Aquitaynian Hockey League

"AHL" redirects here. For Aswick, see Aswickan Hockey League. For Asteria, see Asterian Hockey League.

Aquitaynian Hockey League

Logo of the AHL
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1931
Inaugural season	1932
Commissioner	Juri Mangusson
No. of teams	24
Confederation	Lorecian Ice Hockey Confederation (LIHC)
TV partner(s)	ANN
Relegation to	AHL Championship
International cup(s)	Lorecian Hockey League
2023-24 AHL season

The Aquitaynian Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in Aquitayne comprised of 24 teams. The Penington Cup, one of the oldest trophies in Aquitaynian sports, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The AHL is one of the major sports leagues in Aquitayne, and is considered to be one of the top ranked professional ice hockey leagues in Astyria.

History

2005 promotion and relegation

Following the late 90's and early 2000's expansion teams joining the league, questions over promotion and relegation to the AHLC were given new energy. With 24 teams now in the first-division league and 20 teams in the lower leagues, many saw the opportunity to bring extra excitement and effort from both leagues for teams to have the opportunity to move up, or fight against going down every year. At the 2003 Board of Governors meeting, promotion and relegation was approved by a majority of the board. A working-group was established to best plan how to implement that strategy between both leagues.

The group settled on a relegation playoff series between the two bottom clubs in each conference from the AHL, while the league champion of the AHLC would move up to the first division to take the place of whichever club lost the relegation playoff. At a board meeting in 2004, this plan was ratified and approved by the Board of Governors, with plans in place to implement it immediately at the start of the 2005-06 season.

Organizational structure

The league is governed by a Board of Governors, which is the ruling body of the AHL. Each team is a member of the board and has one representative appointed to it, along with two alternates. The Board exists to establish the policies of the league and uphold its charter. Some of their responsibilities include:

• review and approve changes to the league's rules.
• hiring and firing of the league Commissioner.
• review and approve the purchase, sale or relocation of a member club.
• review and approve the league schedule.

Teams

Overview of AHL teams

Conference	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined	General manager	Head coach	Captain
Northern	Valhedge Vikings	Valhedge	Ilius Financial Arena	21,500	1932	1932	Tim Carlisle	Mike Hogan	Marcus Hamill
	Esceos Firehounds	Esceos	Sponsor Arena	18,250	1941	1943	Ivan Gyles	Nikolay Rene	Fredrick Seitz
	Freyport Flyers	Freyport	Freyport Armory Arena	19,250	1950	1952	Chance Osbourne	Trace Faron	Celestine Royce
	Aesir Avalanche	Aesir	Sponsor Arena	17,700	1950	1952	Laurence Joby	Gareth Onni	Jurou Rain
	Falklas Gollems	Falklas	Sponsor Arena	18,250	1932	1932	Reino Kustaa	Rodney Solomon	Viljam Major
	Newford Nighthawks	Newford	Sponsor Arena	18,500	1932	1932	Erick Tarquinius	Leroy Garrick	Göte Carlton
	Sanuan Spartans	Sanuan	Sponsor Arena	18,000	1932	1932	Caden Juro	Allyn Eljas	Jack Rikhard
	Ceria Centurions	Ceria	Sponsor Arena	18,250	1946	1947	Sebastian Elliott	Colter Evanson	Lew Stanford
	Kavala Earthquakes	Kavala	Sponsor Arena	17,200	2000	2001	Augustus Nicholls	Sebastian Leighton	Ingemar Rinne
	Lagos Phantoms	Lagos	Sponsor Arena	16,500	2000	2001	Jem Fransson	Loukios Hall	Salvius Corey
	Grados Giants	Grados	Sponsor Arena	16,400	1974	1975	Tatsuya Matsumoto	Corbin Yamada	Ismo Ericson
	Sofia Angels	Sofia	Sponsor Arena	16,000	2000	2001	Lorrin Addison	Osborn Rose	Romilius Järvinen
Southern	Telora Icelanders	Telora	Royal Ice Arena	22,000	1932	1932	Luke Wright	Ari Jurgensson	Matthew Thakkar
	Helm Hurricanes	Helm	Sponsor Arena	18,000	1946	1947	Elliott Jayden	Merle Shiori	Ezra Iulius
	Cape Town Captains	Cape Town	Sponsor Arena	20,000	1998	1999	Albert Sakari	Jim Richard	Scott Harvey
	Agrias Sharks	Agrias	Sponsor Arena	17,200	1998	1999	Kaiden Thornton	Haruto Galen	Svante Lachlan
	Helvalius Gladiators	Helvalius	Sponsor Arena	17,000	1946	1947	Hadyn Troy	Luke Cory	Collins Richard
	Afreos Privateers	Afreos	Sponsor Arena	17,900	1932	1932	Kevin Luther	Takumi Isaksson	Goodwin Steffen
	Frini Mastadons	Frini	Sponsor Arena	16,800	2010	2011	Drew Hampton	Lucas Howe	Silvinus Mustonen
	Swacaea Swans	Swacaea	Sponsor Arena	17,250	1945	1947	Brayden Maddison	Gray Kynaston	Geordie Kamiya
	Asor Eagles	Asor	Sponsor Arena	19,250	2000	2001	Darriel Travers	Anderson Godfrey	Germanus Arvidsson
	Celaton Centaurs	Celaton	Sponsor Arena	19,000	1942	1943	Taisto Kimberley	Josef Bristol	Delano Lindström
	Agrias Warriors	Agrias	Sponsor Arena	19,500	1974	1975	Albie Tobin	River Ahlström	Kayden Mizutani
	Tyrisis Thunder	Tyrisis	Sponsor Arena	19,250	1974	1975	Brandt Tuff	Devon Royle	Ritchie Kuroda

Season structure

During the regular season, teams play each other in a predetermined schedule. All teams play 69 games, at least one at home and one away against every other league member. The remaining 23 games are split evenly home and away for each team, with the opponents being the teams within their conference. For example, this means all teams from the Northern Conference will play all teams from the Southern Conference twice, while the teams in the Northern Conference will play each other 4 times throughout the season, and vice versa for the Southern Conference.

Additionally, in 2005 the AHL introduced limited promotion and relegation to the league structure. The bottom team from each conference play in a relegation playoff series to determine what side will be sent to the lower league. It is a 7-game series, with the winner being the first team to four wins. The losing side is then relegated to the AHLC for the next season, while the AHLC champion is moved up to the corresponding division the relegated team came from. Critics of this format state it does not promote equitable play in what is colloquially known as the Loser's Cup, and creates some geographic inconsistencies with conference structure depending on where the promoted team comes from.

Calls have been made to restructure the league into an association football-style single table to allow for greater promotion and relegation and ease of match making, though the board of governors has stated it's not considering this adjustment currently.

Playoff structure

In the AHL, the top four teams from the Northern and Southern conferences qualify for the playoffs. The Conference Champions (being the teams with the most points at the end of the season) retain home-ice advantage throughout the playoff series. Should both champions make it to the final, the team with the greater goal differential will take priority. The playoffs are run in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the higher seed getting home ice advantage for the first two games, and therefore the 5th and 7th games should they be needed.

International competitions

The Champions of the league as well as the runners-up and third-place match winners qualify for the Lorecian Hockey League annually, and compete there against the best teams from other leagues around Lorecia for the Continental Cup Trophy.

Popularity

Ice hockey is the second most popular sport in Aquitayne behind association football.