Colorado Eagles

For the Mountain-Pacific passenger train, see Colorado Eagle.

Colorado Eagles
City	Loveland, Colorado
League	American Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	Pacific
Founded	2003 (In the CHL)
Home arena	Blue Arena
Colors
Owner(s)	Colorado Eagles Professional Hockey LLC
General manager	Kevin McDonald
Head coach	Aaron Schneekloth
Captain	Brad Hunt
Media	The Coloradoan Loveland Reporter-Herald AHL.TV (Internet)
Affiliates	Colorado Avalanche (NHL) Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
Franchise history
2003–present	Colorado Eagles
Championships
Regular season titles	3 (2005, 2006, 2009)
Division titles	8 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018)
Conference titles	7 (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2018)
Ray Miron President's Cup	2 (2005, 2007)
Kelly Cups	2 (2017, 2018)
Current season

The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League.

The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hockey League and remained in the league until June 2011, when they joined the ECHL. During their time in the CHL, the Eagles won two Ray Miron President's Cups, three regular season titles, five conference titles and six division titles in eight seasons. The team was granted a membership as an expansion team in the American Hockey League beginning with the 2018–19 season as the affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League.

The Eagles play at the Blue Arena in Loveland and serve the Fort Collins – Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Franchise history

Central Hockey League era (2003–2011)

The franchise was founded in 2003 by former Montreal Canadiens player Ralph Backstrom. ^[1] The Eagles advanced to the playoffs in their first season and won the CHL championship in their second season, 2004–05. They won their division in 2005–06, but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, after having defeated the Oklahoma City Blazers in the first round. They would again win the CHL Championship in 2006–07, defeating the Laredo Bucks four games to two in the Cup Finals.

After the 2007–08 season, coach Chris Stewart retired, and Kevin McClelland was named as his replacement. Following the 2009–10 season, McClelland was not retained and Stewart, who had been working as team president and general manager since leaving the bench, resumed head coaching duties.

During the 2008–09 season, the Eagles hosted the 2009 CHL All-Star Game and took on a group of CHL All-Stars from various teams. The exhibition took place on January 14, 2009, at the Budweiser Events Center, with the Eagles defeating the CHL All-Stars, 8–4.

Move to ECHL (2011–2018)

During the 2011 Ray Miron President's Cup playoffs, the Eagles had been rumored to be transferring to the ECHL following the completion of the playoffs. ^{[2] [3]} Former International Hockey League commissioner Dennis Hextall has stated that he had heard that the Colorado Eagles may already be included in the ECHL's tentative schedule for the 2011–12 season. ^[4]

On May 29, 2011, KEVN-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota reported that Colorado was to move to the ECHL in time for the 2011–12 season. ^[5] The following day, the team announced that they would have a press conference on May 31 at the Budweiser Events Center and that local media were urged to attend and fans urged to listen to the press conference online or on a local radio station. ^[6] At the press conference, Head Coach, General Manager and President Chris Stewart announced that the team had been accepted as an expansion franchise in the ECHL for the 2011–12 season.

In August 2011, the Eagles were assigned to the Western Conference's Mountain Division as part of the league realignment for the 2011–12 ECHL season. ^[7]

They served as the second-tier affiliate of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and the American Hockey League's St. John's IceCaps until the end of the 2012–13 hockey season ^[8] and then as the Calgary Flames and Adirondack Flames affiliate during the 2014–15 season.

In July 2016, head coach Chris Stewart retired as coach for the second time but remained with the organization as general manager. ^[9] He was replaced by assistant coach and longtime Eagles player, Aaron Schneekloth. ^[10] On July 20, the Eagles announced a four-year affiliation with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the AHL's San Antonio Rampage after one season of playing independent of affiliations. ^{[11] [12]} In their first season with the Avalanche affiliation, the Eagles would go on to finish second in the Mountain Division of the ECHL and then win the Kelly Cup as the 2017 playoffs champions. In their last season in the ECHL in 2017–18, the Eagles finished with back-to-back Kelly Cups with the 2018 playoff championship. Traditionally, the Kelly Cup is held by the winning team during the following season and returned before the playoffs, but the Eagles did not return the trophy to the league after leaving for the AHL and it had to be replaced. ^{[13] [14] [15]} They eventually sent it to the 2019 ECHL champion Newfoundland Growlers before opening night of the 2019–20 ECHL season. ^[16]

Move to the AHL

For the 2017–18 season, the National Hockey League added the Vegas Golden Knights as a 31st team. The approval of a new NHL team also led to discussions of adding a 31st team in the American Hockey League. ^[17] With the Golden Knights choosing to affiliate with the Chicago Wolves instead of adding their own AHL expansion team, talks with other organizations were opened. The owners and managers of the Eagles began discussions with the Avalanche with interests into becoming an AHL expansion for the 2018–19 season. ^[18] On October 10, 2017, the Avalanche and the Eagles officially announced that the club would be promoted to the AHL in 2018. ^{[19] [20]}

The Avalanche hired Greg Cronin as the Eagles' first AHL head coach and retained former head coach Aaron Schneekloth as an assistant. ^[21] Cronin remained in the role for the Eagles first five seasons, qualifying for the playoff in each year. Prior to the 2022–23 season, the Avalanche announced a restructure of their executive committee with Kevin McDonald hired and introduced as the incoming Eagles General Manager, with Craig Billington re-assigned to other duties within the organization. ^{[22] [23]}

With the departure of Cronin, following his unveiling as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, Schneekloth was re-instated as the Colorado Eagles head coach on July 7, 2023. ^[24]

Media Apperances

Although the Eagles have been a relatively small team to the media, they have been featured many times. In 2004, the Eagles signed a contract with Altitude Sports and Entertainment to broadcast up to 10 games plus postseason games each year. ^[25] The first TV broadcast for the Eagles was on November 5, 2004, against the New Mexico Scorpions that was broadcast on Altitude. Altitude and the Eagles parted ways in 2015 as the last broadcast was in the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Notable games that Altitude broadcast include the 2005 Ray Miron President's Cup Game 5 where the Eagles won their first Presidents Cup. As well as the 2007 Ray Miron President's Cup Game 6 where the Eagles won their second Presidents Cup. More Broadcasts include the 2009 CHL All-Star Game and the 2013 ECHL All-Star Game, both hosted at Blue Arena (formerly Budweiser Events Center).

Altitude also hosted the NoCo Hockey Show in the late 2000s which was a monthly TV Show that featured Eagles highlights and Community events.

The Eagles Play-by-Play Commentators varied from 2004-06 between Mike Haynes and Doug McLeod with Peter McNab as the Color commentator. From 2006 to 2009, Tori Holt, who was the commentator for the Eagles on the radio from 2003 to 06, was the Commentator with Kevin McGlue as the Color Commentator. McGlue now does the Radio Commentary for the Eagles.

The Eagles are now broadcast on AHL.TV and on the radio on KKPL 99.9 The Point. The Eagles were formerly on KPAW 107.9 The Bear.

The Eagles have also been recognized nationally by 2 Sportscenter appearances. One appearance was in 2007 when Greg Pankewicz scored an incredible goal in Game 7 of the second round of the 2007 President's Cup Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Blazers where he lifted the puck over the defender's stick, knocked it around the defender with his stick, and made a diving finish to put the puck in the net.

Season records

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL=shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of end of the 2023–24 AHL season. ^[26]

Regular season											Playoffs
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Year	Prelims	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
Central Hockey League
2003–04	64	43	16	0	5	91	232	156	1453	1st, Northwest	2004	—	—	L, 1–3, WIC	—	—
2004–05	60	43	10	5	2	93	221	123	1345	1st, Northwest	2005	—	—	W, 4–1, TUL	W, 4–2, WIC	W, 4–1, LAR
2005–06	64	44	14	0	6	94	241	183	1898	1st, Northwest	2006	—	—	W, 4–3, OKC	L, 1–4, BS	—
2006–07	64	46	17	0	1	93	256	182	1944	1st, Northwest	2007	—	W, 4–2, YNG	W, 4–3, OKC	W, 4–2, MEM	W, 4–2, LAR
2007–08	64	37	20	2	5	81	254	223	1637	1st, Northwest	2008	—	BYE	W, 4–1, YNG	W, 4–3, TEX	L, 0–4, ARZ
2008–09	64	45	15	1	3	94	275	195	1429	1st, Northwest	2009	—	BYE	W, 4–0, BS	W, 4–2, MIS	L, 1–4, TEX
2009–10	64	42	15	5	2	91	277	208	1557	2nd, Northern	2010	—	BYE	L, 0–4, BS	—	—
2010–11	66	40	22	2	2	84	250	199	1352	2nd, Turner	2011	—	W, 3–1, QC	W, 3–1, MO	W, 4–3, RC	L, 3–4 BS
ECHL
2011–12	72	38	28	1	5	82	250	252	1485	2nd, Mountain	2012	—	L, 0–3, STK	—	—	—
2012–13	72	34	31	3	4	75	239	224	1534	3rd, Mountain	2013	—	L, 2–4, IDA	—	—	—
2013–14	71	33	26	7	5	78	211	218	1158	4th, Mountain	2014	—	L, 2–4, IDA	—	—	—
2014–15	72	41	23	4	4	90	236	209	1457	3rd, Pacific	2015	—	L, 3–4, ONT	—	—	—
2015–16	72	41	27	3	1	86	232	193	1427	1st, West	2016	—	L, 2–4, UTA	—	—	—
2016–17	72	47	20	2	3	99	265	206	1415	2nd, Mountain	2017	—	W, 4–1, IDA	W, 4–2, ALN	W, 4–1, TOL	W, 4–0 SC
2017–18	72	48	18	4	2	102	265	214	1377	1st, Mountain	2018	—	W, 4–2, WIC	W, 4–0, IDA	W, 4–3, FW	W, 4–3, FLA
American Hockey League
2018–19	68	36	27	4	1	77	191	205	1114	4th, Pacific	2019	—	L, 1–3, BAK	—	—	—
2019–20	56	34	18	3	1	72	188	162	683	2nd, Pacific	2020	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	34	15	15	3	1	34	101	104	318	5th, Pacific	2021 [lower-alpha 1]	—	OTW, 5–4, ONT	L, 1–5, SJ	—	—
2021–22	68	39	22	4	3	85	244	207	815	3rd, Pacific	2022	W, 2–0, HSK	W, 3–0, ONT	L, 1–3, STK	—	—
2022–23	72	40	22	7	3	90	210	187	1000	3rd, Pacific	2023	W, 2–0, ONT	L, 2–3, CV	—	—	—
2023–24	72	40	25	5	2	87	215	195	1029	4th, Pacific	2024	L, 1–2, ABB	—	—	—	—

1. The 2021 Calder Cup playoffs were not held; the Pacific Division held a postseason tournament for the division title. The bottom four teams had single-elimination play-in games to qualify for the semifinals (the first two rounds). The division semifinals and finals were best-of-three for the John D. Chick Trophy (the last two rounds).

Players

Current roster

Updated April 29, 2024. ^[27]

Team roster

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
5		Wyatt Aamodt	D	L	26	2022	Hermantown, Minnesota	Avalanche
60		Jacob Barczewski	G	L	25	2024	O'Fallon, Missouri	Eagles
74		Alex Beaucage	RW	R	22	2021	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	Avalanche
85		Sean Behrens	D	L	21	2024	Barrington, Illinois	Avalanche
28		D.J. Busdeker	RW	R	24	2023	Dexter, Michigan	Eagles
84		Nate Clurman	D	R	25	2021	Boulder, Colorado	Avalanche
75		Brandon Cutler	C	L	23	2023	Spruce Grove, Alberta	Eagles
15		Gianni Fairbrother	D	L	23	2023	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Avalanche
93		Jean-Luc Foudy	C	R	21	2021	Toronto, Ontario	Avalanche
45		Chad Hillebrand	LW	L	25	2024	Park Ridge, Illinois	Eagles
71		Peter Holland	C	L	33	2023	Toronto, Ontario	Eagles
82		Ivan Ivan	C	L	21	2023	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Avalanche
20		Tanner Kero	C	L	31	2023	Hancock, Michigan	Eagles
48		Kyle Mayhew	D	L	26	2023	Anaheim Hills, California	Eagles
24		Oskar Olausson	RW	L	21	2022	Stockholm, Sweden	Avalanche
65		Cedric Pare	C	L	25	2022	Levis, Quebec	Eagles
26		Ondrej Pavel	C	L	23	2023	Prague, Czech Republic	Avalanche
41		Jason Polin	RW	R	24	2023	Holt, Michigan	Avalanche
95		Garrett Pyke	D	L	24	2024	Etobicoke, Ontario	Eagles
11		Ryan Sandelin	RW	R	25	2023	Hermantown, Minnesota	Eagles
44		Corey Schueneman	D	L	28	2023	Milford, Michigan	Avalanche
38		Spencer Smallman	RW	R	27	2022	Summerside, Prince Edward Island	Avalanche
73		Dalton Smith	LW	L	31	2021	Oshawa, Ontario	Eagles
47		Brett Stapley	C	R	25	2023	Campbell River, British Columbia	Eagles
36		Matt Stienburg	RW	R	23	2023	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Avalanche
61		Michael Underwood	D	R	25	2023	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan	Eagles
16		Saige Weinstein	D	L	18	2024	Edmonton, Alberta	Avalanche
22		Josh Wesley	D	R	28	2023	Hartford, Connecticut	Eagles

Team captains

• Brent Thompson, 2003–04
• Greg Pankewicz, 2004–09
• Riley Nelson, 2009–14
• Trent Daavettila, 2014–16
• Matt Garbowsky, 2017–18
• Mark Alt, 2018–20
• Greg Pateryn, 2020–21
• Jayson Megna & Jacob MacDonald (co-captains), 2021–2022
• Brad Hunt, 2023–present

Retired numbers

Colorado Eagles retired numbers

No.	Player	Position	Career	No. retirement
12	Riley Nelson	C	2003–2014	December 12, 2014 [28]
17	Ryan Tobler	LW	2003–2010	March 27, 2015 [29]
23	Aaron Schneekloth	D	2006–2013	March 22, 2019 [30]
27	Brad Williamson	D	2003–2008	March 22, 2019 [30]
89	Greg Pankewicz	RW	2003–2009	October 16, 2009 [31]

Awards and honors

Andrew Agozzino representing the Eagles at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic.

Ray Miron President's Cup
CHL playoff champion

• 2005, 2007

Kelly Cup
ECHL playoff champion

• 2017, 2018

Bud Poile Governors' Cup
CHL regular season champion

• 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09

Conference playoff championship

• 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2018

Division titles

• 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2017–18

References

1. Scott, Jon C. (2006). Hockey Night in Dixie: Minor Pro Hockey in the American South . Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd. p. 163. ISBN   1-894974-21-2.
2. Sandalow, Brian (April 30, 2011). "Icy future awaiting Bees?". The Monitor . Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
3. Cohn, Justin A. (May 6, 2011). "Lots of excitement". The Journal Gazette . Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
4. DeVrieze, Craig (April 29, 2011). "Change rumors swirl in the CHL". Quad-City Times . Retrieved May 23, 2011.
5. Coppock, Cory (May 29, 2011). "Colorado Eagles moving to ECHL". KEVN-TV . Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
6. "Eagles schedule new conference for Tuesday". The Coloradoan . May 30, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2011.^{[ dead link ]}
7. "Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes". ECHL . August 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
8. "Jets cut ties to ECHL club". Winnipeg Free Press . May 14, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
9. Lytle, Kevin (July 6, 2016). "Chris Stewart retires as Colorado Eagles coach". Fort Collins Coloradoan . Retrieved July 6, 2016.
10. Tiller, Cris (July 18, 2016). "Colorado Eagles name Aaron Schneekloth to replace Chris Stewart". Reporter-Herald . Retrieved July 18, 2016.
11. "Eagles Announce Affiliation with Colorado Avalanche". OurSports Central. July 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
12. "GRIZZLIES BECOME ECHL AFFILIATE OF COLORADO AVALANCHE". ECHL . June 28, 2018. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
13. "The Kelly Cup was never returned so the ECHL created a replacement trophy". WTVG . May 31, 2019. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
14. "STATEMENT FROM EAGLES OWNER MARTIN LIND REGARDING KELLY CUP". Colorado Eagles. May 31, 2019. Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
15. "STATEMENT FROM THE ECHL REGARDING THE KELLY CUP". ECHL . June 1, 2019. Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
16. "Growlers to Celebrate Opening Night with Two Kelly Cups". OurSports Central. October 10, 2019. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
17. Alexander, Jim (February 12, 2017). "American Hockey League president talks scheduling, expansion, All-Stars, etc". The Press-Enterprise . Retrieved February 12, 2017.
18. Chambers, Mike (June 14, 2017). "Colorado Eagles in discussions to become the Avalanche's AHL affiliate". The Denver Post . Retrieved June 14, 2017.
19. Lytle, Kevin (October 10, 2017). "Colorado Eagles moving to AHL to become top Avalanche affiliate". Fort Collins Coloradoan . Retrieved October 10, 2017.
20. "AHL Awards Expansion Membership to Colorado Eagles" (Press release). American Hockey League. October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
21. "AVALANCHE NAME CRONIN COLORADO EAGLES HEAD COACH". Colorado Eagles. July 12, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-07-13. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
22. "Avalanche names Kevin McDonald Assistant General Manager". Colorado Eagles. July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
23. Meghan Angley (October 27, 2022). ""Be the best player here, and your chance will come"; Meet Kevin McDonald, the new leader of the Colorado Eagles". thednvr.com. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
24. "Aaron Schneekloth named Colorado Eagles head coach". Colorado Avalanche. July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
25. https://web.archive.org/web/20041025034039/http://www.coloradoeagles.com/news/?id=1735
26. "Colorado Eagles season statistics and records". HockeyDB. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
27. "Colorado Eagles roster". Colorado Eagles. April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
28. Tiller, Cris (December 11, 2014). "Former Eagles captain Riley Nelson settling into life after hockey". Reporter-Herald . Retrieved December 11, 2014.
29. Tiller, Cris (March 27, 2015). "Ryan Tobler honored to have Colorado Eagles retire his number". Reporter-Herald . Retrieved March 27, 2015.
30. "Colorado Eagles to retire numbers of Schneekloth, Williamson". Colorado Eagles. February 5, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
31. "Pankewicz retires becomes assistant coach". Colorado Eagles. August 10, 2009. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2009.

External links

• Colorado Eagles Official Website