Here's how I think the AHL should be aligned for next year

[Big Z Man 1990]

Eastern Conference
Northeast
Bridgeport
Hartford
Portland
Providence
St. John's

East
Albany
Rochester
Springfield
Syracuse
Utica

Mid-Atlantic
Binghamton
Charlotte
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Western Conference
Central
Chicago
Rockford
Iowa
San Antonio
Texas

North
Grand Rapids
Lake Erie
Milwaukee
Toronto
Winnipeg

Golden State (since all the teams are in California)
Bakersfield
Ontario
San Diego
San Jose
Stockton

For 2016-17, when St. John's moves to Laval, swap them to the Mid-Atlantic (renamed Atlantic), Binghamton to East (renamed Empire State), and Springfield to Northeast (renamed New England).

Click to read more...

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

They aren't going to split up Chicago, Rockford and Milwaukee.

 

[Nerdlinger]

Here's what I might do:

Eastern Conference
Northeast Division: Hartford, Portland, Providence, Springfield, St. John's
Empire Division: Albany, Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica
Atlantic Division: Bridgeport, Charlotte, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Western Conference
North Division: Grand Rapids, Iowa, Lake Erie, Manitoba, Toronto
Central Division: Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford, San Antonio, Texas
Pacific Division: Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Stockton

Alternately, you could move Binghamton to the Atlantic Division, Bridgeport to the Northeast Division (renamed the New England Division), and St. John's to the Empire Division (renamed the Northeast Division).

If you're not concerned about splitting up the Chicago-Rockford-Milwaukee trio, you could maybe swap Iowa with Milwaukee. You could go a step further and swap Manitoba with Chicago as well. Then you could rename the North Division the Midwest or Great Lakes Division.

I can't speculate as to 2016-17. It may even be premature to speculate as to next season at the moment.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

The Pacific Division should be called the Golden State Division since all the teams are going to be in California (which is also known as the Golden State).

In sports (esp. minor league), divisions concentrated in a single state have traditionally been named after the state or a nickname for it.

 

[Nerdlinger]

The Pacific Division should be called the Golden State Division since all the teams are going to be in California (which is also known as the Golden State).

In sports (esp. minor league), divisions concentrated in a single state have traditionally been named after the state or a nickname for it.

Pacific, California, Golden State, any of them are fine by me. I'm guessing they'll go with Pacific because they anticipate other teams moving west that won't necessarily end up in California.

 

[ZekeA]

My guess for the Eastern Conference for next season

East Division
Hershey Bears
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Binghamton Senators
Albany Devils


Northeast Division
Utica Comets
Rochester Americans
St. John's IceCaps
Toronto Marlies
Syracuse Crunch


Atlantic Division
Providence Bruins
Portland Pirates
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Hartford Wolf Pack
Springfield Falcons


Toronto is the hub to fly into St. John's so it makes more sense to have them in the eastern conference.......................


I have a hard enough time keeping up with the east will let those that follow the west decide how to align them into divisions..

 

[Nerdlinger]

Toronto is the hub to fly into St. John's so it makes more sense to have them in the eastern conference.......................

Do you mean you can't get a direct flight to St. John's from somewhere like Boston?

 

[ZekeA]

Do you mean you can't get a direct flight to St. John's from somewhere like Boston?

"Nerdlinger":


To the best of my knowledge teams bus to Toronto then take a non stop flight to St. John's........

Boston to St John's NL only flights have at least 1 stop + the fight is more expensive......

 

[adsfan]

Here's what I might do:

Eastern Conference
Northeast Division: Hartford, Portland, Providence, Springfield, St. John's
Empire Division: Albany, Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica
Atlantic Division: Bridgeport, Charlotte, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Western Conference
North Division: Grand Rapids, Iowa, Lake Erie, Manitoba, Toronto
Central Division: Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford, San Antonio, Texas
Pacific Division: Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Stockton

Alternately, you could move Binghamton to the Atlantic Division, Bridgeport to the Northeast Division (renamed the New England Division), and St. John's to the Empire Division (renamed the Northeast Division).

If you're not concerned about splitting up the Chicago-Rockford-Milwaukee trio, you could maybe swap Iowa with Milwaukee. You could go a step further and swap Manitoba with Chicago as well. Then you could rename the North Division the Midwest or Great Lakes Division.

I can't speculate as to 2016-17. It may even be premature to speculate as to next season at the moment.

I like the Western alignment. Milwaukee is with Chicago and Rockford. They travel to Texas around Easter every season, so being in the same division is no big deal.
They will see the North Division. They played LE 10X and Toronto 2X this season.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Now, as you may notice, Winnipeg is regaining AHL presence next season. The team should re-adopt the Manitoba Moose name, since it is very iconic in Winnipeg.

 

[Nerdlinger]

Now, as you may notice, Winnipeg is regaining AHL presence next season. The team should re-adopt the Manitoba Moose name, since it is very iconic in Winnipeg.

I just assumed they would. There's no reason for them not to. Unsure why they're waiting so long to announce the name, though.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I just assumed they would. There's no reason for them not to. Unsure why they're waiting so long to announce the name, though.

uh, the reason why maybe because the Jets season is still continuing as they are playing Anaheim, it's not like it's a pressing issue.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Eastern Conference
Northeast
Bridgeport
Hartford
Portland
Providence
St. John's

East
Albany
Rochester
Springfield
Syracuse
Utica

Mid-Atlantic
Binghamton
Charlotte
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Western Conference
Central
Chicago
Rockford
Iowa
San Antonio
Texas

North
Grand Rapids
Lake Erie
Milwaukee
Toronto
Winnipeg

Golden State (since all the teams are in California)
Bakersfield
Ontario
San Diego
San Jose
Stockton

For 2016-17, when St. John's moves to Laval, swap them to the Mid-Atlantic (renamed Atlantic), Binghamton to East (renamed Empire State), and Springfield to Northeast (renamed New England).

Rochester has never wanted nor desired to switch conferences under previous alignments, and we've had many such alignments that they fought them and won the right to stay in the West.

Empire State no longer fits since you have more than 5 teams from said state and 2 or more of those have to be placed elsewhere, and Charlotte has already stated they have preferred West/midwest markets more so.

 

[Nerdlinger]

uh, the reason why maybe because the Jets season is still continuing as they are playing Anaheim, it's not like it's a pressing issue.

I know. But all the other teams that moved have announced their names....

Rochester has never wanted nor desired to switch conferences under previous alignments, and we've had many such alignments that they fought them and won the right to stay in the West.

Empire State no longer fits since you have more than 5 teams from said state and 2 or more of those have to be placed elsewhere, and Charlotte has already stated they have preferred West/midwest markets more so.

Interesting that Rochester has fought to remain in the West. Is it because they were trying to stick with their rivals Toronto and Hamilton?

 

[Captain Crash]

I actually think the smartest new alignment for them is to mirror how the NHL currently has it set up. This would mean two uneven conferences with two divisions each. 14 Western Conference teams, 16 Eastern Conference teams.

Western Conference
Southwest Division
San Jose
Ontario
San Diego
Stockton
Bakersfield
Texas
San Antonio

Midwest Division
Lake Erie
Chicago
Rockford
Milwaukee
Grand Rapids
Iowa
Manitoba

Eastern Conference
Mid-Atlantic Division
WBS
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Charlotte
Binghamton
Syracuse
Rochester
Toronto

Northeast Division
St. John's
Portland
Providence
Springfield
Bridgeport
Hartford
Albany
Utica

Admittedly the Eastern conference could be tweaked a little without much fuss, but overall this avoids splitting up any teams that seem odd to split.

It also provides every division with one 'outlier' if you will to put a little travel burden on each division. The Mid-Atlantic has Charlotte. The Northeast has St. John's. The Southwest has the Texas pair. And the Midwest has Manitoba. Each division also has at least one major airport hub.

 

[Nerdlinger]

I actually think the smartest new alignment for them is to mirror how the NHL currently has it set up. This would mean two uneven conferences with two divisions each. 14 Western Conference teams, 16 Eastern Conference teams.

Western Conference
Southwest Division
San Jose
Ontario
San Diego
Stockton
Bakersfield
Texas
San Antonio

Midwest Division
Lake Erie
Chicago
Rockford
Milwaukee
Grand Rapids
Iowa
Manitoba

Eastern Conference
Mid-Atlantic Division
WBS
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Charlotte
Binghamton
Syracuse
Rochester
Toronto

Northeast Division
St. John's
Portland
Providence
Springfield
Bridgeport
Hartford
Albany
Utica

Admittedly the Eastern conference could be tweaked a little without much fuss, but overall this avoids splitting up any teams that seem odd to split.

It also provides every division with one 'outlier' if you will to put a little travel burden on each division. The Mid-Atlantic has Charlotte. The Northeast has St. John's. The Southwest has the Texas pair. And the Midwest has Manitoba. Each division also has at least one major airport hub.

I think San Antonio and Texas might flip out about that.

 

[Captain Crash]

I think San Antonio and Texas might flip out about that.

Why? They wouldn't really be much further removed than they are from the Midwest teams.

 

[Nerdlinger]

Why? They wouldn't really be much further removed than they are from the Midwest teams.

Well, there's the additional distance, but there's also the 2 time zone difference.

 

[Captain Crash]

Well, there's the additional distance, but there's also the 2 time zone difference.

While you may have a point about the time zones, there's not really much difference between going from San Antonio to Milwaukee as you have them placed and Texas to California.

Even still, do time zones matter much in the AHL? How much are they counting on high viewership on broadcasts?

 

[Nerdlinger]

While you may have a point about the time zones, there's not really much difference between going from San Antonio to Milwaukee as you have them placed and Texas to California.

Even still, do time zones matter much in the AHL? How much are they counting on high viewership on broadcasts?

I don't really know about AHL TV viewership, but time zone changes also result in jet lag. If the Texas teams had a choice, I'm pretty sure they would push for the 6-division setup rather than a 4-division one that puts them with the Pacific teams.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I actually think the smartest new alignment for them is to mirror how the NHL currently has it set up. This would mean two uneven conferences with two divisions each. 14 Western Conference teams, 16 Eastern Conference teams.

Western Conference
Southwest Division
San Jose
Ontario
San Diego
Stockton
Bakersfield
Texas
San Antonio

Midwest Division
Lake Erie
Chicago
Rockford
Milwaukee
Grand Rapids
Iowa
Manitoba

Eastern Conference
Mid-Atlantic Division
WBS
Hershey
Lehigh Valley
Charlotte
Binghamton
Syracuse
Rochester
Toronto

Northeast Division
St. John's
Portland
Providence
Springfield
Bridgeport
Hartford
Albany
Utica

Admittedly the Eastern conference could be tweaked a little without much fuss, but overall this avoids splitting up any teams that seem odd to split.

It also provides every division with one 'outlier' if you will to put a little travel burden on each division. The Mid-Atlantic has Charlotte. The Northeast has St. John's. The Southwest has the Texas pair. And the Midwest has Manitoba. Each division also has at least one major airport hub.

not happening, the NHL Can do that but our league accomplished it without issue, w/ the 3 divisional 5 team minimum and balanced alignment conference-wise

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I know. But all the other teams that moved have announced their names....



Interesting that Rochester has fought to remain in the West. Is it because they were trying to stick with their rivals Toronto and Hamilton?

no, that's why they instituted the "rivalry" SERIES OF HOME AND HOME games between teams, Rochester has no interest perhaps of playing either the mid-atlantic or the remaining Northeast teams, AND THEY HAVE THE RIGHT to block any alignment, as they are the 2nd oldest franchise(think of moving Hershey anywhere or realigning them to the opposite conference).... and that's why Syracuse has been the franchise joining Binghamton from that western NY Tier, to agree to be in the East.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Keep Rochester in the West because that's still funny. Though you can justify it with Toronto near by.

 

[Disengage]

no, that's why they instituted the "rivalry" SERIES OF HOME AND HOME games between teams, Rochester has no interest perhaps of playing either the mid-atlantic or the remaining Northeast teams, AND THEY HAVE THE RIGHT to block any alignment, as they are the 2nd oldest franchise(think of moving Hershey anywhere or realigning them to the opposite conference).... and that's why Syracuse has been the franchise joining Binghamton from that western NY Tier, to agree to be in the East.

*rolls eyes*

Another great Hutch post that's probably wrong.

 

[Nerdlinger]

no, that's why they instituted the "rivalry" SERIES OF HOME AND HOME games between teams, Rochester has no interest perhaps of playing either the mid-atlantic or the remaining Northeast teams, AND THEY HAVE THE RIGHT to block any alignment, as they are the 2nd oldest franchise(think of moving Hershey anywhere or realigning them to the opposite conference).... and that's why Syracuse has been the franchise joining Binghamton from that western NY Tier, to agree to be in the East.

Why does their being the 2nd oldest franchise mean they would have the right to block any alignment?