AHL Teams Adapt To Playing 72-Game Schedule

Dec 9, 2022

By Andy Zilch/SanDiegoGulls.com

While the inception of the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division in 2015 brought hockey west, it also created an imbalanced schedule among the league’s newest teams. Teams that moved from the east to the west coast (or franchises purchased from the ECHL) elected to participate in a 68-game schedule. This included the Ontario Reign, San Jose Barracuda, Bakersfield Condors, Stockton Heat and San Diego Gulls.

These five teams joined a division with the San Antonio Rampage and Texas Stars, who played a 76-game schedule. Because of the uneven number of games, the league elected to use team’s points percentage as the primary gauge in the standings.

Since 2015, the Tucson Roadrunners, Abbotsford Canucks, Colorado Eagles and most recently, Coachella Valley Firebirds joined the division. Following the 2017-18 season, the Stars and Rampage moved to the Central Division. However, the Vegas Golden Knights purchase the San Antonio franchise to become the Henderson Silver Knights in 2020 which inserted the team back to the Pacific Division.

This season brings a neutral number of games league-wide, as all teams agreed to play a 72-game schedule. For the first time in eight seasons, the AHL has all participating teams skating in the same number of games, meaning team’s points is once again the main determination in standings.

“That’s how guys get better,” Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said. “Practice helps but you really see where your team is at by playing. They put it together where the whole league is equal right now at 72 so there is no more of that ‘percentages gets you in’ and all that; it’s real numbers.”

Sommer might just be the best to provide his opinion on the number of games played in the AHL. When hired by the San Jose Sharks in 1998 as the head coach the Kentucky Thoroughblades, the AHL played an 80-game schedule. However, the league reduced the number of games played to 76 beginning in the 2011-12 season.

“I like playing the games. You know, the bus trips out east they were pretty short. We went to Providence, an hour and a half. Springfield, an hour, and Manchester, so everything was real tight. Every once in a while, we would head down to Norfolk or make a trip to St. John’s.

“Out here, it’s more of an NHL-type situation where you’re jumping on a plane and we’ll go to Tucson and play a couple of games,” Sommer continued. “Unless we hit Ontario or Bakersfield, those are up and backs. Most of the places we play it’s back-to-backs because of the travel, like Abbotsford, then we go to Calgary twice where we play two games each time.”

From a player perspective, the current schedule on the west coast provides the closest imitation to the NHL. San Diego averaged three games per week in the first few months of season, including flights to different cities for one game then returning to San Diego. This season, the Gulls played 22 games through December 3. In comparison, the team competed in 16 games through December 3 last season. The six more games included flights and bus travel with quick turnarounds to other cities.

“It's hard; there’s a lot that gets put into it behind the scenes,” Gulls forward Brayden Tracey said. “Coming in early to the rink, stretching, focusing on your body, and getting treatment from the training staff is obviously huge. There’s a lot to learn still. We’re taking a lot in, us younger guys, from the older guys. I think it’s just maintaining your body and getting in there and taking care of what you need to.

“The rest is good as it can be. We’re just trying to get the sleep when you can whether it’s a nap in the middle of the afternoon or going to bed an hour early at nighttime.”

From October 26 through December 3, the team played 18 games in a span of 39 days. That includes 21 days of no games but only 12 days without travel or games. Seven of those days came in the final two weeks of that stretch. With the condensed schedule, the Gulls are struggling to stay healthy. Two weekends ago, the team suffered three injuries in one home game, forcing them to play the next night in Henderson with one player short.

“From the looks of our roster, we are (feeling the effects of a heavier schedule),” Sommer said. “I think we got six guys out with injuries and they are all recent ones. We lost three guys in one game and five in a span of a week. It’s taken its toll but that’s hockey. It’s kind of an NHL schedule right now, it’s good for these guys to feel that.”

The equipment staff might feel the effects of the expanded schedule the most, but it is nothing new for Head Equipment Manager Joey Guilmet. Formerly employed for 12 seasons with the NHL’s Atlanta Trashers, Guilmet can easily meet the demand. Atlanta was a city that wasn’t close in proximity to other NHL cities and played an 82-game schedule. However, NHL teams deploy a larger equipment staff whereas in the AHL, it is Guilmet and Assistant Equipment Manager Ryan Kelsey that shoulder a majority of the load.

“I think the moving parts of road games and games at home seems so much more compressed,” said Guilmet. “For the team, there are less times to have those really good weeks of practice. It interrupts the four or five days of skating leading up to a weekend of games.

“I definitely think it’s similar to the NHL. We looked at the days on the road in the NHL versus the days on the road in AHL now, it’s only like between 15 and 20 more days. We’re definitely on the road a lot more than we have been. And then the travel always is different. (In the AHL), you’re jumping on bus or jumping in a truck or when you are flying commercial, that’s another aspect. (In the NHL), you’re jumping on a charter flight, and you’re home that night, you’re in your bed versus having to wake up the next morning and then fly with usually a stop.”

Mirroring the NHL is exactly what the AHL attempts to achieve. In the Pacific Division, the league is one step closer to achieving this goal, mirroring the parent clubs’ travel and schedule. The travel might be more treacherous than some Eastern Conference teams, but that is what the development process encompasses to become an NHLer.