The Colorado Avalanche intended to shift their AHL affiliation this summer, but
 the postseason changes didn't stop there. Intent on instilling a winning
culture throughout the player development process, the Avalanche used the AHL
affiliation move as the impetus to restructure their entire process.Avalanche
GM Joe Sakic busy changing things up in the offseason (Photo by RJ Sangosti /
The Denver Post via Getty Images)

In recent years, NHL teams have moved towards cultivating an affiliation with
an AHL club as their ΓÇÿminor league' development program, with the AHL team
drawing on an ECHL team as their ΓÇÿfarm club'. Players can get shuffled up and
 down the pipeline as they develop skills, injuries occur and playoff scenarios
 develop. For the past few years, the San Antonio Rampage has been the
Avalanche's AHL partner while the Colorado Eagles have been their ECHL club.The
 Colorado Eagles Move to the AHL

Last summer, the shift began. The Vegas Golden Knights entered their inaugural
NHL season needing to develop a farm system. The Knights snagged the Chicago
Wolves as their new AHL affiliate, leaving the Wolves former NHL partner - the
St. Louis Blues - high and dry. Colorado and St. Louis entered into an
agreement to share the Rampage for the 2017-2018.Mikko Rantanen with the San
Antonio Rampage (Christine Shapiro/Texas Stars Hockey)

Meanwhile, the Avalanche negotiated a deal to bring up the Colorado Eagles to
the AHL for the 2018 season, expanding the AHL to 31 teams (just like the NHL)
in the process. The first piece of development change. Last October, executive
vice president and general manager Joe Sakic as well as assistant general
manager Craig Billington headed less than an hour up the road to the Colorado
Eagles Loveland facility to announce the new 10-year agreement with the Eagles.
 And that was the extent of the information - until recently.

The Avalanche/St. Louis Blues sharing arrangement with the Rampage proved
uniquely challenging. Unfortunately for Rampage Coach Eric Veilleux, the team
missed the playoffs for the second year of his tenure. News emerged Veilleux
would not be moving forward with the organization while the Avalanche were
battling through the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Blues also passed on
Veilleus, who went on to a head coaching position with the Halifax Mooseheads.

Speculation swirled about who would lead the Eagles as they jumped to the AHL
and whether their current coaching staff could advance with the organization.
Expectations ramped up during development camp when the Eagles staff played a
prominent role. There were some good reasons to want the Eagles'; coaches to
continue into the AHL. The Eagles own a record of success. They won their
second straight Kelly Cup June 9, were conference champions for three years in
a row, and had five consecutive second-round postseason appearances. Meanwhile,
 the Avalanche's previous AHL affiliates hadn't reached the postseason in seven
 years, the longest drought of any NHL club.

They say once is just lucky, but two in a row is skill 😏#Back2BackBoys
#EaglesCountry pic.twitter.com/2O6BYhzEBZ

- Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) June 10, 2018

The Eagles' winning culture looked mighty appealing and hopes emerged they
could translate that success onto an AHL stage.Greg Cronin Becomes the Eagles';
 Coach

On July 12, both the Eagles and the Avalanche announced Greg Cronin would take
on the head coaching job for the AHL club. Cronin, who spent the last four
years as an assistant with the New York Islanders, is a veteran with 30 years
coaching experience.

The @Avalanche have announced that Greg Cronin will be the head coach of the
@ColoradoEagles next season.

Details: https://t.co/vUJB78ociD pic.twitter.com/Tfsr3wWeJo

- AHL (@TheAHL) July 13, 2018

However, he seems an odd choice for an NHL team focused on moving into the new
younger, faster style of play. Last year, the Islanders ranked 27th in the
league in shots against and struggled with clearing the puck. In a 2013
interview, he stated he did not believe shot differentials were good indicators
 of possession. During a year when his Toronto Maple Leafs team surrendered the
 most shots on goal in the league.

In the highly competitive and changing NHL environment, Cronin's hire raises
some questions. The Avalanche have a lot of young defensive talent in their
pipeline who need to adapt to the quicker pace of play and practice successful
defensive strategies, including a focus on puck possession. Colorado's player
development pipeline as a whole has been a bit of a mixed bag and one would
hope the Avalanche would take the opportunity in the midst of their structural
changes to bring in a fresh wind. It's the perfect time to make a change but
whether the second significant shift - hiring a new AHL coach - improves
anything remains a question.The Eagles'; Staff  Also Promoted to the AHL

The silver lining, though, could be the third substantial change. The Avalanche
 decided to promote the Eagles coaching staff to the AHL along with the club.
Shortly after Cronin's hiring was announced, news emerged that Aaron
Schneekloth, the Eagles head coach who engineered back-to-back Kelly Cup wins,
will stay with the team as an assistant, as will Ryan Tobler and goaltending
coach Ryan Bach. If Cronin comes in as the person with the AHL/NHL experience
to guide the Eagles in adapting to the NHL while allowing the other coaches to
work their magic with the players, that could be a promising combination.David
Oliver Leaves the Avalanche

The development shake-up doesn't end with a new AHL coach. A fourth key element
 came into play the day Colorado announced Cronin was hired. Rumors began to
circulate that David Oliver, the Avalanche Director of Player Development, was
being considered for a position with the New York Rangers. Five days later,
Oliver officially joined the Rangers as an assistant coach. His departure marks
 a substantial shift in the development program as Oliver has been the director
 for four years and has been with the Avalanche for 11 years.

The real question - who will fill Oliver's shoes? As of now, nothing has been
announced. If Cronin moves into more of Oliver's role with the organization, he
 could turn out to be an effective addition. He was one of the co-founders of
the United States National Development Program. He was an AHL coach for a
couple of years. He understands the ins and outs of player movement,
cultivating a system of player progression, and how to work with all three
teams involved in an organization. He has a wide range of experience working
with college players, national teams, junior programs, as well as AHL and NHL
teams. In a managerial role, Cronin could be a quality acquisition.The Utah
Grizzlies Join the Organization

All of which leads to the fifth and final piece of change. With the promotion
of the Eagles to the AHL, the Avalanche needed a new ECHL team. Near the end of
 June, the Utah Grizzlies announced their new partnership with the Colorado
Avalanche and Eagles. The Grizzlies also maintain a winning tradition, making
the playoffs in 10 of their past 11 season.Utah Grizzlies at work - Utah Photo
Credit: (Utah Grizzlies/Josie Vimahi

Formerly affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks, the Grizzlies have been pursuing a
partnership with the Avalanche for years before everything aligned for the
shift to happen. Back in the 1994-1995, an IHL club named the Denver Grizzlies
spent a single year in Denver, winning the Turner Trophy. Their tenure was
brief as the Avalanche came to Colorado just a few weeks after that
championship.

This summer, the Avalanche have streamlined their player pipeline by bringing
up the Eagles to the AHL and partnering with the Grizzlies. The Eagles are less
 than an hour drive down the road and the Grizzlies are a short plane hop away.
 The close proximity should help make it easy to keep an eye on players'
progressions and simplify movement. It should also be easier to synchronize
strategies and systems so players can move seamlessly throughout the
organization. The big question remains. With all the changes, will the
Avalanche be building a better development system? Only time will tell.

The post Avalanche Shake Up the Development Pipeline appeared first on The
Hockey Writers.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheHockeyWrite...
--- SBBSecho 3.05-Win32
 * Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)