The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 32 teams, founded in 1936. Each team may select a captain, who has the "privilege of discussing with the referee any questions relating to interpretation of rules which may arise during the progress of a game."[1] Each team is also permitted to select alternate captains, who serve when the captain is not on the ice. Captains are required to wear the letter "C" on their uniform for identification while alternate captains wear the letter "A"; both letters are 3 inches (7.6 cm) in height.
Rule 6.2 of the 2023–24 Official AHL Rulebook indicates that "[only] when the captain is not in uniform, the coach shall have the right to designate three alternate captains. This must be done prior to the start of the game." Many AHL teams with a named captain select more than two alternate captains and rotate the "A"s among these players throughout the season.
Goaltenders are not permitted to serve as captains during games. This rule follows that which was instituted in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1948 after teams complained that it took Montreal Canadiens goaltender Bill Durnan too long to skate to talk with the officials and back to his crease.[2] As a result, no goalie has ever served as captain of an AHL team.
Spent entire AHL career with team
| Abbreviation | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| C | Centre | |
| LW | Left wing | |
| RW | Right wing | |
| D | Defenceman |
Fifteen of the thirty-two AHL teams currently have a captain. The seventeen teams without a captain are the Bakersfield Condors, Belleville Senators, Bridgeport Islanders, Calgary Wranglers, Chicago Wolves, Cleveland Monsters, Colorado Eagles, Iowa Wild, Manitoba Moose, Ontario Reign, Providence Bruins, Rochester Americans, Rockford IceHogs, San Diego Gulls, San Jose Barracuda, Tucson Roadrunners, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Of the fifteen captains, two of them have been with their team for their entire career. The longest-tenured captain in the league is Zac Dalpe of the Charlotte Checkers, who has served in that role since October 14, 2021.
Twelve of the thirty-two AHL teams have named at least the regulation two alternate captains (the twenty exceptions being the Abbotsford Canucks, Calgary Wranglers, Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Wolves, Cleveland Monsters, Coachella Valley Firebirds, Colorado Eagles, Hartford Wolf Pack, Henderson Silver Knights, Iowa Wild, Laval Rocket, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Milwaukee Admirals, Ontario Reign, San Diego Gulls, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies, Tucson Roadrunners, Utica Comets, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins). Of the forty-three alternate captains, twelve of them have been with their team for their entire career. Teams that have named more than the regulation two alternate captains (or three in the case of teams without a captain) are required to rotate the two (or three) "A"s between those players by methods of their choosing. The current longest-tenured alternate captain in the league is Daniel Walcott of the Syracuse Crunch, who has served in that role since 2017.