What a year.
The arrival of 2026 brings the second half of the AHL’s 90th anniversary season, an outdoor game in Minnesota, the Rockford IceHogs hosting the AHL All-Star Classic, and then a two-month gauntlet: the Calder Cup Playoffs.
As 2025 comes to a close, here’s a look back at one of the most memorable years in AHL history.
Abbotsford Canucks win the Calder Cup for the first time
The Calder Cup came west for the first time when the Canucks earned a 3-2 victory in Charlotte in Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals on June 23. It was the first Calder Cup title for a Vancouver Canucks affiliate.
They became the first Pacific Division team to win the Calder Cup since the AHL expanded to the West Coast in 2015. Abbotsford overcame a midseason record to post a 30-9-1-1 and qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. From there, they eliminated the Tucson Roadrunners, Coachella Valley Firebirds, Colorado Eagles and Texas Stars to reach the finals under the rookie head coach. Manny Malhotra.
Goalkeeper Arthur Shilov led the way for Abbotsford, going 16-7 with a 2.01 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and five shutouts, winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup Playoffs’ Most Valuable Player.
The Montreal Canadiens prospects are finding success
You’d have to go back more than 30 years to see the last time a Montreal Canadiens affiliate finished first in the AHL during the regular season.
That is until last April, when the Laval Rocket captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as 2024-2025 regular season champions with a 48-19-3-2 record. It was the first time an all-Habs affiliate won a regular-season title since the 1991-92 Fredericton Canadiens.
The Rocket eliminated the Cleveland Monsters and Rochester Americans to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to Charlotte. And they have once again emerged as a top contender this season, posting a best-in-the-Northern Division mark of 20-10-0-1.
Another showdown between Milwaukee and Texas
Come spring, it should be time for the Milwaukee Admirals and Texas to battle each other in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The teams met for the third consecutive postseason with a five-game Central Division Finals classic. They traded wins through the first four games before Texas took the decisive Game 5 with a 3-2 road victory. AHL rookie of the year Justin Hryckowian scored with 5:05 left in regulation to secure the series.
Texas fell short in the playoff series against Milwaukee in 2023 and 2024, each playing five full games.
Marco Sturm leaves for Boston
Three solid seasons with the Ontario Reign head coach Marco Sturm for his next step in the coaching profession.
That call came on June 5 when the Boston Bruins named Sturm their new head coach. With Ontario, where he went 119-80-11-6, Sturm completed an impressive ascent to the NHL. That journey also included stints with the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach and international experience with the German national men’s program, including winning the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Todd Nelson is moving to the NHL
After back-to-back Calder Cup titles and player moves to the Washington Capitals, Todd Nelson‘s left the Hershey Bears when he accepted an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins to join them as an assistant coach on June 20.
Nelson’s 450 regular-season coaching wins rank him fifth in AHL history, and 141 of those came in Hershey. He finished with a .704 grade point average, the highest in Hershey history. He also won the Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s Most Outstanding Coach in 2023-2024.
Nelson has won the Calder Cup three times as head coach, coupled with his title as a player in 1994 and a further title in 2008 as assistant coach.
AHL head coaches are moving up
Nelson and Sturm weren’t the only AHL head coaches to get the NHL call-up, either.
Neil Graham from Texas joined parent company Dallas Stars as an assistant coach after leading their AHL affiliate for six seasons. In Colorado it was the Eagles mainstay Aaron Schneekloth he moved on to the Seattle Kraken to become an assistant coach in his first NHL opportunity. Calgary Wranglers head coach Trent Cullwho had spent part of last season as an interim assistant coach with the Calgary Flames, had also made that NHL role permanent.
Grand Rapids is off to a record-breaking start
While the Grand Rapids Griffins could make a lot more history in 2026, they also made 2025 a pretty special year.
The team finished 2025 with a remarkable record of 26-1-1-1, including a 15-game winning streak that was snapped in an overtime loss to Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve. They reached the 50-point mark faster than any team in AHL history, and they have yet to lose in regulation on the road this season (13-0-0-1). In WatsonThe club’s side have already built a 19-point lead at the top of the Central Division before the season has even reached the halfway mark.
What will 2026 bring for the Griffins as they look for their third Calder Cup championship?
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