Manitoba Moose set to play 72 games in 2021-22 and will return to the Central Division

And just like that the All-Canadian Division was no more.

The AHL released details of their plans for the 2021-22 season.  The ones that are relevant to folks in this province include Moose returning to the Central Division to face off against familiar foes like Chicago, Iowa, Rockford, Texas, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

In addition teams have the option to play 72 or 76 game seasons.  Manitoba has chosen to play 72.

From the AHL release they say they will increase number of playoff teams:

there will be an increase in the number of teams qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs each year; details will be finalized and announced later in the offseason.

The 2020-21 season in the AHL was easily the most unique year of hockey we will ever see.  The Moose played against four other teams based in Canada including the Heat (Calgary), Rocket (Montreal), Marlies (Toronto) and Senators (Ottawa).  They moved mid season from the downtown rink to the IcePlex where they played a 17 game homestand which is where they started a 13 game points streak.

They also continued the development of Jets prospects including Cole Perfetti (2020 1st), Dylan Samberg (2017 2nd), Johnny Kovacevic (2017 3rd), David Gustafsson (2018 2nd), Declan Chisholm (2018 5th), Ville Heinola (2019 1st), Kristian Vesalainen (2017 1st) and more.

If you’d like the full 411 on the season we broke it down in our End of Season Roundtable which I hosted with Daniel Fink and Austin Siragusa of the Moose and which you can watch below.

End of Season Roundtable: