By: Nick Niedzielski | AHL On The Beat Archive   It has been quite a month for the Checkers.   Heading into March, Charlotte was mired in a downward spiral that saw it fading fast from the playoff picture. From January 27 to March 5, the Checkers went 2-12-3, including logging a franchise-worst 10-game winless […]

By Warren Kosel | AHL On The Beat Archive   It’s not often in the realm of professional sports, and in this case, hockey, that a team can celebrate its longevity as well as so many other organizational milestones all at the same time. But when the Rochester Americans embarked on their historic 60th anniversary […]

By Alec Lessner | AHL On The Beat Archive   In professional hockey, the conventionally accepted team-building method is to find talent in the draft, develop players in the American Hockey League, and pick up missing pieces through trades. It’s much easier said than done, though; ego, impatience, and inconsistency can all derail an organization’s […]

By Alex Thomas | AHL On The Beat Archive   Most young adults today know the song “The Circle of Life”, which came from the hit Disney movie The Lion King back in the 1990’s. It’s almost ironic, because a group of kids from that generation are living out the sports version of that song. […]

By Don Laible and Mark Caswell, Jr. | AHL On The Beat Archive   If you think you know who or what has influenced Jordan Subban‘s hockey career the most, you may want to take a second guess.   How Jordan Subban became a professional hockey player did not happen by accident. Coaches and teammates, […]

By Lindsay Czarnecki | AHL On The Beat Archive   It’s probably a good thing Michael Mersch hasn’t listened to his girlfriend.   At least when it comes to one topic of discussion.   “My girlfriend’s on me about getting a dog and I’ve been holding it off for forever,” said Mersch. “And it’s for […]

By Aaron Cheris | AHL On The Beat Archive   Rick Kowalsky is a hockey lifer. Like most young Canadian boys, he was on the ice as soon as he could move on his own two feet. Four decades later, Kowalsky still loves the game, and is passing on his knowledge to the next generation […]

By Chris White | AHL On The Beat Archive   Ask a Manitoba Moose player if they enjoy being in Winnipeg?   Go through the dressing room and you get a resounding “Yes!” and “I love it” and in a couple of cases “ano.”   To be clear that’s not a-no as in no, but […]

By Nick Hart | AHL On The Beat Archive   The look on Dominik Simon’s face said it all. Eyes as wide as dinner plates, mouth slightly agape from a drooping jaw. It was shock and awe incarnate.   “Six-hundred AHL games?” he balked. And that’s not all. “Wait, 600 NHL games, too!?” Simon said […]

By Jason Pearson | AHL On The Beat Archive   In his first professional season, Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Jared Coreau had just a single win. That’s total, over a span of 25 games between the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and the Griffins.   Year two witnessed a 20-game spike in the ‘W’ column leading to […]