2014-15 AHL season

This is the 2014-15 American Hockey League season.  This will be the league's 79th season.

Franchise changes

The Glens Falls, New York based Adirondack Phantoms relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania and were renamed the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, moving into the newly opened PPL Center.

The Abbotsford Heat relocated to Glens Falls to replace the Phantoms in the arena, the team was renamed the Adirondack Flames and will play in the Glens Falls Civic Center.  As a tribute to the Calgary Flames past the team's logo will the the old Atlanta Flames logo sllightly updated to the organizations present color scheme.

2014/2015 Standings

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

Eastern Conference

#	Eastern Conference	Div	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA
1	y– Manchester Monarchs (LA)	AT	76	50	17	6	3	109	241	176
2	y– Hershey Bears (WSH)	ET	76	46	22	5	3	100	218	181
3	y– Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)	NE	76	43	24	5	4	95	221	214
4	x– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)	ET	76	45	24	3	4	97	212	163
5	x– Syracuse Crunch (TB)	NE	76	41	25	10	0	92	218	219
6	x– Providence Bruins (BOS)	AT	76	41	26	7	2	91	209	185
7	x– Worcester Sharks (SJ)	AT	76	41	29	4	2	88	224	198
8	x– Portland Pirates (ARZ)	AT	76	39	28	7	2	87	203	190
9	e– Springfield Falcons (CBJ)	NE	76	38	28	8	2	86	192	209
10	e– Albany Devils (NJ)	NE	76	37	28	5	6	85	199	201
11	e– Binghamton Senators (OTT)	ET	76	34	34	7	1	76	242	258
12	e– St. John's IceCaps (WPG)	AT	76	32	33	9	2	75	183	235
13	e– Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI)	ET	76	33	35	7	1	74	194	237
14	e– Norfolk Admirals (ANA)	ET	76	27	39	6	4	64	168	219
15	e– Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)	NE	76	28	40	7	1	64	213	246

Western Conference

#	Western Conference	Div	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA
1	y– Utica Comets (VAN)	NO	76	47	20	7	2	103	219	182
2	y– Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)	MW	76	46	22	6	2	100	249	185
3	y– San Antonio Rampage (FLA)	WT	76	45	23	7	1	98	248	222
4	x– Rockford IceHogs (CHI)	MW	76	46	23	5	2	99	222	180
5	x– Texas Stars (DAL)	WT	76	40	22	13	1	94	242	216
6	x– Oklahoma City Barons (EDM)	WT	76	41	27	5	3	90	224	212
7	x– Toronto Marlies (TOR)	NO	76	40	27	9	0	89	207	203
8	x– Chicago Wolves (STL)	MW	76	40	29	6	1	87	210	198
9	e– Lake Erie Monsters (COL)	MW	76	35	29	8	4	82	211	240
10	e– Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)	NO	76	34	29	12	1	81	201	208
11	e– Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)	MW	76	33	28	8	7	81	206	218
12	e– Adirondack Flames (CGY)	NO	76	35	33	6	2	78	233	240
13	e– Charlotte Checkers (CAR)	WT	76	31	38	6	1	69	172	231
14	e– Rochester Americans (BUF)	NO	76	29	41	5	1	64	209	251
15	e– Iowa Wild (MIN)	WT	76	23	49	2	2	50	172	245

Calder Cup Playoffs

On May 7th and 8th the Oklahoma City Barons defeated the Utica Comets by a score of 2-1 in quadruple overtime.  The game was the 6th longest in AHL history. On June 13th the Manchester Monarchs defeated the Utica Comets to win the organization's first Calder Cup.

Bracket

	Conference quarterfinals					Conference semifinals					Conference finals					Calder Cup Final
	1	Manchester Monarchs	2			1	Manchester Monarchs	4
	8	Portland Pirates	2			4	W-B/S Penguins	1
	2	Hershey Bears	3							Eastern Conference
	7	Worcester Sharks	1
											1	Manchester Monarchs	4
										3	Hartford Wolfpack	0
	3	Hartford Wolf Pack	3
	6	Providence Bruins	2
	4	W-B/S Penguins	3			2	Hershey Bears	2
	5	Syracuse Crunch	0			3	Hartford Wolfpack	4
																1	Manchester Monarchs	4
		(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round.)
																1	Utica Comets	1
	1	Utica Comets	3			1	Utica Comets	4
	8	Chicago Wolves	2			6	Oklahoma City Barons	3
	2	Grand Rapids Griffins	3
	7	Toronto	2
											1	Utica Comets	4
										2	Grand Rapids Griffins	2
	3	San Antonio Rampage	0
	6	Oklahoma City Barons	3								Western Conference
	4	Rockford IceHogs	3			2	Grand Rapids Griffins	4
	5	Texas Stars	0			4	Rockford IceHogs	1

• During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

• Manchester Monarchs defeated Portland Pirates 3 games to 2 (5-2, 6-2, 2-3 0-5, 5-3)
• Hershey Bears defeated Worcester Sharks 3 games to 1 (4-1, 3-1, 1-4, 10-4)
• Hartford Wolf Pack defeated Providence Bruins 3 games to 2 (3-1, 1-2, 2-1 (3ot), 2-1, 3-2 (ot))
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated Syracuse Crunch 3 games to none (5-1, 4-0, 5-2)

Western Conference Quarterfinals

• Utica Comets defeated Chicago Wolves 3 games to 2 (3-2 (2ot), 1-2, 2-1 (ot), 3-4 (ot), 4-2)
• Grand Rapids Griffins defeated Toronto Marlies 3 games to 2 (4-7, 2-5, 5-2, 5-4, 3-1)
• Oklahoma City Barons defeated San Antonio Rampage 3 games to none (5-2, 4-3 (ot), 2-1 (ot))
• Rockford IceHogs defeated Texas Stars 3 games to none (4-2, 4-1, 3-2 (ot))

Eastern Conference Semifinals

• Manchester Monarchs defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4 games to 1 (4-3 (3ot), 5-2, 1-2, 5-2, 2-1)
• Hartford Wolf Pack defeated Hershey Bears 4 games to 2 (2-1 (ot), 4-6, 1-2, 3-1, 5-4 (ot), 6-3)

Western Conference Semifinals

• Utica Comets defeated Oklahoma City Barons 4 games to 3 (1-2 (4ot), 2-1 (ot), 3-2, 4-7, 3-1, 1-2, 1-0)
• Grand Rapids Griffins defeated Rockford IceHogs 4 games to 1 (5-3, 5-1, 1-4, 2-1 (ot), 5-3)

Eastern Conference Final

• Manchester Monarchs defeated Hartford Wolf Pack 4 games to none (3-2, 7-4, 5-3, 3-1)

Manchester wins the Richard F. Canning Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions

Western Conference Final

• Utica Comets defeated Grand Rapids Griffins 4 games to 2 (2-1,, 2-4, 4-1, 2-3 (ot), 3-2, 2-0)

Utica wins the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as Western Conference champions

Calder Cup Final

• Manchester Monarchs defeated Utica Comets 4 games to 1 (3-2 (ot), 2-1 (ot), 2-3, 6-3, 2-1)

The Manchester Monarchs win the Calder Cup

Manchester Monarch 2015 Calder Cup Champions

Special Games/events

The Syracuse Crunch announced on June 11, 2014 that they will play the Utica Comets at the Carrier Dome, on the campus Syracuse University in an event called the "Frozen Dome Classic". The ice surface will be setup in the basketball configuration which will give it a capacity of over 30,000.  The game drew a crowd of 30,715.  This event broke record for the largest indoor crowd at a professional hockey game in the United States, which was previously a crowd of 28,183 on April 23, 1996 for a Stanley Cup Playoffs game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers.  The previous largest indoor attendance record for the AHL was 20,672 for a game between the Carolina Monarchs and the Kentucky Thoroughblades at the Greensboro Coliseum on January 18, 1997.  There was also a NCAA Division III game between the Utica College Pioneers and the Oswego State Lakers, as well as a game between law enforcement officials from Syracuse and Utica as part of the day long event.

Major franchise shifts for 2015-16

Late in January 2015 the league annouced the league's Board of Gevernors approved the formation of a Pacific Division for the 2015-16 season with the Norfolk Admirals being relocated to San Diego, California; the Manchester Monarchs being relocated to Ontario, California, the Worcester Sharks being relocated to San Jose, California, the Adirondack Flames being relocated to Stockton, California.  The ownership of the Oklahoma City Barons announced previously that they were ceasing operations after losing their affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers.  The Oilers purchased the Bakersfield Condors franchise in the ECHL and were making Bakersfield, California the home of their AHL affiliate. In March, the Winnipeg Jets annouced the were relocating their AHL affilliate from St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose, and the Montreal Canadiens purchased the Hamilton Bulldogs franchise and relocated them to St. John's.  Both of the moves are believed to be temporary as Winnipeg may be relocating their affiliation to Thunder Bay, Ontario if and when a new arena opens there and the Canadiens are waiting for an arena to open in Laval, Quebec to move their affiliate. The former owner of the Hamilton AHL franchise purchased the Belleville Bulls and will relocate the team to Hamilton asuming the Bulldogs identity.