The professional hockey world shifted a bit when Atlanta Thrashers relocated to become the Winnipeg Jets. Not only did the NHL get affected, but so did the minor league affiliations which needed to be reestablished.
Atlanta had affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Gwinnett Glaidiators of the ECHL. Those were ended in the summer of 2011 when Winnipeg established a new affiliation hierarchy by forming a new team in St. John’s and establishing an agreement with a new ECHL team, the Colorado Eagles.
The purpose of this post is to track how the three teams have risen and fallen along side each other to see if there is any pattern.
| 2011-12 Regular Season | Team | G | W | L | OTL | P | Win % | GF | GA | Division Finish | Season Change | |||
|
Colorado Eagles (ECHL) | 72 | 38 | 28 | 6 | 82 | 52.78% | 250 | 252 | 2nd, Mountain | -7.83 pp * | ↓ | ||
|
St-Johns IceCaps (AHL) | 76 | 43 | 25 | 8 | 94 | 56.58% | 240 | 216 | 1st, Atlantic | — ** | |||
|
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) |
82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 84 | 45.12% | 225 | 246 | 4th, Southeast | +3.66 pp *** | ↑ |
* same team from CHL, but considered to be an expansion franchise for the ECHL. For the record, if there is any question about whether the CHL or ECHL ranks higher in the professional hockey hierarchy, it is pretty apparent to me that the CHL is a step below the ECHL. If you look at the HockeyDB list of the 2010-11 Eagles who played in the CHL and the 2011-12 Eagles who played in the ECHL, you will see that core players are unchanged. Yet the same team that almost won the CHL Championship was knocked out in the first round of the ECHL playoffs.
** new team though franchise was moved from Winnipeg where it operated as the Manitoba Moose.
*** team and franchise moved from Atlanta Thrashers.
| 2011-12 Playoffs | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Season Change | ||
|
Colorado Eagles (ECHL) | L, 0–3 | — | — | — | ↓ 3 levels | ||
|
St-Johns IceCaps (AHL) | W, 3–1 | W, 4–3 | L, 0–4 | — | — | ||
|
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) |
DNQ | — | — | — | ↔ DNQ x 4 | x 1 as Jets |
So for a first year, all three franchises were new to their city and or league. The St-John’s IceCaps had the best breakout year, establishing themselves as a solid regular season team and won a couple of playoff rounds. The Winnipeg Jets unfortunately carried on the losing tradition of the Thrashers while the Eagles could not repeat the success they had in the CHL.
Unfortunately for NHL Hockey fans the 2012-13 season was almost halved due to the player lockout. The AHL and ECHL teams continued their full schedule.
| 2012-13 Regular Season | Team | G | W | L | OTL | P | Win % | GF | GA | Division Finish | Season Change | |||
|
Colorado Eagles (ECHL) | 72 | 34 | 31 | 7 | 75 | 47.22% | 239 | 224 | 3rd, Mountain | -5.56 pp | ↓ | ||
|
St-Johns IceCaps (AHL) | 76 | 32 | 36 | 8 | 72 | 42.11% | 195 | 237 | 5th, Atlantic | -14.47 pp | ↓ | ||
|
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) |
48 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 51 | 50.00% | 128 | 144 | 2nd, Southeast | +4.88 pp | ↑ |
Only the Jets made some modest improvement over the previous season, while the Eagles continued their downward slide for the 2nd season and the IceCaps had a complete reversal over their successful first year, falling from 1st to 5th and last in their division.
| 2012-13 Playoffs | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Season Change | ||
|
Colorado Eagles (ECHL) | L, 2–4 | — | — | — | ↔ level x 2 | ||
|
St-Johns IceCaps (AHL) | DNQ | — | — | — | ↓ 3 levels | ||
|
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) |
DNQ | — | — | — | ↔ DNQ x 5 | x 2 as Jets |
True North Sports and Entertainment had little to be happy about with only the ECHL franchise making the playoffs but being eliminated in the 1st round. The Jets and IceCaps both did not qualify for the post-season, with the Jets/Thrashers doing so for the fifth straight season. The move to Winnipeg did not result in the improved on-ice results that fans wished for.
