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.