People and Pop Culture
Closing Shot: Line Change
In more than 25 years as president of the AHL, the soon-to-retire David Andrews has guided the organization while providing players with a stronger path to the NHL.
When David Andrews took over as AHL president in 1994, the league had 16 teams. It has since nearly doubled in size, with 31 teams in 2019-20.ahl
In the mid-1990s, David Andrews initially didn’t believe he could win the election to become the American Hockey League’s new president. The board of governors and league counsel Macgregor Kilpatrick thought otherwise of Andrews, who was then serving as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate.
“You may think you’re not electable, but that’s why we need you to run,” Andrews recalled of Kilpatrick’s vote of confidence. “He said, ‘We need someone who has a separate voice from the inner circle of ownership that’s been driving the league.’”
Andrews, who will retire at the end of June, joined the then 16-team AHL in 1994 and quickly put a strategic five-year plan to work from the league’s Springfield, Mass., headquarters. That included collectively bargaining for a new player developmental rule that provided an equal playing field for the league’s players and NHL teams’ top draft prospects.
Strengthening team ownership groups, moving into new markets and eventually solidifying a relationship with the NHL were also part of the vision. Then came the most seminal business moment in Andrews’ 26-year tenure: the AHL’s merger with the International Hockey League in 2001.
“That created something that had never really existed before in professional hockey,” Andrew said. “Our place in the business and impact on the business changed in ’01.”
At that time, Spurs Sports & Entertainment joined the AHL as owners of the San Antonio Rampage, followed by future Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. Gilbert launched the then-Lake Erie Monsters (now the Cleveland Monsters) beginning with the 2007-08 season.
Expansion continued with what Andrews described as the most difficult part of his reign as chief executive: moving to the West Coast and, in 2015, forming a Pacific division by relocating five teams to California.
“Had [some Western-based NHL teams] started a separate [minor] league, we would have lost player supply for a couple of our existing teams,” Andrews said. “It wouldn’t have been great for the confidence for the rest of our owners.”
The league now has 31 teams. Beyond franchise expansion and helping solidify the league’s financial footing, Andrews’ tenure has seen the AHL serve as a testing ground, in part, for new NHL rules and playing formats. Andrews said the AHL has “some pride of authorship for some of these initiatives” that didn’t come at the NHL’s direction, such as implementing no line changes after icing and mandatory facial protection for players.
While last week the AHL faced the difficult decision to cancel the rest of its season because of the pandemic, it doesn’t erase the work of Andrews to grow the league. He will remain as chairman of the AHL’s board of governors for a three-year term.
“Where the league is today compared to where we started, that’s the product of an awful lot of people, not just me,” said the 71-year-old Andrews. “[The AHL] serves an important purpose for the NHL and all of our players and coaches. We’ve made a real difference.”
