Andrews was elected to the position of President and CEO on July 7, 1993, and took office the following year, succeeding Hockey Hall of Famer Jack Butterfield. His 26-year tenure at the helm of the AHL, which concluded on June 30, 2020, established Andrews as one of the most influential executives in hockey and all of professional sports. He grew the AHL exponentially and significantly redefined its mission, expanding the league’s footprint from a regional 16-team circuit to a 31-team league stretching from coast to coast with every AHL franchise serving as the exclusive primary development affiliate for a National Hockey League organization.

One of the most decorated players ever to skate in the American Hockey League, Keith Aucoin was undrafted out of NCAA Division III Norwich University in Vermont, and broke into the AHL with his hometown Lowell Lock Monsters in 2001-02. He went on to record 857 points in 769 games over parts of 13 AHL seasons with Lowell, the Providence Bruins, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Albany River Rats, Hershey Bears, Toronto Marlies and Chicago Wolves, retiring as the seventh-leading scorer in league history. Aucoin won the Calder Cup with Hershey in 2009 and 2010 and was the AHL’s MVP and scoring champion for the 2009-10 season after tallying 106 points in 70 games. He played in a record-tying six AHL All-Star Classics, and was voted a First Team (2009, 2010, 2012) and Second Team (2006, 2007, 2011) AHL All-Star three times each.

Nolan Baumgartner spent the majority of his 16-year professional playing career in the AHL, appearing in 878 games and notching 83 goals and 307 assists for 390 points with the Portland Pirates, Norfolk Admirals, Manitoba Moose, Philadelphia Phantoms, Iowa Stars and Chicago Wolves. A standout two-way defenseman and well-respected leader, Baumgartner appeared in three AHL All-Star Classics and was selected an All-Star playing captain at the 2010 event. Baumgartner also accrued 29 points in 86 postseason games, which included an appearance in the Calder Cup Finals with Manitoba in 2009. The Calgary native, a first-round draft pick by Washington in 1994, served as an assistant coach for Vancouver’s AHL affiliates in Chicago and Utica for five seasons before being promoted to the Canucks in 2017.

A prolific American Hockey League scorer during the 1950’s and 1960’s, Dave Creighton played 21 professional seasons between 1948 and 1969, becoming one of only four players in hockey history to skate in at least 600 games in both the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. The native of Port Arthur, Ont., is tied for 25th all-time in AHL scoring with 692 points (258 goals, 434 assists) in 800 contests over parts of 14 seasons with the Hershey Bears, Rochester Americans, Buffalo Bisons, Baltimore Clippers and Providence Reds. Creighton also served four seasons as head coach of the Reds — including three as player/coach — and won the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player in 1967-68. He passed away in 2017 at the age of 87.

Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Torrey began his front-office hockey career as the publicity director for the American Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Hornets in 1961. He remained active with the AHL throughout his illustrious career as an NHL executive, which included four straight Stanley Cup championships as general manager of the New York Islanders and 25 years of service with the Florida Panthers. A trusted advisor and mentor, Torrey served on the Executive Committee of the AHL Board of Governors for two decades, and was a member of the AHL Hall of Fame selection committee from its inception in 2006. Torrey passed away in 2018 at the age of 83.

A member of the 1970’s Canadiens dynasty, Yvon Lambert also played four seasons in the American Hockey League, reaching four Calder Cup Finals and winning championships with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in 1972 and the Rochester Americans in 1983. He scored 123 goals and notched 138 assists for a total of 261 points in 301 career AHL games, leading the league with 52 goals and 104 points in 1972-73. Lambert won four consecutive Stanley Cups with Montreal between 1976 and 1979, and is best remembered for his Game 7 overtime goal in the 1979 semifinals against Boston. He totaled 206 goals and 273 assists for 479 points in 683 National Hockey League games with Montreal (1973-81) and Buffalo (1981-82).

Mike Keane played more than 1,600 games over 22 professional seasons bookended by two stints in the AHL. Keane broke into the pro ranks as a 19-year-old with the Sherbrooke Canadiens in 1987, and spent five years as captain of the Manitoba Moose before retiring in 2010. In between, Keane won Stanley Cup championships in Montreal, Colorado and Dallas, and collected 470 points in 1,161 NHL contests with the Canadiens, Avalanche, Rangers, Stars, Blues and Canucks. Keane was voted the winner of the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey in 2006-07, and his number 12 was retired by the Moose. Keane currently serves as player development coordinator for the Winnipeg Jets.