Thread: Quick question about the AHL schedule.

How come the Monarchs have never played the OKC Barons? I live in OKC and have been itching to go see the Monarchs now that we have an AHL franchise, but it's been almost two seasons of Barons hockey in OKC and the Monarchs haven't been on the schedule.

What's up with that?

Did some research for you Blaze because I was curious myself...

AHL regular season consists of 76 games. I think because of travel issues (minor leagues and all), they're restricted to conference play only. But the weird thing is that the schedule looks kind of unbalanced as well..

As you already know, the Monarchs are in the Eastern Conference and they play in the Atlantic Division. Here are the list of teams along with home/away games they have:

Atlantic Division - 42 games

Portland Pirates - 7 home/5 away
Providence Bruins - 5 home/5 away
St. John's IceCaps - 4 home/4 away
Worcester Sharks - 6 home/6 away

Northeast Division - 24 games

Adirondack Phantoms - 2 home/2 away
Albany Devils - 1 home/1 away
Bridgeport Sound Tigers - 3 home/3 away
Connecticut Whale - 3 home/3 away
Springfield Falcons - 3 home/3 away

East Division - 10 games

Binghamton Senators - 1 home/1 away
Hershey Bears - 2 home/2 away
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins - 2 home/2 away

Norfolk Admirals and Syracuse Crunch are in the East Division but the Monarchs don't play them at all this season. I also think because of scheduling conflicts, Manchester somehow ended up with 1 extra home game and 1 less away game against the Portland Pirates... while everything else is pretty balanced in terms of home and away games with each other.

But in answer to your question about the Oklahoma City Barons, they're in the Western Conference and in the West Division, so that explains why Manchester never plays there. That does suck if you think about it... Manchester never plays any team in the Western Conference, so you're missing out on more than half of the league. =x

I think the same goes for the Ontario Reign of the ECHL. When you look at their schedule, the play about 6-7 teams 10+ times a season. Sounds ridiculously boring doesn't it?

Sometimes three nights in a row of the same team.

From 10/27/2011...

Dreger: NHL teams consider AHL overhaul

These changes must be new for this season. I believe the schedule used to be 80 regular season games. And I know there was at least some interconference play. I definitely remember Manitoba coming to Hershey and Wilkes-Barre one year, because they called up a couple of guys from Reading for the duration of that road trip. I'm also pretty sure Toronto, Hamilton and others traveled here too. Luckily, they haven't totally eliminated inter- conference play, so Syracuse and Rochester who are 60 miles apart, but in different conferences still get to play each other.

With technology the way it is now and where it's going, GMs can keep tabs on prospects from really far distances and give feedback easily. I really don't think it's necessary to have the Monarchs down in Long Beach or out in Arcadia. Keep them in a market that makes money and communicate through new ways. If a kid gets called up to play, I'm sure he can handle the travel.