Eagles roll the dice on new minor league team

-Edmonton (CP) The Edmonton Eagles announced they have signed an affiliation agreement with the Henderson, Nevada franchise of the newly formed Realistic Minor Hockey League.

The agreement will give the Eagles complete control over the development of their prospects, which will ideally translate into a smoother transition to the RHL. The Eagles will share the franchise with the Waterloo Roadkill, but Edmonton will retain day-to-day management of the squad.

The franchise is currently running a 'name-the-team' contest within the community. A panel of local celebrities, including new Eagle star Ryan Smyth, chose the four finalists. The final four are currently being voted on through the team's website. The 'Dammers' has a slight lead over second place 'Bushtit', with 'Verdin' and 'Magne' trailing well behind.

The team will play out of the 8,100 seat Hoover Arena on the shores of Lake Mead in the Las Vegas suburb. The newly-built arena features eight different casinos, including the Eagle Nest which overlooks the playing surface. Prize payouts double in all casinos for 5 minutes after the home team scores.

"The desert is a cool place," said Eagle GM Bourdeau. "And being so close to Vegas will make the scouting trips so much more enjoyable... but expensive."

The projected lineup to start the RMHL1 season is:

Forwards
Andrew Ladd - Jeff Carter - Alex Radulov
Blake Wheeler - Peterri Nokelainen - Devin Setoguchi
Jeff Tambellini - Ryan Potulny - Guillaume Latendresse
Timofei Shishkanov - Vern Fiddler - Petr Kanko

Extras: David Backes, Jared Aulin, Clarke MacArthur, Franz Neilsen, Martin Samuelsson, Paul Healey, Jeff Farkas, Derek Bekar

Defence
Jack Johnson - Chris Campoli
Danny Richmond - Kevin Bieksa
Jeff Woywitka - Shawn Belle
Scott Jackson - Roman Polak

Extras: Jim Sharrow, Darrel Scoville, Julien Vauclair

Goaltenders
Cam Ward
Petr Budaj

Extras: Jeff Glass, Corey Crawford, Dan Blackburn