So, starting next season (2015-16), the American Hockey League (aka the top-tier pro hockey minor league here in North America) will have a new Pacific Division as 5 teams are moving west. For anyone not in the know, the majority of the AHL's teams are located on the eastern half of North America, and as such, there can be (and have been) logistical issues when a western-based NHL team needs to re-call/send down players to it's AHL affiliate team when said affiliate is located on the other side of the continent because it's an eastern-based team. It also makes sense for affiliates to be located somewhat close to their NHL affiliate club as it then makes it easier for the NHL club to monitor the progress and development of the players it has sent there to strengthen and develop their game/skill set. So basically, 5 NHL teams have taken literal ownership of their AHL affiliates (meaning that both the NHL and AHL teams have the same owners) and are moving their teams "closer to home" so to speak.
Icethetics.co - Five AHL teams relocating to California cities in 2015-
http://www.icethetics.co/blog/2015/1/29/five-ahl-teams-relocating-to-california-cities-for-2015-16Thing is, some of the cities that are becoming home to new AHL teams already have teams of their own in the East Coast Hockey League (aka the ECHL), which is North America's second-tier pro hockey minor league. As such, many of those ECHL teams are also going to be moving. In some cases, the ECHL team and AHL team will just swap cities (and in certain cases, they'll even be swapping team names/logos), so at least not all of the fans in the affected cities will have to lose the presence of a local sports team.
Meanwhilte, two other AHL teams will also be moving, though for them the moves won't be quite as far, nor will they be permanent (at most, a season or two). The Winnipeg Jets will be moving their AHL affiliate from St. John's, Newfoundland, back to Winnipeg. However, once they've arranged a deal with a nearby city that has a suitable arena for it, the AHL team will be moved from Winnipeg to that new city. Right now it looks like it'll most likely be the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is only a 60 minute flight away. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens will be moving their AHL team from Hamilton to St. John's, however they already have plans to eventually move the AHL team to Laval, Quebec, which is basically a suburb of Montreal (basically 30 minutes by car or subway). Both AHL teams will eventually be moved to their planned future home cities once new arenas have been built.
Icethetics.co - Two more AHL teams to relocate in fall 2015-
http://www.icethetics.co/blog/2015/3/13/two-more-ahl-teams-to-relocate-in-fall-2015Here's an infographic outlining all of the AHL & ECHL teams that are going to be moving for next year, the data (i.e. "who's going where" and "what will they be called") is current as of 2015.04.02, when the new AHL affiliates for the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers unveiled the logos that they'll be using next season:
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http://www.icethetics.co/blog/2015/4/2/new-ahl-logos-unveiled-in-san-jose-and-bakersfield