The American Hockey League announced on Wednesday that three new cities would be joining the league for the upcoming season.  The Quad City Flames are moving from the Quad Cities region to Abbotsford, British Columbia.  The Philadelphia Phantoms are moving to Glens Falls, NY.  The Dallas Stars have their wish with a new team in Austin, Texas.  All three cities will begin play in the upcoming 09/10 season.

All of this change brings up hopes that the divisions will be realigned to put the Rochester Americans back into the Eastern Conference and all of the New York teams (Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Glens Falls, and Binghamton) into the same division.

With two teams (Austin and Abbotsford) playing further West than Rochester and Syracuse, the idea does not seem that far fetched.  The topic won’t officially be discussed until this summer so any changes at this point are just a hope.

The only other issue that needs to be addressed other than division alignment is the schedule format.  Even if a division of New York teams is established it will still be frustrating if two teams play each other 12 times during a season.  The dedicated still go to games but one [...]Read More