The American Hockey League has officially announced that the Colorado Eagles will be joining the league in the 2018-19 season as the Colorado Avalanche’s new AHL affiliate. The Eagles are currently in the ECHL and have been part of that league since 2011. That left the San Antonio Rampage open to be taken over which the St. Louis Blues have on a newly announced five-year affiliation agreement.
Press Release via AHL:
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced today that the Colorado Eagles have been approved as an expansion franchise for the 2018-19 season.
The Eagles will be the new primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche when they begin play in the AHL’s Pacific Division at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo., in October 2018.
The Eagles’ application for membership was approved by the AHL Board of Governors during the league’s Annual Meeting in July, and brings the AHL up to 31 teams for the first time.
Originally founded in 2003, the Colorado Eagles franchise has won three league championships, as members of the Central Hockey League (2005, 2007) and the ECHL (2017).
The AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, who are currently the Avalanche’s top affiliate, have entered into an affiliation with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues that will also take effect in 2018-19.
In operation since 1936, the AHL serves as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.
How do you feel this AHL shake-up in 2018-19 will impact the league? Can the arrival of the Colorado Eagles signal an end to the “Points Percentage” system and force teams out West to play a full 76-game regular season like the rest of the league?
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Admirals Roundtable 
I’m all for balancing out East and West
get rid of Points Percentage
You would think at some point they would have to get away from that with the West Coast teams. I thought the addition of Tucson would have been enough, but nope. If adding Colorado doesn’t do it then nothing will and it would appear they just want a West Coast team to win the Calder Cup. Okay, okay, I’m being ridiculous, but seriously, what would it take?