American Hockey League

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (theahl.com) … The Calder Cup has been awarded again, and the Chicago Wolves are back on top of the American Hockey League. The Wolves secured their first Calder Cup championship since 2008 and their third overall tonight with a 4-0 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds at MassMutual Center, winning the Calder Cup Finals

📝 by Patrick Williams By now life has settled into quite a defined pattern for the Springfield Thunderbirds. In the last eight-plus months, 92 games have been crossed off the calendar. Players have practiced more times than they wish to count. Video has been watched, rewound, and then watched one more time. Head coach Drew

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (theahl.com) … Another impressive road effort on Friday night has the Chicago Wolves one win away from a Calder Cup championship. The Wolves scored two power-play goals for the fourth consecutive game and Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 39 shots in a 4-2 Chicago victory at a sold-out MassMutual Center in Game 4 of

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League has selected Gavin Riches, executive vice president of the Colorado Eagles, as the winner of the league’s Ken McKenzie Award for the 2021-22 season. Recognizing the important role played by team management in building a successful franchise, the Ken McKenzie Award is presented annually to an AHL team

📝 by Patrick Williams Like a lot of the American Hockey League’s circle of experienced goaltenders, Alex Lyon understands his mandate. Provide stability in net for the Chicago Wolves. Be a reliable recall option for the Carolina Hurricanes. Mentor and push the up-and-coming prospect, someone like Pyotr Kochetkov, the goaltender who eventually may take on

Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft speaks at a media availability in Edmonton, Monday, May 23, 2022. Woodcroft went from a prominent role behind an NHL bench to riding the buses in the American Hockey League. Now back in the big leagues as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Woodcroft says he wouldn’t be where

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (theahl.com) … The Chicago Wolves grabbed the lead in the 2022 Calder Cup Finals, shutting down the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-0, in Game 3 on Wednesday night. With the Wolves up 2-1 in the best-of-seven, the series resumes Friday in Springfield. Pyotr Kochetkov made 36 saves to silence the Thunderbirds, who were playing the

📝 by Patrick Williams Pressure is becoming rather routine for defenseman Matt Kessel and the Springfield Thunderbirds. Springfield endured three overtime games with Laval in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning two of them. They prevailed in a Game 7 against the Rocket, a 4-0 masterpiece to secure their place in the Calder Cup Finals against

The Seattle Kraken have named Dan Bylsma as the first head coach of their new American Hockey League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Bylsma spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers, working with Kraken prospects as part of a shared affiliation with the Florida Panthers. Before joining the Seattle organization,

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League is holding the 2022 AHL Team Business Meetings presented by Ticket Evolution this week, with more than 220 representatives from the league and its member clubs gathering at the Renaissance Hotel and at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. Meeting in person for the first time since 2019, front-office

ROSEMONT, Ill. (theahl.com) … The Chicago Wolves rode a four-goal first period to a 6-2 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the 2022 Calder Cup Finals on Monday evening, squaring the AHL’s championship series at one game apiece. After a travel day tomorrow, the best-of-seven series resumes in Springfield with Game 3

📝 by Patrick Williams Even for two teams that have never met, there are few unknowns once the Calder Cup Finals arrive. Both the Chicago Wolves and Springfield Thunderbirds have been through three playoff rounds. Both have taken some hits along with some considerable success. They have endured slumps and setbacks. And the head coaches,

ROSEMONT, Ill. (theahl.com) … Matthew Kessel’s first goal as a pro was the overtime winner as the Springfield Thunderbirds rallied for a 5-4 win over the Chicago Wolves in Game 1 of the 2022 Calder Cup Finals on Sunday afternoon. The teams go right back at it in Game 2 on Monday evening (8 ET,

📝 by Patrick Williams Leave it to Chicago Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky to immediately cut to the point in his characteristically direct fashion. Said Warsofsky after putting his team through practice Friday, “[I] get asked a lot, ‘Oh, do you focus more on developing or do you focus more on winning?’ “Can’t you focus

The Los Angeles Kings have named Marco Sturm as head coach for the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. The remaining coaching staff for the Reign – assistant coaches Chris Hajt and Craig Johnson, video coach Brad Schuler and goaltending development coach Matt Millar – will all return in 2022-23. Sturm joins the Reign

📝 by Patrick Williams The Springfield Thunderbirds know. They know what the chance to play for the Calder Cup means to their home city, a mainstay on the American Hockey League map since 1936. “The Thunderdome,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren said Wednesday night as the Thunderbirds celebrated their upcoming trip to the Calder Cup Finals against

📝 by Patrick Williams Pressure. Who can handle it? No matter who ends up lifting the Calder Cup later this month, each of the 23 American Hockey League clubs that qualified to battle this spring will all have something in common. Win or lose, they all will have sampled that sort of high-pressure hockey that

In control from start to finish, the Springfield Thunderbirds advanced to the Calder Cup Finals on Wednesday night with a 4-0 Game 7 win over the Laval Rocket at MassMutual Center. Winners of the Richard F. Canning Trophy as Eastern Conference champions, the Thunderbirds will be making the first Finals appearance by a Springfield AHL