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Syracuse's Philippe Paradis and Utica's Patrick Mullen collide in a game last season in the War Memorial.

(Scott Schild | Sschild@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — It looks like the Syracuse Crunch will be keeping its newest and most fierce rival for awhile.

With the AHL's creation of a new Pacific Division in 2015-16, it was a logical assumption that Utica would eventually join the list of loyal AHL markets victimized by the migration. Utica's parent club is Vancouver, a city that would seem to have the same rationale to seek a closer affiliate as its fellow western-based NHL peers.

Perhaps that will be true someday, but not next season.

Or the one after that.

Trevor Linden, president of hockey operations for the Canucks, visited Utica for a game against Rochester on Wednesday. He left no room for doubt when asked about Vancouver's commitment to its second-year affiliate.

"We're going to be here next year, no question. We're going to be here the year after,'' he said. "The fact that people care here, and our players like playing here...you talk to them, they love playing here. It's a great facility. It's a great atmosphere. That's super important to us.

"And the proximity that this team is with their competition is important as well. That they have the amount of practice time that they need is important. So Robert (Esche) has done a tremendous job with this organization, and we couldn't be happier. So it's been a good setup for us...This is a pretty special place to play, a special environment. So, we're pretty happy.''

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