anymore. They try too hard to want this affiliation ****. Obviously if you consider something like this you either bump up the number of contracts an organization has so they can fill 2 teams(or help to)

How did we go from "let's emulate baseball's model of multiple leagues on each level" to "let's have a single 60-team behemoth of a league"?

 

[axecrew]

Here's an article that explains the proposed playoff format pretty well. Of course, Andrews also said back in February that they were staying with 6 divisions and 1-8 playoffs, so things can change.

http://www.syracuse.com/crunch/inde...r?hootPostID=8b5f210cc11b6fa7b9f1645afd7ae9b0

Dave Andrews doesn't tell anyone anything if it doesn't benefit Dave Andrews. He's been useless and powerless since day 1, allowing a small group of owners to hijack the entire league over the years. It's no real secret that Rochester, Providence, and Hershey have the most sway being the oldest teams. Regardless of what's best.