American Hockey League

==History==
===Predecessor leagues===
The AHL traces its origins directly to two predecessor professional leagues: the [[Canadian-American Hockey League]] (the "Can-Am" League), founded in 1926, and the first [[International Hockey League (1929–36)|International Hockey League]], established in 1929. Although the Can-Am League never operated with more than six teams, the departure of the [[Boston Tigers (CAHL)|Boston Bruin Cubs]] after the 1935–36 season reduced it down to just four member clubs: the [[Springfield Indians]], [[Philadelphia Ramblers]], [[Providence Reds]], and [[New Haven Eagles]] for the first time in its history. At the same time, the then-rival IHL lost half of its eight members after the 1935–36 season, leaving it with just four member teams: the [[Buffalo Bisons (IHL)|Buffalo Bisons]], [[Syracuse Stars (ice hockey)|Syracuse Stars]], [[Pittsburgh Hornets]], and [[Cleveland Falcons]].

===1936–1938===
With both leagues down to the bare minimum number of teams to be viable, the governors of both leagues recognized the need for action to assure their member clubs' long-term survival. Their solution was to play an interlocking schedule. While the Can-Am was based in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and the IHL in the [[Great Lakes Region (North America)|Great Lakes]], their footprints were close enough for this to be a viable option. The two leagues' eight surviving clubs began joint play in November 1936 as a new two-division "circuit of mutual convenience" known as the International-American Hockey League. The four Can-Am teams became the I-AHL East Division, with the IHL quartet playing as the West Division. The IHL also contributed its former championship trophy, the [[F.G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy]], which would go to the regular-season winners of the merged league's West Division until 1952. The Oke Trophy is now awarded to the regular-season winners of the AHL's North Division.

A little more than a month into that first season, the balance and symmetry of the new combined circuit suffered a setback when its membership unexpectedly fell to seven teams. The West's Buffalo Bisons were forced to cease operations on December 6, 1936, after playing just 11 games, because of what proved to be insurmountable financial problems and lack of access to a suitable arena; the Bisons' original arena, [[Peace Bridge Arena]], had collapsed the previous season (a new [[Buffalo Bisons (AHL)|Buffalo Bisons]] team would return to the league in 1940 after [[Buffalo Memorial Auditorium|a new arena]] was constructed for them). The makeshift new I-AHL played out the rest of its first season (as well as all of the next) with just seven teams.

At the end of the 1936–37 season, a modified three-round playoff format was devised and a new championship trophy, the [[Calder Cup]], was established. The Syracuse Stars defeated the Philadelphia Ramblers in the final, three-games-to-one, to win the first-ever Calder Cup championship. The Calder Cup continues on today as the AHL's playoff championship trophy.

===Formal consolidation of the I-AHL===
[[File:"Hershey in Hockey League" (from The Philadelphia Record, 6-29-1938).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A June 29, 1938 [[Associated Press]] article in ''[[The Philadelphia Record]]'' announcing the formation of the [[Hershey Bears]] in [[Hershey, Pennsylvania]]]]
After two seasons of interlocking play, the governors of the two leagues' seven active teams met in New York City on June 28, 1938, and agreed that it was time to formally consolidate. [[Maurice Podoloff]] of New Haven, the former head of the Can-Am League, was elected the I-AHL's first president. The former IHL president, [[John D. Chick]] of [[Windsor, Ontario]], became vice-president in charge of officials.

The new I-AHL also added an eighth franchise at the 1938 meeting to fill the void in its membership left by the loss of Buffalo two years earlier with the admission of the then two-time defending [[Eastern Hockey League|Eastern Amateur Hockey League]] (EAHL) champion [[Hershey Bears]].<ref>[http://hockeyscoop.net/hpa/#clip "Hershey In Hockey League: Admitted to Circuit as American-International Loops Unite"] The Philadelphia ''Record'', June 29, 1938</ref> The Bears remain the only one of these eight original I-AHL/AHL franchises to have been represented in the league without interruption since the 1938–39 season. The newly merged circuit also increased its regular-season schedule for each team by six games from 48 to 54.

===Contraction, resurrection, and expansion===
[[File:AHL 50 Jahre.png|thumb|upright=1.1|American Hockey League's 50th anniversary logo]]
After the 1939–40 season the I-AHL renamed itself the '''American Hockey League'''. It generally enjoyed both consistent success on the ice and relative financial stability over its first three decades of operation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the cost of doing business in professional ice hockey began to rise sharply with NHL expansion and relocation (the NHL placed teams in Pittsburgh and Buffalo, forcing two long-time AHL clubs, the Pittsburgh Hornets and Buffalo Bisons, to fold) and especially the 1972 formation of the [[World Hockey Association]] (WHA), which forced the relocation and subsequent folding of the [[Cleveland Barons (1937–73)|Cleveland Barons]], [[Baltimore Clippers]], and [[Quebec Aces]]. The number of major-league teams competing for players rose from six to thirty in just seven years. Player salaries at all levels shot up dramatically with the increased demand and competition for their services.

This did not seem to affect the AHL at first, as it expanded to 12 teams by 1970. However, to help compensate for the rise in player salaries, many NHL clubs cut back on the number of players they kept under contract for development, and players under AHL contracts could now also demand much higher paychecks to remain with their clubs. As a result, half of the AHL's teams folded from 1974 to 1977. The league bottomed out in the summer of 1977, with news that the Rhode Island (formerly Providence) Reds – the last remaining uninterrupted franchise from the 1936–37 season, and the oldest continuously operating minor league franchise in North America – had decided to cease operations after 51 years in Rhode Island.

The AHL appeared in serious danger of folding altogether if this downward trend was not reversed. However, two events in the fall of 1977 helped reverse the trend. The first of these was the decision of the NHL's [[Philadelphia Flyers]] to return to the league as a team owner, and the second was the unexpected collapse of the [[North American Hockey League (1973–1977)|North American Hockey League]] just weeks before the start of the 1977–78 season.

The Flyers' new AHL franchise became the immediately successful [[Maine Mariners (AHL)|Maine Mariners]], which brought the new AHL city of [[Portland, Maine]] both the regular-season and Calder Cup playoff titles in each of that club's first two seasons of operation. The folding of the NAHL, meanwhile, suddenly left two of its stronger teams, the [[Philadelphia Firebirds (ice hockey)|Philadelphia Firebirds]] and [[Binghamton, New York]]-based [[Broome Dusters]], without a league to play in. The owners of the Dusters solved their problem by buying the Reds franchise and moving it to Binghamton as the [[Binghamton Dusters]], while the Firebirds crossed over to the AHL from the NAHL. The Dusters and Firebirds, together with the [[Hampton Gulls]] (who had joined the league from the [[Southern Hockey League (1973–1977)|Southern Hockey League]]), boosted the AHL to nine member clubs as the 1977–78 season opened. Hampton folded on February 10, 1978, but was replaced the next year by the [[New Brunswick Hawks]]. With franchise stability improving after the demise of the WHA in 1979, the league continued to grow steadily over the years, reaching 20 clubs by the 2000–01 season.

===Absorption of the IHL===
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 |alt=American Hockey League 2022–23
 |caption=Locations of teams in the AHL as of the 2023–24 season. Dot colors correspond to the divisional alignment.
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  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 41.1732 |long= -73.1870 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Bridgeport Islanders}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 44.1886 |long= -77.3827 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Belleville Senators}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 51.0376 |long= -114.052 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Calgary Wranglers}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 35.2269 |long= -80.8433 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Charlotte Checkers}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 42.0052 |long= -87.8877 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Chicago Wolves}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 41.4963 |long= -81.6880 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Cleveland Monsters}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 33.8169 |long= -116.387 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Coachella Valley Firebirds}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 40.4438 |long= -104.989 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Colorado Eagles}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 42.9622 |long= -85.6719 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Grand Rapids Griffins}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 41.7625 |long= -72.6741 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Hartford Wolf Pack}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 36.0292 |long= -115.025 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Henderson Silver Knights}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 40.2863 |long= -76.6691 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Hershey Bears}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 41.5926 |long= -93.6211 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Iowa Wild}} 
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 45.5558 |long= -73.7218 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Laval Rocket}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 40.6025 |long= -75.4727 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Lehigh Valley Phantoms}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 49.8928 |long= -97.1436 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Manitoba Moose}} 
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 43.0422 |long= -87.9169 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Milwaukee Admirals}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 34.0729 |long= -117.566 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Ontario Reign}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 41.8236 |long= -71.4183 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Providence Bruins}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 43.1536 |long= -77.6107 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Rochester Americans}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 42.2702 |long= -89.0960 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Rockford IceHogs}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 32.7552 |long= -117.212 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=San Diego Gulls}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 37.3327 |long= -121.901 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=San Jose Barracuda}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 42.1022 |long= -72.5869 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Springfield Thunderbirds}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 43.0447 |long= -76.1483 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Syracuse Crunch}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 30.5414 |long= -97.8202 |mark = Yellow pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Texas Stars}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 43.6356 |long= -79.4150 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Toronto Marlies}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 32.2183 |long= -110.974 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Tucson Roadrunners}}
  {{Location map~|USA|lat= 43.1049 |long= -75.2335 |mark = Green pog.svg |marksize=8 |link=Utica Comets}}
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In 2001–02, the AHL's membership jumped dramatically to 27 teams, mostly by the absorption of six teams—[[Milwaukee Admirals|Milwaukee]], [[Chicago Wolves|Chicago]], [[Houston Aeros (1994–2013)|Houston]], [[Utah Grizzlies (1995–2005)|Utah]], [[Manitoba Moose|Manitoba]], and [[Grand Rapids Griffins|Grand Rapids]]—from the [[International Hockey League (1945–2001)|International Hockey League]]. The IHL had established itself as the second top-level minor league circuit in North America, but folded in 2001 due to financial problems. One oddity caused by the AHL's 2001 expansion was that the league had two teams with the same nickname: the Milwaukee Admirals and the [[Norfolk Admirals (AHL)|Norfolk Admirals]]. The latter team transferred to the league from the mid-level [[ECHL]] in 2000. This situation lasted until the end of the 2014–15 season when the Norfolk team moved to San Diego and was replaced by another ECHL team with the same name.

The Utah Grizzlies suspended operations after the 2004–05 season (the franchise was sold in 2006 and returned to the ice in Cleveland in [[2007–08 AHL season|2007]] as the Lake Erie Monsters, now known as the [[Cleveland Monsters]]). The Chicago Wolves ([[2002 Calder Cup playoffs|2002]], [[2008 Calder Cup playoffs|2008]]), Houston Aeros ([[2003 Calder Cup playoffs|2003]]), Milwaukee Admirals ([[2004 Calder Cup playoffs|2004]]), and Grand Rapids Griffins ([[2013 Calder Cup playoffs|2013]], [[2017 Calder Cup playoffs|2017]]) have all won Calder Cup titles since joining the AHL from the IHL. Chicago and Milwaukee have also made multiple trips to the Calder Cup Finals, and Houston made their second Finals appearance in 2011.

The Manitoba Moose moved to [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador]] in 2011 and were renamed the [[St. John's IceCaps]] after the NHL's [[Atlanta Thrashers]] moved to Winnipeg as the second incarnation of the [[Winnipeg Jets]]. In 2013, Houston moved to Des Moines, Iowa to become the [[Iowa Wild]]. This left Chicago, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee as the only ex-IHL teams still in their original cities until the 2015 relocations when the IceCaps moved back to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose.

===Relocations and western shift===
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | align = right
 | width =335
 | image1 = American Hockey League 2014-15 map zoomed.svg
 | caption1 = Team locations and divisional alignment in the 2014–15 season prior to the franchise relocations
 | image2 = American Hockey League 2015-16 map zoomed.svg
 | caption2 = Team locations and divisions after the 2015–16 relocation and realignment
}}
Beginning with the [[2015–16 AHL season|2015–16 season]], twelve franchises have since relocated due to NHL parent clubs' influence on their development teams and players. Of the twelve relocated franchises, nine were relocated because they were directly owned by NHL teams and the NHL parent club wished to make call-ups from the AHL more practical by having closer affiliates.

In January 2015, the AHL announced the relocation of five existing AHL franchises—[[Adirondack Flames|Adirondack]], [[Manchester Monarchs (AHL)|Manchester]], [[Norfolk Admirals (AHL)|Norfolk]], [[Oklahoma City Barons|Oklahoma City]], and [[Worcester Sharks|Worcester]]—to California as the basis for a new "Pacific Division" becoming [[Stockton Heat|Stockton]], [[Ontario Reign|Ontario]], [[San Diego Gulls|San Diego]], [[Bakersfield Condors|Bakersfield]], and [[San Jose Barracuda|San Jose]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=AHL |date=January 29, 2015 |title=AHL approves formation of Pacific Division |url=http://theahl.com/ahl-approves-formation-of-pacific-division-p196033 |access-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-date=April 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418144228/http://theahl.com/ahl-approves-formation-of-pacific-division-p196033 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The relocated teams were all affiliated and owned or purchased by teams in the NHL's [[Pacific Division (NHL)|Pacific Division]]. The franchise movements continued with two more relocations involving Canadian teams<ref>{{cite web |publisher=AHL |date=March 12, 2015 |title=AHL announces franchise transactions |url=http://theahl.com/ahl-announces-franchise-transactions-p196769 |access-date=March 14, 2015 |archive-date=July 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704053008/http://theahl.com/ahl-announces-franchise-transactions-p196769 |url-status=dead }}</ref> with the [[St. John's IceCaps]] going back to [[Winnipeg]] as the [[Manitoba Moose]] and the [[Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)|Hamilton Bulldogs]] becoming another iteration of the IceCaps to fulfill the arena contract in St. John's.

In the following seasons, more NHL organizations influenced league membership. In 2016, the [[Springfield Falcons]] franchise was purchased by the [[Arizona Coyotes]] and relocated to become the [[Tucson Roadrunners]] and join the one-year-old Pacific Division. The Falcons were subsequently replaced by the [[Springfield Thunderbirds]], the relocated [[Portland Pirates]] franchise under a new ownership group. The [[Montreal Canadiens]]-owned IceCaps relocated to the Montreal suburb of [[Laval, Quebec]], and became the [[Laval Rocket]] in 2017.<ref name="The Compass">{{cite web | url=http://www.cbncompass.ca/Sports/IceCaps/2015-03-12/article-4074843/Montreal-Canadiens-farm-team-relocating-to-St.%E2%80%88John%26rsquo%3Bs-next-season/1 | title=Montreal Canadiens' farm team relocating to St. John's next season | publisher=The Compass | date=March 12, 2015 | access-date=March 13, 2015}}</ref> The [[Binghamton Senators]] were also purchased by the [[Ottawa Senators]] and were relocated to [[Belleville, Ontario]], to become the [[Belleville Senators]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhl.com/senators/news/ottawa-senators-owner-eugene-melnyk-purchases-ahl-team-and-partners-with-city-of-belleville/c-282137476 |title=Sens Owner Purchases AHL Team Partners W/ Belleville |publisher=Ottawa Senators |date=September 26, 2016}}</ref> while the [[New Jersey Devils]]' owned [[Albany Devils]] were relocated to become the [[Binghamton Devils]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://binghamtonsenators.com/news/?article_id=2322|title=New Jersey Devils to Relocate AHL Affiliate to Binghamton N.Y. for 2017-18 Season|website=Binghamtonsenators.com|access-date=December 11, 2017|archive-date=February 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219061412/http://binghamtonsenators.com/news/?article_id=2322|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Lehigh Valley Phantoms Hartford Wolf Pack December 14 2019 1 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Lehigh Valley Phantoms]] host the [[Hartford Wolf Pack]] at [[PPL Center]] in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]], December 2019]]
For the [[2018–19 AHL season|2018–19 season]], a 31st team joined the league with the [[Colorado Eagles]] as the NHL's [[Colorado Avalanche]] affiliate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theahl.com/ahl-awards-expansion-membership-to-colorado-eagles |title=AHL awards expansion membership to Colorado Eagles |publisher=AHL |date=October 10, 2017}}</ref> With the NHL planning to expand to 32 teams in 2021 with the [[Seattle Kraken]], the Seattle ownership group was approved for a 2021 AHL expansion team, later announced to be the [[Coachella Valley Firebirds]] based in [[Palm Springs, California]], following the construction of [[Coachella Valley Arena|a new arena]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/hockey/nhl-seattle-chooses-palm-springs-as-site-for-new-ahl-farm-team/ |title=NHL Seattle chooses Palm Springs as site for new AHL farm team |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=June 26, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://theahl.com/ahl-expansion-palm-springs |title=AHL expanding to Palm Springs in 2021-22 |website=American Hockey League |date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> The original plans for the new arena was eventually cancelled and the team postponed their launch by a year while new arena plans were developed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29900182/seattle-kraken-delays-ahl-franchise-1-year |title=Seattle Kraken delays AHL franchise by 1 year |website=[[ESPN]] |date=September 16, 2020}}</ref>

In February 2020, the [[San Antonio Rampage]] franchise was bought and relocated by the NHL's [[Vegas Golden Knights]] for the 2020–21 season<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2020/02/06/san-antonio-rampage-sold-and-will-relocate-after-2019-2020-season |title=San Antonio Rampage Sold and Will Relocate After 2019-2020 Season |website=[[San Antonio Current]] |date=February 6, 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> as the [[Henderson Silver Knights]] and was moved to the Pacific Division. For the 2021–22 season, the Vancouver Canucks relocated their franchise from Utica to Abbotsford while the [[Utica Comets]] agreed to relocate and operate the franchise that was operating as the [[Binghamton Devils]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theahl.com/board-of-governors-approves-franchise-relocations |title=Board of Governors Approves Franchise Relocations |website=AHL |date=May 6, 2021}}</ref> On May 23, 2022, it was announced that the Stockton Heat would be relocating to [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], starting the [[2022–23 AHL season|2022–23 season]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-23 |title=American Hockey League approves Stockton Heat move to Calgary |url=https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/american-hockey-league-approves-stockton-heat-move-to-calgary-1.5915214 |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Calgary |language=en}}</ref>

For the [[2023–24 AHL season|2023–24 season]], the Chicago Wolves are the league's only unaffiliated team, making them the first team to operate without an NHL partner since the [[1994–95 AHL season|1994–95]] [[Worcester IceCats]]. Consequently, the [[Carolina Hurricanes]] became the only NHL team currently without an AHL affiliate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-23 |title=What Lack of AHL Affiliate Means for Carolina Hurricanes
|url=https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/analysis/what-lack-of-ahl-affiliate-means-for-carolina-hurricanes |access-date=2022-01-10 |website=The Hockey News |language=en}}</ref> However, the Hurricanes loaned some players to the Wolves, such as [[Vasili Ponomaryov]] and [[Antti Raanta]].