ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The AHL will no longer resemble a low-paying prison for experienced professionals after a new agreement reached by the NHL and Professional Hockey Players' Association has been ratified.
A memo issued to PHPA members was circulated yesterday by executive director Larry Landon, announcing the player's association and the NHL had reached an agreement revising the re-entry system for players recalled from the AHL, the Free Press has learned.
The basics of the rule change are as follows: Any player with 320 pro games in the AHL, ECHL or the NHL or any goalie with 180 pro games can earn any amount at the minor-league level and not be subject to re-entry waivers upon recall.
New rules, put into effect this season after the NHL and NHLPA signed a collective bargaining agreement, called for a player making more than $75,000 US in the minor leagues to clear waivers on the way up to the NHL, and if they were claimed, half their NHL salary was charged against and payable by the team that lost the player.
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MOOSE goalie Wade Flaherty, the Western Conference starting goalie at the mid-season all-star game, has been named to the AHL's second all-star team for the 2005-06 season.
Flaherty, 38, owns a 24-16-4 mark with a 2.39 GAA and .919 save percentage as well as a league-leading six shutouts.
"It's awesome. Got the call this morning and it was a nice phone call," said Flaherty, 38. "Any time you get named to an all-star team it's an honour, but you look around this league and the goalies out there that could have been selected, it's pretty great. Awesome. Especially to get the recognition at this stage of my career and in a league that's known to be a development league."
Moose coach Alain Vigneault said Flaherty's play is key to his club's success to date and in the immediate future.
"We need him to be the difference," said Vigneault. "We need him to be the premier goalie that he is."
-- Lawless
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Several AHL players, one of the most prominent being Manitoba Moose goalie Wade Flaherty, have been trapped in the AHL this season because of the rule, even though their play or their NHL team's need makes them obvious recall candidates.
Flaherty earned more than the $75,000 mark and therefore the Vancouver Canucks, despite losing No. 1 goalie Dan Cloutier during the first month of the season, decided the risk of losing Flaherty to waivers was too great to recall him.
While Flaherty chose to remain in the AHL, a host of players fled North America and played in Europe under a much less restrictive system.
The revision of the re-entry system should make the AHL a much more palatable place to play for veteran pros which will bode well for fans across the league.
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca
-- with files from Tim Campbell
