The Greenville Road Warriors affiliate with the Flyers and Phantoms for 2010-11

ROAD WARRIORS ANNOUNCE AFFILIATION WITH PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
PostDateIcon Mon, 2010-08-16 10:37 | PostAuthorIcon Sportsologist

GREENVILLE, SC - The Greenville Road Warriors announced today that they have entered into an affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers and the American Hockey League's Adirondack Phantoms for the 2010-11 season.

"To be affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers and Adirondack Phantoms will greatly enhance what it means to be a member of the Greenville Road Warriors. The Flyers are committed to winning at every level. We hope to help them with that commitment by developing their future AHL and NHL players," said Road Warriors president and general manager Neil Smith.

As the Flyers' and Phantoms' ECHL affiliate, the Road Warriors will receive players for the purpose of developing them as professionals with the ultimate goal of reaching the NHL.

"We are pleased to be working with Greenville for the upcoming season," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "Neil Smith and Dean Stork both have a strong history of success, and we're confident they'll provide an environment that will help our prospects develop their potential."

Last season the Flyers captured their eighth conference championship as part of a dramatic run to the team's first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1997. They became just the third team in NHL history to ovgvl_phi logo comboercome an 0-3 series deficit when they defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in the second round of the playoffs. The Flyers are coached by Peter Laviolette who has won an AHL championship with the Providence Bruins (1999) and a Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. Laviolette began his coaching career in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers in 1997-98.

Philadelphia has been a member of the NHL since 1967 and captured back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975. Famously nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies" those Flyers teams were the first non-Original Six squads to capture an NHL championship. Overall, the Flyers have been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 35 times in their 43 seasons of play.

The Adirondack Phantoms are entering their second season of play in the AHL. Formerly the Philadelphia Phantoms, they relocated to Glenns Falls, New York prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. They won two Calder Cup championships in Philadelphia in 1998 and 2005. Adirondack is coached by former Calgary Flames head coach Greg Gilbert. The Phantoms are the second AHL team to call Glenns Falls home after the Adirondack Red Wings which competed in the league from 1979 to 1999. The current Road Warriors' president and general manager, Neil Smith, served as the Red Wings' general manager from 1985-1989 and helped guide the team to Calder Cup championships in 1986 and 1989.

The Road Warriors will play their inaugural season as the ECHL affiliate of the Flyers and the New York Rangers. The Rangers, and AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, were announced last week as affiliates of the Road Warriors.