DENVER – Loveland, Colorado is 52 miles away, but the Avalanche needed 10 years to get there.
Geography, as it relates to hockey, has the potential to be complicated. And not in the “If a freight train leaves Station A at 70 miles per hour” kind of way either. NHL teams usually have two ways of reaching their AHL affiliate: They can either get their directly or literally be all over the map trying to reach them.
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The Avalanche can attest to this. General manager Joe Sakic and assistant GM Craig Billington spoke for years about what it would mean to have an AHL team closer to Denver. Those discussions were justified considering Colorado’s previous affiliates were based in Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and finally Texas.
All it took to set things in motion was the NHL expanding to Las Vegas. Having a 31st NHL franchise opened the door to add another AHL team for symmetry between the two leagues. Vegas chose to partner with the Chicago Wolves and that decision meant space was available for a 31st affiliate.
Enter the Colorado Eagles, the Avs’ ECHL affiliate since 2016. A series of conversations between the two sides led to an initiative about moving up to the AHL. From there, the Eagles went through an assessment process where they met with AHL officials to discuss items such as financial standing and venue feasibility. After receiving clearance from the league office, Eagles owner and CEO Martin Lind purchased the AHL franchise rights for a 31st team that would be based in Loveland.
Just like that, the Avs have an AHL affiliate in their backyard starting this season.
“I think when you look back at when we started having a development department, there was a focus for what we needed for our players,” Billington told The Athletic. “We needed to have personnel and people to work with players and to get a geographical benefit, which we now have in Loveland. It’s really a win.”
Figuring out the logistics of either watching or transporting players in the AHL can, at times, be one of the more daunting tasks facing an NHL front office.
The Jets, Maple Leafs and Sharks are fortunate. The Jets’ and Sharks’ AHL teams play in the same arena, while the Maple Leafs are less than three miles away from their farm team. Then there are the Coyotes, Ducks and Red Wings that are in the same state and are within a 200-mile drive of their affiliates.
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But there are other franchises facing greater demands. The Canucks, Flames, Golden Knights, Oilers, Lightning and Panthers are all more than 1,000 miles away from their farm teams. Vancouver, for example, is more than 2,900 miles away from its AHL team in Utica, N.Y.
Colorado was once one of those teams. Every AHL affiliate, except for San Antonio (933 miles), was more than 1,000 miles away.
Around the time Billington joined Colorado’s front office, the team’s AHL affiliate was in Hershey, Pa., a difference of 1,639 miles from Denver.
“It was two flights and a whole day occurrence,” Billington said. “When you look at players, we were at the whim of the airline industry to get that player in. It’s the stress of two connections and worrying about, ‘Is he going to get here on time with his bags?’”
Mike O’Connell, who is the senior advisor to the general manager for the Kings, can speak at length about the dynamic that comes with an NHL team being separated from its AHL affiliate by a great distance.
For 14 seasons, the Kings’ farm team was in Manchester, N.H., which is 3,018 miles away. The Kings’ current AHL affiliate — the Ontario Reign in Ontario, Calif. — is a mere 45 miles away and there’s already been a noticeable difference.
“You have to carry an extra one or two players in case there’s injuries. Depending upon a player’s salary, that is a substantial cost,” O’Connell told The Athletic. “Now you don’t have that anymore because they can get to you in a car or bus ride and you’ve saved yourself one roster spot for the whole year.
“That could be the difference of a couple million dollars.”
O’Connell, who was the Bruins’ general manager and vice president for six years, also factored in how climate and time difference between the NHL and AHL can play a role.
Look at Los Angeles and Manchester for example.
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Both cities are on opposites sides of the nation. Los Angeles has a year-round warm weather climate compared to Manchester, which has all four seasons. That could make the transition for any player going in either direction difficult depending upon the time of year.
Don’t forget the three-hour time difference too. O’Connell cited how if a Kings’ game ended at 10 p.m., it would be 1 a.m. in Manchester. But with the Reign nearby, it makes recalling a player far less complicated.
“You also have a better handle of what’s going on in the minor leagues. They don’t have to rely on watching video and rely on scouts. It’s easier to get a full understanding on what a player can do,” O’Connell said. “Every coach, scout and GM sees players differently. A GM has a good understanding of the NHL team that he’s watching intently. He might have an idea of who would fill in better in case there’s an injury.
“It’s huge in making a determination on trades or players being brought up to play.”
There’s also another facet worth highlighting. Half of the Avalanche’s 28 draft picks from 2015 through 2018 were born in Europe, and joining an AHL team is their initial introduction into North American culture.
Sampo Ranta, the Avs third-round pick in the 2018 draft, eased into a new way of life by spending two years with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. The 18-year-old Finnish winger’s transition will continue into college, as he’s reportedly set to play for the University of Minnesota after being granted his release from Wisconsin earlier this month.
Russian center Igor Shvyryov and Czech Republic goaltender Pavel Francouz, who will both play for the Eagles, are moving to the United States on a full-time basis without having previously lived on this side of the Atlantic before.
“I go back to whether you’re from North America or Europe. Wherever you are coming from in the world, when you come to the state of Colorado, you know where the Avalanche are,” Billington said. “That should give a player a great feel for the evolution of their development, how they will be tracked, coaching and that even extends to having an (ECHL team) in Utah.”
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Marketing is another avenue that could benefit both teams now that the AHL is right up the road.
Hockey is serious business in Loveland. For starters, fans there have never seen a losing season. The Eagles played eight years in the Central Hockey League before spending the last seven in the ECHL. Between the two leagues, they’ve won a combined eight division titles. The Eagles won two Ray Miron President’s Cups and captured consecutive Kelly Cups in their final two ECHL seasons.
Budweiser Events Center played host to the Eagles as one of the best draws in the ECHL last season. They were eighth in total fans and ninth in average attendance. The arena itself holds 5,289 fans for hockey, and the Eagles had an average capacity of 95 percent, the second-highest mark in the ECHL.
An affiliation with the Avs could see more Eagles fans come to Pepsi Center for games and vice-versa.
Think about it like this.
Martin Kaut, the Avalanche’s first-round pick a few months ago, will spend this season in Loveland. Any Avalanche fan curious about his progress can make the drive to see him in person. Those people who become Kaut fans can say they saw him before he made it to the NHL.
Plus, they can make a relatively short drive to Pepsi Center and watch him in person once he’s with the Avs.
“Our marketing teams on both sides have met for over a year,” Billington said. “Bringing those worlds together, it’s about realizing this is different than what either of us have had.”
(Photo of Martin Kaut: Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)