In The System-> Amerks/Jackals/Prospect talk

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #1 - Oshawa Generals Take Game #1 - 4-1 - OntarioHockeyLeague.com - Friday, May 8.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - The Oshawa Generals took another strong step in the right direction on Friday night, suppressing the dangerous attack of the Erie Otters in a 4-1 win as Vancouver Canucks prospect Cole Cassels tallied a pair of assists and kept his man in check to earn first star honours. Cassels, who saw frequent shifts against Otters star Connor McDavid, did an effective job in the faceoff circle and finished the night with a plus-2 rating as the Generals took a 1-0 series lead in front of 6,068 energized fans at the General Motors Centre.

Oshawa goaltender Ken Appleby only faced 19 shots, but was sharp when called upon to earn his 13th victory of the postseason. Generals blueliner Stephen Desrocher continued his strong play, registering two assists to earn second star recognition. Desrocher now has points in four of his last five contests. The Generals took the shooting column 31-19 and take a 1-0 series lead against an Otters club that dropped their first game in the Western Conference Final before coming back to eliminate Sault Ste. Marie in six games.

Game #2 of the Rogers OHL Championship Series will be Saturday night in Oshawa at 7:05pm. The game can be seen on Rogers TV Durham, Rogers TV Toronto and Rogers Sports+ Digital Channel 368/369.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://ontariohockeyleague.com/article/friday-highlights-generals-take-game-1/166319

Boxscore-Game Summary - http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/schedule/show/game/69755

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #1 - 4-1 Win For Generals-Game #1 - OshawaGenerals.com - Friday, May 8.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - A goal each period, including two in the third, led to a 4-1 win for the Gens over the Otters in Game #1 of the OHL Finals.
It was Mike McCarron, Mitch Vande Sompel, Michael Dal Colle and Hunter Smith with the Generals' goals, while Remi scored the lone goal for Erie.
Oshawa will be back tomorrow night to host the Otters for Game #2 of the Championship Series in front of another sold out crowd.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.oshawagenerals.com/article/4-1-win-for-the-gens-in-game-one

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #1 - Otters Trail 1-0 After 4-1 Loss In Game #1 - OttersHockey.com - Friday, May 8.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - The Otters fell 4-1 to Oshawa in Game #1 of the OHL Championship Series Friday night on the road.
Remi Elie scored the Otters lone goal on a power play with a beautiful set up from linemate Connor McDavid.

The Otters peppered Appleby with shots, putting pressure on the Oshawa netminder. With 35.6 seconds to go in the period, McDavid skated in with Remi Elie on a 2-on-1.
The Otters captain fed Elie in front of the net and Elie was able to put the puck home, getting the Otters on the board and cutting the Generals lead in half.

With an assist on Elie’s goal, McDavid notched his 43rd point of the 2015 playoffs, securing the franchise record and passing Cory Pecker’s mark of 42 set in 2002.
Dermott now has a point in the last four games, while McDavid has at least a point in all 16 games in the 2015 playoffs.

The Otters are right back at it Saturday night for Game #2 in Oshawa before coming back to Erie Monday and Wednesday for Game #3 and Game #4.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.ottershockey.com/article/otters-trail-championship-series-1-0

 

[LaxSabre]

@SabresProspects - Highlight reel play by McDavid for the assist on an Elie goal. Erie trails Oshawa 2-1 end 2nd. Vande Sompel ('15) with a goal for OSH.
Nicholas Baptiste saw his eight-game point streak snapped last night as Erie opened the OHL final with a 4-1 loss at Oshawa.

@SabresProspects - Hudson Fasching confirms he's staying for junior year.
Also a note about his surgery to remove a piece of bone from knee - http://blog.startribune.com/fasching-confirms-he-ll-return-for-another-year/303110971/

Hudson Fasching will be back on the Gophers’ first line next season. The big forward from Burnsville, Minnesota confirmed to the Star Tribune on Friday that he will return for his junior season, ending any speculation that he would be the fourth Gophers hockey standout to leave college early and sign a pro contract this offseason. “I’m ecstatic about coming back,” Fasching said. “I love it here and love Gopher hockey and love playing at Mariucci. We lost some key guys, but we still have a lot here and a lot coming in.”

The Gophers lost six contributing seniors to graduation including Kyle Rau and three standout juniors - goaltender Adam Wilcox and defensemen Brady Skjei and Mike Reilly - who signed pro contracts or plan to. Fasching had been considered another name that might sign, but hinted he’d return for his junior year via Twitter on Wednesday - “All the hard work the boys and I have been putting in this spring has me excited to get the season going again. #gopherhockey”

@SabresProspects - JT Compher and Hudson Fasching will play third year. Miller, Stafford, McCabe, Butler, Gerbe, Kennedy, Tropp all stayed for three as well.

 

[LaxSabre]

@SabresProspects - Hudson Fasching confirms he's staying for junior year.
Also a note about his surgery to remove a piece of bone from knee - http://blog.startribune.com/fasching-confirms-he-ll-return-for-another-year/303110971/

 

[leo2892]

@SabresProspects - Hudson Fasching confirms he's staying for junior year.
Also a note about his surgery to remove a piece of bone from knee - http://blog.startribune.com/fasching-confirms-he-ll-return-for-another-year/303110971/

Was hoping he'd make the jump to the AHL, kinda disappointed

 

[Husko]

Good news with that and Compher is it gives us another year on their ELCs, which might be pertinent by the time their ELCs are up cap-space wise

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #2 -
Four Goal Third Period Leads Generals To Game #2 Win - OntarioHockeyLeague.com - Saturday, May 9.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - From free agent invitee to postseason prominence, Anthony Cirelli's solid playoff run continued on Saturday night. The 17 year-old forward scored the winning goal 12:17 into the third period to open the floodgates on a 5-1 Generals victory over the Erie Otters in Game #2 to take a 2-0 lead in the Rogers OHL Championship Series. With the score 1-1, Cirelli banged home a loose puck in the slot off a shot from Michael Dal Colle as Oshawa ensued to score three more times in the final seven minutes of the third period to send the 'Gens Army' home happy.

The big win featured a strong penalty kill that held Erie's well documented powerplay to 0-for-6 on the night, holding Otters captain Connor McDavid off the scoresheet for the first time in 16 games in the process. Goaltender Ken Appleby earned first star honours, bouncing back from a first period lower body injury to make 32 saves, many of them on quality scoring chances. Matt Mistele and Nick Betz swapped first period goals before a scoreless second saw the game enter the third frame knotted at one.

Otters winger Nick Baptiste, whose Western Conference Final Series featured 11 points in 6 games, had a few opportunities to put Erie on the board on Saturday, but couldn't beat the big frame of Appleby. The Buffalo Sabres draft pick is looking ahead to Game #3 on Monday. "We've got to hold serve and protect home ice. We have to respond, and come out big in front of our fans on Monday."

Monday's Game #3 can be seen on Rogers TV Durham and Rogers Sports+ Digital Channel 368/369 when the puck drops at 7:35 pm ET.
(LaxSabre - No coverage planned - LIVE or Tape Delay - on the NHL Network here in the United States.)

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://ontariohockeyleague.com/article/saturday-highlights-gens-finish-strong/166322

Boxscore/Game Summary - Generals 5 Otters 1 - http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/schedule/show/game/69756

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #2 -
Generals Jump Ahead - 2-0 Series Lead Over Otters - OshawaGenerals.com - Saturday, May 9.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - After a score of 1-1 for almost 53 minutes, the Gens cranked it up in front of a sold out crowd and scored four goals in the final frame.
Tonight’s win gives Oshawa a 2-0 series lead heading into Game #3 on Monday in Erie. Kenny Appleby was the rock again in net, blocking 33 shots put on goal.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.oshawagenerals.com/article/gens-jump-ahead-2-0-in-ohl-finals

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #2 -
Otters Fall 5-1 - Heads Back To Erie Down 2-0 In Championship Series - OttersHockey.com - Saturday, May 9.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - After a deadlocked second period, the Otters fell 5-1 to Oshawa Saturday night in Game #2 of the OHL Championship Series.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.ottershockey.com/article/otters-fall-5-1-to-oshawa

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #2 - McDavid Point Streak Snapped -
Otters Lose Game #2 - Trail Two Games To None - Canadian Press - Sportsnet.ca - Saturday, May 9.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - Anthony Cirelli scored the winner in the third period as the Oshawa Generals jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Erie Otters in the OHL Finals with a 5-1 win Saturday night. A shot by Michael Dal Colle came off the pads of Erie goalie Devin Williams and in off a hard-charging Cirelli with 7:43 remaining.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/mcdavids-point-streak-snapped-in-otters-loss/

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Preview - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series Game #3 -
Oshawa Generals at Erie Otters - Monday, May 11 - OntarioHockeyLeague.com

Erie, Pennsylvania - The 2015 Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series continues tonight in Erie as the Otters take to home ice in an attempt to wrestle back control of the series from the Oshawa Generals who currently lead 2-0. A 4-1 victory in Game #1 on Friday followed up by a 5-1 triumph in Game #2 on Saturday has the Generals riding high into a jam-packed Erie Insurance Arena tonight.

The Generals and Pioneer Energy Ontario Hockey League Player of the Week goaltender Ken Appleby face the unenviable task of going into a building the Otters have only lost in once throughout the postseason to try and tighten their grip on the series. The Otters try and bounce back from a loss on Sunday that saw them go 0-for-6 on the power-play while surrendering four third period goals after the game was knotted at one throughout much of regulation.

Puck drop tonight is 7:35 pm ET. The game can be seen on Rogers TV Durham and Rogers TV Sports+ Digital Channel 368/369.
The action is also available on OHL LIVE at ohl.neulion.com/ohl.

Generals’ Ken Appleby Named Pioneer Energy Ontario Hockey League Player Of The Week -
OntarioHockeyLeague.com - Monday, May 11.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - The Ontario Hockey League today announced that goaltender Ken Appleby of the Oshawa Generals is the Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week for the playoff week ending May 10 after posting a 2-0 record with a goals-against-average of 1.00 and save percentage of .962.

Rest Of The Article - http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/...-pioneer-energy-ohl-player-of-the-week/166324

 

[26CornerBlitz]

5/11/15 - SABRES PROSPECTS REPORT

By Kris Baker - SabresProspects.com

The Erie Otters looked like a well-oiled machine during their cruise through the Ontario Hockey League Western Conference playoffs. But the high-performing engine may be in need of a slight tune-up after slipping into a 2-0 hole to start the Rogers OHL Championship Series with the Oshawa Generals.

Sabres prospect Nicholas Baptiste (2013, third round) saw his eight-game point streak come to an end Friday as Erie opened the final round with a 4-1 loss at Oshawa. Baptiste entered play with the hot hand, stepping up with goals in four straight games as the Otters upended Sault Ste. Marie to advance to the championship.

Michael McCarron (MTL) and Mitchell Vande Sompel (2015) gave the Generals a 2-0 lead before Remi Elie (DAL) scored in the final minute of the second period for Erie to cut the deficit in half. Oshawa kept their foot on the gas the rest of the way with goals from Michael Dal Colle (NYI) and Hunter Smith (CGY) to take the 1-0 series lead.

 

[LaxSabre]

LaxSabre - Kyle Pettit returns to the lineup - suffered a hand injury blocking a shot during one of the final games of the regular season. He had missed the last 21 games.
Brad Boyes - Corey Pecker - Carlo Colaiacovo - Chris Campoli - members of the 2002 OHL Championship team are in attendence.
All four took part in a ceremonial face-off that took place before the game started.
Early PP for the Generals - 1:27 in - Otters Taylor Raddysh goes to the box for interference. A few chances for the Generals - Otters kill the PP.
Kyle Pettit just took his first shift since mid-March alongside Kyle Maksimovich and Quentin Maksimovich.
Remi Elie just miss giving the Otters the lead - 12 minutes left in the first period.
Halfway through the first period - no score - current shots on goal - Oshawa 10 Erie 4.
Mason Marchment with a great poke check - stops a Matt Mistle scoring chance.

GOAL!!! ERIE!!! 1-0!!! Remi Elie with the blast that just sneaks past Appleby.
Assists from Connor McDavid and Darren Raddysh - Goal was scored at 14:32 of the first period.

GOAL!!! ERIE!!! 2-0!!! Alex DeBrincat with the goal - Elie was stoned by Appleby - DeBrincat backhand the rebound over Appleby.
The other assist on the goal - Troy Donnay. Goal was scored at 18:53 of the first period.

End First Period - Erie 2 Oshawa 0 - Elie/DeBrincat with the Otter Goals. Shots On Goal - First Period - Oshawa 14 Erie 9.

 

[LaxSabre]

LaxSabre - Kyle Pettit goes to the penalty box for two minutes - holding - Generals to the power-play. 5:59 of the second period.
Well that power-play lasted for a short time - Hunter Smith with a hit from behind on Kurtis McDermid ends that power-play.
Smith called for two penalties - boarding and then roughing. McDermid called for roughing. We are headed for some four on four hockey.
Otters will have a short :26 power-play after we play four on four for 1:34. Power-Play is killed by the Generals.
Baptiste lets one rip - robbed by the glove of Appleby. With that shot - Otters tie Generals - shots on goal - 16.
Williams with a huge stop - left pad save on McCarron - 8:30 left in the second period. Nice defense by the Otters stops other chance.
Elie sneaks one past Appleby - puck just goes wide of the net - Appleby then saves one with his mask - 5 minutes left second period.
McDavid robbed on the short side of the net by Appleby - 1:10 left in the second period.
Ten seconds later - Desrocher knocks Betz into the back of the net, which falls over Appleby. Desrocher tries to go after Betz after the whistle - no penalties are called.
Kurtis McDermid hip-checks Hunter Smith and the crowd is going nuts.
Face-off in Otters end - 1.5 seconds left - Appleby to the bench for the extra attacker. Generals get a shot on net and it goes in but its waived off - didn't beat the horn.
Play was reviewed and it crossed the line well after the clock hit zero. Otters dodged one there.

End Of Second Period - Erie 2 Oshawa 0. Shots On Goal - Second Period - Erie 11 Oshawa 4 - Game - Erie 20 Oshawa 18.

 

[LaxSabre]

GOAL!!! ERIE!!! 3-0!!! Connor McDavid knocks in his own rebound!!! 14:46 left in the third period.
McDavid second point of the game. Travis McDermott with the lone assist on McDavids 20th goal of the playoffs.

Baptiste almost makes it 4-0 Otters a few seconds later.

Crud - there goes the shutout - Tobias Lindberg with the rush down the ice - finds Cole Cassels coming off the bench - sends a shot past Devon Williams.
Generals are on the board - 6:29 of the third period.

GOAL!!! ERIE!!! 4-1!!! - Otters take advantage of a Generals turnover - Nick Baptiste with the steal - feeds Nick Betz for the tap-in! 12:24 of the third period.

Generals Goal - Sam Harding from Matt Mistle - Otters lead 4-2 - 16:09 into the third period.
Looks like a late non-icing call confused the Otters - Mistle finds Harding in front - beats Williams for the easy goal.

Now a delay of game penalty on Darren Raddysh - 16:31 into the third period.
Generals call timeout and they decide to pull Appleby so its a 6 on 4 advantage.

Oh No! Generals Goal - Cole Cassels flings it towards the net and it sneaks by Williams who never saw it. Generals within one - PPG - 1:54 remaining in the third period.

Generals pull the goalie with over a minute left - Nick Baptiste and Connor McDavid messes up an chance to score an empty-net goal.
Matt Mistle then saves a shot from going into the net.
30 seconds left - Generals bring the puck back into the Otters end - Devon Williams save - Otters clear! - Game Over!!! Otters hang on for the 4-3 win!

Final Score - Otters 4 Generals 3 - Generals lead the series 2-1 - Shots On Goal - Third Period - Erie 9 Oshawa 9 - Game - Erie 29 Oshawa 27.
Attendence - 6,494 - Sellout. Game #4 - Wednesday, May 13 - 7:35 pm ET. Go Otters!

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Zman5778]

I'm impressed. The only teams that appear to be really screwed are St. John's (not in the division with Portland and the Mass/Conn teams) and Lake Erie (playing darned near all their away division games in the central time zone. Texas got mildly screwed too.

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #3 -
Otters Bounce Back With 4-3 Win - Trail Series 2-1 - OntarioHockeyLeague.com - Monday, May 11.

Erie, Pennsylvania - Playing their first May hockey at Erie Insurance Arena in 15 years, the Erie Otters reclaimed momentum in the Rogers OHL Championship Series with a 4-3 victory over the Oshawa Generals in Game #3. After being held pointless on Saturday for the first time in 16 contests, Connor McDavid returned to form, providing a goal and an assist as the Otters narrowed Oshawa's series lead to 2-1 with the win in front of a capacity crowd.

For the Otters, there is no place like home. "It felt nice being back in our rink," said Otters coach Kris Knoblauch. "We played much better here. I know our players felt supported tonight and I think we had a little more energy with the fans behind us."

Knoblauch managed to get the matchups he was looking for on Monday with last change in his favour. "I think the last change was huge. I've never been a part of three games with as many icings as we've had," he said. In our league we can change on an icing, so you can ice the puck and get the line you want out there and you're not stuck. Tonight we had a lot of faceoffs and opportunities to match them and I think that had a lot to do with being able to create some more offence, for Connor (McDavid) in particular."

The Generals lead the Rogers OHL Championship Series 2-1 going into Game #4 in Erie on Wednesday night at 7:35 pm ET. The game can be seen on Rogers TV Durham and Rogers Sports+ Digital Channel 368/369.

Rest of The Game Recap - http://ontariohockeyleague.com/article/monday-highlights-otters-bounce-back/166327

Boxscore-Game Summary - http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/schedule/show/game/69757

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #3 -
Otters Top Generals 4-3 - McDavid Bounces Back With Goal/Assist - OttersHockey.com - Monday, May 11.

Erie, Pennsylvania - The Otters bounced back from dropping games one and two in Oshawa to take Game #3 - 4-3 at home. Remi Elie and Connor McDavid both picked up a goal and an assist in the win with Devin Williams making 24 saves.

The Otters killed an early penalty to Taylor Raddysh, coming out strong to start. A few early chances for Remi Elie were matched by the Generals, but Williams stood tall, keeping the puck from the back of the net. With about six and a half minutes to go in the period, Elie broke through, giving the Otters their first lead of the series. With barely a minute to play, Alex DeBrincat added to the lead, putting the Otters up 2-0 to close out the period.

Chances in the second period went back and forth with Dylan Strome and Nick Baprtiste both coming close to extending the Erie lead, but Ken Appleby made two big saves to keep the Otters off the board. Kurtis MacDermid ignited the crowd with a monstrous hip check in the Otters zone, sending Hunter Smith nearly somersaulting in midair with the clean hit. Tempers started to flare behind the Oshawa net toward the end of the period, but the second ended without incident. The Generals nearly scored in the dying second, but a quick review held the no-goal call on the ice, sending the game to intermission with the Otters still leading 2-0.

The back and forth continued for both teams into the third, with Appleby and Williams making save after save. McDavid needed barely five minutes to fly into the Oshawa zone and poke the puck into the right side of the net at the last second to put the Otters up 3-0. Cole Cassels was able to put his team on the board a minute and fifteen seconds later, cutting the lead quickly back to two goals.

Nick Betz regained the three-goal lead with his fifth goal of the playoffs with nearly seven minutes to go, putting the Otters up 4-1. The Generals cut the lead in half with a goal from Sam Harding with just under four minutes to play. With three and a half minutes to go, Darren Raddysh was called for delay of game and the Generals pulled Appleby to the bench for a six-on-four advantage. Cassels pulled the Generals within one, but the Otters held on, nearly scoring on the empty net, to cut Oshawa’s lead on the series in half.

The Otters take on the Generals at home again Wednesday in front of the sold-out crowd for game four of the OHL Championship Series.

The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the Game - #1 - Connor McDavid - 1G-1A. #2 - Remi Elie - 1G-1A. #3 - Cole Cassels - 2G.

http://www.ottershockey.com/article/otters-top-general-4-3

 

[TehDoak]

I'm pumped for Rochester being back in the EC.

I live like 5 minutes from WBS Penguins arena and there wasn't a single game vs Rochester here last year.

 

[LaxSabre]

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #3 -
Comeback Falls Short - Otters Win Game #3 - OshawaGenerals.com - Monday, May 11.

Erie, Pennsylvania - The Generals travelled to Erie after winning two games on home ice this past weekend. The Otter’s walked away with a 4-3 win in Game #3 of the Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series. Your Generals were down by three goals just over five minutes into the third. Cole Cassels got two goals and Sam Harding got his first of the playoffs.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.oshawagenerals.com/article/close-comeback-but-otters-take-game-three

Game Recap - Rogers Ontario Hockey League Championship Series - Game #3 - McDavid Scores - Lifts Otters To 4-3 Win - Sportsnet.ca - Monday, May 11.

Erie, Pennsylvania - Connor McDavid was quiet last weekend. But he made lots of noise in Game #3 Monday night. After earning only one point in the first two games in Oshawa, McDavid scored his first goal of the Ontario Hockey League final and added an assist to lead the Erie Otters to a 4-3 win over the Oshawa Generals. Oshawa now leads the best-of-seven series for the J. Ross Robertson trophy 2-1.

McDavid drew energy from the raucous 6,494 in attendance, while having home-ice advantage - and as a result the last change - provided him with opportunities to get away from the Generals’ shutdown defenders Josh Brown and Dakota Mermis. "I felt like I had a little bit more room. Still obviously not a whole bunch of room," said McDavid, who has a league-leading 20 goals and 45 points in the playoffs heading into Game 4 on Wednesday in Erie. "They still play a very tight defensive game. But obviously having last change helped. We’ll see what happens (moving forward)."

Remi Elie, Alex DeBrincat and Nick Betz also scored for the Otters, while Devin Williams made 24 saves for the win. Cole Cassels struck twice for the Generals, while Sam Harding added a goal of his own. Ken Appleby stopped 25 shots.

Rest Of The Game Recap - http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/mcdavid-scores-lifts-otters-past-generals-4-3/

 

[LaxSabre]

@RSandersonWHTK -
#Amerks are headed to #AHL's Eastern Conference. 2015-2016 North Division - Albany - Binghamton - Rochester - St. John's - Syracuse - Toronto - Utica
So the 2015-2016 Eastern Conference North Division now consists of all 5 New York teams plus Toronto and St. John's.
#AHL - Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division - Bridgeport - Hartford - Hershey - Lehigh Valley - Portland - Providence - Springfield - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
#AHL - Eastern Conference - North Division - Albany - Binghamton - Rochester - St. John’s - Syracuse - Toronto - Utica.
#AHL - Western Conference - Central Division - Charlotte - Chicago - Grand Rapids - Iowa - Lake Erie - Manitoba - Milwaukee - Rockford.
#AHL - Western Conference - Pacific Division - Bakersfield - Ontario - San Antonio - San Diego - San Jose - Stockton - Texas.

 

[LaxSabre]

AHL Moves Amerks East To Reunite With Old Foes - Kevin Oklobzija - Staff Writer - DemocratAndChronicle.com - Tuesday, May 12.

The American Hockey League will be holding a reunion next season - a reunion of old divisional rivals.

The Rochester Americans will be part of the seven-team North Division and are reunited with former division foes from Syracuse, Binghamton and Albany. Also in the division are the St. John's IceCaps, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets. Rochester, Toronto and Utica played in the North Division in the 2014-2015 season but were in the Western Conference. The division shifts to the Eastern Conference for the 2015-2016 season.

Realignment became necessary in January after five Western-based NHL teams established AHL roots in California. Stockton, Ontario, San Jose, San Diego and Bakersfield will be joined in the Pacific Division by the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage. The league chose to stay with two 15-team conferences, each with an eight-team and seven-team division. The schedule template and playoff format will be determined at the board of governors meeting in July.

Scheduling will be unbalanced. Very unbalanced. Teams in the North, Atlantic and Central will play 76 games but the five California teams demanded - and were granted permission - to play only 68 games. The league has not said whether San Antonio and Texas will reduce their schedules to 68 games although the Stars season ticket package calls for 76 games.

Rest Of The Article - http://www.democratandchronicle.com...merks-moving-ahl-eastern-conference/27215373/

 

[Husko]

Should help with callus. I feel like whenever we needed an emergency callus last year the team was in middle of the no where North Dakota 4 hours away from an airport

 

[26CornerBlitz]

AHL 2015-16 Divisional Alignment