American Hockey League's 2011-12 season begins tonight

Published on October 7, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Exactly four months after the Binghamton Senators lifted the Calder Cup, the American Hockey League begins its 76th season tonight with 30 teams starting down the road to the championship.

The puck drops on the 2011-12 campaign with 23 games over the holiday weekend, including five this evening, 12 on Saturday and six more on Sunday.

As usual, a new season brings some new looks, but most noticeable in the AHL for 2011-12 is the schedule itself. As part of a schedule modification plan announced back in April, the regular-season playing schedule has been reduced from 80 to 76 games, the playing calendar has been extended by one week, and all sequences in which teams play four games in five nights have been eliminated. These steps are intended to provide a safer environment for AHL players through increased rest and recovery time, and also to provide AHL fans with an even higher caliber of play as a result of reduced player fatigue.

Another new look comes on the league's standings page, where the 30 member teams are now divided into six divisions of five teams each, three divisions in each conference. Eight teams from each conference will qualify for the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs, with the three division winners earning the top three seeds and the next five best teams in order of regular-season points seeded fourth through eighth.

The battle for standings points begins tonight with five games, including Binghamton's banner-raising home opener against the Hershey Bears. The city of Binghamton is marking its 30th season as a member of the American Hockey League, but the Calder Cup had never resided in New York's Southern Tier until the Senators defeated Houston in a six-game Final series last spring.

Also tonight is the debut of the St. John's IceCaps, top affiliate of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. The IceCaps open their season with games in Providence and Manchester this weekend before the AHL officially returns to Mile One Centre on Oct. 14 when Hamilton visits St. John's.

The IceCaps' partnership with the Jets is one of five affiliation changes heading into the 2011-12 season. After a three-year separation, the Rochester Americans have once again joined with the Buffalo Sabres, previously their parent club for 29 years from 1979-2008. The Portland Pirates have teamed up with the Phoenix Coyotes, the San Antonio Rampage will be the top affiliate of the Florida Panthers, and the Chicago Wolves are the new AHL farm club of the NHL's Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks.

The 2011-12 season will feature 13 teams with new head coaches. In addition to Portland's Ray Edwards and San Antonio's Chuck Weber following their parent teams to new affiliates, eight bench bosses will be making their AHL debuts: Abbotsford's Troy Ward, Bridgeport's Brent Thompson, Chicago's Craig MacTavish, Milwaukee's Kirk Muller, Rochester's Ron Rolston, Rockford's Ted Dent, Keith McCambridge in St. John's and Texas's Jeff Pyle. Three other head coaches -- Hamilton's Clement Jodoin, Houston's John Torchetti and Providence's Bruce Cassidy -- are back after previous stints coaching in both the AHL and NHL. Nine of the men who were AHL head coaches on opening night in 2010-11 are beginning the new season in the National Hockey League.

The upcoming regular season comprises 1,140 games leading up to the start of the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs in April. The schedule is highlighted by two outdoor games, the first at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia pitting the Adirondack Phantoms against the Hershey Bears on Jan. 6, and the second at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ont., with the Hamilton Bulldogs facing off against the Toronto Marlies on Jan. 21 (live on Sportsnet). On Jan. 29-30, the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic will be held at the historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., featuring the top talent in the Eastern Conference competing against the best of the Western Conference in both the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of last season's NHL players were American Hockey League graduates, and for the 10th year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2010-11.

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