American Hockey League
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The American Hockey League (AHL) became the major affiliation league for the National Hockey League upon its amalgamation with the International Hockey League in 2001. It is a professional hockey league playing at the minor triple-A level. As of the 2003-04 season, the league had 28 clubs, most of them based in eastern Canada and the United States. The league was created in 1936, and teams compete annually for the Calder Cup.
Teams
(affiliated teams in brackets)
- Albany River Rats (New Jersey Devils)
- Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators)
- Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders)
- Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
- Cleveland Barons (San Jose Sharks)
- Edmonton Roadrunners (Edmonton Oilers)
- Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings)
- Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal Canadiens)
- Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers)
- Hershey Bears (Colorado Avalanche)
- Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars)
- Iowa Stars (Dallas Stars) (to begin play in 2005)
- Lowell Lock Monsters (Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames)
- Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings)
- Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks)
- Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators)
- Norfolk Admirals (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Portland Pirates (Washington Capitals)
- Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)
- Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres)
- San Antonio Rampage (Florida Panthers)
- Springfield Falcons (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- St. John's Maple Leafs (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Syracuse Crunch (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Utah Grizzlies (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Worcester IceCats (St. Louis Blues)
see also the East Coast Hockey League, the United Hockey League, and the Central Hockey League, List of ice hockey leagues
Defunct teams
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Rule changes for the 2004-2005 season
During the 2004-2005 season the AHL is trying out several rule changes; the National Hockey League is monitoring their success. These changes are:
- allowing forward passes from behind the blue line across the red line
- widening each blue line to 24 inches, thereby expanding all three zones without changing the dimensions of the rink
- calling icing as soon as the puck crosses the goal line
- allowing a player who has entered the attacking zone ahead of the puck to leave the zone without touching the puck, rather than ruling the player offside immediately (the so-called tag-up offside, used in the NHL from 1986 to 1996)
- moving the goal line back to 11 feet from the end boards (versus 13 in the NHL)
- penalizing goaltenders who play the puck outside a designated area behind each net; the area expands from 18 feet along the goal line – the net and six feet on each side – to 28 feet along the end boards.
External Links:
- The American Hockey League Official Website
- Historic standings and statistics - at Internet Hockey Database
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