23-team playoff format approved by Board of Governors
The American Hockey League will return to a 23-team playoff format for the 2024-25 season, thanks to a recent approval by the Board of Governors.
Tony Androckitis of InsideAHLhockey.com has revealed that the league plans to remain with the current 23-team playoff format for the 2024-25 season, and only plans to look into making changes next summer once their Collective Bargaining Agreement ends.
"I hope you like the American Hockey League's expanded 23-team playoff format.
The AHL's Board of Governors has approved the format for one more year, sources tell InsideAHLHockey.com, meaning that the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs will remain unchanged from the previous format of the previous three playoffs.
The decision to extend the playoff format for only one year came to fruition as a way to revisit the topic next summer when the current AHL CBA expires." Androckitis said.
The AHL's Board of Governors has approved the format for one more year, sources tell InsideAHLHockey.com, meaning that the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs will remain unchanged from the previous format of the previous three playoffs.
The decision to extend the playoff format for only one year came to fruition as a way to revisit the topic next summer when the current AHL CBA expires." Androckitis said.
The AHL Board of Governors approved a 23-team playoff format for 2025 👀
The format has been in place for the past 2 seasons and will be revisited after the current AHL CBA expires
The format has been in place for the past 2 seasons and will be revisited after the current AHL CBA expires
This 23-team playoff format led to the AHL creating an additional playoff round which features a best-of-three round that includes six teams from the Eastern Conference and as many as eight teams from the Western Conference. Many fans felt this structure was very odd.
I get the need for development, but the AHL's gotta find something that makes more sense than this playoff format. Hopefully, it changes after this season to something more symmetrical.
Fans and those involved in the AHL will be curious to know what happens to this playoff format at the end of next season. While many fans of the NHL have called on Gary Bettman to increase the number of teams that make it to the final dance, history shows that it isn't always that great to have many teams involved, as we have seen in the AHL.
Credit Blades of Steel:
Board of Governors approves 23-team playoff format in 2025
| POLL | ||
Do you think 23 teams making the playoffs is too much? | ||
| Yes | 187 | 76.6 % |
| No | 42 | 17.2 % |
| The NHL should adopt this | 15 | 6.1 % |
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