Flying High? Colorado Eagles Season Preview 2018-10-10 While one half of the Colorado Avalanche organization celebrated a Stanley Cup, the little brothers from the “A” had an abysmal season, in fact the clubs worst AHL season in their EHE history; though not for lack of fan support and buzz. It was the team’s first season playing in beautiful Loveland, Colorado at the always “rocking” Budweiser Event Centre. The team’s relocation heading into the 17/18 EHE season was an idea that EHE commissioner Kevin Lacy beamed about. “This honestly thrills me. Besides that I love their logo, this geographically makes scheduling waaaaaaay easier on me for next season.” Despite the large crowds, the team couldn’t seem to ever get their season on track recording a record of 22-39-7, good enough for last place in the AHL. That record is something Avalanche GM Kirklan Lycar promises will change. “We’ve brought in some players this offseason through trade that we think can help the Eagles a lot this coming season, on top of that we like the development of our drafted players and we’re looking forward to seeing them contribute this year.” Some of those Lycar is referencing would be the likes of Remi Elie, Joe Morrow, Tucker Poolman, Calle Rosen and John Quenneville. All of which should be impact additions to the club. “While those guys will push for spots on our pro club and it’s not to say they wont get games with us this year, we brought them in to help the Eagles and of course in a year or two help the Avs.” Lycar stated. Despite some of those additions, the Eagles still have question marks surrounding their lineup and holes to fill, particularly between the pipes. In net the Eagles are returning the tandem of Mike Mckenna and Harri Sateri. Mckenna who started 58 games for the club last year, posted a plus 3 goals against average and a save percentage of .901, it goes without saying that those numbers will have to be better. GM Lycar has also hinted at bringing in another goalie to push the two aforementioned tenders. “We will see what free agency brings, but we’re always looking to improve our roster and you can never have enough depth between the pipes.” At forward, a player Eagles fans should look towards to garner some excitement is John Quenneville. The 22 year old forward was apart of a trade with the Montreal Canadiens which seen forward Tyler Toffoli leave the mile high city, joining Quenneville was veteran forwards Riley Nash and Ryan Hartman. Quenneville helped lead the Laval Rocket to the Calder Cup Finals last summer recording 12 points in 15 games to cap off the strong regular season he had in which he recorded 59 points in 76 games. “John is a guy our scouts have targeted since he entered the league, and we’re happy he’s apart of our organization now.” While only time will tell what’s in store of the 2018/2019 version of the Colorado Eagles, one thing is for certain and that is they plan to turn a new page and prove to the rest of the AHL that last year was an anomaly. While things can change post free agency, if the season were to start today the Colorado Eagles lineup is projected to look something along these lines: Remi Elie – John Quenneville – Ty Rattie Ross Johnston – Colby Cave – Micheal Carcone Turner Elson – Justin Scott – Garett Mitchell Braden Christopher – Adam Musil – Jon Martin Joe Morrow – Tucker Poolman Seth Helgeson – Calle Rosen Frederic Allard – Colby Williams Zach Whitecloud