The Colorado Eagles are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team based in

Loveland, Colorado Loveland is a List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated n ...

. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and remained in the league until June 2011, when they joined the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. 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 team was granted a membership as an expansion team in the

beginning with the 2018–19 season as the affiliate of the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. The Eagles play at the Blue Arena in Loveland and serve the Fort Collins – Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Franchise history

Central Hockey League era (2003–2011)

The franchise was founded in 2003 by former

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

player

Ralph Backstrom Ralph Gerald Backstrom (September 18, 1937 – February 7, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and later a coach, entrepreneur and hockey executive. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles ...

. 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 Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

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

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

and the

's St. John's IceCaps until the end of the 2012–13 hockey season and then as the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

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

and the AHL's

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was so ...

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 The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

as the 2017 playoffs champions. In their last season in the ECHL in 2017–18, the Eagles finished with back-to-back Kelly Cups with the 2018 playoff championship. Traditionally, the Kelly Cup is held by the winning team during the following season and returned before the playoffs, but the Eagles did not return the trophy to the league after leaving for the AHL and it had to be replaced. They eventually sent it to the 2019 ECHL champion

Newfoundland Growlers The Newfoundland Growlers were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League, ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season, 2018–19 season with home games ...

before opening night of the

2019–20 ECHL season The 2019–20 ECHL season was the 32nd season of the ECHL. The regular season began in October 2019 to and was set to conclude in April 2020 with the Kelly Cup playoffs to follow. Twenty-six teams in 19 states and two Canadian provinces were ea ...

Move to the AHL

For the 2017–18 season, the

added the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

as a 31st team. The approval of a new NHL team also led to discussions of adding a 31st team in the

. With the Golden Knights choosing to affiliate with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

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 The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

of the NHL, Schneekloth was re-instated as the Colorado Eagles head coach on July 7, 2023.

Media appearances

Although the Eagles have been a relatively small team to the media, they have been featured many times. In 2004, the Eagles signed a contract with

Altitude Sports and Entertainment Altitude Sports and Entertainment (usually referred to as simply Altitude or Altitude TV) is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves ...

to broadcast up to 10 games plus postseason games each year. The first TV broadcast for the Eagles was on November 5, 2004, against the New Mexico Scorpions that was broadcast on Altitude. Altitude and the Eagles parted ways in 2015 as the last broadcast was in the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Notable games that Altitude broadcast include the 2005 Ray Miron President's Cup Game 5 where the Eagles won their first Presidents Cup. As well as the 2007 Ray Miron President's Cup Game 6 where the Eagles won their second Presidents Cup. More Broadcasts include the 2009 CHL All-Star Game and the 2013 ECHL All-Star Game, both hosted at Blue Arena (formerly Budweiser Events Center). Altitude also hosted the NoCo Hockey Show in the late 2000s which was a monthly

TV Show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

that featured Eagles highlights and Community events. The Eagles

Play-by-Play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

Commentators varied from 2004-06 between Mike Haynes and Doug McLeod with Peter McNab as the

Color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

. From 2006 to 2009, Tori Holt, who was the commentator for the Eagles on the radio from 2003 to 06, was the Commentator with Kevin McGlue as the Color Commentator. McGlue now does the Radio Commentary for the Eagles. The Eagles are now broadcast on AHL.TV and on the radio on KKPL 99.9 The Point. The Eagles were formerly on KPAW 107.9 The Bear. The Eagles have also been recognized nationally by 2

Sportscenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

appearances. One appearance was in 2007 when Greg Pankewicz scored an incredible goal in Game 7 of the second round of the 2007 President's Cup Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Blazers where he lifted the puck over the defender's stick, knocked it around the defender with his stick, and made a diving finish to put the puck in the net.

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 The 2023–24 AHL season was the 88th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 13, 2023, and ended on April 21, 2024. The 2024 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season, and ended on June ...

Players

Current roster

Updated April 20, 2025.

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 Jayson Megna (born February 1, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward who is currently the captain of the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League (AHL). Megna was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but gr ...

& Jacob MacDonald (co-captains), 2021–2022 * Brad Hunt, 2023–2024 *

, 2024–present

Retired numbers

Awards and honors

Ray Miron President's Cup
''CHL playoff champion'' *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

''ECHL playoff champion'' *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Bud Poile Governors' Cup
''CHL regular season champion'' * 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09 Conference playoff championship *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Division titles * 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2017–18

References

External links

Colorado Eagles Official Website
{{Authority control American Hockey League teams Defunct ECHL teams Ice hockey teams in Colorado Calgary Flames minor league affiliates Colorado Avalanche minor league affiliates Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliates Loveland, Colorado Ice hockey clubs established in 2003 2003 establishments in Colorado