The Bloomington Bison have announced a new affiliate agreement with the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, for the 2026-27 season.
This new affiliation was announced by Bloomington Bison President Andy Zilch on July 8. Zilch said that this affiliation is a step towards further growing the organization as the Bison enter their third season.
After reaching the Kelly Cup Playoffs this past year, in their second year of operation, the Bison hope that this new partnership will provide more opportunities for their players to grow and improve.
“This is an important step forward for the Bloomington Bison,” Head Coach Phillip Barski said. “When we evaluated what we wanted in our next affiliation, we focused on alignment, communication, player development and a shared commitment to winning. Winnipeg and Manitoba have a strong development model, a clear hockey identity and a history of preparing players the right way. We believe this partnership gives our organization, our players and our fans a tremendous opportunity moving forward.”
Many ECHL players have developed through the Winnipeg organization, gaining experience in the ECHL and AHL with a few advancing to the NHL. The Jets won the league's President's Trophy in 2025, a prize reserved for the winningest team in regular season play.
Eleven players who played for the Moose last season played ECHL games in their careers and eight of those players played for both leagues in the 2025-26 season.
The Bison were previously the ECHL affiliate for the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.
