Report: Arizona Coyotes to switch AHL affiliation from Portland to Springfield
Mar 19, 2015, 12:18 AM | Updated: 12:19 am
Players being sent down from the Arizona Coyotes to the American Hockey League soon won’t have to fly so far northeast, according to a report.
Hockey play-by-play announcer Rob Sanderson reported Wednesday afternoon that four NHL clubs are doing a swap of their AHL affiliations.
It's a 4-way #NHL/#AHL affiliation swap, per my sources:
FLA → Portland (announced 3/18)
ARI → Springfield
CBJ → Lake Erie
COL → San Antonio
— Rob Sanderson (@RSandersonWHTK) March 18, 2015
The Springfield Falcons currently serve as the affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Falcons play at the MassMutual Center in southern Massachusetts.
The Coyotes’ current AHL affiliate is the Portland (Maine) Pirates, who, according to Sanderson, will instead feed the Florida Panthers, per the new deal. The Panthers signed a four-year deal to switch their AHL affiliation to Portland, Sanderson reported.