Idaho Steelheads The Colorado Eagles are a professional ice hockey team based in Loveland , Colorado . The Eagles play in the West Division of the ECHL ' s Western Conference . 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 Cup s , 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 . Franchise history . Central Hockey League era ( 2003 – 2011 ) . The franchise was founded in 2003 by former Montreal Canadiens player Ralph Backstrom . 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 ) . 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 . 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 . On May 29 , 2011 , KEVN - TV in Rapid City , South Dakota reported that Colorado was to move to the ECHL in time for the 2011 – 12 season . 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 . 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 . 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 – 13 hockey season and then as the Calgary Flames and Adirondack Flames affiliate during the 2014 – 15 season . Season records . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , OTL = Overtime / shootout losses or tie , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Retired numbers . The Steelheads currently have three retired numbers . Rivalries . The Steelheads ' most notable rivals are the Alaska Aces . These two teams are the surviving remnants of the WCHL in their original markets , their common histories going back nearly 20 years . Three other WCHL refugees , the San Diego Gulls , Long Beach Ice Dogs , and Fresno Falcons have since folded , while the Bakersfield Condors relocated in 2015 to become the Norfolk Admirals . With the ECHL ' s 2015 exit from California , the Steelheads are the westernmost ECHL team in the 48 contiguous United States and the second - westernmost team overall after Alaska . Geographically , Idaho ' s closest opponent is the Utah Grizzlies at , followed by the Colorado Eagles at . Until their 2014 suspension of operations the Steelheads also enjoyed a rivalry with the Las Vegas Wranglers due to their frequent playoff meetings .