With the AHL's 69th season ready to get underway, league President and CEO Dave Andrews recently took some time to answer your questions about the league.


Q: With the NHL not playing as of yet, are there any plans in the works to broadcast any AHL games on TV (Fox Sports Nets, ESPN, etc.)? Thank you! -- Bill from Northbridge, Mass.

DA: Probably the most common question we've received since September 15 has been about television coverage of the AHL in the absence of NHL hockey because of the lockout. The AHL recently announced a national television contract with Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. Sportsnet will carry a minimum of 22 games featuring our Canadian based teams, as well as the All-Star Classic. Elsewhere in Canada, TSN will be carrying the St. John's Maple Leafs' games at the Air Canada Centre in December, and we anticipate that our clubs may generate additional regional coverage as well.

In the United States, we are in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with ESPN2 to carry the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic nationally. Many of our clubs are in discussions with regional sports networks, and we anticipate that our usual volume of live televised games (200-plus) will be significantly greater should the NHL labor stoppage be of a long duration.

We've been in discussions with networks for months, but the bottom line is that the final decision on programming rests with the networks themselves. I hope that the many fans expressing an interest in AHL televised games will contact their regional sports networks to encourage coverage.

Full Transcript

2005-06 Chat guests

June 7: Hershey Bears' Dave Steckel

May 31: Milwaukee Admirals' Darren Haydar

April 4: Hershey Bears' Eric Fehr

March 2: Syracuse Crunch's Geoff Platt

Jan. 18: Manitoba Moose LW Jimmy Roy

Dec. 8: Milwaukee Admirals' Brian Finley

Nov. 3: Portland Pirates's Ryan Shannon

Oct. 17: Peoria Rivermen's Peter Sejna

2004-05 Chat guests

June 7: Philadelphia Phantoms' Jeff Carter

June 1: Chicago Wolves' Derek MacKenzie

March 31: Lowell Lock Monsters' Mike Commodore

Jan. 24: Chicago Wolves' Kari Lehtonen

Jan. 13: Rochester Americans' Jason Pominville

Dec. 2: Philadelphia Phantoms' Patrick Sharp

Nov. 11: Hartford Wolf Pack's Jason LaBarbera

Oct. 15: AHL President/CEO, Dave Andrews

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