The American Hockey League will have a 31st team beginning in the 2018-19 season.
According to multiple sources, the Colorado Avalanche’s East Coast Hockey League affiliate ‘Colorado Eagles’ will be promoted following the upcoming season. The team will play its games out of the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado.
The San Antonio Rampage are the Avalanche’s current AHL partner, but will soon partner with the St. Louis Blues. The Chicago Wolves served as the Blues’ previous AHL affiliate, however, the former will serve as the Las Vegas Golden Knights farm team going forward. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Blues and Rampage have already agreed to a five-year contract.
There’s plenty of reason to be excited in Colorado, as fans across the state are likely already familiar with the team. This past season, the Eagles captured the ECHL's Kelly Cup as league champions.
Additionally, it also helps the players as last minute call-ups will now be less of a burden. It’s yet to be determined if the team’s uniforms will be altered in any way, but here’s a look at what they currently look like.
Brent Lewis/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Adding the Eagles makes sense for everyone, when you consider that there will now be an equal amount of NHL and AHL teams (31). Hopefully the squad will be able to develop some prospects that will help get the Avalanche out of the gutter after a historically awful 2016-17 season.
(H/T r/Hockey)
