No change for Wolves as AHL shifts divisions
The Chicago Wolves will stay in the American Hockey League’s Midwest Division after the 30-team league re-aligned its two conference, six-division format for the 2012-13 season.
The Wolves will compete against on new rival in the five-team Midwest Division — the Grand Rapids Griffins — and three traditional foes: the Milwaukee Admirals, Peoria Rivermen, and Rockford IceHogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Western Conference also features five rivals from the North Division: the Abbotsford Heat, Hamilton Bulldogs, Lake Erie Monsters, Rochester Americans and Toronto Marlies. The newly created South Division features five squads: the Charlotte Checkers, Houston Aeros, Oklahoma City Barons, San Antonio Rampage and Texas Stars.
The 2012-13 AHL regular-season schedule and the format for the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs will be released later this summer.
Here are the divisions for the two AHL conferences:
Western Conference
Midwest Division
Team (NHL affiliate)
Chicago (Vancouver)
Grand Rapids (Detroit)
Milwaukee (Nashville)
Peoria (St. Louis)
Rockford (Chicago)
North Division
Abbotsford (Calgary)
Hamilton (Montreal)
Lake Erie (Colorado)
Rochester (Buffalo)
Toronto (Toronto)
South Division
Charlotte (Carolina)
Houston (Minnesota)
Oklahoma City (Edmonton)
San Antonio (Florida)
Texas (Dallas)
Western Conference
Atlantic Division
Manchester (LA)
Portland (Phoenix)
Providence (Boston)
St. John’s (Winnipeg)
Worcester (San Jose)
Northeast Division
Adirondack (Philadelphia)
Albany (New Jersey)
Bridgeport (NY Islanders)
Connecticut (NY Rangers)
Springfield (Columbus)
East Division
Binghamton (Ottawa)
Hershey (Washington)
Norfolk (Anaheim)
Syracuse (Tampa Bay)
W-B/Scranton (Pittsburgh)