The 2024-2025 American Hockey League season will mark the AHL’s 89th campaign and a move to a new streaming home – FloHockey and the FloSports app.

The season will feature 1,152 regular-season games, followed by the Calder Cup Playoffs, and while all of that unfolds, FloHockey subscribers will get to learn more about the league, including what transpired during a memorable 2023-2024 campaign. 

• Subscribe To FloHockey To Watch AHL This Season
• AHL Standings 
• More AHL Hockey News

Last season, the Hershey Bears won a record-extending 13th Calder Cup, also their second title in a row. Amazingly, their record includes another 12 runner-up finishes. 

To put all of that into perspective, only 14 teams in the league’s long history have won the Calder Cup two or more times – at all – with the now-defunct Cleveland Barons second on the all-time wins list with nine.

The Hershey Bears And The 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs

As is tradition, 23 of the AHL’s 32 teams qualified for the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, landing in the playoff bracket in a variety of configurations.

The Hershey Bears were ferocious in their title defense, easing into the playoffs with a 53-14-0-5 regular-season record. It was the second-best regular season in league history and most wins by an AHL team in the 72-game era. 

However, playoff hockey is a completely different animal, and success during the regular season doesn’t always translate into postseason wins, too.

The Bears’ dominance throughout the season earned them a spot in the best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals, where they made light work of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, winning the series 3-1.

In the Atlantic Division Finals, the Bears rolled past the Hartford Wolf Pack relatively untested, winning 3-0.

The Eastern Conference Finals were all a hockey fan could ask for, as the Bears almost saw a 3-0 series lead against the Cleveland Monsters slip away in what would’ve been a historic collapse.

Instead, after Cleveland won three straight games to even the series and then pushed the Bears to overtime in the finale, Hershey center Garrett Roe delivered the overtime goal that sent an exhausted Hershey squad back to the Calder Cup Finals with a 3-2 win and 4-3 series victory.

The reward for the Bears was a rematch with the Coachella Valley Firebirds who were back in the Calder Cup Finals and looking for redemption after losing to the Bears in 2023.

The tired Bears lost the opening game of the finals but went on to with the series 4-2, including three consecutive wins to close it out.

Only 10 times in AHL history has a team won the Calder Cup in back-to-back years, with the Bears doing it three times – 1958-1959; 2009-2010 and 2023-2024.

The Bears have been part of the AHL for nearly its entire existence and have been affiliated with the NHL’s Washington Capitals since the 2005-2006 season. 

Who Else Topped Their Divisions During The 2023-2024 AHL Season?

We know the Hershey Bears won the Atlantic Division with a near-record 53-14-0-5 performance during the regular season.

The Cleveland Monsters won the North Division (40-24-5-3), the Milwaukee Admirals took the Central Division (47-22-2-1) and the Coachella Valley Firebirds were the victors in the 10-team Pacific Division (46-15-6-5).

Individual Award Winners For The 2023-2024 AHL Season

While hockey is a team sport, and the Calder Cup is the ultimate goal, individual success and contributions during the season can earn special accolades for the players.

Here’s a list of the individual award winners for the 2023-2024 AHL season:

Les Cunningham Award (AHL Most Valuable Player) – Mavrik Bourque (forward, Texas Stars).

Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award (AHL Rookie of the Year) – Logan Stankoven (forward, Texas Stars).

Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award (awarded to AHL’s most outstanding goaltender) – Hunter Shepard (Hershey Bears).

Eddie Shore Award (awarded to the AHL’s top defenseman) – Kyle Capobianco (Manitoba Moose).

Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award (presented to the season’s most outstanding coach) – Todd Nelson (Hershey Bears).

Willie Marshall Award (awarded to AHL’s leading goal-scorer) – Adam Gaudette (forward, Springfield Thunderbirds).

John B. Sollenberger Trophy (awarded to leading point-getter in the AHL) – Mavrik Bourque (forward, Texas Stars).

Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award (presented to the goaltender(s) on the team that allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season) – Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson (Hershey Bears).

Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award (AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey) – Spencer Knight (goalie, Charlotte Checkers).

Also: 2023-2024 AHL All-Rookie Team | First & Second All-Star Teams 

*As the AHL’s overall regular-season champions the Hershey Bears won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, which first was awarded in 1997.

Did You Know Each AHL Team Names A Man Of The Year?

Each season, all 32 AHL teams select a recipient for their IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year Award, which is based on contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the season.

From the list of team winners, representatives from the IOA/American Specialty and AHL choose an overall winner, who receives the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award.

Here’s the list of winners for each team during the 2023-2024 season.

The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award for the 2023-2024 season was Daniel Walcott, a forward for the Syracuse Crunch.

AHL Fandom On The Rise

Last season, the American Hockey League established a new record for attendance in a regular season, as more than 6.8 million fans attended AHL games across North America during the 2023-2024 campaign.

When Does The AHL Season Start In 2024?

The season begins on Oct. 11, 2024, with the Milwaukee Admirals traveling to the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7 p.m. Eastern and the Syracuse Crunch traveling to the Utica Comets at the same time. 

There will be 29 games played over the opening weekend. 

How Does The AHL Hockey Schedule Work?

Here’s the breakdown of games scheduled by the week: 

• Monday will feature 15 games this season. 
• Tuesday will feature 57 games this season. 
• Wednesday will feature 197 games this season. 
• Thursday will feature 15 games this season.  
• Friday will feature 302 games this season.
• Saturday will feature 392 games this season.  
• Sunday will feature 174 games this season.

When Do The Hershey Bears Begin Their Season?

The defending AHL champions and winners of 13 Calder Cup championships will begin their seasons and raise the banner on Oct. 12 against the Cleveland Monsters at the Giant Center. It’s a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

When Is The AHL All-Star Classic?

The 2025 AHL All-Star Classic is being hosted by the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Palm Desert, California on Feb. 2-3. 

The all-star game is on Feb. 3 and will follow the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony. 

How To Watch The AHL On FloHockey 

The AHL is streaming on FloHockey and the FloSports app. Live games, replays, highlights and breaking news also will be available on both platforms. 

NHL Prospect Coverage On FloHockey

The best, and most complete, coverage of the NHL minor league hockey and NHL Draft is found on FloHockey. Don't miss the latest new prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.

Watch ECHL, USHL, AHL And More On FloHockey

FloHockey is the streaming home to some of the best hockey leagues in North America, including the ECHL and more. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more hockey.

Join The Hockey Conversation On FloHockey Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloHockey
• Follow us on Instagram @flohockey
• Follow us on TikTok @flohockeytv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook