The 89th season of the American Hockey League kicks off tonight with eight games on the schedule.
Some quick notes and things to watch to start the season:
890 AHL alumni played in the NHL last season, while 349 players played in both the NHL and AHL throughout the 2023-24 season. Similar numbers should be expected this season.
The Hershey Bears are chasing their third straight Calder Cup, something no franchise has done since the Springfield Indians won three straight in 1960, 1961 and 1962.
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Neck protection is now mandatory for all AHL players and officials.
Derek Laxdal (Coachella Valley), Steve Konowalchuk (Springfield), Grant Potulny (Hartford), Manny Malhotra (Abbotsford), Pascal Vincent (Laval), Cam Abbott (Chicago), Kirk MacDonald (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and Michael Leone (Rochester) are the new head coaches entering the season.
22 NHL head coaches are former AHL coaches. Seven NHL coaches were fired throughout the 2023-24 season and four more were let go during the off-season, expect some AHL coaches to be tied to NHL coaching jobs at some point during the year.
Hershey’s Todd Nelson, Ontario’s Marco Sturm, Tucson’s Steve Potvin, and Milwaukee’s Karl Taylor are coaches to keep an eye on.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds have lost in back-to-back Calder Cup Finals and lost both head coach Dan Bylsma and assistant Jessica Campbell to the Seattle Kraken. They have a great roster and have another chance for a deep run.
Brad Lambert, Dalibor Dvorsky, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Denton Mateychuk, Frank Nazar, Kevin Korchinski, Yaroslav Askarov, Matt Savoie, and Nate Danielson are among previous first round picks who will start the season in the AHL.
The AHL has partnered with FloHockey, allowing all games to be centralized on one platform. Some will also be broadcast on YouTube, allowing the league more publicity and easy access for fans.
From an AHL records standpoint Chris Terry, who captained the Chicago Wolves last season, enters the year with the Bridgeport Islanders and currently sits 24th on the AHL’s all-time scoring list and 18th all-time in goals.
Similarly, Cal O’Reilly is 25th in points. T.J Tynan (52), Andrew Agozzino (58), and Seth Griffith (67) are the only other players on AHL rosters in the top 100. O’Reilly sits sixth in all-time assists while Tynan is 14th. All are key contributors for their teams and have the chance to move up in the record books.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News’ AHL Page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.
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