Palm Springs AHL team
The Palm Springs AHL team is a professional ice hockey expansion team based in Palm Springs, California that will begin play in the 2021–22 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team will be an owned-and-operated affiliate of the Seattle NHL team which also begins play during the 2021–22 National Hockey League season. The team will compete in the AHL as a member club of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division and play their home games at a new $250 million, 10,000-seat arena in downtown Palm Springs.
| Palm Springs AHL team | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Palm Springs, California |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Home arena | New Arena at Agua Caliente |
| Owner(s) | Seattle Hockey Partners (David Bonderman, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Tod Leiweke) |
| Media | The Desert Sun |
| Affiliates | Seattle NHL team (NHL) |
History
The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve Seattle's National Hockey League expansion team on December 4, 2018, to begin play in the 2021–22 season. The new ownership group then began making plans for acquiring a minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). By early 2019, they had narrowed it down to promoting the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads in Boise or a true expansion team in Palm Springs, California. On June 26, 2019, it was reported the Seattle ownership group had chosen Palm Springs as the site for Seattle's AHL affiliate.[1] A $250 million, 10,000-seat arena with an adjoining training facility will be built by Oak View Group on land in downtown Palm Springs purchased from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.[2] The expansion franchise was approved by the AHL board of governors on September 30, 2019.[3]
References
- "NHL Seattle chooses Palm Springs as site for new AHL farm team". The Seattle Times. June 26, 2019.
- "Seattle NHL franchise to have AHL affiliate in Palm Springs". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- "AHL expanding to Palm Springs in 2021-22". American Hockey League. September 30, 2019.
