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Kings, Ducks Moving Top Farm Teams To California

ONTARIO (AP/CBSLA.com) — Starting this fall, if the Los Angeles Kings or Anaheim Ducks need a late addition to their roster, they won't have to book an airline ticket and wait for that player to travel nearly 3,000 miles across three time zones.

As expected, the American Hockey League announced plans on Thursday to create a five-team Pacific Division, designed to bring the top-level farm teams closer to their parent clubs. The AHL is the top development circuit for the National Hockey League, akin to Triple-A in baseball.

The Pacific Division is the product of nearly three years of discussions with the NHL. Anaheim will purchase its current AHL affiliate, the Norfolk (Va.) Admirals and move the team to San Diego while the Kings will move the Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs team they already own to Ontario, talking the place of the ECHL's Reign. The ECHL team is expected to relocate to New Hampshire.

Calgary (Stockton), Edmonton (Bakersfield), and San Jose (San Jose, at least temporarily) will also move their primary minor league affiliate to the California cities this summer.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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