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SYRACUSE NY &#8212; Ticket sales are up, the league&#8217;s new realignment is running smooth, the overtime format is a win and there could be some new teams joining the league if the NHL expands. Those were some of the topics AHL president Dave Andrews discussed during his State of the League conference on Monday morning.Here&#8217;s a synopsis of what Andrews discussed:Ticket sales - Ticket revenue across the league is up about 15 percent, and Andrews attributed the hike to relocation of several teams. Of the top six revenue-generating teams, three are franchises that relocated - San Diego, Ontario and Manitoba. Take away the ticket revenue generated by the relocated teams, and revenue is still up two percent. &#8220;We&#8217;re in a good place,&#8221; Andrews said.Expansion - Andrews anticipates the AHL will mirror any NHL expansion that takes place and the league is ready to increase to 31-33 franchises. &#8220;We&#8217;re hopeful NHL expansion might include one market in the west and would help us place another AHL team on the West Coast,&#8221; he said.Playoff revenue - Rather than being financed by a percentage of ticket sales in the postseason, player bonuses will be derived from a guaranteed playoff pool. Andrews said that will free up teams to be more creative with ticket sales in the postseason.New deal with AHL officials - The league entered into a new four-year pact with officials, and Andrews said before the end of the agreement he expects the AHL to have a two-referee system in place for every game. Right now the availability of officials is strained at times, particularly on Fridays when other leagues are in play, and there aren&#8217;t enough referees to go around to allow for two per game in the AHL. This year, approximately 700 AHL games and all playoff contests will have two referees.Time On Ice stats - The NHL keeps it but the AHL doesn&#8217;t. Why? Andrews said there were enough NHL general managers who don&#8217;t want other teams to be able to monitor how much ice time prospects are receiving. The stat is still kept, but it&#8217;s not available for all to see.Fighting - It&#8217;s down again this year in the NHL but exists a bit more frequently in the AHL. Andrews admitted that&#8217;s because some NHL teams have sent their tough guys to the AHL this year, and it&#8217;s also attributable to the fact that players tend to play a more physical game while trying to make it to the next level. He said the league will continue to look at ways to make the game safer for players and he called the drop in the number of fights &#8220;a positive for the game.&#8221;As far as if that&#8217;s a positive for the fans, Andrews said &#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that we are, for a second, selling tickets based on fighting. I don&#8217;t think anybody buys a ticket to our games to go and watch two guys square off.&#8221;Speeding up overtime - There was discussion about eliminating the dry scrape before an overtime period begins Andrews said, but that won&#8217;t happen. &#8220;It&#8217;s kind of a long wait for the fans. But you need good ice for the players. They deserve to have that. Players playing on better ice for the 3-on-3 is worth the wait.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom Veneskytvenesky@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</shirttailMeta></div>

AHL boss, Dave Andrews, happy with state of league