Since my s27 Rochester top 10, and coverage of Semp's retirement were a hit, I figured I would give the community another thread. With there not being any threads up right now to discuss the upcoming season, I wanted to put together a small thread to get the AHL going with the season just around the corner. My intention was to do a big pre-season rankings however it seems there may be one in the works and it's a lot of time to invest. Keep in mind folks that this was made with the way the rosters are CURRENTLY set up. Surely we will see a few more roster changes before the season begins. Without further ado, I present to you the AHL Divisional Rankings. 1. Eastern Atlantic Average team rank of 11.25 as per LG Power Rankings. While I don't agree with all of the rankings the Power Rankings algorithm puts together, this division does look to have the tightest competition for sure. With the predicted 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th team in the AHL, it will no doubt be a tough fight to see who makes the playoffs out of these 8 teams. I think this conference is even stronger than calculated seeing as I don't think LHV Phantoms got a fair assessment at 26th overall, they will be right in the mix with the other top 5 teams in this division. I think Providence will take 1st overall in this division, with Bridgeport/Hartford at the bottom. The 2-6 spot is a crap shoot IMO. Prediction 1- Providence 2- Wilkes Barre Scranton 3- Springfield 4- Lehigh Valey 5- Hershey 6- Charlotte 7- Bridgeport 8- Hartford 2. Western Pacific Average team rank of 16.87 as per LG Power Rankings. This division has several of the mid pack AHL teams according to LG which gives them the edge over the East North for the 2nd best division in the AHL. With teams ranging from 12th to 23rd, this should be another scrappy division for the top 4 spots. LG Power Rankings has the Stockton Heat to come out on top as the highest seed, however I give the edge to Ontario. They look to have a strong offensive squad with good defensive options. They retained 5 Calder champs from s27 and they seemed to have filled out really well in bidding. While Stockton will surely put up a great fight in the division, they have a lot of CHL guys coming up so we will have to wait and see how they adjust. Ontario will be fighting with San Jose for the top spot in this division with Tucson/San Diego at the bottom. This is another division where the 3-6 spot is a crap shoot. Prediction 1- Ontario 2- San Jose 3- Stockton 4- Bakersfield 5- San Antonio 6- Texas 7- San Diego 8- Tucson 3. Eastern North Average team rank of 17.57 as per LG Power Rankings. This division is pretty interesting. I think LG has it pretty close to right with Laval being the front runner and Utica not far behind. While I believe Laval and Utica will hold true to what LG thinks, This division has a lot of wildcard teams in it. All bias aside, I think Syracuse got ranked a little too high, and Belleville a little too low. This is the first division that I feel I have no idea what will happen other than Toronto and Syracuse bringing up the rear. (lack of proper logo's for these teams unfortunately) Prediction 1- Laval 2- Utica 3- Belleville 4- Rochester 5- Binghamton 6- Syracuse 7- Toronto 4. Western Central Average team rank of 18.5 as per LG Power Rankings. Ah the West Central. It can only be summed up with one word - YIKES. This division has the worst average team rank and it could be much worse if it wasn't for having the LG Predicted 2nd and 3rd team, Cleveland and Manitoba respectively. With FIVE teams ranging from 24th to 30th, the gap between the top 3 teams of this division here should be immense. It will be a battle of who can stay more consistent between Cleveland, Colorado, and Manitoba to see how the top 3 shakes down. While the remaining 5 teams will be clawing their way to that 4th spot, though I favor Chicago/Iowa/Grand Rapids to put up the best fight for that spot. Prediction 1- Cleveland 2- Colorado 3- Manitoba 4- Chicago 5- Iowa 6- Grand Rapids 7- Rockford 8- Milwaukee Best of luck to all teams this season, please feel free to discuss my opinion of the rankings.
Good write up. Binghamton will challenge for top spot tho. Heard it here first. Keep in mind these rankings only account for games played in the AHL. It does not account for NHL guys coming down or CHL guys like DP’s coming up. I’m sure that accounts for the big spread in the Central
I agree with you @eh iTz Horty . I originally had them at 3rd, then switched to 4th, then put them 5th LOL. I really couldn't decide where to put them. I think they are very capable of winning games, just a question of how consistent they can stay.
Good writeup Fox. I agree with most of your picks except that I think you’re underestimating your team
Thanks for taking the time to do this fox. The only thing the devils can do is try to prove ya wrong. I hope we can.
@IlFox How much influence did Bakersfield's huge 1-0 victory against the Syracuse Crunch play in you're decision to place them 4th? I heard it was a very tight, fast paced game in which @Neil x 25 was very proud of
Welp, since it's been predicted that we'll be fighting for last, I might as well take my hockey stick and shove it up my ass! Btw, nice write up!
I could have sworn you did that long ago.... like right around the time you were managing with Darth Forsberg.
Parise kept me from doing that. A shocker to all: we weren't that bad that season.....EXCEPT Darth lol.
