(Rochester, NY) – The Rochester Americans announced today the schedule format and opponents for the 2018-19 American Hockey League season.
The Amerks will remain in the AHL’s North Division, which will expand to eight teams in 2018-19 to welcome the addition of the Cleveland Monsters, who played out of the Central Division for the last two seasons. The Amerks will again be joined in the North Division by the Belleville Senators, Binghamton Devils, Laval Rocket, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets.
As was the case last season, Rochester will face Syracuse more than any other team during its 63rd AHL season as the Amerks and Crunch are set to meet 12 times (six home, six road). The Amerks will play intrastate rivals Binghamton and Utica 10 times each (five home, five road) and will face-off against Cleveland, the top developmental team of the Columbus Blue Jackets, eight times (four home, four road) as the Monsters shift to the Eastern Conference. Rochester’s remaining Divisional matchups also include six (three home, three road) against Toronto, last year’s Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, and four each (two home, two road) against Belleville and Laval.
The Amerks will again play the entire Atlantic Division this coming season, with four matchups (two home, two road) each against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hartford Wolf Pack and Charlotte Checkers, who joined the Eastern Conference prior to the 2017-18 campaign. Similar to last season, they will also face the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins twice (one home, one road), while also seeing the Hershey Bears, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Springfield Thunderbirds for a pair of meetings (one home, one road).
The AHL will expand to an all-time high 31 teams beginning in 2018-19 as the Colorado Eagles are set to make their franchise debut. The Eagles, who previously spent the last seven seasons competing in the ECHL, as well as eight in the Central Hockey League before that, will serve as the top developmental team for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and will become the seventh team in the Pacific Division.
The complete American Hockey League schedule for the 2018-19 regular season, set to begin Oct. 5, will be announced at a later date.
Amerks 2018-19 Season Ticket Memberships, which start as low as just $12 per game, are on-sale now. Full-season ticket member benefits include, but are not limited to, Riverside Club VIP Room access with current players and Amerks Alumni, family meet and greet and annual Skate with the Players event, an exclusive preseason Ice Breaker Party and Chalk Talk with the Amerks coaching staff, your very own Season Ticket Member ID and Discount Card and much more. For more information, visit www.amerks.com or call 1-855-GO-AMERKS.
Eastern Conference
vs. NORTH DIVISION
HOME
ROAD
TOTAL
Belleville
2
2
4
Binghamton
5
5
10
Cleveland
4
4
8
Laval
2
2
4
Syracuse
6
6
12
Toronto
3
3
6
Utica
5
5
10
TOTALS
27
27
54
vs. ATLANTIC DIVISION
HOME
ROAD
TOTAL
Bridgeport
2
2
4
Charlotte
2
2
4
Hartford
2
2
4
Hershey
1
1
2
Lehigh Valley
1
1
2
Providence
1
1
2
Springfield
1
1
2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
1
1
2
TOTALS
11
11
22
EASTERN CONFERENCE TOTALS
38
38
76
Western Conference
vs. CENTRAL DIVISION
HOME
ROAD
TOTAL
Chicago
0
0
0
Grand Rapids
0
0
0
Iowa
0
0
0
Manitoba
0
0
0
Milwaukee
0
0
0
Rockford
0
0
0
San Antonio
0
0
0
Texas
0
0
0
TOTALS
0
0
0
vs. PACIFIC DIVISION
HOME
ROAD
TOTAL
Bakersfield
0
0
0
Colorado
0
0
0
Ontario
0
0
0
San Diego
0
0
0
San Jose
0
0
0
Stockton
0
0
0
Tucson
0
0
0
TOTALS
0
0
0
WESTERN CONFERENCE TOTALS
0
0
0
TOTAL GAMES
38
38
76
