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2022–23 AHL season
League American Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
DurationOctober 14, 2022 – April 16, 2023
Regular season
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Calgary Wranglers
Season MVP Dustin Wolf (Calgary Wranglers)
Top scorer Michael Carcone ( Tucson Roadrunners)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP Hunter Shepard (Hershey)
Calder Cup
Champions Hershey Bears
  Runners-up Coachella Valley Firebirds
AHL seasons
←  2021–22
2023–24 →

The 2022–23 AHL season was the 87th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 14, 2022, and ended on April 16, 2023. The 2023 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season, and began on April 18, 2023. They concluded on June 21 with the Hershey Bears winning their 12th Calder Cup in team history, defeating the Coachella Valley Firebirds in overtime of game seven of the finals.

League changes

After the previous regular season where teams played an imbalanced schedule consisting of 76, 72, or 68 games, all teams played an equal amount of games at 72. The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion will no longer be awarded based on points percentage, but rather total points. [1] Qualification for the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs was decided by accumulation of points by team, with 23 teams making the cutoff. [2]

For the first time since 2018, the league expanded, adding the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Stockton Heat moved to Calgary in order to be closer to their NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames. The Heat became the Calgary Wranglers. This brought the number of teams in the league to an all-time high of 32. [1]

Team and NHL affiliation changes

After the National Hockey League (NHL) added the Seattle Kraken for the 2021–22 season, the Kraken took a different approach than the 2017 expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Seattle wanted to add an AHL expansion team for their first season, unlike Vegas. The Kraken had discussed the possibility of promoting the Idaho Steelheads from the ECHL, similar to what the league decided to do with the 2018 expansion team Colorado Eagles. However, Seattle chose to create their own expansion team in Thousand Palms, California. [3] The team, named the Coachella Valley Firebirds, was originally scheduled to begin play during the 2021–22 AHL season, however the debut of the Firebirds was delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the construction of their arena. With Seattle having no AHL affiliate for their debut season, they decided to affiliate with the Charlotte Checkers as the secondary affiliate to the Florida Panthers. [4]

The Firebirds organization will be taking the spot of the Stockton Heat in the Pacific Division. The Firebirds join other successful AHL franchises in the Southern California market, such as San Diego, Bakersfield, and Ontario. The Panthers will become the sole affiliate of the Checkers.

Relocations

Main article: Calgary Wranglers

Affiliation changes

AHL team New affiliate [a] Previous affiliate
Coachella Valley Firebirds Seattle Kraken Expansion team
Charlotte Checkers Florida Panthers [b] Seattle Kraken
  1. ^ Or an affiliate returning as a primary affiliate after an expansion team joined the league.
  2. ^ The Panthers had shared the Checkers with the Kraken during the 2021–22 season. Florida will be returning as their primary affiliate, as Seattle has their own expansion team affiliate.

Coaching changes

Off–season
Team 2021–22 coach 2022–23 coach Notes
Abbotsford Canucks Trent Cull Jeremy Colliton On July 1, 2022, the Vancouver Canucks promoted Cull to assistant coach under head coach Bruce Boudreau. [6] Colliton was named as head coach for Abbotsford on the same day.
Bakersfield Condors Jay Woodcroft
Colin Chaulk (interim)		 Colin Chaulk On February 10, 2022, Woodcroft was promoted to Edmonton following the firing of Oilers' head coach Dave Tippett. Condors' assistant coach Chaulk was named the interim head coach the following day. [7] Bakersfield removed the interim tag from Chaulk and named him as head coach for the 2022–23 season. [8]
Calgary Wranglers Relocated from Stockton Mitch Love As the Calgary Flames relocated the Stockton Heat to Calgary, the Flames retained Love as their head coach for the Wranglers. [9]
Chicago Wolves Ryan Warsofsky Brock Sheahan On July 28, 2022, the San Jose Sharks hired Warsofsky as an assistant coach. [10]
Cleveland Monsters Mike Eaves Trent Vogelhuber On April 30, 2022, Eaves would be stepping away from his position as head coach of the Monsters following the conclusion of the 2021–22 season. On June 8, 2022, the Monsters named Vogelhuber as head coach. [11] Vogelhuber had been serving as an assistant coach with the Monsters since his retirement in 2018.
Coachella Valley Firebirds Expansion team Dan Bylsma Bylsma served as an assistant coach with then-Seattle AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, during the 2021–22 season. [12] On June 21, 2022, Bylsma was named as head coach of the Firebirds. [13]
Hershey Bears Scott Allen Todd Nelson On July 27, 2022, Allen was named as an assistant coach with the Bears NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals. [14]
Ontario Reign John Wroblewski
Chris Hajt (interim)
Craig Johnson (interim)		 Marco Sturm After taking time away from the Reign on a personal leave of absence, it was mutually determined on March 11, 2022 between the Reign and Wroblewski that Wroblewski would not return as head coach of the Reign. [15] Hajt and Johnson were named co-head coaches for the remainder of the season. On June 17, 2022, Sturm was named as head coach of the Reign, previously serving as assistant coach with the Reign's NHL affiliate, the Los Angeles Kings. [16]
Rockford IceHogs Derek King
Anders Sorensen (interim)		 Anders Sorensen On November 6, 2021, King was promoted to Chicago following the firing of Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton. [17] On July 12, 2022, the interim tag was removed from Sorensen as was named head coach for the 2022–23 season. [18]
San Diego Gulls Joël Bouchard Roy Sommer On May 11, 2022, it was announced that the Anaheim Ducks had parted ways with Bouchard as the Gulls head coach. [19] Sommer was named as head coach of the Gulls on July 12, 2022 after initially being transitioned to a senior advisory role with the San Jose Barracuda. [20]
San Jose Barracuda Roy Sommer John McCarthy On May 18, 2022, Sommer transitioned to a senior advisory role with the Barracuda. On the same day, McCarthy was named as head coach of the Barracuda. Sommer was later named as head coach of the San Diego Gulls. [21]
Tucson Roadrunners Jay Varady Steve Potvin On July 18, 2022, Varady was named as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. [22]
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Notes
Belleville Senators Troy Mann David Bell (interim) On February 2, 2022, following the Senators game vs the Rochester Americans, Mann was relieved from duties as head coach. Assistant coach David Bell was named as interim head coach the same night. [23]

Final standings

 y–  indicates team clinched division and a playoff spot
 x–  indicates team clinched a playoff spot
 e–  indicates team was eliminated from playoff contention

Standings as of April 16, 2023 [24]

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
y– Providence Bruins ( BOS) 72 44 18 8 2 98 .681 221 201
x– Hershey Bears ( WSH) 72 44 19 5 4 97 .674 217 184
x– Charlotte Checkers ( FLA) 72 39 25 5 3 86 .597 235 220
x– Springfield Thunderbirds ( STL) 72 38 26 3 5 84 .583 230 211
x– Hartford Wolf Pack ( NYR) 72 35 26 4 7 81 .563 227 215
x– Lehigh Valley Phantoms ( PHI) 72 37 29 3 3 80 .556 221 226
e– Bridgeport Islanders ( NYI) 72 34 30 7 1 74 .528 238 248
e– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ( PIT) 72 26 32 8 6 66 .458 191 224
North Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
y– Toronto Marlies ( TOR) 72 42 24 4 2 90 .625 229 225
x– Syracuse Crunch ( TBL) 72 35 26 7 4 81 .563 252 239
x– Rochester Americans ( BUF) 72 36 27 6 3 81 .563 236 233
x– Utica Comets ( NJD) 72 35 27 6 4 80 .556 215 222
x– Laval Rocket ( MTL) 72 33 29 7 3 76 .528 258 247
e– Cleveland Monsters ( CBJ) 72 33 32 5 2 73 .507 220 254
e– Belleville Senators ( OTT) 72 31 31 6 4 72 .500 233 258

Western Conference

Central Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
y– Texas Stars ( DAL) 72 40 20 9 3 92 .639 265 210
x– Milwaukee Admirals ( NSH) 72 41 24 5 2 89 .618 238 211
x– Manitoba Moose ( WPG) 72 37 25 6 4 84 .583 227 226
x– Iowa Wild ( MIN) 72 34 27 6 5 79 .549 211 211
x– Rockford IceHogs ( CHI) 72 35 28 5 4 79 .549 214 232
e– Chicago Wolves ( CAR) 72 35 29 5 3 78 .542 227 245
e– Grand Rapids Griffins ( DET) 72 28 36 4 4 64 .444 194 255
Pacific Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
y– Calgary Wranglers ( CGY) 72 51 17 3 1 106 .736 256 174
x– Coachella Valley Firebirds ( SEA) 72 48 17 5 2 103 .715 257 194
x– Colorado Eagles ( COL) 72 40 22 7 3 90 .625 210 187
x– Abbotsford Canucks ( VAN) 72 40 25 3 4 87 .604 229 203
x– Bakersfield Condors ( EDM) 72 37 31 2 2 78 .542 212 212
x– Ontario Reign ( LAK) 72 34 32 5 1 74 .514 206 211
x– Tucson Roadrunners ( ARI) 72 30 33 8 1 69 .479 219 245
e– San Jose Barracuda ( SJS) 72 31 34 2 5 69 .479 205 249
e– Henderson Silver Knights ( VGK) 72 29 38 0 5 63 .438 201 221
e– San Diego Gulls ( ANA) 72 20 49 2 1 43 .299 180 281

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. As of April 16, 2023. [25]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Michael Carcone Tucson Roadrunners 65 31 54 85 127
Alex Barré-Boulet Syracuse Crunch 69 24 60 84 58
T. J. Tynan Ontario Reign 72 8 73 81 44
Chris Terry Bridgeport Islanders 67 27 51 78 72
Matthew Phillips Calgary Wranglers 66 36 40 76 12
Rocco Grimaldi San Diego / Rockford 70 33 40 73 43
Trey Fix-Wolansky Cleveland Monsters 61 29 42 71 40
Logan Shaw Toronto Marlies 69 21 48 69 36
Anthony Richard Laval Rocket 60 30 37 67 46
Max McCormick Coachella Valley Firebirds 71 28 39 67 76

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 1,440 minutes played lead the league in goals against average. As of April 16, 2023. [26]

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/ shootout loss

Player Team GP TOI SA GA SO GAA SV% W L OT
Dustin Wolf Calgary Wranglers 55 3,238:56 1,653 113 7 2.09 .932 42 10 2
Hunter Shepard Hershey Bears 33 1,930:24 835 70 1 2.18 .916 20 8 5
Jonas Johansson Colorado Eagles 26 1,545:22 747 60 0 2.33 .920 14 9 2
Matt Murray Texas Stars 34 1,925:15 853 76 3 2.37 .911 18 10 5
Joey Daccord Coachella Valley Firebirds 38 2,269:09 1,100 90 3 2.38 .918 26 8 3

Calder Cup playoffs

Main article: 2023 Calder Cup playoffs

Playoff format

The AHL will continue to use the same playoff format used in the previous playoffs. The playoff field will include the top six finishers in the eight-team Atlantic Division, the top five finishers each in the seven-team North and Central Divisions, and the top seven teams in the 10-team Pacific Division. First Round match-ups will be best-of-three series; the two highest seeds in the Atlantic, the three highest seeds in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific will receive byes into the best-of-five Division Semifinals, with the First Round winners re-seeded in each division. The Division Finals will also be best-of-five series, followed by best-of-seven Conference Finals and a best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals series.

Bracket

First Round
April 18 – 23 		Division Semifinals
April 21 – May 6 		Division Finals
May 11 – May 21 		Conference Finals
May 23 – June 5 		Calder Cup Finals
June 8 – 21
A1 Providence 1
A3 Charlotte 2 A5 Hartford 3
A6 Lehigh Valley 1 Atlantic DivisionA5 Hartford 0
A2 Hershey 3
A2 Hershey 3 Eastern Conference
A4 Springfield 0 A3 Charlotte 1
A5 Hartford 2 A2 Hershey 4
N3 Rochester 2
N1 Toronto 3
N4 Utica 2 N4 Utica 1
N5 Laval 0 North DivisionN1 Toronto 0
N3 Rochester 3
N2 Syracuse 2
N3 Rochester 3
A2 Hershey 4
P2 Coachella Valley 3
C1 Texas 3
C4 Iowa 0 C5 Rockford 0
C5 Rockford 2 Central DivisionC1 Texas 2
C2 Milwaukee 3
C2 Milwaukee 3 Western Conference
C3 Manitoba 2
C2 Milwaukee 2
P2 Coachella Valley 4
P1 Calgary 3
P4 Abbotsford 2 P4 Abbotsford 1
P5 Bakersfield 0 Pacific DivisionP1 Calgary 2
P2 Coachella Valley 2 P2 Coachella Valley 3
P7 Tucson 1 P2 Coachella Valley 3
P3 Colorado 2 P3 Colorado 2
P6 Ontario 0

AHL awards

Award Winner
Calder Cup Hershey Bears
Les Cunningham Award Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Michael Carcone, Tucson Roadrunners
Willie Marshall Award Andy Andreoff, Bridgeport Islanders
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Tye Kartye, Coachella Valley Firebirds
Eddie Shore Award Christian Wolanin, Abbotsford Canucks
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers
Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award Mitch Love, Calgary Wranglers
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Logan Shaw, Toronto Marlies
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Jimmy Oligny, Manitoba Moose
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy Hunter Shepard, Hershey Bears
Richard F. Canning Trophy Hershey Bears
Robert W. Clarke Trophy Coachella Valley Firebirds
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Calgary Wranglers
Frank Mathers Trophy
(Eastern Conference regular season champions)		 Providence Bruins
Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy
(Western Conference regular season champions)		 Calgary Wranglers
Emile Francis Trophy
(Atlantic Division regular season champions)		 Providence Bruins
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
(North Division regular season champions)		 Toronto Marlies
Sam Pollock Trophy
(Central Division regular season champions)		 Texas Stars
John D. Chick Trophy
(Pacific Division regular season champions)		 Calgary Wranglers
James C. Hendy Memorial Award Bryan Helmer
Thomas Ebright Memorial Award Mark Bernard
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Ken McKenzie Award Sebastien Vaillant
Michael Condon Memorial Award Jud Ritter
President's Awards Organization: Coachella Valley Firebirds
Player: Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers

All-Star Teams

First All-Star Team [27]

Second All-Star Team [27]

All-Rookie Team [28]

References

  1. ^ a b "2022–23 AHL schedule unveiled". American Hockey League. July 21, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Calder Cup Playoff Primer". American Hockey League. April 16, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Baker, Geoff (June 26, 2019). "NHL Seattle chooses Palm Springs as site for new AHL farm team". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  4. ^ Condor, Bob (June 28, 2021). "AHL Arrangement". Seattle Kraken. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "Flames Introduce Calgary Wranglers". Calgary Flames. August 2, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  6. ^ Strong, Noah (July 1, 2022). "Vancouver Canucks name Mike Yeo, Trent Cull assistant coaches; Jeremy Colliton named Abbotsford Canucks head coach". Canucks Army. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  7. ^ Cuthbert, Justin (February 10, 2022). "Report: Oilers fire coach Dave Tippett, name Jay Woodcroft interim coach". Yahoo! Sports Canada. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. ^ Greenstein, Henry (June 27, 2022). "Condors' Chaulk hired as permanent head coach". Bakersfield.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "Calgary's new AHL team to be known as the Wranglers". CBC News. August 2, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Peng, Sheng (July 28, 2022). "Source: Sharks hiring Ryan Warsofsky as assistant coach". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "CBJ name Trent Vogelhuber head coach of the Cleveland Monsters". Columbus Blue Jackets. June 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  12. ^ John, Andrew L. (June 21, 2022). "Coachella Valley Firebirds hire head coach who led NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins to Stanley Cup". Desert Sun. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  13. ^ Rossi, Rob (June 24, 2022). "A different Dan Bylsma becomes a head coach again with Kraken's AHL Coachella Valley". The Athletic. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  14. ^ "Capitals Name Scott Allen Assistant Coach". Washington Capitals. July 25, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  15. ^ "Reign Coaching Staff Update". Ontario Reign. March 11, 2022. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  16. ^ "Marco Sturm Named Ontario Reign Head Coach". Ontario Reign. June 17, 2022. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  17. ^ "IceHogs Head Coach Derek King Named Interim Head Coach Of Blackhawks". Rockford IceHogs. November 6, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Release: Anders Sorensen Named Head Coach of Rockford IceHogs". Chicago Blackhawks. July 12, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  19. ^ "San Diego Gulls fire head coach Joel Bouchard, both assistants". The San Diego Union-Tribune. May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  20. ^ Posner, Jay (July 12, 2022). "AHL's all-time winningest coach hired to lead Gulls". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  21. ^ Pashelka, Curtis (May 18, 2022). "Barracuda announces coaching shakeup, as AHL record-holder Sommer is replaced". The Mercury News. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  22. ^ Roth, Thomas (July 18, 2022). "Red Wings hire Jay Varady as assistant coach". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  23. ^ "Senators announce changes to the Belleville Senators coaching staff". Ottawa Senators. February 2, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  24. ^ "AHL Standings". American Hockey League. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  25. ^ "Skater Stats". American Hockey League. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  26. ^ "Goalie Stats – Top Goalies". American Hockey League. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "2022-23 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. April 13, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  28. ^ "2022-23 AHL All-Rookie Team named". American Hockey League. April 12, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
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