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Are you a rabid hockey fan who needs more than the NHL to get his/her fill? Perhaps you live in some backwater poo poo hole like Saskatoon or Milwaukee and want to talk about your local team! Well buddy, this is the thread for you! This thread is for discussing North American minor leagues (AHL, ECHL), Junior leagues (WHL, OHL, QMJHL, USHL), as well as European leagues (KHL, SHL, etc.) and the new NWHL. This thread does not cover NCAA Hockey. If you wanna talk about that, the NCAA thread is here. National Women's Hockey League  Website: http://nwhl.co/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFwEggLD91IcxpZvGqltJvw This year is the NWHL's inaugural season, and it has the distinction of being the first women's hockey league to pay its players. As a result, pretty much all the top talent in women's hockey jumped ship from other leagues to make this the world's best women's hockey league. For now, the league only consists of four teams: the New York Riveters, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and Boston Pride. If the league succeeds, it might not be long before it expands out of the northeast U.S. to Canada and the Midwest. If you're interested, they even stream all league games for free on YouTube! American Hockey League  http://www.theahl.com The American Hockey League (AHL) is the top-flight minor league in the US and Canada. Over 80% of the players currently in the NHL played in this league at one point. Sufficed to say, this is the league to watch if you want to see your team's future players. On top of being the top development league for the NHL, the AHL is often where proposed rule changes are tested to see how they work in practice. For example, the new 3-on-3 OT the NHL is using this season was implemented largely due to its success in the AHL last year. Rule changes for the 2015-16 Season - Overtime is now 5 minutes of 3-on-3 play. - Shootouts have been reduced from best-of-5 to best-of-3. - Coaches can challenge a call on the ice provided they still have their timeout. - The defending player taking a face-off is required to put his stick down first. Relocations - Manchester Monarchs (LA) relocated to Ontario, CA and are now the Ontario Reign - Worchester Sharks (SJ) relocated to San Jose, CA and are now the San Jose Barracuda - Adirondack Heat (CGY) relocated to Stockton, CA and are now the Stockton Heat - Oklahoma City Barons (EDM) relocated to Bakersfield, CA and are now the Bakersfield Condors - Norfolk Admirals (ANA) relocated to San Diego, CA and are now the San Diego Gulls - St. John's IceCaps (WPG) relocated to Winnipeg, MB and are now the Manitoba Moose - Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL) relocated to St. John's, NL and are now the St. John's IceCaps Affiliation Changes Portland Pirates are now affiliated with the Florida Panthers (prev. Arizona) San Antonio Rampage are now affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche (prev. Florida) Springfield Falcons are now affiliated with the Arizona Coyotes (prev. Columbus) Lake Erie Monsters are now affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets (prev. Colorado) Division Alignment  (The thread title refers to the fact that the five teams in California only play 68 games this year, eight fewer than the rest of the league. The standings in the Pacific will be determined by points percentage as opposed to straight up points as a result. If you're thinking that's stupid/bullshit, that's because it is.) ECHL  http://www.echl.com/ If the AHL is AAA Hockey, the ECHL would be AA. Few players who wind up in the ECHL have much chance of ever making the NHL, and those that do usually are backups and 4th liners. The ECHL used to stand for East Coast Hockey League until 2003, when it absorbed the remaining teams from the West Coast Hockey League. Prior to the 2014-15 season, it also absorbed the remaining Central Hockey League teams. As a result, the ECHL spans from Alaska to South Florida. The ECHL, however, is known for having the greatest logo in professional hockey. Canadian Hockey League  The main prospect development league in North America, the CHL is composed of three leagues. Each league holds its own NHL-style playoffs with the winners of each league along with the host city playing in the prestigious Memorial Cup tournament. The CHL is considered a "major junior" league and is sometimes referred to this way. Players in the CHL are aged 16-20 (with an occasional 15 year old permitted in the OHL via "exceptional player status"). 20 year olds are considered "overage" and limited to 3 per team while teams may not play more than 4 15 or 16 year olds. Age for CHL purposes is based on the calendar year so for the 2013-2014 season, a 20 year old is any player born in 1993. This contrasts with the NHL where draft eligibility is determined by age on September 15. Each CHL league has an annual draft of bantam-aged players within their regions and the leagues hold a combined import draft for players from outside North America who may wish to play in the CHL. Teams are limited to 2 import players. WHL (Western Hockey League) The WHL includes 22 teams in four Canadian provinces and two American states. The WHL holds the CHL rights to players from the four western provinces, all three territories, the American Pacific Northwest and other designated states west of the Mississippi River. The winner of the WHL playoffs is awarded the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Official website: http://www.whl.ca/ OHL (Ontario Hockey League) The OHL is composed of 20 teams, located in the Canadian province of Ontario and the American states of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The winner of the OHL playoffs is awarded the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Official website: http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/ QMJHL (Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec) Also called "the Q", the QMJHL is the only CHL league with no American teams (although there used to be one in Maine). The QMJHL has 18 teams, based in Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The league has CHL rights to players from these provinces as well as Newfoundland and New England. The winner of the QMJHL playoffs is awarded the President's Cup. The league is known for high scores and a style of hockey which prioritises offense. Pity the goalies. Official website: http://theqmjhl.ca/ Kontinental Hockey League  Russia is pretty into hockey. They've had aspirations to create a pan-Europe league to rival the NHL, but for now they have the KHL. Originating from the Russian Superleague, the league has expanded beyond Russia with teams in Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Ukraine and Finland. Prominent ex-NHLers include Alexander Radulov (CKSA Moscow) and Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA Saint Petersburg). Some Russian prospects take their time moving over to North America from the KHL. Changes for 2015-16: Spartak Moscow will return to the league prior to this season and Atlant Moscow Oblast will not participate in the league this season due to financial problems. HC Donbass, which suspended operations due to the rebellion in Ukraine and had hoped to rejoin the KHL this year, will play in the Ukranian PHL. Official website: http://en.khl.ru/ FAQ Sounds cool! How can I watch? The best way is in person. Minor hockey is cheap and you can probably get decent seats for $10-$15. Check your local team's Twitter or Facebook for additional promotions (e.g. my local WHL team has a limited number of seats on sale on Mondays for $5). But if you don't live near a team, or want to keep up with their away games, the best way to keep up for free is radio. Yes, that's still a thing. Most if not all of these teams have all their games broadcast by a local radio station, and radio is almost universally available to stream (legally!) for free online with no restrictions on location. Sure, this means you can't see the games to judge your team's precious prospects with your own eyes, but radio commentating is very thorough and hearing the players' names to know who has been involved in the play gives a pretty good idea of who has played well. Hockey Webcasts is a fairly comprehensive source to stream radio for almost every North American team from the NHL, AHL, ECHL, WHL, OHL, and QMJHL. If your team is missing, check the official league page or team website. The AHL, WHL, OHL and QMJHL all have sites like NHL Gamecenter Live where you can watch the games online. However, they are expensive and the quality tends to be pretty bad, with the video often just being a low-res feed of whatever goes up on the jumbotron. On occasion, games are televised locally in which case you might be able to find them on your favourite illegal streaming site. All KHL games are streamed through onhockey.ru, but they happen in the middle of the (North American) night and are in Russian, so that may or may not be your thing. Why can't my team's hot prospect play in the AHL if he doesn't make the NHL team? You can blame the NHL/CHL Agreement, a.k.a. why I didn't get to see Seth Jones play in Milwaukee. Somewhere around 60% of all NHL players played in the CHL, making it the main pool from which the NHL drafts its players. To prevent NHL teams from taking their best players and immediately sending them to one of their minor league affiliates, the NHL and CHL made an agreement. If a player was drafted from a CHL team, they have to either be 20 years old by Dec. 31 (i.e. overage) or have played four years in the CHL in order to play in the AHL. Otherwise, the player must be sent back to the CHL team that has their rights. Note that this only applies to players drafted from the CHL, not players drafted from European leagues or the NCAA, even if they go on to play in the CHL after the draft. Note: OP is work in progress, will add as I have time. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Nov 5, 2015 19:19
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Reserved
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Nov 5, 2015 19:19
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DollyDagger posted:Hey, make a section for the NWHL. I redid the AHL section since it had a lot of changes and that's the league I know best. The rest was basically copied over from last year's OP. I'll edit in new stuff as I can get it done. e: NWHL stuff is in. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Nov 5, 2015 |
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Nov 5, 2015 22:12
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Updated the OP with some KHL stuff. Also holy poo poo how did I never notice that the QMJHL's logo is a loving skate until now?
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Nov 6, 2015 18:18
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toe knee hand posted:In Best Name in the WHL news, Victoria Royals rookie goaltender Griffen Outhouse picked up a win today and is 3-0. He is 17 years old. If there was ever a player the Flyers need to draft, he'd be it.
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Nov 8, 2015 14:54
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@OHLInsiders is reporting that Flint did a 180 and resigned Karpa and Gruden to 3-year contracts. Turns out it's hard to own a hockey team that doesn't have hockey players. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Nov 9, 2015 |
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Nov 9, 2015 20:24
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Viktor Arvidsson has a point in every AHL game he's played this season and just matched the AHL's longest points streak of the season so far at 10. I'm thinking he kinda owns.
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Nov 19, 2015 05:00
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iwentdoodie posted:Well, friend of mine went to a Gulls game. He said if you're not going to sit lower bowl, it sucks. Upper deck has no cup holders and the seats are lovely. Beer is $10 for bud or $12 for craft. I was wondering who the gently caress sits in the upper level of an AHL game other than colossal cheapskates but holy poo poo $45 for lower level centre ice tickets is kinda nuts. I get San Diego's one of the richer places in the country, but Milwaukee charges $23 for the same seats and they've got one of the best facilities in the AHL.
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Nov 19, 2015 07:08
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NomChompsky posted:I am planning an outing to a Wolves game soon. I live five minutes away and it's dirt cheap. poo poo is gonna own. Allstate's a good facility too. Granted the only time I've been there were for Rammstein concerts (yeah, go on, laugh) but I'm really thinking about heading down to Rosemont for an Ads/Wolves game this season.
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Nov 19, 2015 18:54
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  ADMIRALS WIN 8TH STRAIGHT Viktor Arvidsson also pushed his points streak to 11 games. 
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Nov 21, 2015 04:50
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N: Admirals win 10th straight, Arvidsson's point steak reaches 13  V: I'm going to the game Friday, so I'll probably gently caress things up
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Nov 25, 2015 06:06
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toe knee hand posted:Yep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdDE3NDgnMo Is funny that they keep mentioning Labate being a rookie because uh, so is Morin.
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Nov 26, 2015 22:11
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Admirals win streak is over, which was bad enough but they also gave up a goal to loving Dan Cleary. Fun Fact: The last time Cleary scored an AHL goal, the Twin Towers still existed. e: One of the Grand Rapids players grabbed the puck, which got me wondering if that's some sort of AHL record for most time between goals in league history. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Nov 28, 2015 |
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Nov 28, 2015 04:20
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Speaking of teddy bear toss, Flyers prospect Radel Fazleev did a loving moonwalk on the way back to the bench after he scored the toss goal last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJyNDoOLjRg Radel Fazleev owns.
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Dec 2, 2015 05:00
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They just showed a brony on the jumbotron at the Admirals/Wolves game in Rosemont. gently caress the Chicago Wolves.
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Dec 6, 2015 04:38
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NomChompsky posted:At the Jan. 30th game between the Wolves and Icehogs it seems like half the crowd came to pretend that the Icehogs were actually the blackhawks, and then the other half were there specifically to yell disparaging comments at Bickell. I got the last weekend of the month off so I'm gonna go to the Milwaukee/Chicago back to back. Since I've only been to concerts at Rosemont, any recommendations on where to sit?
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Feb 4, 2016 19:35
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Trevor Murphy, a defenceman, had a hat trick playing forward against Bakersfield tonight in Milwaukee's 7-3 dismantling of the Condors. The best part though is Aaron Sims, Milwaukee's radio guy, used the phrase "Everything's coming up Millhouse!" after it happened. 
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Feb 6, 2016 06:35
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So, uh, Michael Leighton mysteriously just left the Admirals/IceHogs game. He didn't seem injured at all so who the gently caress knows? e: guess it was an equipment issue, but it seemed odd since Rockford's coaching staff chased after him into the locker room. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Feb 13, 2016 |
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Feb 13, 2016 04:10
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Both Milwaukee's Jusse Saros (3-0, 11/11) and Lake Erie's Anton Forsberg (3-0, 9/9) were perfect in the shootout for their AHL careers going into tonight. Naturally the game went to a shootout, meaning someone would have to blink. Saros: still perfect. 
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Mar 4, 2016 03:56
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Heading back from the Admirals/Wolves game in Chicago. I was surprised to find out they don't have a goal horn at Allstate Arena. e: Nevermind, I guess they do. gently caress if you can hear it in the stands though. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Mar 7, 2016 |
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Mar 7, 2016 03:08
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Yesterday the Milwaukee Admirals announced that this is the last year in the Bradley Center to the...ugh...UWM Panther Arena (aka the MECCA, aka the Wisconsin Center Arena, aka the US Cellular Arena). It was pretty much a done deal with the Bucks moving into their new arena that I don't give a flying gently caress about after next season, but the Admirals did have one more year on their lease at the BC. I know it makes a ton of sense for the team (especially since they'll finally get a cut of the concession sales), but moving into a building that was build before my parents were born seems like a step backwards, even if the BC wasn't that great.
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Mar 17, 2016 07:39
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If anyone else here lives near Madison, WI there's a deal on Groupon for the Madison Capitols. $50 for 2 tickets, 2 slices of pizza, and the reason I'm posting this, 2 jerseys. I can't attest to the quality of the jerseys, but that seems like a drat good deal. They have this for the games on 4/1, 4/2, and 4/8.
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Mar 25, 2016 02:03
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DJExile posted:please knock out GR quickly so they don't call up any of toledo's guys, thanks Actually just knock out Grand Rapids because gently caress Grand Rapids.
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Apr 3, 2016 21:15
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Doctor Butts posted:They were 4 points away the other day. It was almost but not quite inevitable. Yeah, it's been pretty clear MIL/GR/RFD/LE would be in for a few weeks now and the rest of the season would just be for determining seeding.
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Apr 4, 2016 22:49
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Jagged Jim posted:Haha, Sarnia made that huge trade only to get booted out in the first round. Didn't watch it, but losing Koenecny to injury probably didn't help.
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Apr 6, 2016 21:28
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With Grand Rapids losing last night, the Admirals are only 2 points away from clinching the AHL Central division. Was kinda hoping they would clinch at home on Tuesday, but I certainly won't complain if they wrap it up today. e: apparently the magic number is 3. Lake Erie needs to lose tonight with an Admirals win to clinch. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Apr 10, 2016 |
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Apr 10, 2016 13:17
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Milwaukee wins, Lake Erie loses, meaning the Admirals have won the Central!
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Apr 11, 2016 01:13
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AHL PLAYOFFS BEGIN TODAY Matchups & Game Times Atlantic Division Hershey Bears (A1) vs. Portland Pirates (A4) Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – @ Portland, 7:00pm EDT Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Portland, 7:00pm EDT Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ Hershey, 7:00pm EDT Game 4 – Sat., Apr. 30 – @ Hershey, 7:00pm EDT Game 5 – Sun., May 1 – @ Hershey, 5:00pm EDT Providence Bruins (A2) vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (A3) Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05pm EDT Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 21 – @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05 pm EDT Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Providence, 7:05 pm EDT Game 4 – Mon., Apr. 25 – @ Providence, 7:05 pm EDT Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 26 – @ Providence, 7:05 pm EDT North Division Toronto Marlies (N1) vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers (A5) Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Bridgeport, 7:00 pm EDT Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 24 – @ Bridgeport, 5:00 pm EDT Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ Toronto, 7:30 pm EDT Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – @ Toronto, 7:30 pm EDT Game 5 – Sun., May 1 – @ Toronto, 3:00 pm EDT Albany Devils (N2) vs. Utica Comets (N3) Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – @ Albany, 7:00 pm EDT Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Albany, 5:00 pm EDT Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 26 – @ Utica, 7:00 pm EDT Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ Utica, 7:00 pm EDT Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 30 – @ Albany, 5:00 pm EDT Central Division Milwaukee Admirals (C1) vs. Grand Rapids Griffins (C4) Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – @ Milwaukee, 7:00 pm CDT Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Milwaukee, 7:00 pm CDT Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 26 – @ Grand Rapids, 7:00 EDT Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 27 – @ Grand Rapids, 7:00 EDT Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 30 – @ Milwaukee, 7:00 pm CDT Lake Erie Monsters (C2) vs. Rockford IceHogs (C3) Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – @ Rockford, 7:00 pm CDT Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 21 – @ Rockford, 7:00 pm CDT Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Lake Erie, 7:00 pm EDT Game 4 – Mon., Apr. 25 – @ Lake Erie, 7:00 pm EDT Game 5 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ Lake Erie, 7:00 pm EDT Pacific Division Ontario Reign (P1)vs. San Jose Barracuda (P4) Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – @ San Jose, 7:30 pm PDT Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ San Jose, 7:30 pm PDT Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ Ontario, 7:00 pm PDT Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – @ Ontario, 7:00 pm PDT Game 5 – Sun., May 1 – @ Ontario, 3:00 pm PDT San Diego Gulls (P2) vs. Texas Stars (P3) Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 21 – @ Texas, 7:30 pm CDT Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – @ Texas, 7:00 pm CDT Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – @ San Diego, 7:05 pm PDT Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – @ San Diego, 7:05 pm PDT Game 5 – Mon., May 2 – @ San Diego, 7:05 pm PDT The Albany/Utica will be 2-2-1 format to the surprise of nobody, as they're only 90 minutes drive apart from each other. The only other 2-2-1 is Milwaukee/Grand Rapids. The two cities are about 4 hours apart, and the Admirals would probably like to guaranty two home games as this is their last season in the Bradley Center. All other series are 2-3 format. Infidel Castro fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Apr 20, 2016 |
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Apr 20, 2016 19:40
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Mind_Taker posted:Good god the 2-3 format is the worst. You're the better team? Congratulations start 2 games on the road! The higher seed gets to choose.
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Apr 20, 2016 20:10
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No matter how good they are in the regular season, the Milwaukee Admirals turn into a garbage team for stupid fuckers in the playoffs every. God. drat. YEAR.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:24
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Poonerman posted:Brandon-Seattle is going to be a war Go Brandon, go Provorov.
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Apr 30, 2016 18:04
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CBJSprague24 posted:The Monsters. Good. I'm glad. Grand Rapids can gently caress right off and I hope they lose in embarrassing fashion.
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May 8, 2016 04:17
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Poonerman posted:Brandon about to close out Seattle. Congrats to the Brandon Provorovs
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May 14, 2016 18:29
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Good. I'm glad. gently caress Grand Rapids.
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May 17, 2016 05:54
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Cincinnati won the Kelly Cup in '08 and '10. plus made the final in '14.
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Jun 2, 2016 17:21
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Hockles posted:Lake Erie is independently owned too, by Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It just worked out nicely with the musical chairs of affiliation changes last offseason that Colorado (old LEM affiliate) and Columbus had their contracts run out at the same time. The North Division, aside from Iowa, are all independently owned. Hell, the IceHogs are even owned by the city of Rockford.
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Jun 5, 2016 02:00
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CaptainYesterday posted:With a 31st NHL team, this probably means a 31st AHL team. I presume it'll be on the west coast, so that the Pacific Division can have 7 teams all out there and do their own thing. My pick is Salt Lake City, a former AHL (and current ECHL) city that isn't too far away from Las Vegas. The fact that the Houston Aeros don't exist is a loving travesty and gently caress whoever runs the Toyota Center.
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Jun 25, 2016 06:00
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