There was a whole lot of razzmatazz for introduction of Las Vegas Golden Knights as the 31st NHL team but little fanfare when Colorado Eagles were announced as the 31st and newest member of American Hockey League.

It was thought that Las Vegas might choose to affiliate with Colorado but instead decided to form an alliance with established AHL outfit, Chicago Wolves.

The Eagles had been the ECHL affiliate of Colorado Avalanche since 2016 and moving up the ladder appeared to be in the best interest of both parties.

The Colorado Eagles have enjoyed much success since founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hockey League. During their time in the CHL they notched up two championships, were three-time finalists, three regular season titles, five conference titles and six division titles in eight seasons.

Switching to the ECHL in 2011, it took the Eagles until their final two seasons in the league to taste ultimate victory. Twice Kelly Cup Champions (2017 and 2018) before switching to the AHL.

Aaron Schneekloth masterminded Colorado to those two ECHL championships and was kept on as an assistant with the organisation opting to hire Greg Cronin as the Head Coach.

A former NHL assistant coach with Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders, Cronin has guided the Eagles through a tricky inaugural season with all that encompasses and the AHL’s latest recruits sit on the precipice of making the playoffs.

A member of the notably tough Pacific Division, Colorado has thrived at Budweiser Events Center with a divisional best home record of 20-8-4 at the time of writing.

Bakersfield Condors are clear at the head of the division with 81 points but just six points separate second and fifth place in the Pacific.

A recent nine game win streak (which propelled them into a playoff berth) was snapped by an extraordinary 9-0 road loss to San Jose Barracuda and that’s had a knock-on effect with the Eagles taking just one point from two home encounters against Manitoba Moose.

The lowest scorers in the Pacific Division (172 goals in 62 games) have had to rely on a strong defensive effort and some of the best goaltending in the American League.
Czech netminder Pavel Francouz has put together a 25-15-3 record (tied third in AHL wins), a 0.919 save percentage (#4 AHL) and three shutouts.

Certainly Colorado don’t have an easy run in to book their place in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Six games which comprise of two on the road in Tucson, followed by a pair in Chicago against a Wolves team dominating the Central Division.
They’ll finish off at home with another double header as they entertain San Jose with a chance to avenge that 9-0 mauling.