Anaheim Ducks defenseman Shea Theodore has been the most notable test case of how the AHL’s move to the West Coast has helped NHL player development and team personnel movement.

From October through most of December, Theodore often found himself on a proverbial shuttle between the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and Anaheim. If the Gulls didn’t have any games, Theodore would come to the Ducks, take part in some NHL-level practices then get sent back down.

This gave Theodore a taste of the NHL, while still being able to develop in the minors.

When injuries hit the Ducks in late December with Cam Fowler hurting his knee, Theodore was ready to make that jump. Since then he’s looked less like a raw junior and more like a professional in 13 games with Anaheim.

“At that time, we wanted to give Shea a chance to practice with the NHL guys and be around the team,” Anaheim general manager Bob Murray said. “That’s beneficial. And obviously we could have used him in a game if an injury/illness had come up. But I’m glad he got that chance to practice, as it helped him when he returned and got into our lineup.”

Theodore isn’t the only situation where a player from an NHL Pacific Division team has reaped the benefits of the newly-formed AHL Pacific Division. From a player perspective, they can be more easily sent between Anaheim and San Diego, the Los Angeles Kings and Ontario Reign, the San Jose Sharks and San Jose Barracuda, the Calgary Flames and Stockton Heat and the Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors.

Management types have been able to get better access to watching their players. Instead of flying across North America, they can quickly get to their AHL affiliates on closer flights or even drives.

“The ultimate goal here was to have the ultimate development league or division and that’s really what unfolded here,” Oilers president Kevin Lowe said. “That’s why we have the American League. It’s the ultimate development league for the NHL, and the less travel and more time to train and prepare for their NHL lives for these young fellas is the best thing for the NHL teams.”

Around one year ago, the AHL announced that Anaheim’s affiliate would move from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego. Calgary’s would go from Glens Falls, New York to Stockton, Edmonton’s would moved from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Bakersfield, LA’s would moved from Manchester, New Hampshire to Ontario and San Jose’s would go from Worcester, Massachusetts to sharing the SAP Center with the Sharks.

At the time, the parent clubs had a vision and a strategy of how it would work out and so far it has played out exactly as they foresaw it – with robust attendance, easier player movements, better visibility with management and a generally happier player population.

“We’ve used the term ‘it’s not what we wanted, it’s what we needed,’” San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. “On a hockey front it has been everything we hoped it would be. To have the players know that they’re right there and being seen every day, the travel, the ability to go up and down – we don’t want young players sitting. We want them playing. The geography of it all, it’s worked out as well as we wanted.”

Last season the Manchester Monarchs played to an average 5,621 home attendance. The Worcester Sharks drew 3,847, the Adirondack Flames brought in 3,642 on average, the Oklahoma City Barons at 3,262 and the Norfolk Admirals played to 4,752 on average

This season the Gulls rank second in average AHL attendance at 8,830 per-game. The Reign have brought in 8,147, the Condors at 5,147, the Heat at 4,754 and the Barracuda at 4,225.

If those numbers hold, the California teams will draw near 2,000 more fans per-game than last year’s affiliates. This is important for the NHL parent clubs that reap the financial benefits of the teams.

View photos Photo provided by San Diego Gulls More

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