Barons To North Division

Published on July 9, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


BARONS TO TRAVEL FOREIGN SOIL IN NORTH DIVISION
AHL Realignment Places Cleveland In Division With All Four Canadian Teams

SPRINGFIELD, MA -- The American Hockey League today unveiled a new conference and division alignment and announced the Calder Cup Playoff format for the 2003-2004 season. The announcement came from the AHL Board of Governors' annual meeting on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The AHL has returned to a four-division, two-conference setup, with seven teams in each division:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)
Lowell Lock Monsters (CAR/CGY)
Manchester Monarchs (LA)
Portland Pirates (WSH)
Providence Bruins (BOS)
Springfield Falcons (PHX)
Worcester IceCats (STL)

East Division
Albany River Rats (NJ)
Binghamton Senators (OTT)
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)
Hershey Bears (COL/TB)
Norfolk Admirals (CHI)
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)

Western Conference

North Division
Cleveland Barons (SJ)
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)
Manitoba Moose (VAN)
Rochester Americans (BUF)
St. John's Maple Leafs (TOR)
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ)
Toronto Roadrunners (EDM)

West Division
Chicago Wolves (ATL)
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (ANA)
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Houston Aeros (MIN)
Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)
San Antonio Rampage (FLA)
Utah Grizzlies (DAL)

For the first time in three seasons the Barons will not battle their cross-state rival Cincinnati within the same division. Last year Cincinnati, Syracuse, Rochester and Grand Rapids shared the now defunct Central Division with the Barons. Syracuse and Rochester stay within the Barons' division while the defending Western Conference Champion Grand Rapids Griffins move to the West Division along with Cincinnati.

The new divisional alignment places all four Canadian teams in the Barons' North Division including Toronto, St. John's and Manitoba, who the Barons have never faced. Toronto will make their AHL debut this season as the affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.

The regular season schedule format will be announced soon by the AHL. The schedule format will detail which teams the Barons face in the upcoming 2003-2004 season and how many games will be played in the regular season series.

PLAYOFF FORMAT

At the conclusion of the 2003-04 regular season, the top five teams in each of the four divisions will qualify for the Calder Cup 2004 Playoffs, allowing once again for at least two-thirds of National Hockey League teams' prospects to gain valuable postseason experience.

In each division, the fourth-place team will face the fifth-place team in a best-of-three qualifying round. Each subsequent round will be a best-of-seven. In the division semifinals, the first-place team will face the qualifying winner and the second-place team will face the third-place team from each division. The division finals will match the semifinal winners within each division, with those winners advancing to their respective conference final. Conference final winners will advance to the Calder Cup 2004 Finals.

The Barons home opener is Saturday, October 11th at Gund Arena. Group tickets, season and partial ticket plans are now on sale. Find out more information by calling the Barons ticket office at 216-420-0000 or crashing the net at www.clevelandbarons.net.

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American Hockey League Stories from July 9, 2003


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