The American Hockey League today released the complete schedule of regular-season games for the 2011-12 season, the league’s 76th year of operation. The season, comprising 1,140 games, begins on Fri., Oct. 7 and concludes on Sun., Apr. 15.
Following a schedule modification plan announced in April, each of the league’s 30 clubs will play 76 games, 38 at home and 38 on the road. The AHL’s playing calendar has been extended by one week and all sequences in which teams play four games in five nights have been eliminated from the schedule.
The AHL will also institute a revised Calder Cup Playoff format in 2011-12. With the league divided into two conferences of three divisions each, eight teams from each conference will qualify for the postseason (with division winners seeded first through third).
The 2011-12 regular season opens with five games on Oct. 7, including the Binghamton Senators opening defense of their Calder Cup championship at home against the Hershey Bears. The St. John’s IceCaps begin their first season with a visit to Providence on Oct. 7; the AHL officially returns to Mile One Centre with the IceCaps’ inaugural home opener vs. Hamilton on Oct. 14.
| 2011-12 team-by-team schedules (PDF, 2.2mb) 2011-12 day-by-day schedules (PDF, 120kb) 2011-12 LeagueStat monthly calendar |
A pair of games in NHL arenas are currently on this year’s schedule, with the Toronto Marlies hosting the Hamilton Bulldogs in a Boxing Day matinee at the Air Canada Centre on Dec. 26, and the Abbotsford Heat (Calgary’s top affiliate) taking on the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton’s top affiliate) in an AHL version of the “Battle of Alberta” at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Feb. 9.
The 2012 American Hockey League All-Star Classic will take place Jan. 29-30. Further details on this year’s event will be announced soon.
The American Hockey League was officially born in 1936 when the Canadian-American Hockey League and the International Hockey League merged to form the International-American Hockey League (the “International” would be dropped from the league’s name in 1940). The AHL continues to serve as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives and broadcasters of all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the 10th year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2010-11. Through the years, the AHL has been home to more than 100 future members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The entire 2011-12 AHL regular season schedule is available for viewing here.
