Colorado Eagles

The Colorado Eagles are a professional ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League.
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 Cups, 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.
The team has been granted an membership as an expansion team in the American Hockey League beginning with the 2018–19 season.
== 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 general manager since leaving the bench – resumed head coaching duties.
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 (2011–2018) ===
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.
In July 2016, head coach Chris Stewart retired as coach for the second time but remained with the organization as general manager. He was replaced by assistant coach and longtime Eagles player, Aaron Schneekloth. On July 20, the Eagles announced a four-year affiliation with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the AHL's San Antonio Rampage after one season of playing independent of affiliations. In their first season with the Avalanche affiliation, the Eagles would go on to finish second in the Mountain Division of the ECHL and then win the Kelly Cup as the 2017 playoffs champions.
===Move to the AHL===
For the 2017–18 season, the National Hockey League added the Vegas Golden Knights as a 31st team. The approval of a new NHL team also led to discussions of adding a 31st team in the American Hockey League. With the Golden Knights choosing to affiliate with the Chicago Wolves instead of adding their own AHL expansion team, talks with other organizations were opened. The owners and managers of the Eagles began discussions with the Avalanche with interests into becoming an AHL expansion for the 2018–19 season. On October 10, 2017, the Avalanche and the Eagles officially announced that the club would be promoted to the AHL in 2018.
The Avalanche hired Greg Cronin as the Eagles' first AHL head coach and retained former head coach Aaron Schneekloth as an assistant. Cronin remained in the role for the Eagles first five seasons, qualifying for the playoff in each year. Prior to the 2022–23 season, the Avalanche announced a restructure of their executive committee with Kevin McDonald hired and introduced as the incoming Eagles General Manager, with Craig Billington re-assigned to other duties within the organization.
With the departure of Cronin, following his unveiling as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, Schneekloth was re-instated as the Colorado Eagles head coach on July 7, 2023.
== Season records==
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL=shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Records as of end of the 2023–24 AHL season.
Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	 	 	
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	OTL 	SOL 	Pts 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	Finish 	Year 	Prelims 	1st round 	2nd round 	3rd round 	Finals 	 	 	
Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League 	Central Hockey League
2003–04 	64 	43 	16 	0 	5 	91 	232 	156 	1453 	1st, Northwest 	2004 	— 	— 	L, 1–3, WIC 	— 	— 	 	 	
2004–05 	60 	43 	10 	5 	2 	93 	221 	123 	1345 	1st, Northwest 	2005 	— 	— 	W, 4–1, TUL 	W, 4–2, WIC 	W, 4–1, LAR 	 	 	
2005–06 	64 	44 	14 	0 	6 	94 	241 	183 	1898 	1st, Northwest 	2006 	— 	— 	W, 4–3, OKC 	L, 1–4, BS 	— 	 	 	
2006–07 	64 	46 	17 	0 	1 	93 	256 	182 	1944 	1st, Northwest 	2007 	— 	W, 4–2, YNG 	W, 4–3, OKC 	W, 4–2, MEM 	W, 4–2, LAR 	 	 	
2007–08 	64 	37 	20 	2 	5 	81 	254 	223 	1637 	1st, Northwest 	2008 	— 	BYE 	W, 4–1, YNG 	W, 4–3, TEX 	L, 0–4, ARZ 	 	 	
2008–09 	64 	45 	15 	1 	3 	94 	275 	195 	1429 	1st, Northwest 	2009 	— 	BYE 	W, 4–0, BS 	W, 4–2, MIS 	L, 1–4, TEX 	 	 	
2009–10 	64 	42 	15 	5 	2 	91 	277 	208 	1557 	2nd, Northern 	2010 	— 	BYE 	L, 0–4, BS 	— 	— 	 	 	
2010–11 	66 	40 	22 	2 	2 	84 	250 	199 	1352 	2nd, Turner 	2011 	— 	W, 3–1, QC 	W, 3–1, MO 	W, 4–3, RC 	L, 3–4 BS 	 	 	
ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL 	ECHL
2011–12 	72 	38 	28 	1 	5 	82 	250 	252 	1485 	2nd, Mountain 	2012 	— 	L, 0–3, STK 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2012–13 	72 	34 	31 	3 	4 	75 	239 	224 	1534 	3rd, Mountain 	2013 	— 	L, 2–4, IDA 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2013–14 	71 	33 	26 	7 	5 	78 	211 	218 	1158 	4th, Mountain 	2014 	— 	L, 2–4, IDA 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2014–15 	72 	41 	23 	4 	4 	90 	236 	209 	1457 	3rd, Pacific 	2015 	— 	L, 3–4, ONT 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2015–16 	72 	41 	27 	3 	1 	86 	232 	193 	1427 	1st, West 	2016 	— 	L, 2–4, UTA 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2016–17 	72 	47 	20 	2 	3 	99 	265 	206 	1415 	2nd, Mountain 	2017 	— 	W, 4–1, IDA 	W, 4–2, ALN 	W, 4–1, TOL 	W, 4–0 SC 	 	 	
2017–18 	72 	48 	18 	4 	2 	102 	265 	214 	1377 	1st, Mountain 	2018 	— 	W, 4–2, WIC 	W, 4–0, IDA 	W, 4–3, FW 	W, 4–3, FLA 	 	 	
American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League 	American Hockey League 	American Hockey League 	American Hockey League 	American Hockey League 	American Hockey League	American Hockey League	American Hockey League
2018–19 	68 	36 	27 	4 	1 	77 	191 	205 	1114 	4th, Pacific 	2019 	— 	L, 1–3, BAK 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2019–20 	56 	34 	18 	3 	1 	72 	188 	162 	683 	2nd, Pacific 	2020 	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	 	 	
2020–21 	34 	15 	15 	3 	1 	34 	101 	104 	318 	5th, Pacific 	2021 	— 	OTW, 5–4, ONT 	L, 1–5, SJ 	— 	— 	 	 	
2021–22 	68 	39 	22 	4 	3 	85 	244 	207 	815 	3rd, Pacific 	2022 	W, 2–0, HSK 	W, 3–0, ONT 	L, 1–3, STK 	— 	— 	 	 	
2022–23 	72 	40 	22 	7 	3 	90 	210 	187 	1000 	3rd, Pacific 	2023 	W, 2–0, ONT 	L, 2–3, CV 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
2023–24 	72 	40 	25 	5 	2 	87 	215 	195 	1029 	4th, Pacific 	2024 	L, 1–2, ABB 	— 	— 	— 	— 	 	 	
== Players ==
=== Current roster ===
Updated April 29, 2024.
|}
=== Team captains ===
* Brent Thompson, 2003–04
* Greg Pankewicz, 2004–09
* Riley Nelson, 2009–14
* Trent Daavettila, 2014–16
* Matt Garbowsky, 2017–18
* Mark Alt, 2018–20
* Greg Pateryn, 2020–21
* Jayson Megna & Jacob MacDonald (co-captains), 2021–2022
* Brad Hunt, 2023–present
===Retired numbers===
 Colorado Eagles retired numbers
No.	Player 	Position	Career 	No. retirement
12 	Riley Nelson 	C 	2003–2014	December 12, 2014
17 	Ryan Tobler 	LW 	2003–2010	March 27, 2015
23 	Aaron Schneekloth	D 	2006–2013	March 22, 2019
27 	Brad Williamson 	D 	2003–2008	March 22, 2019
89 	Greg Pankewicz 	RW 	2003–2009	October 16, 2009
== Awards and honors ==
Ray Miron President's CupCHL playoff champion
* 2005, 2007
Kelly CupECHL playoff champion
* 2017
Bud Poile Governors' Cup
CHL regular season champion
* 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
Conference playoff championship
*2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
Division titles
* 2003–05, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2015–16
== References ==
== External links ==
* Colorado Eagles Official Website
Category:Central Hockey League teams
Category:American ice hockey teams
Category:Established in 2003
Category:ECHL teams
Category:Ice hockey teams in Colorado
Category:American Hockey League teams