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Cincinnati Cyclones announce new affiliation

Paige Gagne | Minor Leagues (ECHL, AHL, etc)

Aug 2, 04:25 PM | Hype this story!

The Cincinnati Cyclones are at it again. This afternoon the ECHL team has announced a new affiliation with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and the Nashville Predators of the NHL for the upcoming season.

“Playing in a city with a strong hockey history, we think our players will be able to develop as professionals and experience a winning environment under Chuck Weber,” said Mike Santos, Director of Hockey Operations for the Predators. “We are confident that those Cyclones who are called upon will contribute consistently to the success of the Milwaukee Admirals. The Predators are excited to add Cincinnati to our developmental system.”

“The Nashville Predators are a solid team that has become one of the premier teams in the Western Conference,” Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber said. “There is a core of young players that want to develop their talent and graduate to the next level. We are anxious to welcome them and get them started in that direction.”

Some Cyclone fans might remember back in the 92’-01’ seasons that the Admirals and the Cyclones were not the best of friends. The cyclones had a .598 winning percentage, otherwise 23-17-4 against the Admirals in the nine years that they played in the same league.

This will be Nashville’s 10th season in the NHL, last year the team finished at 51-23-8 and had 110 points a franchise record. For the third year in a row the Predators made the Stanley Cup playoffs. Last season Milwaukee finished at 41-25-14 and advanced to the Calder Cup playoffs.

Earlier this summer the Cyclones re-affiliated with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL and the Montreal Canadians of the NHL.

The ECHL has affiliations with all but five teams in the NHL; this is the 11th season in a row that the ECHL has been affiliated with 20 teams or more in the NHL. The ECHL also has affiliations with all but five of the teams in the AHL. Every Calder Cup champion, for the past 17 years, has had at least one ECHL player on its winning team.