American Hockey League

John Hayden scored twice, Chris Driedger made 37 saves and the Coachella Valley Firebirds extended their winning streak to seven games with a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals in the opener of the 2024 Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night. The Firebirds host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Friday. In a rematch

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer It’s only Wednesday, and it’s already been an eventful week for Coachella Valley Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma. Make that Seattle Kraken head coach, too. Yesterday the Kraken made it official, naming Bylsma their new head coach. After the press conference in Seattle to introduce Bylsma, he was back on

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer From the development side, the San Diego Gulls have a track record of success since joining the AHL in 2015. A long list of player including Lukas Dostal, Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, John Gibson, Brandon Montour, Isac Lundestrom, Max Jones, Josh Mahura, Sam Steel and Shea Theodore have come through San Diego

The Tucson Roadrunners have announced that the team will play at least 30 of its 36 regular-season home games during the 2024-25 American Hockey League season at the Tucson Convention Center Arena in downtown Tucson, and that Tucson will remain the home market for the AHL club for the foreseeable future. “The Roadrunners staying here

The Milwaukee Admirals are heading back to the Western Conference Finals after a 2-0 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Sunday evening. The Admirals defeated the Griffins, three games to two, and will take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the conference finals for the second year in a row.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned forward Brendan Gaunce to the Cleveland Monsters in advance of the Eastern Conference Finals. Gaunce, the Monsters’ captain, registered 19 goals and 20 assists in 46 appearances for Cleveland during the regular season. He also tallied two goals and two assists in 24 NHL games with the Blue Jackets.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League has released the schedules for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. For the first time since 2015, four regular-season division champions have reached the conference finals. The Eastern Conference Finals will feature two of the most senior markets in the American Hockey League,

The Bakersfield Condors have signed right wing Seth Griffith to a two-year American Hockey League contract beginning with the 2024-25 season. Griffith is the Condors’ AHL franchise leader with 231 points over his four seasons with the club. In 2023-24, he tied for eighth in the league with 63 points (15 goals, 48 assists) in

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer This is exactly what the Columbus Blue Jackets envisioned for David Jiricek this spring: high-pressure, intense Calder Cup Playoff hockey with the Cleveland Monsters. To get past Belleville in the division semifinals, Cleveland required wins in overtime and double overtime and a one-goal affair until an empty-netter clinched the series.

Down by two goals and 12 minutes away from elimination, the Grand Rapids Griffins got a hat trick from Jonatan Berggren during a four-goal eruption in a span of 3:30, and went on to defeat Milwaukee, 4-2, in Game 4 of the Central Division Finals at Van Andel Arena on Friday night. The winner-take-all Game

The Vancouver Canucks have hired Manny Malhotra as head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Malhotra, 44, has spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach in the National Hockey League, with Vancouver from 2017 to 2020 and with Toronto from 2020 to 2024. He also served as a development

The Hershey Bears are returning to the Eastern Conference Finals after a 4-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday night, completing a three-game sweep of the teams’ Atlantic Division Finals series. Garrett Roe recorded two goals and an assist for the Bears, who completed their sixth consecutive series triumph to reach the AHL’s

Luca Del Bel Belluz scored the go-ahead goal with 2:18 to go in regulation and the Cleveland Monsters used a four-goal third period to earn a 6-4 win over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night, completing a three-game series sweep. The Monsters advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, their first conference final appearance since 2016.

Egor Afanasyev scored his third goal of the night with 4:40 gone in overtime on Wednesday night, giving the Milwaukee Admirals a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead over the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins host Game 4 of the best-of-five series on Friday night. Afanasyev’s wrister from the right circle deflected past Sebastian

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Syracuse Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson has stared down pressure – real pressure, the kind where you wonder whether anything is going to go right again. You don’t know exactly where your career and your life is heading, but it certainly does not seem to be on an encouraging trajectory. Halverson

The St. Louis Blues have named Steve Konowalchuk head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Konowalchuk, 51, spent this season as an associate coach with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, where he helped lead the team to a 40-25-5-2 regular-season record and a fourth-place finish in the Pacific Division. Konowalchuk’s previous head

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer It was May 29, 2022. Tampere, Finland. The IIHF World Championship’s gold-medal game featuring two hockey heavyweights, Canada and Finland, before a roaring crowd at Nokia Arena. TSN and the NHL Network beamed the game back to viewers in North America. “The Finnish fans, they came to play,” said Chris

Yaroslav Askarov returned to the Milwaukee crease and stopped 27 shots, leading the Admirals to a 5-2 win over Grand Rapids in Game 2 of the teams’ Central Division Finals on Monday night. The best-of-five series is squared at one game apiece as the Griffins prepare to host Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and