PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL — Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced Monday a new minor-league player affiliation agreement for the 2010-11 season with the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Wheeling Nailers.

“On behalf of the Canadiens organization, I would like to thank the Nailers for accepting to affiliate with us. We are looking forward to a strong and long lasting relationship”, said Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier.

Under the agreement, the Canadiens have sole discretion on players assigned to Wheeling at all times. The agreement also stipulates that there is no minimum or maximum number of players that can be assigned to Wheeling. The affiliation agreement is shared with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, their affiliate team in the AHL.

Wheeling succeeds to the Cincinnati Cyclones organization as an ECHL team to be part of an affiliation agreement with the Canadiens. Cincinnati won the Kelly Cup twice (2008 and 2010) under their four-year affiliation with the Canadiens.

The Hamilton Bulldogs remain the Canadiens’ main affiliate club in the American Hockey League.