The official ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens for the 2015-16 season can continue to say just that for the upcoming 2016-17 season, as the Brampton Beast announced earlier today that the club has renewed their affiliation with the Habs through the end of the 2016-17 season.
BREAKING: The Beast and @CanadiensMTL will be joining forces once again! READ: [https://t.co/gZ58gXTT9E] #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/t6bmOuN5et
— Brampton Beast (@BramptonBeast) June 3, 2016
Beast President and General Manager Cary Kaplan said in a press release; “It’s a great pleasure for the Brampton Beast organization to be able to extend our partnership with the most storied franchise in NHL history.”
“The Montreal Canadiens are synonymous with integrity, professionalism and class. We are proud to continue to be a small part of the Canadiens family.”
Ten players from the Beast were called-up to play for the St. John’s IceCaps, and nine players who were signed on NHL/AHL contracts played for the Beast last season.
The Beast finished last in the North Division of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference with a record of 23-38-7-4. The club also had the third-worse attendance record in the league with an average of just 2,784 fans per game in a home building that can hold 5,000 fans.
Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin said; “We are excited to continue our relationship with the Beast organization. Brampton is a very good hockey market, and they have been successful in providing a strong environment for the development of some of our young prospects.”
The Beast will look to continue their road to recovery after two seasons in Brampton that haven’t shown much progress on the success side of things. The club has had some really stellar players dawn the Beast jersey, including Luc Pither, Eddie Pasquale, Luc-Olivier Blain and Travis Brown.
Hopefully, the Canadiens can assist Canada’s only ECHL franchise even further this upcoming season.
