SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today released the complete schedule of games for the 2022-23 regular season, the league’s 87th year of operation. The season, with an all-time high of 32 teams playing 72 games apiece – a total of 1,152 games – begins on Friday, October 14 and concludes on Sunday, April 16.
Of note on the 2022-23 schedule:
🏒 The 2022-23 regular season begins with 10 games on Oct. 14, and a total of 29 games over opening weekend.
🏒 The AHL’s two newest clubs, the Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Calgary Flames’ new affiliate based in Calgary, open the season with a two-game set against each other at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Oct. 16 and 17. The Firebirds begin the home portion of their schedule with four games in the Seattle area before opening Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, Calif., on Dec. 18 vs. the Tucson Roadrunners.
🏒 The San Jose Barracuda play their first game in their new facility, Tech CU Arena, on Oct. 22 against the Henderson Silver Knights.
🏒 The Chicago Wolves begin defense of their 2022 Calder Cup championship on Oct. 15 when the Milwaukee Admirals visit Allstate Arena.
🏒 The Lehigh Valley Phantoms franchise plays its 2,000th regular-season game on Dec. 10, at home against the Charlotte Checkers. The Phantoms, who began play in Philadelphia in 1996, will become the ninth team in AHL history to reach 2,000 games played.
🏒 The Laval Rocket will host the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Bell, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 5 and Monday, Feb. 6 at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
🏒 There are two days this season on which all 32 of the league’s teams are in action: Sat., Oct. 29 and Sat., Nov. 19.
🏒 Games scheduled by day of the week: Monday (16), Tuesday (70), Wednesday (203), Thursday (28), Friday (321), Saturday (369), Sunday (145).
The AHL Board of Governors has also approved the qualification rules and format for the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. For the second consecutive season, a total of 23 teams will qualify for the AHL postseason, with five rounds of playoffs leading to the crowning of a Calder Cup champion.
The playoff field will include the top six finishers in the eight-team Atlantic Division, the top five finishers each in the seven-team North and Central Divisions, and the top seven teams in the 10-team Pacific Division. First Round match-ups will be best-of-three series; the two highest seeds in the Atlantic, the three highest seeds in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific will receive byes into the best-of-five Division Semifinals, with the First Round winners re-seeded in each division. The Division Finals will also be best-of-five series, followed by best-of-seven Conference Finals and a best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals series.
Under this format, more than 500 players were able to experience Calder Cup Playoff competition in 2022.
The American Hockey League was officially born in 1936 when the Canadian-American Hockey League and the International Hockey League merged to form the International-American Hockey League (the “International” would be dropped from the league’s name in 1940). The AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams; nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.
