Sports

Aces: Murray to return for 6th season, club seeking affiliation

Rob Murray, who coached the Alaska Aces to the ECHL's Kelly Cup in 2014 but has endured two consecutive non-playoff seasons since, will return for a sixth season as bench boss.

Aces managing member Terry Parks on Friday said the club, which before last season never missed the playoffs in its first 11 ECHL campaigns, is getting Murray help in recruiting for next season. He called Murray, 49, an exceptional coach and teacher.

"It ain't a coaching problem,'' Parks said.

Parks emphasized Murray led the Aces to the Brabham Cup as regular-season champions in each of his first three seasons and oversaw the third Kelly Cup in franchise history. He also cited Murray's previous work as head coach of the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins, where he developed many of the players who helped the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011.

One of the Aces' owners, Jerry Mackie, is helping with recruiting and has worked with scouts to gain the club an early foothold on offseason signings, Parks said.

In Alaska's first 11 seasons on the circuit, it won three Kelly Cups, went to the Finals four times and seven times advanced to the conference finals. That rink resume made the last two seasons – the Aces this season will finish below .500 for the first time -- particularly piercing.

"This has been the most stressful two years I've had in business,'' Parks said. "I don't like losing.''

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Parks said the Aces are working on several leads to gain an affiliation with an AHL team and its NHL parent. Alaska was partnered with the NHL's Calgary Flames (and Abbotsford of the AHL) when it won the Kelly Cup in 2014 and received several NHL or AHL-contracted players from the Flames for its playoff run that spring. That affiliation came through Murray's contacts.

"We think we've got an opportunity to get an affiliation,'' Parks said. "We're working on a couple things.''

ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna, in town for the Aces' season-ending series against Colorado, said each club on the 28-team circuit is responsible for securing an affiliation if it wants one, and the league tries to facilitate agreements.

The Aces this season are one of three ECHL franchises without affiliations – Colorado and Wichita are the other two.

McKenna said the ECHL will drop to 27 teams next season and be up to 29 teams in 2017-18. The goal, he said, is to have 30 teams, which would match the number of teams in both the NHL and AHL.

McKenna cited the benefits, and drawbacks, to affiliations. Teams with affiliations usually get several quality players through that connection, and those guys can be especially pivotal come playoffs. Of course, players contracted with teams higher up in the affiliation chain can also can be summoned back to the AHL and impact an ECHL team's depth. Still, ECHL teams catch a salary-cap break on players under NHL or AHL contract, so that's a plus for affiliated ECHL clubs.

"I think, on balance, it's a good thing,'' McKenna said of an affiliation. "Of course, as you know, it can be a double-edged sword.''

Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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