Earlier today, the Colorado Avalanche gained a local AHL affiliate when the ECHL Colorado Eagles became an AHL franchise. The Avalanche were previously using the San Antonio Rampage as an AHL team, but now the Rampage will be affiliates of the St. Louis Blues in 2018-19. The Blues were previously left in the cold when their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, agreed to partner with the Vegas Golden Knights instead.
Having a relatively local AHL affiliate provides ample benefits for an NHL club. Having coaching staff in the same vicinity allows the NHL and AHL club to more seamlessly instil a organization playing system, and reduces travel issues when recalling or reassigning players. But not every team enjoys that benefit. Some teams have AHL affiliates hundreds of miles from the NHL club. Below is a list of each NHL team and their AHL affiliates organized by distance between the two cities.
San Jose Sharks – San Jose Barracuda | 0 miles
Toronto Maple Leafs – Toronto Marlies | 0 miles
Winnipeg Jets – Manitoba Moose | 0 miles
Montreal Canadiens – Laval Rockets | 18 miles
Los Angeles Kings – Ontario Reign | 41 miles
Boston Bruins – Providence Bruins | 51 miles
Colorado Avalanche – Colorado Eagles (Loveland) | 52 miles
Philadelphia Flyers – Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Allentown) | 63 miles
New York Islanders (Brooklyn) – Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 63 miles
Buffalo Sabres – Rochester Americans | 76 miles
Chicago Blackhawks – Rockford IceHogs | 95 miles
Anaheim Ducks – San Diego Gulls | 95 miles
New York Rangers – Hartford Wolf Pack | 112 miles
Arizona Coyotes (Glendale) – Tucson Roadrunners | 128 miles
Washington Capitals – Hershey Bears | 132 miles
Columbus Blue Jackets – Cleveland Monsters | 144 miles
Detroit Red Wings – Grand Rapids Griffins | 159 miles
Carolina Hurricanes (Raleigh) – Charlotte Checkers | 167 miles
Ottawa Senators – Belleville Senators | 167 miles
New Jersey Devils (Newark) – Binghamton Devils | 168 miles
Dallas Stars – Texas Stars (Cedar Park) | 189 miles
Minnesota Wild (Minneapolis) – Iowa Wild (Des Moines) | 243 miles
Pittsburgh Penguins – Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins | 265 miles
Nashville Predators – Milwaukee Admirals | 568 miles
Tampa Bay Lightning – Syracuse Crunch | 1,266 miles
Calgary Flames – Stockton Heat | 1,291 miles
Florida Panthers (Miami) – Springfield (Ma.) Thunderbirds | 1,414 miles
Edmonton Oilers – Bakersfield Condors | 1,765 miles
Vegas Golden Knights – Chicago Wolves | 1,748 miles
Vancouver Canucks – Utica Comets | 2,929 miles
The San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, and the Montreal Canadiens all have their AHL affiliate within a thirty-minute drive. At the other end of the spectrum, Vancouver prospects have to traverse the continent to get from Utica, in upstate NY, to Vancouver, out on the west coast. The Vancouver Canucks and the Utica Comets are the farthest paired teams, with over one thousand miles more than the second farthest pairing.
[an earlier version of this article had the Colorado Eagles playing in Denver. They will continue to play in Loveland, Co., about 52 miles north of Denver. Thanks to our eagle-eyed readers for the tip.]
Minor correction: The Colorado Eagles play at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, Colorado. From the Pepsi Center in Denver, that is 50.4 miles away, and 1 hr drive up I-25 in good traffic.
Absolutely right! We initially had the Eagles playing in Denver, but they will remain in Loveland, Co. for the time being.
Also it’s the Hershey Bears and not Hersey.
Uthica to Vancouver is quite the treck
Can’t imagine why The Canucks don’t have their affiliate closer. I would think they could have a team in Victoria, or failing that, Seattle. Both cities should support AHL hockey.
It is more about the team travel within the AHL rather than the time for the odd player to be called up. Utica is within a few hours drive of 14 teams, thus making it much more cost effective than flying everywhere. Driving from Seattle or Victoria to Vancouver easily takes 3+ hours, so a couple extra hours on a plane for a call up isn’t as big a deal. If the Canucks are on the road, then the time is even less.
The Comets have sold out every home game for at least the past two years. Granted it is a smaller venue but Canucks management likes the loyal and rabid fan base in Utica
I bet the Wild could get a guy 243 miles up from Des Moines for a game faster than the Kings could get a guy 41 miles from Ontario
Haha so true
Still trying to figure out what a Sound Tiger is
I looked this up once. I always assumed Bridgeport Sound was a place and they had a team called the Tigers, but no…
The dude who owned (owns?) the team either owned a recording studio or a small record label or was somehow involved in the music business, so he just stuck the word “Sound” in front of the word Tigers and that’s it. The origin is as dumb as the name.
Dunno if the owner is/was a musician, but Bridgeport is on the shore of a body of water called Long Island Sound. Until they moved to Brooklyn, the NY Islanders were across the Sound on Long Island, so it kind of connected the NHL club and their affiliate.
You have to be driving incredibly fast (and breaking a number of laws) in order to do 52 miles in under 30 minutes.
Must be the high altitude… lol I saw that too.
Ha ha, a relic from a previous edition of the article that had the Eagles play in Denver rather than Loveland.