AHL relaunches website

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … With the start of its 77th season just days away, the American Hockey League today unveiled a redesigned official league website at theahl.com.

The AHL has also announced a multi-year extension of its relationship with NewSport Media. The company’s LeagueStat program has served as the official real-time scoring and statistics service of the league since 2005, and NewSport Media has hosted and maintained all of the AHL’s web properties since 2009.

The new-look theahl.com features a sharp, clean and user-friendly look and highlights the league’s digital branding efforts in the form of a video player and social media center accessible directly on the home page. The site will continue to offer fans first-class content with feature stories, real-time scores and statistics and access to live game broadcasts from AHL Live.

The AHL’s website receives more than 40 million page views annually and is the anchor of the AHL Internet Network, which also includes the AHL’s official on-line store (ahlstore.com), the American Hockey League Hall of Fame (ahlhalloffame.com) and all 30 individual team sites.

Based in Toronto, NewSport Media specializes in creating Web-based solutions for sports leagues, associations and teams large and small.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the 11th year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2011-12. The AHL’s 77th regular season begins Friday, Oct. 12, as 30 teams begin competition for the prestigious Calder Cup.