NHL affiliations update

PRINCETON , N.J. – With Wednesday’s announcement that the Philadelphia Flyers have come to an affiliation agreement with the Mississippi Sea Wolves as the team’s ECHL affiliate, it’s time once again to update our readership on NHL affiliations in minor league hockey.
In the ECHL, only the Dayton Bombers are currently without an NHL affiliate. Two teams have more than one affiliate such as the reigning ECHL champion Cincinnati Cyclones ( Nashville and Montreal), and the Florida Everblades ( Florida and Carolina), Johnstown Chiefs ( Colorado and Columbus).
The Columbus Blue Jackets replace the Boston Bruins as the team’s secondary affiliate this season. The Boston Bruins will not have an ECHL affiliate this season. In fact, last season was the only season that Boston had an affiliation in the ECHL. The Buffalo Sabres have never had an ECHL affiliate in the team’s history and will not have one yet again this season.
The Bakersfield Condors will go into this season with their first ever NHL affiliation. The Anaheim Ducks will hold that honor. In fact, the Ducks will also have a new AHL affiliate as well with the Iowa Chops, formerly known as the Iowa Stars.
The Detroit Red Wings will not have an ECHL affiliation, but chose to renew their affiliation with the IHL’s Flint Generals for the second season in a row. The Wings were affiliated with the Toledo Storm but the team took a two year hiatus for the construction of a new arena. When Toledo returns next season they will be known as the Toledo Walleye.
The Columbia Inferno will not be back in the ECHL this season as they are also awaiting a new arena. The Inferno anticipates being back in the ECHL in time for the 2009-10 season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who was affiliated with Columbia, will now be affiliated with the Reading Royals. The Royals, who are owned by the Los Angeles Kings ownership group, will continue to also be affiliated with the Kings. However, the Texas Wildcatters have moved to Ontario, California and will also be affiliated with the Kings as well.
The new team in Ontario is known as the Ontario Reign. The affiliation also means that the Kings are the only NHL franchise with more than one ECHL affiliate.
The Elmira Jackals enter their second season with the ECHL and have also changed their affiliation from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Ottawa Senators. With Ottawa already having an AHL affiliation with the Binghamton Senators in the AHL, and because Elmira and Binghamton are an hours drive away from one another, the inevitable partnership made a ton of sense for everyone involved.
Another change is the Fresno Falcons being affiliated this season with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks did not have an ECHL affiliation last season due to the Greenville Grrrowl folding two seasons ago. Logistically the San Jose Sharks would have made sense, but the Sharks will be affiliated with the Phoenix RoadRunners this season.
While the ECHL has taken a small step back in terms of the number of teams it will have this season, but the return of Columbia and Toledo to the league, as well as the potential additions of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; as well as in Reno, Nevada will give the league more teams than ever before.
The AHL will have affiliates with every team in the NHL this season with the exception of the Dallas Stars. A new arena is being built in Austin, Texas for the Stars new affiliate.
In the CHL (Central Hockey League), two NHL teams will have affiliates in the league. The Arizona Sundogs are affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes, while the Tampa Bay Lighting will be affiliated with the Mississippi Riverkings. That means the Lighting is the only NHL franchise with three affiliations: Norfolk (AHL), Augusta (ECHL), and Mississippi (CHL).
Below is a table of the NHL and its affiliations.

Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com