The American Hockey League’s Canadian Division has officially been scrapped, as things begin to return to normal and pandemic-related border restrictions eventually ease.
The league announced its divisional alignments for the 2021/22 season on Monday, which sees the Belleville Senators renew previous North Division rivalries with Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets), Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens), Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres), Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning), Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils).
However, there will be one less team in the North moving forward after an affiliate shuffle, that saw the Vancouver Canucks move their AHL team to Abbotsford, BC and join the Pacific Division.
The AHL also says teams in the North, Atlantic and Central Divisions will be able to play either 72 or 76 games this season, with the Pacific Division teams playing 68, however all teams will move to a unified 72 game schedule in 2022/23 with expanded playoff qualification as well.
That means standings and playoff qualification for this coming season will be based on points percentage, since teams aren’t playing the same number of games.
The Belleville Senators have announced they will play 72 games this year.
The 2021/22 season is slated to start on October 15 and more details about the schedule for this season will be announced in the summer.
