Kalamazoo Wings Renew Vows With Columbus For One More Year

Yes, the headline may be a little strange but there are not that many ways to say a team has renewed its affiliation agreement with its parent club. And the Kalamazoo Wings have done just that, extending their partnership with the Columbus Blue Jackets and top affiliate, Cleveland Monsters for another season, through 2022-2023.

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The Kalamazoo Wings, who started play in 1974, originally were affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings, thus the nickname which was shortened to simply K-Wings. The K-Wings became the top affiliate of the Minnesota North Stars in the late 1980's, which led to the team changing it's colors to black, green, gold and white. Meanwhile, due to poor ownership, the Minnesota North Stars franchise moved to Dallas and because the Dallas Stars.

That affiliation ended after the 1999-2000, but several K-Wings alumni were on the ice when the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1998-1999.

The International Hockey League of bigger markets (and more revenue) failed, and the re-christened Michigan K-Wings folded a year before the IHL did. But the Madison Kodiaks of the United Hockey League relocated to Kalamazoo for the following season, and eventually Kalamazoo returned to the world of the minor league system for the National Hockey League, as a member of the East Coast Hockey League.

The complete list of affiliations (primary and secondary) for the 48-year history of the team is: Detroit Red Wings (1974-1987), Philadelphia Flyers (1984-1987; 2009-2010), Vancouver Canucks (1984-1987; 2011-2015; 2017-2021), Minnesota North Stars (1987-1993), Dallas Stars (1993-2000), San Jose Sharks (2009-2010), New York Islanders (2010-2011), New Jersey Devils (2011-2012), St. Louis Blues (2013-2014), Columbus Blue Jackets (2014-2016; 2021-Present), and Tampa Bay Lightning (2016-2017).