Report: Avalanche AHL Affiliate Headed To Denver? (Updated)

Potential good news in Avalanche country.

Early Saturday night Adrian Dater of the Denver Post tweeted the following link:

Report: AHL franchise coming to Denver next fall http://t.co/tWd7JiZThG

— Adrian Dater (@adater) August 24, 2014

According to this early report from Gerry Cantlon at http://www.howlings.net/ (a blog for the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack), the Colorado Avalanche will end their affiliation with the Lake Erie Monsters in the 2015-2016 season and relocate their AHL franchise to Denver.  The new AHL team would play at the recently vacated Denver Coliseum.

I know we're all sad to see the Cutthroats go... But if it means they come back bigger, meaner, and with a boatload of Avalanche prospects to watch locally then that's a step in the right direction for this organization and for the fans.

As for Avalanche fans in the midwest, this could mean the end of a good run in Lake Erie.  The Monsters have had limited success during the franchise-wide rebuild, but they've gathered a large and faithful following in Cleveland.  What's next for the Monster's remains to be seen, but if their break from the Avalanche is true, some early speculation suggests that they could have a future as an AHL affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who's current affiliation with the Springfield Falcons comes to an end (with the option to renew) after the 2014-2015 season.  Regardless, Avs fans and Monsters fans alike should be rooting for the Lake Erie Monsters to put together a great season in Cleveland.  For the first time since affiliating with the Avalanche, the Monsters have a group of players capable of competing with the AHL's best.  If it is their final year, let's hope they give Monsters fans the sendoff they deserve.

We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available, but for now this is just an unconfirmed report with a link from a Avalanche credentialed reporter.  That said... An AHL future for the Fish would be pretty dang cool...