The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, will join the Utica Comets, which are tied to the Vancouver Canucks, in Lyon, France.
The two squads will hold their training camps in France and participate in preseason games. This is the start of a season-long affiliation between the Lightning and the Lyon Hockey Club Lions.
Syracuse and Utica are scheduled to play on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. The Crunch will then play the Lions on Oct. 4 while the Comets will take on a team from Rouen, per The Post-Standard.
This is the second straight year that Syracuse will be going to France, but last season it was with AHL Binghamton. Syracuse will not play in any preseason home games.