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How does the minor league hockey system go like?

White Sox asked:


In baseball, I know it is Rookie, A, AA, AAA, and MLB. What is it for hockey?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 5:53 am and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “How does the minor league hockey system go like?”

  1. Pretty When You Cry on January 6th, 2009 at 11:52 am

    It is the same, I guess. The AHL is like AAA and the ECHL is like AA, but then there are junior leagues and foreign elite teams etc. that they will snag players from.

  2. GO WHITE SOX!! great team bad year. she has it right

  3. From lowest to highest:
    B
    A
    CC (some leaues dont have a cc team)
    BB
    AA
    AAA(Midget and higher)

  4. NHL
    AHL (AAA)
    ECHL (AA)
    CHL, IHL, SPHL, MAHL (A)

    They do not have a rookie league. Unlike baseball where players typically start at single A and work their way upwards, with a few exceptions, the prospects with the highest potential will play in the AHL. Players who land in single A in hockey are long shots at best of playing in the NHL.

  5. The minor league hockey system is not formally ranked like those in baseball are. Here are the general equivalents, though.

    AAA: AHL - Each NHL team (except Florida) has a primary affiliation with one of the 29 AHL teams. They call up players directly from these teams and send players down directly to these teams.

    High AA: ECHL - NHL teams and their AHL affiliates have affiliations, either primary or shared, with an ECHL team. AHL teams call players up from the ECHL and send players down to the ECHL. Some ECHL players will eventually make it to the NHL.

    Low AA: IHL, CHL - These leagues are, for the most part, unaffiliated with NHL teams. You will see more veterans in these leagues than you will in the ECHL. The talent level is slightly less than in the ECHL.

    A: SPHL, MAHL, NEHL - The SPHL has been around for a few years, the NEHL is in its third season, and the MAHL is new this season. The SPHL is the top A league. Players on these teams may be called up by ECHL, CHL, or IHL teams to take the place of injured players or call-ups.

    Unclassifiable: LNAH - This is a minor pro league based solely in Quebec. There is no veteran limit so many former NHL players along with career minor leaguers are in this league. It is known as the roughest hockey league in the world and each team carries at least three enforcers on their roster.

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