Post written by Mike Warren via AllHailSports.com. To go to original post CLICK HERE!
Earlier this week, the President of the American Hockey League Dave Andrews held a press conference that will fully relocate 5 of their teams from the east coast to the west, which will be effective at the beginning of next season.
The five franchises that will be affected are as follows:
Worcester Sharks(San Jose), who will be moving their team to San Jose.
Adirondack Flames(Calgary), who will be moving to Stockton, CA.
Manchester Monarchs(Los Angeles), who will be moving to Ontario, CA.
Oklahoma City Barons(Edmonton), who will move to Bakersfield, CA.
Norfolk Admirals(Anaheim), who will move to San Diego.
While this will be a move that fans of many teams will not like despite being par for the course with a team leaving, this is a business decision that makes sense for the AHL. All of the teams in the National Hockey League that have their minor league club moving will be on the west coast, which will help with transactions between the two leagues, being right together when players need to be moved. This is a move in comparison to a team like New Jersey, who is only a short distance to their team in Albany.
Overall, once the league is realigned, which will come at a later date, this is the perfect move and a step up in the legitimacy of the league.
The biggest question that comes is how will the AHL be realigned for the 2015-16 season? You can expect, once again, the topic of the Empire State Division to be talked about as now there are only 5 teams: Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, Rochester, and Utica.
Post by Mike Warren via AllHailSports.com. To go to original post CLICK HERE!