The AHL Conference Finals may have just begun this week, but league President DAVE ANDREWS already finds himself preparing for the business of next season. Aside from coordinating travel plans for participating teams and their players -- for which the league manages expenses -- the AHL also is finalizing schedule formats for next year’s conference realignment. Andrews said, "With 30 teams spread out the way ours are, that is a challenge." Andrews also spent Wednesday morning participating in the league’s first full negotiation toward a new CBA with the players’ association. Andrews acknowledged that he is "involved with due diligence on the potential sale" of an AHL club. While Andrews calls Wilbraham, Mass., his home, this weekend will include a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in Manchester, N.H., leaving him little time for relaxation -- a common theme during his two decade-plus tenure with the AHL.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: I am hoping to grill up some salmon for dinner with my wife Friday night, enjoy a glass or two of red wine and watch Lightning-Rangers. We are not big breakfast eaters, and generally if I have a weekend off, I like to have a nice breakfast on our back porch. I travel so much for work and eat in so many restaurants that when I am at home, it is just pleasant for me to stay in. I plan to have a leisurely morning on Saturday before hopping in the car at 3:00pm and driving to Manchester for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Monarchs and Hartford Wolf Pack. During the playoffs, I am usually in the press box away from the fans and away from reps for either team. After the game, I get back in the car and drive about two hours back home. As long as there is no overtime, I should be home by midnight.
INCREDIBLE, EDIBLE EGG: We cook at home more than we go out. My wife is a good cook, and I think I am a reasonable cook. We enjoy preparing good meals and each other’s company. On Sunday -- aside from watching the NHL Playoffs -- I hope to do some grilling. We have a Big Green Egg and I will probably have time to slow-cook some ribs. There is a place in St. John’s, Newfoundland, called the YellowBelly Brewery. When I am there for a game, I go there pretty much every night for a post-game beer and some food. It is an awesome place in a historic building downtown. My wife and I were fortunate enough to be out in California at the end of January for the announcement of the AHL’s Pacific Division launch. That led us into a long weekend in Sonoma and Napa. We got to tour a number of wineries, and the weather and scenery were beautiful. The most common night out for us is a place just north in Northampton called Iron Horse Music Hall. It is a small live music venue, but we really enjoy going up there. I listen to a pretty wide range of music. I like some new music such as ED SHEERAN as well as some female artists that probably no one has ever heard of.
ENDLESS SUMMER: We have another home up in Nova Scotia where I spend a big part of the summer off and on with my kids and my grandkids. We go to the local market every Saturday morning for local produce. I also race sailboats in the summertime when I am up there. I pretty much work seven days a week, but I have the luxury that I can sneak away for a longer summer vacation than most people can. Things have changed so much with technology that you are always in touch with your work. If I can do it, I will get away for up to five weeks. My staff here is great and our senior management staff has been here for a long time, so they can certainly manage things without me. I do not get to spend much time with my wife because of work, so we spend a good amount of the time on weekends together when I am home. Most weekends, we are either traveling or preparing for the week ahead. But If I have free time on weekends, I try to catch up on things in my personal life like taking the garbage to the dump and picking up the dry cleaning.
NETMINDER: The only TV I watch on the weekends is “CBS SUNDAY MORNING.” But when I am traveling, most of the time the TV never turns on in my hotel room. There is just too much to do. Considering my age, I have become pretty hooked on the iPad and I do most of my reading there. I usually have a book or two on the go along with a digital version of the N.Y. Times, CBC and the local paper from Halifax, Nova Scotia. But before any of that, I am going through my Twitter feed for news from the people I follow, most of whom are hockey writers and personalities. When I am on a plane, I listen to music, read and quite often I work, and sometimes I sleep. I am a pretty good sleeper on a plane. Every weekend, I connect with my kids and grandkids on Skype. Our children are quite spread out across Canada from the western part all the way east to Newfoundland. I also try to stay in touch with my wife, but half of the time I try to reach my grandchildren she is at one of those places anyway.
