When the Vegas Golden Knights decided to purchase the San Antonio Rampage and relocate them, the St. Louis Blues were left without an AHL affiliation. No longer, as the team has signed a five-year agreement with the Springfield Thunderbirds beginning with the 2020-21 season. That will leave the Florida Panthers looking for a new affiliation. AHL reporter Mark Divver tweets that the rumor is that the Panthers will move their AHL affiliate to Charlotte, while Carolina will make a partnership with the Chicago Wolves.
The Rampage will be turning into the Henderson Silver Knights for next season, throwing the Blues’ plans into chaos once again. The team previously spent a season without an AHL affiliate when the Golden Knights came into the league, but will at least not have to go through that situation again.
GM Doug Armstrong released a statement on the new partnership:
We are excited to announce our deal with Springfield and close our search for a new affiliate. Springfield is a strong franchise in a city with a rich hockey history. Our partnership will allow us to continue to develop our players and further strengthen our franchise as a whole.
The Thunderbirds are 30-26-2 this season and sit in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
musical affiliates
Doesn’t Carolina’s owner own Charlotte’s ahl team? Why would they want to affiliate with Florida?
no, he does not own the Checkers.. interesting that the story just came out in Charlotte, yesterday although it has been on this site since early March
So much for AHL affiliates being geographically close…
if the blues had put there farm team in K.,C it would have cost them alot of money for there FARM team to travel to there away games, in springfield, teams here are at most a 2 hour bus ride, so the savings alone in there farm team travel was a smart move on the blues part,THANK YOU blues for coming to springfield ,the panthers here the last 4 years was bad hockey teams,i hope the blues are better .
@dwhite3486 – “their” not “there”. Most NHL teams have publicly stated that they prefer to have their AHL team close by, for easier call-ups. That’s why I said what I did. But, if the Springfield affiliation brings stability for both teams, that’ll be great.
sorry ,proof reader , BUT from a money stand point, they save more money if the farm team has low travel cost ,and really how long is the flight for a player to fly from hartford to st.louis i doubt it takes all day !! LET’S GO BLUES !! coming form a thunderbird fan .
dwhite3486 – That may very well be true for the Blues, but most NHL teams have stated they want their AHL teams CLOSE to them. The AHL travel cost is only a secondary concern to the parent club. I suspect Vancouver has tried (although not vigorously) to get a team closer than stinkin’ Utica.
“coming FROM a thunderbird fan” (Minus 2!)
Coming from Utica here. Vancouver is 3500 miles away, yes, but they had the chance at the beginning of the season to opt out and they resigned with the Comets for 3 more years.
@Jimmykinglive – I believe we have a phrase for that: “glutton for punishment.” Hopefully, the on-ice product is good for you guys! I listen to the Canucks on SN650 quite a bit, and even though there are times I want to smack Corey up side the head for his always-dependable “watch out, he’s a shooter” comments in the post-overtime skills competition, he and Batch are a good listen, overall.
Carolina’s owner does not own the Checkers. A local businessman does. Kahn.
Blues should have gone back to the Peoria Rivermen
Exactly, G! The Blues should have forced the issue, in my book.
i love it ,the blues are coming to springfield ,sticking a thumb in your eyes ,keep dreaming of the blues ,lmao !