Goodbye, Mudbugs. Hello, Steelheads.
The Colorado Eagles announced Tuesday they are leaving the Central Hockey League after eight seasons to join the ECHL.
The two-time CHL champion Eagles are switching leagues after losing 2-1 to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in Game 7 of the Presidents’ Cup Finals last week.
The Loveland-based team is being placed in the ECHL’s Western Conference, creating potential rivalries with the Alaska Aces, Idaho Steelheads, Las Vegas Wranglers and Utah Grizzlies, among others. The season begins in mid-October.
The ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League, is a nationwide league of 20 teams. Each ECHL team is affiliated with an NHL team. The Eagles, on the other hand, lack NHL affiliation, and the Avs don’t have an ECHL link. After several years of “AA” affiliations in the league — including the Johnstown Chiefs and the Charlotte Checkers — they switched to the CHL’s Tulsa Oilers last season.
ECHL affiliations usually involve moving players up to the Avs’ AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, when the Avalanche call-ups leave Lake Erie shorthanded.
Could an Eagles-Avalanche tie-in be far behind?
