Colorado Eagles
| Colorado Eagles | |
|---|---|
 2010–11 Colorado Eagles season |
|
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| City | Loveland, Colorado |
| League | ECHL |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Mountain |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Home arena | Budweiser Events Center |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Red, Blue |
| Owner(s) | Colorado Eagles Professional Hockey LLC |
| General manager | Chris Stewart |
| Head coach | Chris Stewart |
| Media | The Coloradoan Loveland Reporter-Herald |
| Affiliates | Winnipeg Jets (NHL) (2011-2013) St. John's IceCaps (AHL) (2011-2013) |
| Franchise history | |
| 2003–2011 | Colorado Eagles (CHL) |
| 2011–present | Colorado Eagles (ECHL) |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 3 (2005, 2006, 2009) |
| Division Championships | 6 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) |
| Conference Championships | 5 (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011) |
| Ray Miron President's Cup | 2 (2005, 2007) |
The Colorado Eagles are a professional ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference,[1] where 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 2012-2013 hockey season.[2]
The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hockey League and remained in the league until June 2011. 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 Eagles play at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland and serves the Fort Collins-Loveland metropolitan area.
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Franchise history [edit]
Central Hockey League era (2003–2011) [edit]
The franchise was founded in 2003 by former Montreal Canadiens player Ralph Backstrom.[3] 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 GM since leaving the bench - resumed head coaching duties. Stewart is currently President, GM and Head Coach.
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–present) [edit]
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.[4][5] 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.[6]
On May 29, 2011, KEVN in Rapid City, South Dakota reported that Colorado was to move to the ECHL in time for the 2011–12 season.[7] 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.[8] 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.[1]
Season-by-season record [edit]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Records as of end of the 2011–12 ECHL season.[9]
| Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2003–04 | 64 | 43 | 16 | 5 | 91 | 232 | 156 | 1453 | 1st, Northwest | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–3 (Wichita) |
| 2004–05 | 60 | 43 | 10 | 7 | 93 | 221 | 123 | 1345 | 1st, Northwest | Ray Miron President's Cup Champions, 4–1 (Laredo) |
| 2005–06 | 64 | 44 | 14 | 6 | 94 | 241 | 183 | 1898 | 1st, Northwest | Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Bossier-Shreveport) |
| 2006–07 | 64 | 46 | 17 | 1 | 93 | 256 | 182 | 1944 | 1st, Northwest | Ray Miron President's Cup Champions, 4–2 (Laredo) |
| 2007–08 | 64 | 37 | 20 | 7 | 81 | 254 | 223 | 1637 | 1st, Northwest | Lost in Ray Miron President's Cup Finals, 0–4 (Arizona) |
| 2008–09 | 64 | 45 | 15 | 4 | 94 | 275 | 195 | 1429 | 1st, Northwest | Lost in Ray Miron President's Cup Finals, 1–4 (Texas) |
| 2009–10 | 64 | 42 | 15 | 7 | 91 | 277 | 208 | 1557 | 2nd, Northern | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 0–4 (Bossier-Shreveport) |
| 2010–11 | 66 | 40 | 22 | 4 | 84 | 250 | 199 | 1352 | 2nd, Turner | Lost in Ray Miron President's Cup Finals, 3–4 (Bossier-Shreveport) |
| 2011–12 | 72 | 38 | 28 | 6 | 82 | 250 | 252 | 1485 | 2nd, Mountain | Lost in Conference Quaterfinals, 0–3 (Stockton) |
Players [edit]
Current roster [edit]
Updated April 12, 2013[10]
Retired numbers [edit]
- 89: Greg Pankewicz, RW, 2003–09
Awards and honors [edit]
Ray Miron President's Cup
CHL playoff champion
- 2004–05, 2006–07
Bud Poile Governors' Cup
CHL regular season champion
- 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
Conference playoff championship
- 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
Division titles
- 2003–05, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
References [edit]
- ^ a b Press release (August 1, 2011). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes". ECHL. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ^ Press release (May 14, 2013). "Jets cut ties to ECHL club". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Sandalow, Brian (April 30, 2011). "Icy future awaiting Bees?". The Monitor. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- ^ Cohn, Justin A. (May 6, 2011). "Lots of excitement". The Journal Gazette. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- ^ DeVrieze, Craig (April 29, 2011). "Change rumors swirl in the CHL". Quad-City Times. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
- ^ Coppock, Cory (May 29, 2011). "Colorado Eagles moving to ECHL". KEVN-TV. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
- ^ Press release (May 30, 2011). "Eagles schedule new conference for Tuesday". The Coloradoan. Retrieved May 30, 2011. Text "topnews" ignored (help); Text "text" ignored (help); Text "Sports " ignored (help)
- ^ Hockeydb.com, Colorado Eagles season statistics and records.
- ^ "Colorado Eagles Roster". Retrieved 2011-11-06.
External links [edit]
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