We are the Champions of another league

     I was checking the playoffs for the AHL and the ECHL, and I saw that the Ontario Reign is playing against the Colorado Eagles. I started thinking, what happens if the Reign win the Kelly Cup for the ECHL? How funny would that be? Then I started looking at the AHL and the Manchester Monarchs are the playoffs for the Calder Cup. That would be even funnier. I also saw that the Worchester Sharks are in the playoffs. This is getting even better.

     We all know how that would work out if one of those teams won the Calder Cup. I started thinking of something funny. The Monarchs win the Calder Cup, but have to give it Ontario because they are the new AHL team for the Los Angeles Kings. The same for the Sharks.

     Add to that the Oklahoma City Barons who won’t belong to any league next year. What if they win the Calder Cup? What would they do with it?

     I began to wonder has this ever happened before, were a team won the championship and moved into a different league or folded all together.

     During the challenge cup era for the Stanley Cup many teams changed leagues. The Montreal Victorias of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada won the cup in 1898. The next year they won it again while in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League. The Ottawa Senators did the same in 1903 moving from the CAHL to an independent team and again in 1904 moving to the Federal Amateur Hockey League.

I checked other sports and could not find any reference to a team winning a championship and then moving to a different league or folding all together. If anyone knows of this happening I would love to hear from you. Leave a message in the comments for all to see.

Welcome to the AHL Pacific Division blog

     I would like to welcome you to the AHL Pacific Division Blog. As you already know the AHL approved the relocation of five teams moving to the new Pacific Division starting in the 2015/16 season. They are as follows:

•  The Anaheim Ducks purchase the Norfolk Admirals AHL franchise and will relocate them from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif. 
•  The AHL franchise owned by the Calgary Flames will relocate from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Stockton, Calif.
• The AHL franchise owned by the Edmonton Oilers will relocate from Oklahoma City, Okla., to Bakersfield, Calif. 
•  The AHL franchise owned by the Los Angeles Kings will relocate from Manchester, N.H., to Ontario, Calif. 
•  The AHL franchise owned by the San Jose Sharks will relocate from Worcester, Mass., to San Jose, Calif.

     I was born and raised in San Diego and have always been a fan of hockey, the Gulls, and the Mariners of the WHL. I never had the chance to go to any of the games, and the only NHL game I have ever been to, were the Hartford Whalers. In our house we were huge baseball fans, and playing hockey in San Diego meant having to get up at 4 am and having to give up playing baseball. My parents could not afford both, so I chose baseball. 

     In the early 80’s I joined the United States Air Force, and was stationed in Germany for six years, then as a civilian contractor in Greece for two years. When the base closed in Greece I relocated to Las Vegas Nevada. It was in Las Vegas that I started going to hockey games. For the last four years I had season tickets to the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL. I made a lot of friends at the game, and introduced a lot of coworkers to the game. It was such a great time, and the price was outstanding. I even became friends with a couple of the players. 

     The Las Vegas Wranglers are gone due to not being able to find a new home. There has been different reasons as to why, but I feel the biggest one is the talk about the NHL possibly adding a team here. I have been very depressed about no hockey this year, and when the news came out in January about the AHL locating, five teams in California, life started getting better. I watched the Bakersfield Condors, Ontario Reign, and the Stockton Thunder, now the Stockton Heat, play the Wranglers many times. Seeing this is like watching your children starting college. It is not the NHL, but it will be fun, and with a team in San Diego, I will be heading home for some games.

     This blog will be about the new Pacific Division. With it, I hope to share my love for this great game, and to hear from others, who also love hockey. I plan to visit each team’s venue, and hope to bring some behind the scene photos and videos from each visit. I hope to see you at the games, so we can talk, have a good time, and share a beer together.

Go Gulls, Go AHL Pacific Division.