The league also re-instituted the use of the relegation system as more emphasis would be placed on play in the second division of the Ice Hockey’s Bundesliga. However, the league rebounded as it experienced an influx of NHL players during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout. Furthermore, rulings by the European Court of Justice enabled players to move quite frequently between teams and attendance numbers took a fall coming into the new millennium.įormer NHL defenseman Christian Ehrhoff finished his long professional career in his native Germany, playing for Kolner Haie in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In the beginning, the league experienced controversies as many teams were highly in debt and some clubs were forced to fold. The DEL was founded in 1994-95 and was comprised of teams from the Ice Hockey Bundesliga’s first and second division. As the NHL continues to grow, the AHL will expand along with them, providing quality mentoring and growth for up and coming NHL talent. Louis Blues.Īs of 2021-22, every NHL team has maintained an affiliation with an AHL team. Many NHL coaches make a stop along the way in the AHL to hone their craft, including the likes of Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Mike Yeo of the St. It’s not just players who work their way through the AHL, either. With this rule in place, the AHL will always be a bit hamstrung in terms of missing out on the best draft picks who just aren’t ready to take on NHL ice time as an 18 or 19-year-old, but could use a little more competition than what they were receiving in juniors. If not for an age restriction that prevents prospects who are under the age of 20 from playing in the league, the AHL could have seen even more quality players pass through their arenas. This allows many AHL teams to play host to some of the most talented young players in the world who are just on the cusp of breaking into the NHL. Oftentimes, NHL teams will decide if a prospect is ready for the big leagues after they have completed a certain amount of international play or competition within a North American league. The American Hockey League (AHL) makes the list because it is usually the last stop for a developing prospect before they arrive in the NHL. The American Hockey League is often viewed as the last stop for a prospect before an NHL call-up. When you look at it this way, it’s no surprise that so many players from all over the world are utilizing the NCAA as their route to professional hockey. For players, they can earn a degree and develop their game before reaching the AHL or NHL with a physical and maturity edge over their counterparts. For teams, they can draft a promising but somewhat uncertain player who is heading to the NCAA to receive up to four years of growth essentially free. This unprecedented growth represents a change in how both players and teams are utilizing the NCAA as a pathway to reaching the NHL. That number was just 20% at the turn of the century. As said by collegehockeyinc in promotional material from 2017:Ī record 314 former college players skated in the NHL in 2016-17, comprising 32% of the league. Over the course of the last decade, NCAA hockey has become a top development path for players to take to the NHL. Even though the three major junior hockey leagues differ in terms of their respective styles, each has consistently produced a plethora of talent for NHL teams around North America. While leagues such as the QMJHL have been known for producing offensive superstars, the OHL seems to deliver players that are extremely well-rounded. The OHL consistently produces players that are all-around skilled players.
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