The New Minor League Hockey (MLH):
The New Minor League Hockey (MiLH) is a men's professional ice hockey league in North America. It serves as the official developmental league to the NHL, as it was formed out of a merger between the American Hockey League (AHL) & the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). It has now been expanded to 64 teams (58 in the United States and 6 in Canada). The new MiLH will play a 56-game schedule, with promotion & relegation now being implemented for the league. All NHL teams will have no more than 2 affiliates.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, 8 teams at each level (i.e. 4 from each conference at Level-A & 4 from each conference at Level-B) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the MiLH (Level-A or Level-B) Championship, which will usually start on the second week of March and is played between the champions of the American & National Conferences. The MiLH will now play under IIHF rules, with the following exceptions listed on this website.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, 8 teams at each level (i.e. 4 from each conference at Level-A & 4 from each conference at Level-B) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the MiLH (Level-A or Level-B) Championship, which will usually start on the second week of March and is played between the champions of the American & National Conferences. The MiLH will now play under IIHF rules, with the following exceptions listed on this website.