Welcome to Day Three of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews for the 2018-19 season. Today, we find ourselves in the North Division. On Monday we started in the Pacific Division and yesterday we covered the Central Division.
No affiliation changes here, Cleveland comes over from the Western Conference. Penguins play everyone in this division at least twice but for the Laval Rocket and Belleville Senators whom they do not play at all. Home games listed in bold.
Let’s get after it…
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NHL Affiliation: Ottawa Senators
Record: 29-42-2-3 (63 points, 6th place North Division)
Playoffs: Did not qualify.
Head Coach: Troy Mann
Arena: CAA Arena
ECHL Affiliation: Brampton Beast
Offseason Moves: Rudolfs Balcers, Chase Balisy, Paul Carey, Joseph Labate, Mike McKenna, Adam Tambellini
The Case For: No team completely rebuilt from the ground up like Belleville did this offseason. These signings are for real and the Senators should compete this season.
The Case Against: With Ottawa in full and complete rebuild, how much of that tumult trickles down to Belleville?
Social Media: @BellevilleSens / /BellevilleSens / bellevillesens
Broadcaster: David Foot
vs. WBS: Do not play.
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NHL Affiliation: New Jersey Devils
Record: 25-38-9-4 (63 points, 5th place North Division)
Playoffs: Did not qualify.
Head Coach: Mark Dennehy
Arena: Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena
ECHL Affiliation: Adirondack Thunder
Offseason Moves: Kurtis Gabriel, Eric Tangradi, Eric Gryba
The Case For: Really nice signings for the Devils as they compete on the Southern Tier in the sophomore season under the New Jersey affiliation. Binghamton could surprise a few in the North Division this season.
The Case Against: Belleville is totally retooled, Toronto its coming off of a Calder Cup, Rochester and Syracuse are set to be solid. There is only so much room at the table. Is Binghamton really going to be a player this season? That is a question which has yet to be answered.
Social Media: @BingDevils / /BingDevils / bingdevils
Broadcaster: Rob Lippolis
vs. WBS: 12/31, 1/26, 4/5, 4/14
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NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 25-41-7-3 (60 points, 7th place Central Division)
Playoffs: Did not qualify.
Head Coach: John Madden
Arena: Quicken Loans Arena
ECHL Affiliation: None
Offseason Moves: J-F Berube, Tommy Cross, Adam Clendening, Dan DeSalvo, Dillon Simpson
The Case For: Getting out of the ever competitive Central is one.
The Case Against: Moving into the ultra competitive North Division is the other.
Social Media: @monstershockey / /monstershockey / monstershockey
Broadcaster: Tony Brown
vs. WBS: 10/11, 10/13, 12/7, 2/1
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NHL Affiliation: Montreal Canadiens
Record: 24-42-7-3 (58 points, 7th place North Division)
Playoffs: Did not qualify.
Head Coach: Joël Bouchard
Arena: Place Bell
ECHL Affiliation: None
Offseason Moves: Kenny Agostino, Alex Grenier, Martin Lamarche, Matt Peca, Xavier Ouellet
The Case For: Solid signings with one time league MVP in Agostino and another with Alex Grenier. Laval shouldn’t be a pushover this season.
The Case Against: Putting it all together is half of the battle. Getting it all to click is the other. Can Laval compete and win right out of the gate?
Social Media: @RocketLaval / /RocketLaval / rocketlaval
Broadcaster: Anthony Marcotte
vs. WBS: Do not play.
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NHL Affiliation: Buffalo Sabres
Record: 37-22-11-6 (91 points, 3rd place North Division)
Playoffs: Swept in three games by the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Semifinals.
Head Coach: Chris Taylor
Arena: Blue Cross Arena
ECHL Affiliation: Cincinnati Cyclones
Offseason Moves: Yannick Veilleux, Scott Wedgewood, Tyler Randell, Wayne Simpson
The Case For: The Amerks contended and were a strong team for much of 2017-18. You should expect that to continue in 2018-19.
The Case Against: If we were to pick a team that made playoffs in the North last year to miss playoffs this year, there may be a few fingers pointing in Rochesters direction.
Social Media: @AmerksHockey / /RochesterAmericans / amerkshockey
Broadcaster: Don Stevens
vs. WBS: 11/30, 1/18
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NHL Affiliation: Tampa Bay Lightning
Record: 46-22-3-5 (100 points, 2nd place North Division)
Playoffs: Swept in four games by the Toronto Marlies in the North Division Finals.
Head Coach: Benoit Groulx
Arena: Oncenter War Memorial Arena
ECHL Affiliation: Orlando Solar Bears
Offseason Moves: Cameron Gaunce
The Case For: Syracuse should be good this year, always a solid team and one that makes you battle for everything.
The Case Against: It’s a new day, yes it is with fresh new blood coming out from Laval, Belleville and Binghamton. If the Crunch have a winning record against these teams at the end of the season, they are probably a playoff team. If not, then they may just miss out.
Social Media: @SyracuseCrunch / /syracusecrunch / syracusecrunch
Broadcaster: Lukas Favale
vs. WBS: 12/22, 3/9
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NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs
Record: 54-18-2-2 (112 points, 1st place North Division)
Playoffs: Won Calder Cup in seven games over the Texas Stars.
Head Coach: Sheldon Keefe
Arena: Coca-Cola Coliseum
ECHL Affiliation: Newfoundland Growlers
Offseason Moves: Adam Cracknell, Josh Jooris, Emerson Clark, Stefan Leblanc, Eamon McAdam, Jordan Subban
The Case For: Defending champs reload for another run at Calder.
The Case Against: Defending champs almost never repeat and win a consecutive Calder.
Social Media: @TorontoMarlies / /TorontoMarlies / torontomarlies
Broadcaster: Todd Crocker
vs. WBS: 12/1, 3/17
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NHL Affiliation: Vancouver Canucks
Record: 38-26-8-4 (88 points, 4th place North Division)
Playoffs: Lost in five games to the Toronto Marlies in the North Division Semifinals.
Head Coach: Trent Cull
Arena: Adirondack Bank Center
ECHL Affiliation: Kalamazoo Wings
Offseason Moves: Tanner Kero, Jesse Graham, Ivan Kulbakov
The Case For: Comets bring in some solid signings this season who can keep Utica a threat all year in the North Division.
The Case Against: Competition in the North is going to be fierce this season. No room for slip ups in Utica this season. Doing so, and the Comets could fall behind and get trapped out come the Spring.
Social Media: @UticaComets / /UticaComets / uticacomets
Broadcaster: Joe Roberts
vs. WBS: 2/16, 4/12
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Back tomorrow to close out the previews with a look at the Atlantic Division.
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