Notes from Scott Howson’s annual media conference | TheAHL.com

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

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ROCKFORD, Ill. … AHL President and CEO Scott Howson met with local and national media Wednesday for his annual state-of-the-league address.

A tradition started by Howson’s predecessor, Dave Andrews, the press conference is a chance to measure where the league stands each season at the AHL All-Star Classic.

To start, Howson came away impressed by the city of Rockford’s support for the AHL All-Star Classic this week. Hosted by the Rockford IceHogs, the two-night event featured Tuesday’s AHL All-Star Skills Competition as well as the AHL All-Star Challenge on Wednesday night at the recently renovated BMO Center. For a city that exists in the shadow of a massive market like Chicago, Howson said that this is a chance for Rockford to get the spotlight for a change.

The timing came together as well: The IceHogs’ NHL parent team, the Chicago Blackhawks, are celebrating their centennial season while the AHL’s 90th season anniversary celebration continues too. It had also been 22 years since a Midwestern U.S. city hosted the event.

“When we announced this event (in January 2025), we got a great reception,” Howson recalled. “I could tell how meaningful it was going to be. You can see the impact that it’s had.”

As far as the state of the AHL, one massive piece of business was handled with the league and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association ratifying a new five-year collective bargaining agreement last month, a deal that will run through August 31, 2030. For Howson and PHPA executive director Brian Ramsay, it was their first time working together on CBA negotiations after Andrews and Ramsay’s predecessor, Larry Landon, went through the process several times across a span of more than 25 years.

As with any business dealing, each side has its objectives and priorities; Howson termed working with Ramsay and the PHPA committee “hard, tough and very respectful.”

“I was really pleased with how the negotiations went in terms of demeanor and treating each other with respect and listening with each other,” said Howson, who is in his sixth season leading the AHL. “We aren’t always going to agree, and we certainly didn’t agree in the negotiations on a lot of things. But we’re going to have to live together, and it does no good to fight with each other every day. We have to be able to trust each other that if something is really, really important, we can go to each other and get it settled.”

Here are some of the other topics that Howson detailed:

• The new CBA means that next season will bring a tweak to the league’s development rule. A team will still have in its lineup 12 players of its 18 (not including the two goaltenders) who have played 260 or fewer professional games at the NHL, AHL and elite European levels, calculated as of opening night. But instead of one of the maximum six “veteran” slots required to be a player between 261 and 320 games, teams will be able to dress six skaters beyond the 260-game mark.

“That was really important to the players,” Howson said. “We talked to our clubs. I talked to NHL general managers, NHL assistant general managers.”

• Howson said that at least one team has expressed interest in hosting an outdoor game for next season, though nothing official has been decided. The Iowa Wild Outdoor Classic, the 13th outdoor event in AHL history, was held Jan. 23 in Hastings, Minn.

“It’s a little too early to say for sure,” Howson stated.

• As for the Calder Cup Playoffs, Howson confirmed that the current 23-team format remains in place for this season and beyond. Any format change would need approval from the league’s Board of Governors. NHL teams continue to want their prospects to get meaningful late-season and postseason experience, and Howson said that this format enables that goal.

“There’s no sentiment or inclination to vote it out,” Howson said. “Everybody is really pleased with how the playoffs work.”