The San Antonio Rampage will enter a five-year affiliation agreement with the Colorado Avalanche beginning next season, which will make the Rampage the top minor league club for Colorado until the 2019-20 season.
“We are excited to announce that the Colorado Avalanche will be our new NHL affiliate starting with the 2015-16 season,” Spurs Sports & Entertainment President Rick Pych said. “Under the leadership of two terrific Hockey Hall-of-Famers in Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, the Avalanche are committed to developing the same type of great young hockey players that have lead Colorado to two Stanley Cup championships.”
Colorado will provide the players, coaches and hockey operations staff for the Rampage beginning next season. San Antonio was previous affiliated with the Florida Panthers from the 2011-12 season and from 2002-05. The silver and black also spent six seasons affiliated with the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
Craig Billington will serve as the Rampage general manager and direct hockey operations. Dean Chynoweth will become the tenth head coach in team history. He currently is in his third season as the Lake Erie Monsters head coach, before that he was an assistant for the NHL’s New York Islanders.
“We’re a classy, well-ran organization, Billington said. “We believe in community, there are a lot of similarities. We were talking earlier today from a military support presence. We have the Air Force Academy and here there is a major military influence. You look at the organizations who have the philosophy of winning and we felt strongly about the agreement.”
Listen below to see what Billington had to say in full following Friday’s Rampage-Stars game:
