The American Hockey League (commonly abbreviated as AHL) is a professional hockey league based in the United States and Canada which acts as the top-tier development league for the National Hockey League. The AHL was formed in 1938 following the merger of two minor hockey leagues, the Can-Am League and the (original) International Hockey League. The league, then known as the I-AHL, began its debut season with eight franchises based entirely in the Great Lakes and northeastern United States, one of these original teams - the Hershey Bears - still plays today in its original location. The AHL took on its current name in 1940 and faced waves of expansion, contraction, and relocation over the subsequent decades. In 2001, the AHL added six more teams from the IHL when that league folded due to financial issues. In 2015 the AHL expanded to the west coast swapping several team locations with the tier-two ECHL. The playoff champion of the AHL is awarded the Calder Cup, named for Frank Calder - the first president of the National Hockey League.
