Chirps from Center Ice

 

We conclude our Chirps from Center Ice 2018-19 AHL Previews with a look in familiar territory, the Atlantic Division. If you missed the division previews this week in the Pacific, Central and North, use the drop down menu at the top of the blog.

Every division prior to the Atlantic had a change of some kind. Not here. No additions, contractions or affiliation changes. Wilkes-Barre plays every team in this division multiple times with those games being played in Wilkes-Barre listed in bold.

Let’s finish up…

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NHL Affiliation: New York Islanders

Record: 36-32-5-3 (80 points, 5th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Brent Thompson 

Arena: Webster Bank Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Worcester Railers

Offseason Moves: Chris Bourque, Matt Lorito, Jeremy Smith, Mike Sislo

The Case For: Big time signings by the Sound Tigers this offseason. Bridgeport will have a lot of firepower up front and are loaded coming out of the gate.

The Case Against: Bridgeport always finds a way to miss the playoffs. 

Social Media: @TheSoundTigers / /soundtigers / soundtigers

Broadcaster: Alan Fuehring

vs. WBS: 11/4, 12/8, 12/16, 12/19, 1/23, 2/2, 4/2, 4/13

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NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Record: 46-26-1-3 (96 points, 3rd place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Lost in five games to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the Atlantic Division Finals.

Head Coach: Mike Vellucci

Arena: Bojangles’ Coliseum

ECHL Affiliation: Florida Everblades

Offseason Moves: Jamie Phillips, Zach Nastasiuk, Dan Renouf, Kyle Platzer

The Case For: Good veteran signings coming in for Charlotte. Checkers will be good again this year. 

The Case Against: So many more improved teams in the division. Will Charlotte be able to keep up?

Social Media: @CheckersHockey / /checkershockey / checkershockey

Broadcaster: Jason Shaya

vs. WBS: 11/16, 11/17, 1/11, 1/12

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NHL Affiliation: New York Rangers

Record: 34-33-6-3 (77 points, 6th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Keith McCambridge

Arena: XL Center

ECHL Affiliation: Maine Mariners

Offseason Moves: Bobby Butler, Dustin Tokarski

The Case For: Seems like an already bad Hartford team from last year lost more than they gained this offseason, still though, anything can happen.

The Case Against: Improved Bridgeport and Springfield teams are going to batter the Wolf Pack, not even mentioning divisional foes like Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton. Could be a long year in Hartford.

Social Media: @WolfPackAHL / /HartfordWolfPack / hartford_wolfpack

Broadcaster: Bob Crawford

vs. WBS: 11/2, 11/3, 11/10, 2/17, 3/6, 3/8

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NHL Affiliation: Washington Capitals

Record: 30-37-4-5 (69 points, 8th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Spencer Carbery

Arena: Giant Center

ECHL Affiliation: South Carolina Stingrays

Offseason Moves: Jayson Megna, Logan Pyett, Mike Sgarbossa

The Case For: With a new head coach coming in this season, don’t expect the Bears to finish last this year.

The Case Against: All that said, with all the upgrades happening around the division and outside, don’t expect the Bears to be a playoff contending team.

Social Media: @TheHersheyBears / /TheHersheyBears / thehersheybears

Broadcaster: Zack Fisch

vs. WBS: 10/17, 10/26, 10/27, 11/24, 11/28, 12/9, 12/21, 12/28, 1/19, 2/13, 2/22, 3/19

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NHL Affiliation: Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 47-19-5-5 (104 points, 1st place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Swept in four games by the Toronto Marlies in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Head Coach: Scott Gordon

Arena: PPL Center

ECHL Affiliation: Reading Royals

Offseason Moves: Zach Palmquist

The Case For: Not a lot of offseason noise for the Phantoms, but they are a young and up and coming team filled to the brim with prospects ready to take the next step. Expect Lehigh Valley to contend again this year.

The Case Against: It’s probably going to be tough to repeat as division champs and even harder to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals like the Phantoms did last year. Do they have it in them? Time will tell.

Social Media: @LVPhantoms / /LehighValleyPhantoms / lehighvalleyphantoms

Broadcaster: Bob Rotruck

vs. WBS: 10/19, 10/20, 12/15, 12/26, 12/29, 1/21, 3/6, 3/13, 3/22, 3/23, 4/6, 4/7

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NHL Affiliation: Boston Bruins

Record: 45-26-3-2 (95 points, 4th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Lost in four games to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Head Coach: Jay Leach

Arena: Dunkin’ Donuts Center

ECHL Affiliation: Atlanta Gladiators

Offseason Moves: Austin Fyten, Mark McNeill, Cody Goloubef

The Case For: Providence is always constantly good.

The Case Against: Consistently good may not be enough when you have a Springfield team that looks great and a Bridgeport team that may score six goals a night or more. 

Social Media: @AHLBruins / /providencebruins / providencebruins

Broadcaster: Only AHL team without one.

vs. WBS: 11/9, 11/11, 11/25, 3/1, 3/16, 3/27

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NHL Affiliation: Florida Panthers

Record: 32-37-5-2 (71 points, 7th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Geordie Kinnear

Arena: Mass Mutual Center 

ECHL Affiliation: None

Offseason Moves: Chris Driedger, Mike Hutchinson, Jacob MacDonald, Julian Melchiori, Matt Mangene, Harry Zolnierczyk, Paul Thompson

The Case For: You want a preseason favorite? Look no further than Springfield. Completely rebuilt and retooled at every division, the Thunderbirds should contend all season and compete for a division title.

The Case Against: It may be hard to look for one on paper, but as we have seen with countless other teams who’ve rebuild from the ground up with hopes of contending, the proof will be in the product.

Social Media: @thunderbirdsahl / /thunderbirdsahl / thunderbirdsahl

Broadcaster: Ryan Smith

vs. WBS: 10/6, 11/14, 11/23, 12/12, 3/24, 3/30

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NHL Affiliation: Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 45-22-6-3 (99 points, 2nd place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Swept in three games by the Charlotte Checkers in the Atlantic Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Clark Donatelli

Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

ECHL Affiliation: Wheeling Nailers

Offseason Moves: John Muse, Will O’Neill, Stefan Elliot, Jimmy Hayes

The Case For: Top end offensive firepower with a strong defensive corps should have the Penguins in the mix all season long.

The Case Against: Youth and the lack of as high end prospect with Daniel Sprong likely graduated. That and the power play which has been a punch line to a joke in Northeastern PA could have the Penguins playing from behind every now and again.

Social Media: @WBSPenguins / /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins / wbspenguins

Broadcaster: Nick Hart

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That does it for another year of AHL Previews. I hope you enjoyed reading them. If you have a team going tomorrow, good luck. The Gameday setup for the Penguins Saturday home opener against the Springfield Thunderbirds hits the blog Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

 

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.

 

Back for Day Two of the yearly Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews. If you missed the Pacific Division click here to get caught up.

Today we find ourselves in the Central Division. The Central loses the Cleveland Monsters to the Eastern Conference’s North Division and gains the San Antonio Rampage and Texas Stars. Everyone in this division plays 76 games. No affiliation swaps other than San Antonio moving from Colorado’s NHL affiliate to St. Louis’ and Chicago no longer sharing an affiliate with Las Vegas, they are the sole affiliate of the Stanley Cup runners up Golden Knights.

Penguins play the Rockford IceHogs, the Milwaukee Admirals and the Grand Rapids Griffins twice each, with the games played at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza listed in bold.

Let’s get started…

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NHL Affiliation: Vegas Golden Knights

Record: 42-23-7-4 (95 points, 1st place Central Division)

Playoffs: Swept in three games in the Central Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Rocky Thompson

Arena: Allstate Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Fort Wayne Komets

Offseason Moves: Daniel Carr, Zach Fucale, Jimmy Oligny, Gage Quinney, Curtis McKenzie

The Case For: Central champs return retooled, reloaded. Should be another successful season in Rosemont. 

The Case Against: Texas and San Antonio join the division and Rockford, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids project to be strong. It’s going to be an angry bees nest that the Wolves must negotiate through almost every weekend.

Social Media: @Chicago_Wolves / /ChicagoWolves / chicagowolves

Broadcaster: Jason Shaver

vs. WBS: Do not play.

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NHL Affiliation: Detroit Red Wings

Record: 42-25-2-7 (93 points, 2nd place Central Division)

Playoffs: Lost in five games to the Manitoba Moose in the Central Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Ben Simon

Arena: Van Andel Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Toledo Walleye

Offseason Moves: Carter Camper, Harri Sateri, Chris Terry, Wade Megan, Jake Chelios

The Case For: The NHL parent team may be crap this season, but the prospects in Grand Rapids are a solid threat provided everyone stays healthy.

The Case Against: How much does the organizational lack of success seep down to the AHL level come January or February?

Social Media: @griffinshockey / /grgriffins / griffinshockey

Broadcaster: Bob Kaser

vs. WBS: 1/4, 2/9

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NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild

Record: 33-27-10-6 (82 points, 5th place Central Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Tim Army

Arena: Wells Fargo Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Allen Americans

Offseason Moves: Matt Bartkowski, Matt Read, Mike Liambas, Andrew Hammond

The Case For: Tim Army comes in from Wilkes-Barre to hopefully guide the Wild to a postseason berth with a solid group of offseason acquisitions.

The Case Against: Iowa has become the poster child for the old saying that they don’t play games on paper. Wild will need to prove to everyone that they are a serious threat.

Social Media: @IAWild / /IAWild / iowawild

Broadcaster: Joe O’Donnell

vs. WBS: Do not play.

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NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Record: 42-26-4-4 (92 points, 3rd place Central Division)

Playoffs: Swept in four games by the Rockford IceHogs in the Central Division Finals.

Head Coach: Pascal Vincent

Arena: Bell MTS Place

ECHL Affiliation: Jacksonville Icemen

Offseason Moves: Ken Appleby, Nic Kerdiles, Seth Griffith, Felix Girard

The Case For: Really don’t see a reason for a major regression for the Moose this season, Manitoba should again be a solid club.

The Case Against: If there was a team in the Central that made playoffs that there were odds to miss, Manitoba may be a heavy favorite.

Social Media: @ManitobaMoose / /ManitobaMoose / manitobamoose

Broadcaster: Mitch Peacock

vs. WBS: Do not play.

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NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Record: 38-32-4-2 (82 points, 6th place Central Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Karl Taylor

Arena: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena

ECHL Affiliation: None

Offseason Moves: Colin Blackwell, Brian Cooper, Jarred Tinordi, Zac Rinaldo, Rocco Grimaldi

The Case For: Missing playoffs is the rare exception in Milwaukee, look for the Admirals to rebound in a big way and possibly be a strong contender.

The Case Against: Competition in the Central is high, Milwaukee cannot be plagued by the inconsistency which haunted them last season. 

Social Media: @mkeadmirals / /mkeadmirals / mkeadmirals

Broadcaster: Aaron Sims

vs. WBS: 1/5, 2/8

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NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 40-28-4-4 (88 points, 4th place Central Division)

Playoffs: Lost in six games to the Texas Stars in the Western Conference Finals.

Head Coach: Jeremy Colliton

Arena: BMO Harris Bank Center

ECHL Affiliation: Indy Fuel

Offseason Moves: Terry Broadhurst, Andrew Campbell, Jordan Schroeder

The Case For: Last years surprise team was Rockford, who will continue that momentum into 2018-19 and be a decent contender.

The Case Against: Book is out on the IceHogs, who will not be seen as an automatic two points for the opponent. Teams will be prepared for what Rockford brings. How the IceHogs react off of that will tell the tale of how far and how much success they have.

Social Media: @goicehogs / /RockfordIceHogs / rockfordicehogs

Broadcaster: Joseph Zakrzewski

vs. WBS: 2/6, 2/24

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NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues

Record: 35-31-10-0 (80 points, 8th place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Drew Bannister

Arena: AT&T Center

ECHL Affiliation: Tulsa Oilers

Offseason Moves: Brian Flynn, Joey Laleggia, Jordan Nolan, Trevor Smith, Tyler Wotherspoon

The Case For: St. Louis comes in as a full time affiliate for the Rampage. That, coupled with some solid offseason acquisitions leads you to believe that San Antonio will be markedly improved in 2018-19.

The Case Against: Competition is expected to be stiff in the Central, where the Rampage move to this season. Can they keep up?

Social Media: @sarampage / /sarampagehockey / sarampage

Broadcaster: Brian McCormack

vs. WBS: Do not play.

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NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Record: 38-24-8-6 (90 points, 2nd place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Lost in seven games to the Toronto Marlies in the Calder Cup Finals.

Head Coach: Derek Laxdal

Arena: H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

ECHL Affiliation: Idaho Steelheads

Offseason Moves: Erik Condra, Joel Hanley Colton Hargrove, Michael Mersch

The Case For: Defending Western Conference champs come in as favorites in a new division. Stars should be good again this year and threaten for a playoff spot.

The Case Against: May not be the best team team in Texas anymore in a new division which was fun to watch last year.

Social Media: @TexasStars / /TexasStars / txstarshockey

Broadcaster: Brian Tosti

vs. WBS: Do not play.

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Back tomorrow for a look at the North Division.

 

Back for another season is my annual look and preview at every team in the American Hockey League, it’s the 2018-19 version of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews.

The schedule for this week will be the Pacific Division today, the Central tomorrow, the North on Wednesday and the Atlantic on Thursday. You can access the previews at any time by clicking on the handy drop down menu at the top of the blog. I will leave it up for a few weeks before taking it down once we get into the season.

Anyway, we start far out in the Western Conference in the Pacific Division. Let’s get right to it.

Affiliation changes here and additions are as follows, in is the Colorado Eagles up from the ECHL as the new AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche and out are the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage who move to the Central Division. Every team in this division plays 68 games so the, “ranking by percentage points” is a distant memory for everyone else. 

The Penguins don’t play anyone here, so the “vs. WBS” line isn’t included. We start in alphabetical order beginning with the Bakersfield Condors. Social Media tabs are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in that order.

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NHL Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers

Record: 31-27-9-1 (72 points, 7th place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Jay Woodcroft

Arena: Rabobank Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Wichita Thunder

Offseason Moves: Kevin Gravel

The Case For: Condors could play sleeper, with the Texas teams out of the division now. Could be a team to watch the first part of the season.

The Case Against: Lost a lot of core guys in offseason to other teams. This was a non-playoff team that was buried early last season. Could end up the same way. 

Social Media: @condors / /BakersfieldCondors / condors

Broadcaster: Ryan Holt

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NHL Affiliation: Colorado Avalanche

Record: Technically an expansion side. Spent last season (as a franchise) in the ECHL.

Playoffs: n/a

Head Coach: Greg Cronin

Arena: Budweiser Events Center

ECHL Affiliation: Utah Grizzlies

Offseason Moves: Grayson Downing, Sheldon Dries, Scott Kosmachuk

The Case For: League newcomer Colorado is coming off back to back Kelly Cup Championships in the ECHL. It’s a franchise that is used to winning. 

The Case Against: The problem is that the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche has lost a lot more than it has won. It may be a cold dose of reality and an uphill climb to be a contender in Loveland, Colorado this season.

Social Media: @ColoradoEagles / /ColoradoEagles / coloradoeagleshockey

Broadcaster: Kevin McGlue

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NHL Affiliation: Los Angeles Kings

Record: 36-25-4-3 (79 points, 3rd place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Lost in four games to the Texas Stars in the Pacific Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Mike Stothers

Arena: Citizens Business Bank Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Manchester Monarchs

Offseason Moves: Peter Budaj, Zack Mitchell

The Case For: Ontario should be a solid team again this season who can battle divisional foes for 68 games and have a good shot at winning the division.

The Case Against: Seems that something has been lacking the past couple of seasons with the Reign. Are they a playoff contender? Sure. A championship contender? I wouldn’t go that far.

Social Media: @ontarioreign / /OntarioReign / ontarioreignhockey

Broadcaster: Cameron Close

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NHL Affiliation: Anaheim Ducks

Record: 36-28-3-1 (76 points, 5th place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Dallas Eakins

Arena: Valley View Casino Center

ECHL Affiliation: None

Offseason Moves: Jared Coreau, Ben Street, Chase DeLeo, Ben Thomson

The Case For: Had a playoff spot until the final weekend and was pushed out by a resurgent San Jose team. Had a solid offseason by Pacific Division standards and will probably be at the top of the division all season.

The Case Against: Does history bear repeating again? Does San Diego start out hot then fade late? Do they recover from the embarrassment that was the final weekend of last season? 

Social Media: @SDGullsAHL / /SDGullsAHL / sdgullsahl

Broadcaster: Andy Zilch

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NHL Affiliation: San Jose Sharks

Record: 34-26-4-4 (76 points, 4th place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Lost in four games to the Tucson Roadrunners in the Pacific Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Roy Sommer

Arena: SAP Center

ECHL Affiliation: None

Offseason Moves: Kyle Wood

The Case For: Roy Sommer’s teams are always well prepared. That was evident in the final weeks of the regular season. Look for the trend to continue.

The Case Against: If there is one playoff team from last year that you bet on to miss this year, San Jose is probably that team.

Social Media: @sjbarracuda / /sjbarracuda / sjbarracuda

Broadcaster: Nick Nollenberger

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NHL Affiliation: Calgary Flames

Record: 34-28-2-4 (74 points, 6th place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Cail MacLean

Arena: Stockton Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Kansas City Mavericks

Offseason Moves: Tyler Graovac, Anthony Peluso, Kerby Rychel, Alan Quine, Buddy Robinson

The Case For: Decent haul this offseason in acquiring key pieces that will play major roles for the Heat this upcoming campaign. Stockton flirted with being a good team last year, they are primed to make the jump in 2018-19.

The Case Against: Ontario, Tucson and San Diego could be penciled in as playoff squads, Colorado is a big unknown and the other teams may play spoiler. There is only so much room and Calgary affiliates have usually disappointed.

Social Media: @AHLHeat / /AHLHeat / ahlheat

Broadcaster: Brandon Kisker

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NHL Affiliation: Arizona Coyotes

Record: 42-20-5-1 (90 points, 1st place Pacific Division)

Playoffs: Lost in five games to the Texas Stars in the Pacific Division Finals.

Head Coach: Jay Varady

Arena: Tucson Convention Center

ECHL Affiliation: Norfolk Admirals

Offseason Moves: Adam Helewka, Jacob Graves, Hudson Fasching

The Case For: Defending division champ ready to pick up where they left off last season. Tucson was a solid team in the second half of the year last season and that trend could continue into the Fall.

The Case Against: Plenty defections to other teams that chipped in a ton offensively may hinder the Roadrunners chances this season.

Social Media: @RoadrunnersAHL / /RoadrunnersAHL / roadrunnersahl

Broadcaster: Adrian Denny

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Back tomorrow with a look at the Central Division.