The American Hockey League is mourning the passing Saturday of Hockey Hall of Famer Emile Francis. He was 95. Francis spent six seasons in the AHL during his 14-year professional playing career, tending goal for the New Haven Ramblers, Cincinnati Mohawks and Cleveland Barons. He was a Second Team AHL All-Star in 1953-54, when he
American Hockey League
SPRINGFIELD — In the fall of 2008, long before he piled up his 296 goals in 869 National Hockey League games, and years before his back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final with Nashville and Vegas, James Neal was a 21-year-old rookie with a Dallas Stars club highlighted by some of the franchise’s biggest legends:
📝 by Patrick Williams Utica Comets defenseman Kevin Bahl is well aware that the Rochester Americans have been a major headache for his club this season. Utica will take a .726 points percentage, second-best in the league, into tonight’s AHLTV Free Game of the Week (7 ET/4 PT) against the Amerks. Rochester is the lone
📝 by Irie Harris | AHL On The Beat On February 1st, Daniel Walcott told his team he was changing his skate laces from white to black, to celebrate Black History Month. He assumed it would just be him, but eventually the whole team followed. The Syracuse Crunch wore black laces together in their game
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have acquired forward Adam Johnson from the Ontario Reign for future considerations. Johnson has recorded one goal and five assists in 28 games with the Reign this season. In 227 career AHL contests with Ontario and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Johnson has totaled 46 goals and 79 assists for 125 points. The native of
📝 by Patrick Williams Defenseman Ian Mitchell had keyed the comeback for the Rockford IceHogs. Now they needed Arvid Soderblom in net to finish off the Iowa Wild on Tuesday night, and holding that win was hardly a sure thing with dangerous Kyle Rau standing at center ice. Mitchell’s one-timer past stubborn Iowa goaltender Zane
The Bakersfield Condors announced today that American Hockey League Hall of Fame coach John Anderson has been named an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Anderson will be behind the bench tonight as the Condors host the Abbotsford Canucks. Anderson, 64, spent 14 seasons as head coach of the Chicago Wolves, including
📝 by Anthony Fusco | AHL On The Beat Greg Meireles entered his first full AHL season as a relatively unknown commodity. The Manitoba Moose, who were signing free agents to bolster their lineup and depth this past summer, inked the forward following Meireles’s first professional season that saw him post 24 points (10 goals,
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the Laval Rocket, their game scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 16, at Belleville (AHL Game #695) has been postponed. The Rocket organization continues to follow enhanced protocols at the direction of team medical staff and the AHL. A make-up date
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Abbotsford Canucks defenseman Jack Rathbone has been selected as the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending February 13, 2022. Rathbone notched three goals and seven assists for 10 points in four games for Abbotsford last week, more than doubling his offensive output
There are a lot of similarities between the journey Brian Dumoulin took to the Penguins’ blue line and the trek P.O Joseph is undertaking. Each defenseman was a fairly high draft pick with another organization. Dumoulin was a second-rounder (No. 51 overall) with the Carolina Hurricanes, and Joseph was selected in the first round (No.
📝 by Patrick Williams With a few days off during the National Hockey League’s All-Star break, where else would Bruce Boudreau be but Hershey? And what else would Boudreau be doing but watching hockey and holding court talking hockey? The 67-year-old Boudreau coached his 1,000th NHL game Jan. 23 and is now 581-308-119 in stints
📝 by Alex Thomas | AHL On The Beat For every action, there is a reaction. When it was announced in late December that taxi squads would be making a return until the NHL’s All-Star break, there was uncertainty throughout the American Hockey League as to what teams would look like. Which players would get
The Montreal Canadiens have acquired goaltender Andrew Hammond from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Brandon Baddock. Hammond has made 11 appearances with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season, going 6-2-3 with a 2.44 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts. In 176 career AHL games with Iowa, Rochester, Belleville, San Antonio
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Tucson Roadrunners forward Bokondji Imama has been suspended for three (3) games as a consequence of a match penalty assessed in a game at Abbotsford on Feb. 9. Imama will miss Tucson’s games tonight (Feb. 11) and Saturday (Feb. 12) at Colorado, and Feb. 19
📝 by Patrick Williams Fresh off a 3-2-0-0 road trip, the Charlotte Checkers will have one of hockey’s top goaltending prospects to start their six-game homestand tonight. Spencer Knight and the Checkers will battle the visiting Bridgeport Islanders twice this weekend, beginning with tonight’s AHLTV Free Game of the Week (7 ET/4 PT). Charlotte is
The Edmonton Oilers have named Jay Woodcroft head coach and Dave Manson assistant coach for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, promoting both from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Woodcroft and Manson replace Oilers head coach Dave Tippett and associate coach Jim Playfair, who were relieved of their duties. Woodcroft and Manson have led Bakersfield since
📝 by Jared Shafran | AHL On The Beat There are many reasons why the Ontario Reign are a better team this season than they were during the 2020-21 campaign. But the most obvious improvement to the team has been its power play. A unit that ranked third-to-last in the American Hockey League last season