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July 28, 2009
A lot of the focus on change in the AHL for this upcoming season has been put on the relocation of two teams, the addition of a new one, and subtraction of one on suspension. Despite the news out of the Heat, Phantoms, Stars and Chops, the AHL has made a couple of significant rule changes for this upcoming season.
Gone are the one minute or half-length penalties in overtime. You will recall on the request of NHL general managers last year, penalties called in overtime would only be one minute in length, or any remaining time on a penalty at the end of regulation, would be cut in half for OT. The experiment is over and it sounds like it’s a no-go. Penalties will return to a normal full two minutes in the extra frame this year.
The other change affects the shootout. While the league will stick with five shooters, which is something I believe the NHL needs to go with, you now cannot repeat a shooter until you have gone through the entire roster. Before, you would cycle through the same five shooters.
Speaking of relocation, there seems to be some steam building on a new AHL location for the 2010-2011 season. A lot of talk is coming out of Oklahoma City, former home of the Central League’s Blazers. It seems there is a strong interest to bring the AHL to the city. We’ll keep an eye on that and see where it goes.
How about the net gain behind the Syracuse bench? Former Crunch and Milwaukee netminder Karl Goehring has been named an assistant coach in Syracuse. While he's bounced around with many teams in the AHL, Toronto fans will remember him most as being the little goalie making the big saves for the Crunch in the seven game North Division Final playoff series two years ago.
You can email John with comments and questions about the blog or the Marlies anytime to marliesradio@yahoo.ca.
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