The AHL needs to be broken up

[PromoTheRobot]

Broken up into smaller regional divisions. There is too much travel and too many good hockey markets are being ignored because of it. The St. John's Icecaps will leave at the end of this season because the rest of the AHL teams don't want to travel that far, even though they sell out every game.

 

Why not have a Maritime Canada division, a Northeast US division, Western US and Southern US? NO inter-divisional play until the final playoff rounds.

 

PTR

[mjd1001]

I don't know too much about how the AHL is run, or if every NHL team has an AHL team? do they? In concept, I agree with you. I think every NHL team should have its own minor league team (no sharing) and each NHL team can have its choice of where their minor league team is located.

[Johnny DangerFace]

Isn't that the Winnipeg jets ahl team and aren't they moving the ahl team closer to Winnipeg? I could be wrong on that, but that sounds like a good thing.

[Cereal]

Isn't that the Winnipeg jets ahl team and aren't they moving the ahl team closer to Winnipeg? I could be wrong on that, but that sounds like a good thing.

Yup, moving the team from St. Johns, Newfoundland to Thundey Bay, Ontario. Looks like 8 hours east on Winnipeg. Some quick research yields that they should have two more seasons in NF, as True North plans on building a new arena in Thunder Bay. http://www.icethetics.co/blog/2014/2/3/st-johns-icecaps-set-to-move-to-thunder-bay

[Cereal]

Yup, moving the team from St. Johns, Newfoundland to Thundey Bay, Ontario. Looks like 8 hours east of Winnipeg. Some quick research yields that they should have two more seasons in NF, as True North plans on building a new arena in Thunder Bay. http://www.icethetic...-to-thunder-bay

 

As for the original question.... having a southern or western US doesn't really make sense with the current teams. See: http://en.wikipedia....ey_League#Teams

 

Since Houston left (for Iowa last year), there are now only the three "southern" teams downs here (Austin, San Antonio, and OKC). (Note: Texas is not "The South"... it's just... Texas.)

 

Abbortford (way over in British Columbia) is all f**ky.

 

And Charlotte get the shaft being in the West division with Texas teams + Abbotsford. The North Division (Amerks) gets the shaft being lumped in with the West division and the Midwest division (thus constituting the Western Conference).

 

I don't see a good way around it, though.

 

Maybe the new Thunder Bay team joins the West division and Charlotte can be lumped in with Norfolk et al.

 

[PromoTheRobot]

But I've heard that Western NHL clubs want their teams closer. You might wind up with 5 teams on the west coast (If Seattle gets a team.) Maybe south is not the best idea but I think it's a real shame that cities that support minor hockey lose teams.

[etiennep99]

I think that it's crazy that Rochester is in the Western Conference. They're not even

in the same *conference* as Syracuse and the other NY teams. That's nuts.

 

Maybe there should be a New England Division, a New York & Ontario Division, a PA & Midwest Division,

and then the Outlier Outcasts division of TX, OK, NC, NF, &BC. Perhaps the Outliers should be put

into another IHL like leagure of their own. This makes more sense to me.

[shrader]

Why don't we just ask the obvious question of why there are Canadian teams in the American Hockey League? This would be like putting an outdoor team in the Arena Football League. Someone out there is going to say "well they're North American", but how often do Canadians refer to themselves as American?

 

Yes, this entire statement is mostly tongue in cheek.

Edited April 10, 2014 by shrader

[Eleven]

Any league that has Rochester in a western conference is already sufficiently regionalized.