NAHL realigns divisions; Avs thrilled about change

WASILLA — In what has seemingly become an annual event, the North American Hockey League has once again changed its divisional alignment.

The league realignment comes after a year of tremendous change for the NAHL.

Gone is the three division format, used for the last two seasons.

Also gone are two franchises from the 2007-08 season, but the league added three expansion teams.

One franchise also moved.

The NAHL is now separated into four divisions — the North, Central, South and West.

Alaska is one of four teams put into the newly created West Division. The Avalanche will be joined by two other teams from the “49th state” — Fairbanks and Kenai River — as well as the expansion Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Alaska president and general manager Jamie Smith said late last week.

Smith said the division realignment will take much of the financial burden that has come with the Wasilla-based junior hockey franchise’s travel costs.

Last season Alaska, Fairbanks and Kenai — the three NAHL teams located the farthest north — were ironically put into the league’s South Division. In the South, the three squads from the “Last Frontier” shared a division with two teams from Texas and another squad from Kansas.

Alaska had only two road trips that took the team Outside last season, but both lasted for more than a month.

Not only was the franchise tagged with the costs of room, board and travel for a month, but the players were forced to live out of suitcases in hotel rooms for several weeks at a time.

“Now there will be a limited amount of time on the road,” Smith said.

The Avs will venture outside of Alaska four times this year, but the combined number of dates on the road will be significantly less than the season before. Two of those trips will also only take the Avs to Washington to play Wenatchee for a pair of three-game sets.

Alaska’s longest trip Outside is a nine-day tour through Texas and Kansas in late February and early March. The Avs will also hit Minnesota for the four-day NAHL Showcase in September.

“To make this thing work financially, this is a step we needed to take,” Smith said.

League officials also cited travel costs as a reason for the change.

“This is a huge step in the right direction for our league as it relates to enhancing all of our geographic rivalries while significantly reducing each team’s travel,” NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld said in a press release issued by the league.

The West is one of two four-team divisions in what is now a 19-team NAHL.

The new South Division will include Springfield (Mo.), St. Louis (Mo.), Topeka (Kan.) and Wichita Falls (Texas).

Springfield moves from the Central Division, St. Louis moves from the North Division, while Topeka and Wichita Falls stay in the South.

The league’s other two divisions — the North and Central — will feature an uneven amount of teams.

The six-team North includes Alpena (Mich.), Mahoning Valley (Ohio), Marquette (Mich.), Motor City (Mich.), Traverse City (Mich.) and a team from the U.S. National Development Program.

The five-team Central includes Alexandria (Mich.), Albert Lea (Minn.), Bismarck (N.D.), North Iowa and Owatonna (Minn.)

Both the addition and deletion of league teams preceded the realignment. The NAHL will have three expansion teams — the Albert Lea Thunder, Owatonna Express and the Wild — in 2008-09. The Southern Minnesota Express moved from Minnesota to Detroit, Mich., and became the Motor City Machine.

The league also approved two franchises’ — the Texas Tornado and the Fargo-Moorhead Jets — requests for dormancy. Fargo-Moorhead ceased operations, according to the league Web site, while the Tornado are expected to take a year off due to major repairs to their home rink.

With the new format, each franchise will take the ice for a 58-game regular-season schedule, and the top four teams from each division will make the postseason. That means, with only four squads in the division, each team in the West and the South will make the playoffs.

Alaska opens the 2008-09 season with four games at the NAHL Showcase, and after two early-October games at Kenai River, the Avs will make their 2008-09 home debut against the Brown Bears on Oct. 17.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.