Canadiens to move AHL affiliate to new arena in nearby Laval

St. John's IceCaps' John Scott. (Colin Peddle/St. John's IceCaps via AP)

LAVAL, Que. – The Canadiens will move their top farm team to a new rink near Montreal for the 2017-18 season.

The team said Monday that the American Hockey League board of governors has approved the relocation from St. John’s, N.L.

The 10,000-seat Place Bell arena is nearing completion in Laval.

As well as the main arena with NHL-size ice surface, the complex will have a community rinks and an international size rink.

The St. John’s IceCaps have been the Canadiens main affiliate since moving from Hamilton two years ago.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.