ECHL grants admission to Colorado Eagles for '11-'12

(Princeton, NJ) - The ECHL announced Wednesday that the Colorado Eagles have been granted admittance into the league and will begin play this fall. The Eagles will be in the Western Conference, bringing the conference back to eight teams: Idaho, Colorado, Alaska, Utah, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Stockton, and Ontario. Along with the expansion Chicago Express, who will play in the Eastern Conference, Colorado brings the number of teams in the ECHL to 20. The ECHL lost one member when the Victoria Salmon Kings withdrew from the league so the ownership group could change from minor-league professional hockey to major-junior hockey. Victoria will be part of the Western Hockey League next season. Colorado plays its home games at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, CO, north of Denver near Fort Collins. The team has been playing in the Central Hockey League since the 2003-2004 season and has sold out 311 consecutive games, an all-time record for minor-league professional hockey. The Eagles twice won CHL championships and reached the league?s championship series this season, losing in seven games. Like Idaho, when it joined the ECHL after the West Coast Hockey League dissolved following the 2002-2003 season, the Colorado Eagles will be considered an expansion organization when it begins play this fall.