American Hockey League

Thirty-two National Hockey League teams are preparing to take part in this weekend’s 2024 NHL Draft, and their top affiliates are ready and waiting for the next wave of young American Hockey League stars to begin their professional careers. In 2023-24, a total of 251 former first- and second-round draft picks played in the American

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer The Hershey Bears wore a target all season. They felt it both mentally and physically. Not only were they the defending Calder Cup champion, they also proceeded to assemble one of the finest seasons in AHL history, finishing with the second-best regular-season record ever and winning 53 wins, the most

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League honored Megan Cahill, vice president of communications and digital media for the Syracuse Crunch, and Bo Molina, ticket sales manager for the Texas Stars, with league awards at the 2024 AHL Team Business Meetings in Rosemont, Ill., today. Cahill has been named the winner of the league’s Ken

The New York Rangers have named Grant Potulny the new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Potulny, 44, joins the Rangers organization after spending seven seasons as the head coach of the men’s hockey team at Northern Michigan University. The Huskies reached the WCHA/CCHA championship game in 2018, 2021

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Dan Bylsma sighed heavily before speaking, fighting to make it through his post-game press conference. “It hurts a ton,” Bylsma said after Monday’s overtime loss to Hershey in Game 6 ended the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ season just short of a Calder Cup championship for the second year in a row.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League is holding the 2024 AHL Team Business Meetings presented by Victory Live this week, with more than 300 representatives from the league and its member clubs gathering at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago in Rosemont, Ill. Front-office personnel from throughout the American Hockey League are gathering to discuss

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Matt Strome was with the Hershey Bears last season, a fill-in player who appeared in 34 regular-season games and none in the Calder Cup Playoffs. This year, he was a scratch for the team’s first nine games, not making his season debut until Nov. 3. He was in and out

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Kole Lind passed along a quick story following Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals on Saturday night. A 3-2 loss at Acrisure Arena had put Lind and the Coachella Valley Firebirds on the brink of elimination for the first time this postseason. The Firebirds must win two games in

HERSHEY, Pa. (theahl.com) … For the second year in a row and the 13th time in their storied franchise history, the Hershey Bears are Calder Cup champions. The Bears completed their repeat performance with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight at Giant Center, winning the 2024 Calder Cup Finals series four

The San Jose Sharks have acquired forward Egor Afanasyev from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Ozzy Wiesblatt. Afanasyev, 23, led the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals with of the American Hockey League (AHL) with 27 goals and 54 points in 56 games during the 2023-24 regular season. He added five goals and four assists in

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer The Hershey Bears are flying home today with two chances to make it back-to-back championship seasons. A 3-2 win against the Coachella Valley Firebirds last night in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals has given the Bears a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 ahead of them Monday night

PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … Jimmy Huntington scored his second goal of the night with 3:15 left in regulation, sending Hershey to a 3-2 win over Coachella Valley and a 3-2 series lead in the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. The Bears are one win away from their second consecutive championship as they prepare to host

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Win or lose, tonight is the end of an era for Dan Bylsma. The new head coach of the Seattle Kraken will stand behind the home bench at Acrisure Arena for the final time tonight when his Coachella Valley Firebirds host Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals (9 ET/6

The Minnesota Wild have acquired 2024 AHL All-Star forward Graeme Clarke from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Adam Beckman. Clarke skated in 67 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets in 2023-24, tying a career high with 25 goals and adding 24 assists for 49 points. In February, Clarke participated in the 2024

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Going into Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals last night, the Hershey Bears decided to look at their predicament in a different light. They were down two games to one in the best-of-seven series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds following a decisive 6-2 defeat in Game 3 on Tuesday. Trying

PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … The line of Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank and Joe Snively provided the Hershey Bears with all of the offense they would need to even the Calder Cup Finals with a 3-2 win in Game 4 at Acrisure Arena on Thursday night. With the best-of-seven series tied at two games apiece,

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer So much of Shane Wright’s work this season has centered around the less glamorous but absolutely vital parts of the game. For any young AHL forward, that might look something like defensive-zone work, tracking, angling, coverages and all of the other elements that go toward making a well-rounded National Hockey

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Kirk MacDonald the new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. MacDonald, 40, joins the Penguins following two seasons as head coach at Dubuque in the United States Hockey League. Before that, he spent eight seasons with Reading of the ECHL in various roles including assistant