2021-22 AHL season

This is the 2021-22 American Hockey League season. This is the league's 86th season.

Scheduling

On June 7, 2021 the league issued a statement saying that they AHL Board of Governors approved the alignment for the 2021-22 season.

Teams will play an unequal number of games for 2021-22:

• Chicago, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Milwaukee, Rochester, Springfield, Syracuse, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will play 76 games
• Belleville, Bridgeport, Charlotte, Hartford, Iowa, Laval, Manitoba, Providence, Rockford, Texas, Toronto, Utica will play 72 games
• Abbotsford, Bakersfield, Colorado, Henderson, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Stockton, Tucson (the Pacific Division) will play 68 games.

The season commences on October 15th.

The playoff format will be announced in the summer of 2021. As part of the announcement for the 2021-22 season it was stated that there will be an increase in the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs over each of the next two seasons.

As part of the announcement, the league announced that all teams will play 72 games starting with the 2022-23 season with the expected addition of the Palm Springs AHL team which had their arena construction begin on June 3, 2021.

Membership Changes

• The Henderson Silver Knights are due to move out of the Orleans Arena in Summerlin, Nevada after temporarily playing there for the 2020-21 season and will relocate to the Lifeguard Arena sometime during the 2021-22 season pending completion of the new arena.

• The Charlotte Checkers, Milwaukee Admirals, and Springfield Thunderbirds who were announced as having opted out of playing for the 2020-21 playing season due to restrictions on spectators for the season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic return to play.

• All of the teams that made temporary relocations due to local restrictions involving the AHL team's home area or even the NHL team's home arena will return to their previous home except for the Binghamton Devils who relocated to Utica, New York for the 2021-22 season:

• The Providence Bruins had relocated to the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
• The Binghamton Devils relocated to the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
• The Ontario Reign relocate to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.
• The San Diego Gulls relocated to the Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena in Irvine, California.
• The Stockton Heat would be temporarily relocated for the 2020-21 season to Calgary, Alberta playing out of the Scotiabank Saddledome to avoid quarantine restrictions with crossing the US-Canada border for call-ups and joined the Canadian Division.
• The Laval Rocket had moved their home games to the Bell Centre in Montreal for the season.
• The Belleville Senators had moved their games to the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa for the season.
• The San Jose Barracuda would start their season based out of Tucson, Arizona due to restrictions in their hometown San Jose, California.

• On May 6th, 2021 the AHL Board of Governors approved the relocation of the Utica Comets to Abbotsford, British Columbia and the Binghamton Devils to Utica, New York where they will still be called the Utica Comets for the 2021-22 season.On July 14, the name, logo, and colours were released as the team will be called the Abbotsford Canucks using the NHL team's colors and using the "Johnny Canuck" skating lumberjack logo as their primary logo.

• On May 11, 2021 the Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced they would be renamed the Bridgeport Islanders for the 2021-22 season.

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

Final standings as of April 30, 2022

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Pts%	GF	GA
y–Charlotte Checkers (FLA/SEA)	72	42	24	5	1	90	.625	234	197
x–Springfield Thunderbirds (STL)	76	43	24	6	3	95	.625	233	221
x–Providence Bruins (BOS)	72	36	25	5	6	83	.576	199	192
x–Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)	76	35	33	4	4	78	.513	209	225
x–Hershey Bears (WSH)	76	34	32	6	4	78	.513	202	209
x–Bridgeport Islanders (NYI)	72	31	30	7	4	73	.507	213	226
e–Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)	72	32	32	6	2	72	.500	205	225
e–Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI)	76	29	32	10	5	73	.480	195	239

North Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Pts%	GF	GA
y–Utica Comets (NJD)	72	43	20	8	1	95	.660	246	206
x–Syracuse Crunch (TBL)	76	41	26	7	2	91	.599	242	229
x–Laval Rocket (MTL)	72	39	26	5	2	85	.590	246	231
x–Belleville Senators (OTT)	72	40	28	4	0	84	.583	219	218
x–Rochester Americans (BUF)	76	37	29	7	3	84	.553	254	270
e–Toronto Marlies (TOR)	72	37	30	4	1	79	.549	243	244
e–Cleveland Monsters (CBJ)	76	28	35	8	5	69	.454	207	262

Western Conference

Central Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Pts%	GF	GA
y–Chicago Wolves (CAR)	76	50	16	5	5	110	.724	261	194
x–Manitoba Moose (WPG)	72	41	24	5	2	89	.618	228	204
x–Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)	76	39	28	5	4	87	.572	229	228
x–Rockford IceHogs (CHI)	72	37	30	4	1	79	.549	223	221
x–Texas Stars (DAL)	72	32	28	6	6	76	.528	219	230
e–Iowa Wild (MIN)	72	32	31	4	5	73	.507	202	209
e–Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)	76	33	35	6	2	74	.487	209	240

Pacific Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Pts%	GF	GA
y–Stockton Heat (CGY)	68	45	16	5	2	97	.713	242	185
x–Ontario Reign (LAK)	68	41	18	5	4	91	.669	259	219
x–Colorado Eagles (COL)	68	39	22	4	3	85	.625	244	207
x–Bakersfield Condors (EDM)	68	37	21	5	5	84	.618	225	192
x–Abbotsford Canucks (VAN)	68	39	23	5	1	84	.618	230	200
x–Henderson Silver Knights (VGK)	68	35	28	4	1	75	.551	209	203
x–San Diego Gulls (ANA)	68	28	33	4	3	63	.463	197	223
e–Tucson Roadrunners (ARI)	68	23	39	5	1	52	.382	182	268
e–San Jose Barracuda (SJS)	68	20	42	4	2	46	.338	202	291

2022 Calder Cup playoffs

The league revised the format for the Calder Cup Playoffs.In each division the all but the bottom two teams will qualify for the playoffs. The first round will be a best-of-three series with six teams in the Atlantic Division, five in the North Division, five in the Central Division and seven in the Pacific Division. Teams will be ranked by points percentage as teams are playing an unequal number of games.

First Round May 2 – 9

Division Semifinals May 6 – 19

Division Finals May 21 – 29

Conference Finals June 3 – 15

Calder Cup Finals June 19 – 25

A1

Charlotte

3

A3

Providence

0

A6

Bridgeport

1

A6

Bridgeport

2

Atlantic Division

A1

Charlotte

0

A2

Springfield

3

A2

Springfield

3

Eastern Conference

A4

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

2

A4

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

0

A5

Hershey

1

A2

Springfield

4

N3

Laval

3

N1

Utica

2

N4

Belleville

0

N5

Rochester

3

N5

Rochester

2

North Division

N5

Rochester

0

N3

Laval

3

N2

Syracuse

2

N3

Laval

3

A2

Springfield

1

C1

Chicago

4

C1

Chicago

3

C4

Rockford

2

C4

Rockford

0

C5

Texas

0

Central Division

C1

Chicago

3

C3

Milwaukee

1

C2

Manitoba

2

Western Conference

C3

Milwaukee

3

C1

Chicago

4

P1

Stockton

2

P1

Stockton

3

P4

Bakersfield

2

P4

Bakersfield

0

P5

Abbotsford

0

Pacific Division

P1

Stockton

3

P2

Ontario

2

P3

Colorado

1

P7

San Diego

0

P2

Ontario

0

P3

Colorado

2

P3

Colorado

3

P6

Henderson

0

Atlantic Division First Round

• Bridgeport Islanders defeated Providence Bruins 2 games to none
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated Hershey Bears 2 games to 1

North Division First Round

• Rochester Americans defeated Belleville Senators 2 games to none

Central Division First Round

• Rockford IceHogs defeated Texas Stars 2 games to none

Pacific Division First Round

• Ontario Reign defeated San Diego Gulls 2 games to none
• Colorado Eagles defeated Henderson Silver Knights 2 games to none
• Bakersfield Condors defeated Abbotsford Canucks 2 games to none

Atlantic Division Semifinals

• Charlotte Checkers defeated Bridgeport Islanders 3 games to 1
• Springfield Falcons defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3 games to none

North Division Semifinals

• Rochester Americans defeated Utica Comets 3 games to 2
• Laval Rocket defeated Syracuse Crunch 3 games to 2

Central Division Semifinals

• Chicago Wolves defeated Rockford IceHogs 3 games to none
• Milwaukee Admirals defeated Manitoba Moose 3 games to 2

Pacific Division Semifinals

• Stockton Heat defeated Bakersfield Condors 3 games to none
• Colorado Eagles defeated Ontario Reign 3 games to none

Atlantic Division Final

• Springfield Falcons defeated Charlotte Checkers 3 games to none

North Division Final

• Laval Rocket defeated Rochester Americans 3 games to none

Central Division Final

• Chicago Wolves defeated Milwaukee Admirals 3 games to 1

Pacific Division Final

• Stockton Heat defeated Colorado Eagles 3 games to 1

Eastern Conference Final

• Springfield Falcons defeated Laval Rocket 4 games to 3

Western Conference Final

• Chicago Wolves defeated Stockton Heat 4 games to 3

Calder Cup Final

• Chicago Wolves defeated Springfield Falcons 4 games to 1