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74-828: The Thunder replaced the AHL 's Adirondack Flames after they were relocated to Stockton, California , to become the Stockton Heat . On January 29, 2015, the Calgary Flames announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames , to Stockton as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The next day, the Flames announced that the ECHL's Stockton Thunder (who they had purchased

148-516: A partnership with the Toronto Maple Leafs , which would bring the organization back to St. John's for the first time since the team relocated their AHL affiliate, the St. John's Maple Leafs , to Toronto in 2005. The affiliation was confirmed on June 14. Among the names considered for the new franchise were Shamrocks, Storm, Regiment, and Newfoundland Growlers. The team announced its name as

222-585: A result, half of the AHL's teams folded from 1974 to 1977. The league bottomed out in the summer of 1977, with news that the Rhode Island (formerly Providence) Reds – the last remaining uninterrupted franchise from the 1936–37 season, and the oldest continuously operating minor league franchise in North America – had decided to cease operations after 51 years in Rhode Island. The AHL appeared in serious danger of folding altogether if this downward trend

296-766: A shootout against the Lake Erie Monsters before a standing-room crowd of 11,015 fans. A year after their originally scheduled date, the Griffins and Marlies played at Comerica Park on December 30, 2013, and Toronto prevailed in a shootout, 4–3, becoming the first AHL team ever with two outdoor wins. Attendance in Detroit was 20,337. As part of the recent addition of the Pacific Division, the AHL played its first outdoor hockey game in California during

370-455: A suitable arena; the Bisons' original arena, Peace Bridge Arena , had collapsed the previous season (a new Buffalo Bisons team would return to the league in 1940 after a new arena was constructed for them). The makeshift new I-AHL played out the rest of its first season (as well as all of the next) with just seven teams. At the end of the 1936–37 season, a modified three-round playoff format

444-481: A team record twelve-straight wins during the 2023-24 season. They finished with their best record in team history, going 43-18-7-4 and earning 97 points. They won the North Division for the first time since 2018. They also won their first and second round series' on home ice, a first for the team, and the first time an Adirondack hockey team clinched a series at home since 1992. The Manchester Monarchs were

518-737: A viable option. The two leagues' eight surviving clubs began joint play in November 1936 as a new two-division "circuit of mutual convenience" known as the International-American Hockey League. The four Can-Am teams became the I-AHL East Division, with the IHL quartet playing as the West Division. The IHL also contributed its former championship trophy, the F.G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy , which would go to

592-413: Is Scott Howson . A player must be at least 18 years of age to play in the AHL or not currently be beholden to a junior ice hockey team. The league limits the number of experienced professional players in a team's lineup during any given game; only five skaters can have accumulated more than 260 games played at the professional level (goaltenders are exempt from this rule). The annual playoff champion

666-471: Is an annual invitational tournament featuring teams from leagues around Europe and the world. The participation of the AHL in future Spengler Cups has been discussed by both the tournament organizers and league leadership. In 2014, Swedish club Färjestad BK met the Toronto Marlies as part of a visit to Canada that included its participation in the 2014 AHL All-Star Classic. In February 2018,

740-717: Is awarded the Calder Cup , named for Frank Calder , the first President (1917–1943) of the NHL. The defending champions following the 2023–24 season are the Hershey Bears , winning their 13th Calder Cup in franchise history. The AHL traces its origins directly to two predecessor professional leagues: the Canadian-American Hockey League (the "Can-Am" League), founded in 1926, and the first International Hockey League , established in 1929. Although

814-816: The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the Adirondack Red Wings hosted exhibition games against the national teams from the United States , West Germany , Sweden and Finland . Team USA also played exhibitions against AHL teams leading up to the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The Rochester Americans participated in the 1996 and 2013 editions of the Spengler Cup , held in Davos , Switzerland . The Spengler Cup

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888-544: The 2020–21 ECHL season due to ongoing pandemic travel restrictions. In the 2021 offseason, head coach John Snowden was hired by the Growlers' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies , as an assistant coach with Eric Wellwood later named head coach for the 2021–22 season . With Wellwood unavailable in February 2022 due to COVID-19 protocols, the Growlers hired Danielle Goyette as a temporary assistant coach, making Goyette

962-796: The Binghamton Dusters , while the Firebirds crossed over to the AHL from the NAHL. The Dusters and Firebirds, together with the Hampton Gulls (who had joined the league from the Southern Hockey League ), boosted the AHL to nine member clubs as the 1977–78 season opened. Hampton folded on February 10, 1978, but was replaced the next year by the New Brunswick Hawks . With franchise stability improving after

1036-686: The Buffalo Bisons , Syracuse Stars , Pittsburgh Hornets , and Cleveland Falcons . With both leagues down to the bare minimum number of teams to be viable, the governors of both leagues recognized the need for action to assure their member clubs' long-term survival. Their solution was to play an interlocking schedule. While the Can-Am was based in the Northeast and the IHL in the Great Lakes , their footprints were close enough for this to be

1110-703: The Hershey Bears , 4–3, in overtime before 45,653 fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia , as the final event of the week-long activities associated with the 2012 NHL Winter Classic , which also included a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on Jan 2 and an alumni game between retired players (including eight honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame ) of those two clubs on December 31, 2011. The contest

1184-813: The Laval Rocket in 2017. The Binghamton Senators were also purchased by the Ottawa Senators and were relocated to Belleville, Ontario , to become the Belleville Senators while the New Jersey Devils ' owned Albany Devils were relocated to become the Binghamton Devils . For the 2018–19 season , a 31st team joined the league with the Colorado Eagles as the NHL's Colorado Avalanche affiliate. With

1258-799: The Montreal Voyageurs hosted the Canadian National Team in Winnipeg. Several club teams from the Soviet Union toured the United States and Canada during the 1970s and 1980s and played exhibitions against AHL clubs, including the Soviet Wings (1974–75), HC Spartak Moscow (1976, 1986), Moscow Khimik (1976), HC Dynamo Moscow (1977–78), Traktor Chelyabinsk (1978–79) and Sokil Kyiv (1989). Prior to

1332-622: The New Jersey Devils for the 2017–18 season, and later extended the affiliation agreement for the 2018–19 season. For the Thunder's first two seasons, the Devils' organization had been sending players to Glens Falls due to the proximity of their previous AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils . The Thunder also hired Brad Tapper as its next head coach. Under Tapper, the Thunder finished the 2017–18 season first in their division and advanced to

1406-509: The Ontario Reign hosted and defeated the DEL's Eisbären Berlin , 6–3, in a friendly matchup organized by Anschutz Entertainment Group , the owner of both teams. The formation of an American Hockey League Hall of Fame was announced by the league on December 15, 2005, created to recognize, honor and celebrate individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions specifically in

1480-553: The Orlando Solar Bears . The Growlers played their first game on October 12, 2018, a 3–2 win over the Florida Everblades in front of a sold-out arena. In January 2019, Clowe stepped down due to health concerns and was replaced by assistant coach John Snowden. The Growlers finished the season first in their division with 94 points. The Growlers then advanced to the finals of the 2019 playoffs defeating

1554-707: The San Antonio Rampage franchise was bought and relocated by the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights for the 2020–21 season as the Henderson Silver Knights and was moved to the Pacific Division. For the 2021–22 season , the Vancouver Canucks relocated their franchise from Utica to Abbotsford while the Utica Comets agreed to relocate and operate the franchise that was operating as the Binghamton Devils . On May 23, 2022, it

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1628-750: The Springfield Falcons franchise was purchased by the Arizona Coyotes and relocated to become the Tucson Roadrunners and join the one-year-old Pacific Division. The Falcons were subsequently replaced by the Springfield Thunderbirds , the relocated Portland Pirates franchise under a new ownership group. The Montreal Canadiens -owned IceCaps relocated to the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec , and became

1702-652: The Toledo Walleye in six games to win the Kelly Cup . The Growlers were the second team after the 1989–90 Greensboro Monarchs to win the ECHL championship in its first season of operations. They were also the first Canadian team to win the Cup. The Growlers did not defend their title in 2020 as the playoffs were cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic . The club then voluntarily suspended operations for

1776-482: The Trois-Rivières Lions pending the franchise's sale to new owners. As a result of cessation, all eligible Growlers' players signed to a standard player contract were released as unrestricted free agents , allowing other league members to sign up to two former players. Contrarily, all Growlers players under an AHL or NHL structured contract were deemed ineligible to play the six remaining games of

1850-687: The Whale Bowl , the AHL's second outdoor game held on February 19, 2011, as part of a 10-day Whalers Hockey Fest at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut . Attendance for Connecticut's game against the Providence Bruins was announced at 21,673, the largest in AHL history to that point. Providence won, 5–4, in a shootout. On January 6, 2012, the largest crowd in AHL history saw the Adirondack Phantoms defeat

1924-567: The 1941–42 season as a fundraiser for American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross efforts during World War II . Players from the Eastern Division faced off against players from the Western Division at Cleveland Arena. The event was not played again until the 1954–55 season, and was then held annually until the 1959–60 season. These six annual games pitted a team of all-stars against the defending Calder Cup champions (with

1998-621: The 2004–05 season (the franchise was sold in 2006 and returned to the ice in Cleveland in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters, now known as the Cleveland Monsters ). The Chicago Wolves ( 2002 , 2008 , 2022 ), Houston Aeros ( 2003 ), Milwaukee Admirals ( 2004 ), and Grand Rapids Griffins ( 2013 , 2017 ) have all won Calder Cup titles since joining the AHL from the IHL. Chicago and Milwaukee have also made multiple trips to

2072-834: The 2015–16 season, called the Golden State Hockey Rush. On December 18, 2015, the Stockton Heat defeated the Bakersfield Condors , 3–2, at Raley Field in West Sacramento, California . For the second consecutive season, the AHL played an outdoor game in California as the Bakersfield Condors hosted the Condorstown Outdoor Classic against the Ontario Reign on January 7, 2017, at Bakersfield College 's Memorial Stadium . Despite sometimes heavy rain during

2146-678: The 4th head coach in team history. The Thunder returned to the Kelly Cup playoffs in MacArthur's first season. In the final weekend of the season, Adirondack caught the Worcester Railers after spending the entire season behind them in the standings. They would win their first playoff game in five years to open their first-round series against the Newfoundland Growlers , but bow out in five games. The Thunder set

2220-415: The AHL's 2001 expansion was that the league had two teams with the same nickname: the Milwaukee Admirals and the Norfolk Admirals . The latter team transferred to the league from the mid-level ECHL in 2000. This situation lasted until the end of the 2014–15 season when the Norfolk team moved to San Diego and was replaced by another ECHL team with the same name. The Utah Grizzlies suspended operations after

2294-454: The AHL. Newfoundland Growlers The Newfoundland Growlers were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador . The team began play in the 2018–19 season with home games held at Mary Brown's Centre . They were affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL). The ECHL terminated

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2368-451: The CBS Arena. On November 18, DSE and the city of St. John's came to an agreement to play the rest of the season at the Mile One Centre, renamed Mary Brown's Centre , in early November. On April 2, 2024, the ECHL terminated the team's membership for failure to fulfill league bylaws. Both the Growlers and their sister team, the Trois-Rivières Lions , had been experiencing financial difficulties. The ECHL assumed transitional ownership of

2442-422: The Calder Cup Finals, and Houston made their second Finals appearance in 2011. The Manitoba Moose moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011 and were renamed the St. John's IceCaps after the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg as the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets . In 2013, Houston moved to Des Moines, Iowa to become the Iowa Wild . This left Chicago, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee as

2516-430: The Can-Am League never operated with more than six teams, the departure of the Boston Bruin Cubs after the 1935–36 season reduced it down to just four member clubs: the Springfield Indians , Philadelphia Ramblers , Providence Reds , and New Haven Eagles for the first time in its history. At the same time, the then-rival IHL lost half of its eight members after the 1935–36 season, leaving it with just four member teams:

2590-456: The Edge. This led to a dispute between DSE and the City of St. John's as the Growlers still needed to renew their lease agreement as well, which they did, signing a three-year agreement in August 2021. However, the operations of the arena was continued to be criticized by DSE and tickets were not being sold a week before their first scheduled home game of the 2021–22 season. On October 27, 2021, citing workplace harassment of arena employees,

2664-399: The Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins met outdoors at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the Penguins earning a 2–1 overtime victory in front of 17,311 fans. The Rochester Americans hosted an outdoor game in 2013–14, the Frozen Frontier , which was held at Frontier Field in Rochester, New York , on December 13, 2013. The Americans took a 5–4 decision in

2738-422: The I-AHL renamed itself the American Hockey League . It generally enjoyed both consistent success on the ice and relative financial stability over its first three decades of operation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the cost of doing business in professional ice hockey began to rise sharply with NHL expansion and relocation (the NHL placed teams in Pittsburgh and Buffalo, forcing two long-time AHL clubs,

2812-477: The NHL parent club wished to make call-ups from the AHL more practical by having closer affiliates. In January 2015, the AHL announced the relocation of five existing AHL franchises— Adirondack , Manchester , Norfolk , Oklahoma City , and Worcester —to California as the basis for a new "Pacific Division" becoming Stockton , Ontario , San Diego , Bakersfield , and San Jose respectively. The relocated teams were all affiliated and owned or purchased by teams in

2886-451: The NHL planning to expand to 32 teams in 2021 with the Seattle Kraken , the Seattle ownership group was approved for a 2021 AHL expansion team, later announced to be the Coachella Valley Firebirds based in Palm Springs, California , following the construction of a new arena . The original plans for the new arena was eventually cancelled and the team postponed their launch by a year while new arena plans were developed. In February 2020,

2960-399: The NHL's Pacific Division . The franchise movements continued with two more relocations involving Canadian teams with the St. John's IceCaps going back to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose and the Hamilton Bulldogs becoming another iteration of the IceCaps to fulfill the arena contract in St. John's. In the following seasons, more NHL organizations influenced league membership. In 2016,

3034-436: The Newfoundland Growlers on May 22. The name refers to the Newfoundland dog , specifically the World War I mascot of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment , Sable Chief . Ryane Clowe , a Newfoundland native, previously an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils , was named head coach on June 20. John Snowden was added as assistant coach on July 19 after serving in the same capacity for the Maple Leafs' previous ECHL affiliate,

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3108-401: The Pittsburgh Hornets and Buffalo Bisons, to fold) and especially the 1972 formation of the World Hockey Association (WHA), which forced the relocation and subsequent folding of the Cleveland Barons , Baltimore Clippers , and Quebec Aces . The number of major-league teams competing for players rose from six to thirty in just seven years. Player salaries at all levels shot up dramatically with

3182-470: The Thunder would announce that the organization would be parting ways with Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Alex Loh. This coming after finishing the 2021–22 season with a record of 27–40–4–0, a league worst .408 winning percentage and missing the playoffs for the first time since the team relocated to Glens Falls. Subsequently after the teams parting with Alex Loh, the organization would announce on June 21, 2022, that Pete MacArthur would be named

3256-417: The Thunder's main rival. Following both franchises relocating from California, the two teams met for four straight seasons in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The teams each won two series, alternating years, before the Monarchs ceased operations in 2019. American Hockey League The American Hockey League ( AHL ) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as

3330-408: The admission of the then two-time defending Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL) champion Hershey Bears . The Bears remain the only one of these eight original I-AHL/AHL franchises to have been represented in the league without interruption since the 1938–39 season. The newly merged circuit also increased its regular-season schedule for each team by six games from 48 to 54. After the 1939–40 season

3404-454: The city voted to evict the team, which elicited the threat of a lawsuit from DSE. A third-party investigation was undertaken. The Growlers initially scheduled their first six home games for the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto , the home of their AHL parent club, the Toronto Marlies , in case they could not secure a local arena. They subsequently came to an agreement with the nearby town of Conception Bay South to play their first six games at

3478-444: The conference finals before losing to the Florida Everblades four games to one. The Devils and the Thunder renewed their affiliation for another season. Tapper was then hired by the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL as an assistant coach and was replaced by Alex Loh as head coach for the 2018–19 ECHL season . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the Thunder voluntarily suspended operations for the 2020–21 ECHL season . On May 11, 2022,

3552-433: The day before) would move to Glens Falls in what was essentially a "market swap". The Thunder name, logo and colors were unveiled on February 11, 2015. Cail MacLean was announced the team's first head coach on July 23, 2015. The Thunder made the playoffs during their first season and were the first Adirondack hockey team to make the playoffs in ten years. They defeated the favored Manchester Monarchs four-games-to-one in

3626-506: The demise of the WHA in 1979, the league continued to grow steadily over the years, reaching 20 clubs by the 2000–01 season. In 2001–02, the AHL's membership jumped dramatically to 27 teams, mostly by the absorption of six teams— Milwaukee , Chicago , Houston , Utah , Manitoba , and Grand Rapids —from the International Hockey League . The IHL had established itself as the second top-level minor league circuit in North America, but folded in 2001 due to financial problems. One oddity caused by

3700-471: The exception of the 1959-60 event, which featured the Springfield Indians). The modern AHL All-Star Game was reinstituted for the 1994–95 season and a skills competition was introduced in 1995–96, with the two-day event being dubbed the AHL All-Star Classic. The 1995 and 1996 games featured players from teams based in Canada taking on players from teams based in the United States. Beginning in 1997, Canadian-born players faced players born outside Canada (known as

3774-588: The first period, the game went on as scheduled and the Condors defeated the Reign 3–2 in overtime. Hersheypark Stadium hosted its second outdoor game in 2018. Cleveland's FirstEnergy Stadium became the first National Football League venue to host an AHL outdoor game in 2023, and Truist Field in Charlotte hosted the Queen City Outdoor Classic in 2024. Teams from the AHL have competed against non-North American teams, in both international tournaments and one-off matchups. The first recorded games between an AHL team and international competition took place in 1969, when

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3848-438: The first round, becoming the first team in Glens Falls to win a playoff series since the Adirondack Red Wings in 1994. They faced the South Carolina Stingrays in the second round, which they lost in seven games. During their second season, the league announced the sale of the Thunder from Calgary Sports and Entertainment to a local ownership group called Adirondack Civic Center Coalition on February 28, 2017. The Thunder were

3922-423: The first woman to coach an ECHL team. Buddy the Puffin served as the mascot of the Growlers. Buddy, a longtime sports mascot in St. John's, was previously the mascot of the St. John's Maple Leafs and later the St. John's IceCaps. Buddy wore number 92, which represents 1992, the year that he was introduced as the mascot of the St. John's Maple Leafs. Chris Abbott, the man who wore Buddy's costume, died in 2022. Buddy

3996-399: The increased demand and competition for their services. This did not seem to affect the AHL at first, as it expanded to 12 teams by 1970. However, to help compensate for the rise in player salaries, many NHL clubs cut back on the number of players they kept under contract for development, and players under AHL contracts could now also demand much higher paychecks to remain with their clubs. As

4070-447: The incumbent franchise, stated his intention to find a replacement. From that point two rival groups formed: the operators of the St. John's Edge basketball team, which played at the Mile One Centre , who wanted a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchise for the arena; and another, led by local businessman Dean MacDonald and Glenn Stanford of the former IceCaps, who were looking for an ECHL team. The ECHL franchise

4144-416: The naming rights of the Glens Falls Civic Center to become the Cool Insuring Arena to cover some of the operating costs. With the Flames no longer operating the team, the Flames and Thunder ended their affiliation following the 2016–17 season. Head coach MacLean would also leave to join the Flames' AHL affiliate in Stockton as an assistant coach. The Thunder would then officially become the ECHL affiliate of

4218-439: The new AHL city of Portland, Maine both the regular-season and Calder Cup playoff titles in each of that club's first two seasons of operation. The folding of the NAHL, meanwhile, suddenly left two of its stronger teams, the Philadelphia Firebirds and Binghamton, New York -based Broome Dusters , without a league to play in. The owners of the Dusters solved their problem by buying the Reds franchise and moving it to Binghamton as

4292-493: The only NHL team currently without an AHL affiliate. However, the Hurricanes loaned some players to the Wolves, such as Vasili Ponomaryov and Antti Raanta . On May 2, 2024, the Hurricanes and Wolves committed to a three-year affiliation beginning with the 2024–25 season. Notes Current member Former member Opted out of season due to COVID-19 pandemic Gold star = Won Calder Cup Still-active teams in bold . The American Hockey League first held an All-Star Game in

4366-401: The only ex-IHL teams still in their original cities until the 2015 relocations when the IceCaps moved back to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose. Beginning with the 2015–16 season , twelve franchises have since relocated due to NHL parent clubs' influence on their development teams and players. Of the twelve relocated franchises, nine were relocated because they were directly owned by NHL teams and

4440-499: The primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). As of the 2024–25 AHL season , all 32 NHL teams held affiliations with an AHL team. Historically, when an NHL team does not have an AHL affiliate, its players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL franchises. Twenty-six AHL teams are located across the United States whereas the remaining six are situated in Canada. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts , and its current president

4514-536: The regular-season winners of the merged league's West Division until 1952. The Oke Trophy is now awarded to the regular-season winners of the AHL's North Division. A little more than a month into that first season, the balance and symmetry of the new combined circuit suffered a setback when its membership unexpectedly fell to seven teams. The West's Buffalo Bisons were forced to cease operations on December 6, 1936, after playing just 11 games, because of what proved to be insurmountable financial problems and lack of access to

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4588-415: The team's membership in 2024 for failure to fulfill league bylaws. The search for a new professional hockey team for St. John's began after the Montreal Canadiens announced in July 2016 that their affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League (AHL), would move to the newly constructed Place Bell arena in Laval, Quebec for the start of the 2017–18 season . Danny Williams , from

4662-450: The third of the three displaced franchises from the 2015 creation of the AHL Pacific Division to be sold by their NHL owners after relocating. However, in order for the new ownership group to complete the purchase of the team, they needed to raise $ 500,000 by a June 30, 2017, deadline and have since been asking for donations and hosting fundraisers. The new ownership group completed the purchase on time but were in debt. They were able to sell

4736-401: The top two teams advance to the final game, with the winner declared the challenge champions. The AHL All-Star Classic was postponed in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Laval Rocket , who had been selected to host, ultimately hosted the event in 2023. Since the 2009–10 season, at least one team in the AHL has hosted an outdoor ice hockey game each year. The Syracuse Crunch

4810-419: The “World” team in 1997 and “PlanetUSA” from 1998 to 2010). The format was revamped again in 2011 to pit the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference. In 2014, a team of AHL all-stars hosted the Swedish Hockey League club Färjestad BK . Since 2016, the all-star game has been replaced by the AHL All-Star Challenge, a three-on-three round-robin tournament among teams from the league's four divisions;

4884-401: Was announced that the Stockton Heat would be relocating to Calgary , Alberta , starting the 2022–23 season . For the 2023–24 season , the Chicago Wolves operated as the league's only unaffiliated team, making them the first team to operate without an NHL partner since the inaugural season of the Worcester IceCats during the 1994–95 season . Consequently, the Carolina Hurricanes became

4958-406: Was conditionally approved but was delayed in late January 2018 after the dispute with the St. John's Edge ownership group over arena rights went to arbitration . After the lease issue was settled, the ECHL officially approved St. John's application on March 13, 2018, placing the team in the North Division of the Eastern Conference for the 2018–19 season . The ECHL ownership group reportedly created

5032-441: Was devised and a new championship trophy, the Calder Cup , was established. The Syracuse Stars defeated the Philadelphia Ramblers in the final, three-games-to-one, to win the first-ever Calder Cup championship. The Calder Cup continues on today as the AHL's playoff championship trophy. After two seasons of interlocking play, the governors of the two leagues' seven active teams met in New York City on June 28, 1938, and agreed that it

5106-425: Was not reversed. However, two events in the fall of 1977 helped reverse the trend. The first of these was the decision of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers to return to the league as a team owner, and the second was the unexpected collapse of the North American Hockey League just weeks before the start of the 1977–78 season. The Flyers' new AHL franchise became the immediately successful Maine Mariners , which brought

5180-422: Was preceded the previous night by a game between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens alumni. Two outdoor games were announced for the 2012–13 AHL season, but a meeting between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toronto Marlies at Comerica Park in Detroit as part of the festivities surrounding the NHL Winter Classic was not held because of the cancellation of the NHL Winter Classic. On January 20, 2013,

5254-410: Was the first organization to put on an outdoor game in the AHL on February 20, 2010, building a rink at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York , and packing a record 21,508 fans in for the Mirabito Outdoor Classic against the Binghamton Senators . The contest, which was also televised to an international audience on NHL Network , was won by the Crunch, 2–1. The Connecticut Whale hosted

5328-640: Was the third outdoor game in AHL history and it more than doubled the league's previous single-game attendance mark. On January 21, 2012, the Steeltown Showdown between Ontario rivals, the Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs , was held at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario , with the Marlies winning 7–2 in front of 20,565 fans, the largest crowd ever for an AHL game in Canada. The AHL game

5402-467: Was then retired by the Growlers. In December 2022, the Growlers introduced Buddy Jr. sporting the number 22. Buddy was also the mascot for the St. John's Edge basketball team. In July 2021, co-tenant of Mile One Centre, the St. John's Edge basketball team, were not given the option to renew their lease despite being in negotiations with the Growlers ownership, Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE), to purchase

5476-524: Was time to formally consolidate. Maurice Podoloff of New Haven, the former head of the Can-Am League, was elected the I-AHL's first president. The former IHL president, John D. Chick of Windsor, Ontario , became vice-president in charge of officials. The new I-AHL also added an eighth franchise at the 1938 meeting to fill the void in its membership left by the loss of Buffalo two years earlier with

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