American Hockey League
| Current season, competition or edition: 2025 Calder Cup playoffs | |
American Hockey League logo | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1936 (IHL/C-AHL Interlocking schedules); 1938 (IHL/C-AHL formally merged) |
| President | D. Scott Howson |
| No. of teams | 32 |
| Countries | United States (26 teams) Canada (6 teams) |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Most recent champion(s) | Abbotsford Canucks (1st title) |
| Most titles | Hershey Bears (13 titles)[1] |
| Broadcaster(s) | Canada (English): Sportsnet/Sportsnet One Canada (French): Réseau des sports Europe: Premier Sports United States (English): NHL Network, FloSports United States (Spanish): ESPN Deportes |
| Official website | theahl.com |
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL).[2] The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Canada.
As of the 2024–25 AHL season, all 32 NHL teams held affiliations with an AHL team. Historically, when an NHL team does not have an AHL affiliate, its players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL franchises. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and its current president is Scott Howson.[3]
A player must be at least 18 years old and not belong to a junior ice hockey team to be eligible. The league limits the number of experienced professional players in a team's lineup during any given game; a team may dress a maximum of six skaters who are both 25 years old (or older) by July 1st of the current season and have accumulated more than 260 regular season games played across the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, Kontinental Hockey League, or the six founding leagues of the Champions Hockey League. Goaltenders are exempt from this rule, and games played in the European Elite Leagues before and during a player's final U-20 year will not count towards the Veteran Rule qualifications.[4]
The annual playoff champion is awarded the Calder Cup, named for Frank Calder, the first president (1917–1943) of the NHL. The defending champions following the 2024–25 season are the Abbotsford Canucks, winning their 1st Calder Cup in franchise history.
- ^ "Calder Cup Record Book" Archived January 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, theahl.com
- ^ Scott, Jon C. (2006). Hockey Night in Dixie: Minor Pro Hockey in the American South. Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd. p. xvii. ISBN 1-894974-21-2.
- ^ "Howson elected AHL President and CEO". theahl.com. February 14, 2020. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "AHL PHPA CBA - What is the Veteran Rule?". PHPA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2025.