Hersheypark Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Hershey, Pennsylvania , United States, managed by Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company . The arena has a seating capacity for hockey of 7,286 people and with standing room can fit in excess of 8,000.
128-832: The arena opened in 1936 as the Hershey Sports Arena and was the longtime home of the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 2002 until their move to Giant Center . It was originally the home of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League Hershey Bears from 1936 to 1938, while the Hershey Impact of the National Professional Soccer League played at the arena from 1988 to 1991. Since 1998 it has served as
256-700: A 21-year span with the Boston Bruins , the Philadelphia Flyers , and the Colorado Avalanche . (The club has also had earlier NHL affiliations with the Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins , and Buffalo Sabres .) As of the 2009–2010 Calder Cup Finals, the Bears have played in 22 Finals series, a league record. The Bears went back-to-back in 2008–2010 to win their 10th and 11th Calder Cups, winning their most recent cup versus
384-521: A 3–1 series lead. However, the Bears were unable to finish the job and were forced back to the Giant Center for Game 7. The Bears trailed throughout the game, but managed to tie it with a goal from Graham Mink just over two minutes remaining. In overtime, the Bears finished with a goal by Eric Fehr , to win the series 4–3. On June 15, 2006, The Bears won the Calder Cup by a series mark of 4–2, defeating
512-705: A Bear are 219 more than Kullman's second overall 753 in a Hershey uniform. In 1972 his jersey number eight also became the first to ever be retired by the Bears. Although it was more than a decade before the Calder Cup returned to Hershey, during the first half of the 1960s five key players joined the club who would each stay from anywhere from seven to nine seasons: defensemen Barry Ashbee (1962–70) and Ralph Keller (1963-72), and forwards Roger DeJordy (1962–70), Michel Harvey (1963-71) and Gil Gilbert (1965–72). Together they would eventually account for 2,654 games played, 710 goals, 1,251 assists, and 1,961 points as Bears. While these five and league MVP Mike Nykoluk all helped
640-563: A Bear is also second only to Nykoluk's 972. From 1950 to 1956 the Bears were coached by a pair of former Boston Bruin defensemen: Johnny Crawford (1950–52), who guided Hershey to another division title in 1951–52, followed by player-coach Murray Henderson (1952–56). In 1953–54, center George "Red" Sullivan became the second Bear to win a scoring title and the first to be named the league's MVP, collecting 119 points (30-89) in 69 games to set an AHL regular-season scoring record which stood for almost thirty years, while his 89 assists that season
768-470: A bear's head in burgundy and black with the initials HB . In the advent of the 2007–08 season, all of the teams of the American Hockey League unveiled newly designed Reebok Edge uniforms, including the Bears. At this time they unveiled an updated version of the "old school" jerseys with the word Bears written diagonally in black on a white home jersey and the word Hershey written in white on
896-455: A circle filled in tan and outlined in dark brown on the primary logo. Before their move to the Giant Center in 2002, the Hershey Bears wore simpler uniforms with the colors of chocolate brown and white. The previous logo used a silhouette of a skating bear with a hockey stick in brown centered in a white, ovular shield outlined in brown. For their move to the Giant Center, the Bears unveiled
1024-502: A maroon away jersey. Both jerseys featured black on both sides, the Washington Capitals logo on one shoulder and the classic "skating bear' oval logo on the other shoulder. Hershey overhauled their uniforms before the 2012–13 season. The home uniform includes a white jersey with chocolate brown and tan striping. The Bears' primary logo is centered on the front. The shoulder logos feature a stylized bear-foot print. The away jersey
1152-663: A mile west of Hersheypark Arena , the AHL club's previous home from 1938 to 2002. (The arena was also the home to the EAHL Hershey Bears from 1936 to 1938.) The Bears have won 13 Calder Cups , more than any other AHL team. They won their most recent title in 2024 . Chocolate manufacturer Milton S. Hershey first established the "Hershey Hockey Club" in 1932 to manage professional hockey teams based in Hershey. Now in its ninth decade, it has operated four teams in three pro leagues, including
1280-401: A month later elevated Inness the eleventh coach in the Bears' history. Inness would remain behind the Hershey bench until December, 1984, when Frank Mathers returned to that post on an interim basis for the first time since 1973 and coached the club until then recently retired Hall of Fame Flyer winger Bill Barber took over for the final sixteen games of the season. The 1984–85 season was also
1408-411: A new AHL record for consecutive home victories at 24. Hershey went without a loss at GIANT Center from November 29, 2009, to March 19, 2010. Hershey has set an AHL mark for consecutive playoff series victories, with eight wins in a row. Besting the record shared with the 2005–2007 Bears and the 1990–1992 Springfield Indians . In 2006 the Hershey Bears, with new head coach Bruce Boudreau , returned to
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#17328512144731536-409: A new identity-its team colors being burgundy, black, gold, and silver. The primary logo was a maroon bear, outlined in black, swatting a hockey puck centered below the Hershey Bears wordmark. The wordmark was a horizontal gradient using gold and burgundy outlined in black, with the Hershey part centered on a rectangular outline designed to resemble a Hershey's candy bar. The alternate logo consisted of
1664-419: A period with nine. Among the Bears' rookies that year was a 20-year-old center Tim Tookey , who over three separate stints with the Bears (1980–82, 1985–87, 1989–94) over the next fourteen years collected 693 points (251-442) in 529 regular-season games, second only to Mike Nykoluk's 808 on the Bears' all-time list. As had Gary Green in 1979, Murray left the Bears early in the 1981–82 season to become coach of
1792-841: A permanent team. To that end, Mr. Hershey established the Hershey Hockey Club (now called the Hershey Bears Hockey Club) in 1932, which is now the oldest such continuously operating professional ice hockey management organization (the players themselves were ostensibly amateurs during the first few years) in North America outside of those operating the " Original Six " clubs of the National Hockey League in Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York, Chicago, and Detroit, which were all established in or before 1926. The first hockey team
1920-444: A personal coaching record of 610-513-134 for a career-winning percentage of .539. His successor was former Bears' winger Chuck Hamilton (1973–79) who had spent seven seasons playing for Hershey from 1963 to 1970. In his first season as the Bears' coach Hamilton led a relatively inexperienced squad including nine rookies to a fifth Calder Cup title losing only two games in the playoffs' three rounds in which they were victorious against
2048-464: A record of 47-24-9 and established a still-standing record for goals with 357. Right wing Mark Lofthouse became the fifth Bear to win the AHL's scoring title (48-55–103), and on the night of February 7, 1981, he also set a team single-game record eight points (4-4) as the Bears defeated the Rochester Americans at Hersheypark Arena, 11–2, while the team also tied the AHL's then record for goals in
2176-516: A result, half of the AHL's teams folded from 1974 to 1977. The league bottomed out in the summer of 1977, with news that the Rhode Island (formerly Providence) Reds – the last remaining uninterrupted franchise from the 1936–37 season, and the oldest continuously operating minor league franchise in North America – had decided to cease operations after 51 years in Rhode Island. The AHL appeared in serious danger of folding altogether if this downward trend
2304-542: A series of amateur hockey matches played in Hershey between college teams beginning in early 1931. The first such formal hockey game ever played in Hershey took place on February 18, 1931, when Penn A.C. and Villanova University faced off in the 1,900-seat Hershey Ice Palace. Nine months after that successful inaugural contest, Swarthmore Athletic Club moved into the Ice Palace, where they played their first game on November 19, 1931, against Crescent A.C. of New York City . In
2432-452: A setback when its membership unexpectedly fell to seven teams. The West's Buffalo Bisons were forced to cease operations on December 6, 1936, after playing just 11 games, because of what proved to be insurmountable financial problems and lack of access to a suitable arena; the Bisons' original arena, Peace Bridge Arena , had collapsed the previous season (a new Buffalo Bisons team would return to
2560-734: A shootout against the Lake Erie Monsters before a standing-room crowd of 11,015 fans. A year after their originally scheduled date, the Griffins and Marlies played at Comerica Park on December 30, 2013, and Toronto prevailed in a shootout, 4–3, becoming the first AHL team ever with two outdoor wins. Attendance in Detroit was 20,337. As part of the recent addition of the Pacific Division, the AHL played its first outdoor hockey game in California during
2688-601: A team record with three consecutive shutouts at home. Both Hextall and defenseman Kevin McCarthy were First Team All Stars while linemates Fitzpatrick and Tim Tookey were both named to the second All Star Team. With five shutouts and a 30-19-2 record, Hextall became the first (and so far only) Bear to be named AHL Rookie of the Year as well as winning the Baz Bastien Memorial Trophy as the AHL's top goalie. (As an NHL rookie
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#17328512144732816-662: A then league record 50 regular-season games and swept all three of its playoff series for an unblemished postseason record of 12-0 and a seventh Calder Cup title. After an unexpectedly slow 3-7-0 start, goalie Wendell Young was returned to Hershey from the Flyers and went 33-15-3 with a 2.77 GAA while rookie Darryl Gilmour appeared in 25 games compiling a 14-7-0 record and 3.68 average. Along with veterans such as Bears' leading scorer center Mitch Lamoureux , wingers Al Hill , Don Nachbaur , Kevin Maxwell, and defensemen Steve Smith and Dave Fenvyes,
2944-478: A total of 125 of the Bears' 329 goals while center Mitch Lamoureux also finished in the top ten with 43 goals and 46 assists for 89 points good for fourth overall in the league. Tookey's 124 points (51 goals, 73 assists) also established a still-standing single-season record for a Hershey player, made him the seventh Bear to win the AHL's scoring title, and just the third to win the Les Cunningham Plaque as
3072-664: A very good account of themselves in their first IAHL campaign, winning the West Division with a 31–18–5 record—the first of 16 regular-season division titles. However, they were defeated in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs by the New York Rangers ' top farm team, the Philadelphia Ramblers , three-games-to-two. Defenseman Herb Kalbfleisch became the first Hershey player to be named a First Team All Star that year while goalie Alfie Moore took Second Team honors behind
3200-488: Is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). As of the 2024–25 AHL season , all 32 NHL teams held affiliations with an AHL team. Historically, when an NHL team does not have an AHL affiliate, its players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL franchises. Twenty-six AHL teams are located across
3328-464: Is an annual invitational tournament featuring teams from leagues around Europe and the world. The participation of the AHL in future Spengler Cups has been discussed by both the tournament organizers and league leadership. In 2014, Swedish club Färjestad BK met the Toronto Marlies as part of a visit to Canada that included its participation in the 2014 AHL All-Star Classic. In February 2018,
3456-458: Is chocolate brown with white shoulders and tan stripes near the bottom of the sweater. The current third jersey features a cursive style Hershey wording, above the number on the front, in a dark tan color. The Bears current uniforms are similar to those of the 2012–13 jerseys, the uniforms consist of the Capitals eagle logo instead of both bear paws on the jersey, making the stripes larger, and making
3584-401: Is still an AHL record six decades later. Although never an All Star, another player to briefly skate in Hershey during this era was Don "Grapes" Cherry who as a coach ( Rochester , Boston , Colorado ) and later a broadcaster became and still remains one of the game's most visible and controversial figures. As a 20-year-old defenseman Cherry made his professional debut with the Bears during
3712-778: The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the Adirondack Red Wings hosted exhibition games against the national teams from the United States , West Germany , Sweden and Finland . Team USA also played exhibitions against AHL teams leading up to the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The Rochester Americans participated in the 1996 and 2013 editions of the Spengler Cup , held in Davos , Switzerland . The Spengler Cup
3840-753: The Binghamton Dusters , while the Firebirds crossed over to the AHL from the NAHL. The Dusters and Firebirds, together with the Hampton Gulls (who had joined the league from the Southern Hockey League ), boosted the AHL to nine member clubs as the 1977–78 season opened. Hampton folded on February 10, 1978, but was replaced the next year by the New Brunswick Hawks . With franchise stability improving after
3968-667: The Canadian-American Hockey League (the "Can-Am" League), founded in 1926, and the first International Hockey League , established in 1929. Although the Can-Am League never operated with more than six teams, the departure of the Boston Bruin Cubs after the 1935–36 season reduced it down to just four member clubs: the Springfield Indians , Philadelphia Ramblers , Providence Reds , and New Haven Eagles for
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4096-529: The Cincinnati Swords (4-1), Baltimore Clippers (4-0), and Providence Reds (4-1) with the championship game played at the Arena before a then record crowd of 8,703. Hershey won a sixth Calder Cup in 1979-80 under player/coach Doug Gibson who replaced first year coach Gary Green when he was unexpectedly promoted to the Bears' then NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals, early in the season. Gibson also led
4224-616: The Hershey Bears , 4–3, in overtime before 45,653 fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia , as the final event of the week-long activities associated with the 2012 NHL Winter Classic , which also included a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on Jan 2 and an alumni game between retired players (including eight honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame ) of those two clubs on December 31, 2011. The contest
4352-814: The Laval Rocket in 2017. The Binghamton Senators were also purchased by the Ottawa Senators and were relocated to Belleville, Ontario , to become the Belleville Senators while the New Jersey Devils ' owned Albany Devils were relocated to become the Binghamton Devils . For the 2018–19 season , a 31st team joined the league with the Colorado Eagles as the NHL's Colorado Avalanche affiliate. With
4480-492: The Milwaukee Admirals . This marked the ninth time the franchise had won the Calder Cup, which tied Hershey with the original Cleveland Barons for the highest number of AHL playoff titles. The following season, Boudreau's Bears finished with a 51–17–6 record and appeared to be on the verge of repeating as champions. They rolled through the playoffs defeating Albany in five games, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in five, and won
4608-701: The Montreal Voyageurs hosted the Canadian National Team in Winnipeg. Several club teams from the Soviet Union toured the United States and Canada during the 1970s and 1980s and played exhibitions against AHL clubs, including the Soviet Wings (1974–75), HC Spartak Moscow (1976, 1986), Moscow Khimik (1976), HC Dynamo Moscow (1977–78), Traktor Chelyabinsk (1978–79) and Sokil Kyiv (1989). Prior to
4736-499: The Ontario Reign hosted and defeated the DEL's Eisbären Berlin , 6–3, in a friendly matchup organized by Anschutz Entertainment Group , the owner of both teams. The formation of an American Hockey League Hall of Fame was announced by the league on December 15, 2005, created to recognize, honor and celebrate individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions specifically in
4864-645: The Portland Pirates three games to two in the first round. Hershey then faced the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the division finals and won four games to three and won the Emile Francis Trophy . In the conference finals, the Bears defeated the regular-season champion Toronto Marlies four games to one, winning the Richard F. Canning Trophy as conference champions. In the Calder Cup finals,
4992-654: The Providence Bruins in the division finals in seven games Travis Boyd was chosen for the Second All-Star Team. The Bears failed to qualify for the 2017-18 playoffs. The Bears made the 2019 playoffs , but were quickly eliminated by the Charlotte Checkers in the second round. Hersheypark Stadium hosted the fourth annual AHL Outdoor Classic in 2013, with the Bears facing their intrastate rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins . The "Baby Pens" defeated
5120-674: The San Antonio Rampage franchise was bought and relocated by the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights for the 2020–21 season as the Henderson Silver Knights and was moved to the Pacific Division. For the 2021–22 season , the Vancouver Canucks relocated their franchise from Utica to Abbotsford while the Utica Comets agreed to relocate and operate the franchise that was operating as the Binghamton Devils . On May 23, 2022, it
5248-660: The Springfield Falcons franchise was purchased by the Arizona Coyotes and relocated to become the Tucson Roadrunners and join the one-year-old Pacific Division. The Falcons were subsequently replaced by the Springfield Thunderbirds , the relocated Portland Pirates franchise under a new ownership group. The Montreal Canadiens -owned IceCaps relocated to the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec , and became
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5376-562: The Teddy bear toss that usually is held around Christmas time. Since 2018, the Hershey Bears had consecutively broken the World Record for the Teddy Bear toss, with the most recent counting of 74,599. This is a partial list of the past five seasons completed by the Bears. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Hershey Bears seasons Updated November 12, 2024. Since 2012,
5504-621: The Texas Stars . The Bears became the first team in AHL history to win a Calder Cup series after trailing the series 0–2, going on to win 4 straight to take the series 4–2. On December 20, 2006, the Bears played their 5,000th regular-season game at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York . The Bears scored seven times en route to a 7–4 win versus the Albany River Rats . On May 2, 2007,
5632-430: The Whale Bowl , the AHL's second outdoor game held on February 19, 2011, as part of a 10-day Whalers Hockey Fest at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut . Attendance for Connecticut's game against the Providence Bruins was announced at 21,673, the largest in AHL history to that point. Providence won, 5–4, in a shootout. On January 6, 2012, the largest crowd in AHL history saw the Adirondack Phantoms defeat
5760-399: The "Hershey Bears", a name adopted in response to criticism levied by New York sportswriters and the league that the "B'ars" moniker was too commercial. (These writers had already informally dubbed the club as the "Bears from Penn's Woods" when they visited Madison Square Garden to play the New York Rovers.) On December 19, 1936, the newly renamed EAHL Bears also moved from the confines of
5888-492: The 1938 meeting to fill the void in its membership left by the loss of Buffalo two years earlier with the admission of the then two-time defending Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL) champion Hershey Bears . The Bears remain the only one of these eight original I-AHL/AHL franchises to have been represented in the league without interruption since the 1938–39 season. The newly merged circuit also increased its regular-season schedule for each team by six games from 48 to 54. After
6016-441: The 1939–40 season the I-AHL renamed itself the American Hockey League . It generally enjoyed both consistent success on the ice and relative financial stability over its first three decades of operation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the cost of doing business in professional ice hockey began to rise sharply with NHL expansion and relocation (the NHL placed teams in Pittsburgh and Buffalo, forcing two long-time AHL clubs,
6144-433: The 1941–42 season as a fundraiser for American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross efforts during World War II . Players from the Eastern Division faced off against players from the Western Division at Cleveland Arena. The event was not played again until the 1954–55 season, and was then held annually until the 1959–60 season. These six annual games pitted a team of all-stars against the defending Calder Cup champions (with
6272-469: The 1954–55 season and also played for the club in 1956–57. As a TV personality and longtime commentator on Hockey Night in Canada , this former Bear is one of the best-known figures in Canada in any field. With the demise of the AHL Pittsburgh Hornets in 1956, Bears managers John Sollenberger and Lloyd Blinco were able to acquire the services of seven of the recent Calder Cup champion Hornets' best players including four-time All Star goalie Gil Mayer and
6400-427: The 2004–05 season (the franchise was sold in 2006 and returned to the ice in Cleveland in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters, now known as the Cleveland Monsters ). The Chicago Wolves ( 2002 , 2008 , 2022 ), Houston Aeros ( 2003 ), Milwaukee Admirals ( 2004 ), and Grand Rapids Griffins ( 2013 , 2017 ) have all won Calder Cup titles since joining the AHL from the IHL. Chicago and Milwaukee have also made multiple trips to
6528-471: The 2015–16 season, called the Golden State Hockey Rush. On December 18, 2015, the Stockton Heat defeated the Bakersfield Condors , 3–2, at Raley Field in West Sacramento, California . For the second consecutive season, the AHL played an outdoor game in California as the Bakersfield Condors hosted the Condorstown Outdoor Classic against the Ontario Reign on January 7, 2017, at Bakersfield College 's Memorial Stadium . Despite sometimes heavy rain during
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#17328512144736656-525: The AHL Bears. Now called the Hershey Bears Hockey Club, it is a subsidiary of the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company (originally called "Hershey Estates" and later "HERCO"), the entertainment and hospitality division of the Hershey Trust Company . Gordie Howe , who was selected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 and was known as "Mr. Hockey", once remarked, "Everybody who is anybody in hockey has played in Hershey," although he himself did not play there. The history of Hershey hockey goes back to
6784-415: The AHL's 2001 expansion was that the league had two teams with the same nickname: the Milwaukee Admirals and the Norfolk Admirals . The latter team transferred to the league from the mid-level ECHL in 2000. This situation lasted until the end of the 2014–15 season when the Norfolk team moved to San Diego and was replaced by another ECHL team with the same name. The Utah Grizzlies suspended operations after
6912-426: The AHL's East with 84 points (25 more than second-place Springfield) on a record of 36–16–12 behind All Star goalie Harvey Bennett, Sr. In the playoffs, Hershey defeated the Western Division champion Cleveland Barons in a four-game first-round sweep outscoring them 24–3 before winning the Calder Cup finals in seven games over the Pittsburgh Hornets . In 1948, 21-year-old Winnipeg-born center Arnie Kullman joined
7040-462: The AHL's eventual all-time scoring leader Willie Marshall (523–852—1,205). The most important from Pittsburgh, however, was the AHL's only five-time First-Team All-Star defenseman, Frank S. Mathers , who remained active with the Bears for an unprecedented thirty-five seasons as an All Star defenseman, player-coach, general manager, and club president. Under Mathers' leadership, Hershey won over 1,500 games and six Calder Cup titles while Mathers himself
7168-399: The Bears also won their third consecutive Eastern Divisional title. That season also saw Mathers add the duties of GM to his portfolio with the retirement of Lloyd Blinco from that post. With the close the 1972–73 season Frank Mathers ended his unbroken 17-year run as coach to devote his efforts full-time to his duties as GM. Including a brief return to the bench in 1984–85, Mathers compiled
7296-437: The Bears had second-year blueliner John Stevens , now associate coach of the two-time Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings , rookie Gordie Murphy who is now an assistant coach with the Flyers, and Jeff Chychrun, another sophomore. On May 12, 1988, Hershey completed its unprecedented 12–0 sweep to the Cup by defeating the Fredericton Express, 4–2. The Washington Capitals returned as the Bears NHL parent club in 2005 after
7424-412: The Bears have used Hersheypark Arena as their practice arena only. The Bears won the 1937 EAHL championship, then played in an international tournament arranged by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine a world's amateur champion, in direct conflict with the actual 1937 Ice Hockey World Championships . The CAHA tournament was hosted at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and invited
7552-399: The Bears in front of a capacity crowd of 17,311 fans by a score of 2–1. 5 years later, Hershey once again held the AHL Outdoor Classic on January 20, 2018, the AHL's 10th outdoor game, with the Bears facing their intrastate rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Flyers affiliate from Allentown defeated the Bears in front of a crowd of 13,091 fans by a score of 5–2. After the 2020-21 season ,
7680-404: The Bears in playoff scoring with a dozen goals and seven assists for 19 points in sixteen Calder Cup games while goaltending was shared by Gary Inness (6-1) who himself would later coach the team and Dave Parro (6-3). Although Hershey had finished four games below .500 during the regular season (35–39–9), the Bears defeated the Syracuse Firebirds (4-0) in the opening round before upsetting both
7808-426: The Bears played their 500th Calder Cup playoff game in franchise history at the GIANT Center. The Bears played the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and won 4–3. In 2010, the Bears set a new club record with 12 straight wins, topping their previous record of 11 which was set the season earlier in 2008. Over the stretch from December into January, the Bears outscored their opponents by a 52–22 margin. The Bears also set
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#17328512144737936-410: The Bears scored a pair of wins (3–0 and 2–1) before falling in Game 5, 3–2. In Game 6, the Bears scored three goals before Manitoba even got on the board, and then an empty-net goal sealed it. With the 4–1 victory, the Bears defeated Manitoba and finally recorded their league-record tenth Calder Cup. Following the Calder Cup win, head coach Bob Woods was promoted to Washington as an assistant coach. He
8064-443: The Bears set a league record for most wins under a 72-game season (53), a franchise record in point percentage (.771), a franchise record (53-14-0-5), and total points (111) They later went on to eliminate the Cleveland Monsters in 7 games, setting up a rematch from the previous season's finals, winning in six games to win their 13th Calder Cup. The colors of the Hershey Bears are dark brown, medium brown, tan, and white (though
8192-447: The Bears were swept by the Lake Erie Monsters in four games. Chris Bourque was awarded the AHL regular-season MVP Les Cunningham Award , earned the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league's top scorer, and was named to the First All-Star Team. In the 2016–17 season, the Bears finished in third place in the Atlantic Division. The Bears defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the division semifinals in five games before losing to
8320-453: The Bears win their division's regular-season title in 1966–67, for the first time since 1957–58, on a 38-24-10 record behind the goaltending of First Team All Star Andre Gill and a league-leading 52 goals by DeJordy, it would be another two years before the Calder Cup returned to Hershey in 1968-69 defeating the Quebec Aces in five games. Gilbert led the league in scoring with 100 points (35-65) with teammate Michel Harvey close behind at 93 as
8448-409: The Bears won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best record in the AHL, but no playoffs were held. The Bears qualified for the 2022 Calder Cup playoffs , but fell short to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 2 games to 1. In the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs , the Bears overcame a 2-0 series deficit in the finals to beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 7 games. Following the 2023-24 season ,
8576-409: The Bears, and except for 13 games with the Boston Bruins in 1949–50, he played his entire twelve-year career in Hershey. When Kullman retired in 1960 he had amassed 629 points on 253 goals and 376 assists in a Hershey uniform, a total which would only be eclipsed by Tim Tookey (with whom he shared number nine that was eventually retired in honor of both players) and Mike Nykoluk. Kullman's 753 games as
8704-408: The Bisons' place in the IAHL's West Division, allowing the IAHL to play a balanced schedule for the first time in over two years. While the new Bears began play in the IAHL in 1938, the hockey club also continued to operate an EAHL team, the Hershey Cubs, for one more season before leaving that league altogether. In 1977 Hershey became the only original AHL hockey club to have continuously iced a team in
8832-422: The Calder Cup Finals, and Houston made their second Finals appearance in 2011. The Manitoba Moose moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011 and were renamed the St. John's IceCaps after the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg as the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets . In 2013, Houston moved to Des Moines, Iowa to become the Iowa Wild . This left Chicago, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee as
8960-436: The Eastern Conference in a sweep of Manchester . The Bears appeared to have a tenth title wrapped up against Hamilton , who had finished the regular season with 95 points compared to Hershey's 114. The Bulldogs, however, upset the Bears 4–1. The next season was disappointing to the Bears – Boudreau was promoted to head coach of the Capitals, and the Bears would finish the season 42–30–2–6, losing to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4–1 in
9088-399: The Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins met outdoors at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the Penguins earning a 2–1 overtime victory in front of 17,311 fans. The Rochester Americans hosted an outdoor game in 2013–14, the Frozen Frontier , which was held at Frontier Field in Rochester, New York , on December 13, 2013. The Americans took a 5–4 decision in
9216-401: The Hershey Bears have recognized a class of individuals for their outstanding contributions to the game of hockey in Hershey and who were an integral part in the success of the Hershey Bears franchise. The Hershey Bears Hockey Club Hall of Fame is housed on the Giant Center concourse. Les Cunningham Award (league MVP) American Hockey League The American Hockey League ( AHL )
9344-477: The IHL quartet playing as the West Division. The IHL also contributed its former championship trophy, the F.G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy , which would go to the regular-season winners of the merged league's West Division until 1952. The Oke Trophy is now awarded to the regular-season winners of the AHL's North Division. A little more than a month into that first season, the balance and symmetry of the new combined circuit suffered
9472-489: The Ice Palace (where they had to play on a small, 60x170-foot rink) into the newly constructed 7,286-seat Hersheypark Arena (then known as the "Hershey Sports Arena") built immediately adjacent to the older venue. Over the next 66 seasons, Bears' teams played a total of 2,280 EAHL and AHL regular season and playoff games at the Hersheypark Arena, which served as the home to hockey in Hershey from 1936 to 2002. Since 2002,
9600-758: The International-American Hockey League. On June 28, 1938, the Can-Am and IHL formally merged into a single league under the IAHL name. One of the first acts of the newly merged league, which became the American Hockey League in 1940, was to grant an expansion franchise to the Hershey Bears Hockey Club, which at the time still owned and operated the EAHL Hershey Bears, the then three-time regular-season champions of that league. The new Bears took
9728-477: The NHL parent club wished to make call-ups from the AHL more practical by having closer affiliates. In January 2015, the AHL announced the relocation of five existing AHL franchises— Adirondack , Manchester , Norfolk , Oklahoma City , and Worcester —to California as the basis for a new "Pacific Division" becoming Stockton , Ontario , San Diego , Bakersfield , and San Jose respectively. The relocated teams were all affiliated and owned or purchased by teams in
9856-679: The NHL planning to expand to 32 teams in 2021 with the Seattle Kraken , the Seattle ownership group was approved for a 2021 AHL expansion team, later announced to be the Coachella Valley Firebirds based in Palm Springs, California , following the construction of a new arena . The original plans for the new arena was eventually cancelled and the team postponed their launch by a year while new arena plans were developed. In February 2020,
9984-653: The NHL's Pacific Division . The franchise movements continued with two more relocations involving Canadian teams with the St. John's IceCaps going back to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose and the Hamilton Bulldogs becoming another iteration of the IceCaps to fulfill the arena contract in St. John's. In the following seasons, more NHL organizations influenced league membership. In 2016,
10112-586: The Pittsburgh Hornets and Buffalo Bisons, to fold) and especially the 1972 formation of the World Hockey Association (WHA), which forced the relocation and subsequent folding of the Cleveland Barons , Baltimore Clippers , and Quebec Aces . The number of major-league teams competing for players rose from six to thirty in just seven years. Player salaries at all levels shot up dramatically with
10240-653: The Ramblers' Bert Gardiner. Former Boston Bruins' coach and Hockey Hall of Fame member (elected 1971) Ralph "Cooney" Weiland guided Hershey throughout the war years winning regular-season titles in 1942–43 and 1943–44. The Bears' 13 losses in 1942–43 are still the fewest by the club in a single season while Wally Kilrea's 99 points (31-68) that season gave Hershey its first of ten AHL scoring champions. Hershey won their first of 13 Calder Cup titles in 1947 under second year coach Don Penniston while also winning their fourth Division title in just nine seasons that year dominating
10368-523: The Southern Division champion New Haven Nighthawks (4-2) in the semifinals and the Northern Division winning New Brunswick Hawks (4-2) in the finals with two of their four wins in the championship series in double overtime. Although the Bears did not repeat as Calder Cup champions in 1980–81, under new coach Bryan Murray the club had its best regular season to that point with 103 points on
10496-578: The United States whereas the remaining six are situated in Canada. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts , and its current president is Scott Howson . A player must be at least 18 years of age to play in the AHL or not currently be beholden to a junior ice hockey team. The league limits the number of experienced professional players in a team's lineup during any given game; only five skaters can have accumulated more than 260 games played at
10624-406: The Washington Capitals (replacing Green) and was replaced by former Hershey goalie Gary Inness under most unusual circumstances. Inness had retired as a player a year earlier but wanted to remain in Hershey and keep involved with the Bears. With no coaching position available to offer him, but in need of a new trainer, Bears' GM Frank Mathers offered him that job. With Murray's promotion to Washington
10752-714: The arena was basketball. It hosted the PIAA basketball and wrestling championships, and it also served as the home of the Hershey Impact , a National Professional Soccer League team from 1988 to 1991. It has also hosted the Ice Capades , Disney on Ice , professional boxing, tennis competitions, and the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF) In Your House 5 pay-per-view in 1995. Previously it hosted WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event III on October 31, 1985 (aired November 2) with
10880-515: The champions of the 1937 Allan Cup ( Sudbury Tigers), the 1937 Memorial Cup ( Winnipeg Monarchs ), the EAHL (Hershey Bears) and the English National League ( Wembley Lions ). The schedule for the competition was a six-game double round-robin tournament from April 17 to 24, followed by a best-of-three game final series between the top two teams. CAHA representative W. A. Hewitt announced
11008-621: The demise of the WHA in 1979, the league continued to grow steadily over the years, reaching 20 clubs by the 2000–01 season. In 2001–02, the AHL's membership jumped dramatically to 27 teams, mostly by the absorption of six teams— Milwaukee , Chicago , Houston , Utah , Manitoba , and Grand Rapids —from the International Hockey League . The IHL had established itself as the second top-level minor league circuit in North America, but folded in 2001 due to financial problems. One oddity caused by
11136-596: The exception of the 1959-60 event, which featured the Springfield Indians). The modern AHL All-Star Game was reinstituted for the 1994–95 season and a skills competition was introduced in 1995–96, with the two-day event being dubbed the AHL All-Star Classic. The 1995 and 1996 games featured players from teams based in Canada taking on players from teams based in the United States. Beginning in 1997, Canadian-born players faced players born outside Canada (known as
11264-667: The fall and winter months, the rink is open to the public for ice skating. Annually, it hosts part of the Music in the Parks competition. In 2021 the Hershey Cubs of the USPHL Premier league began using the arena as home ice. http://www.hersheycubs.com Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania , a town located 14 miles east of
11392-550: The finals, four games to two, to win their third Calder Cup title. In 1958 the Bears also acquired the services of 23-year-old center Mike Nykoluk who had split the previous two seasons between the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL club in Rochester. When Nykoluk retired fourteen years later in 1972, he was the AHL's then fourth (now sixth) all-time leader in points with 881 on 195 goals and 686 assists and his 972 games as
11520-484: The first of a dozen year affiliation with the Philadelphia Flyers who shared the club with the Boston Bruins that year before taking over as the sole parent club the next season and remained so through 1995–96. Former Flyer right wing and AHL Hall of Fame coach John Paddock (1985–89) took over for the next four seasons and under his guidance the Bears averaged 45 wins a year, won two overall regular-season titles, reached
11648-807: The first period, the game went on as scheduled and the Condors defeated the Reign 3–2 in overtime. Hersheypark Stadium hosted its second outdoor game in 2018. Cleveland's FirstEnergy Stadium became the first National Football League venue to host an AHL outdoor game in 2023, and Truist Field in Charlotte hosted the Queen City Outdoor Classic in 2024. Teams from the AHL have competed against non-North American teams, in both international tournaments and one-off matchups. The first recorded games between an AHL team and international competition took place in 1969, when
11776-560: The first round. The next season, the Bears bounced back. Finishing with a 49–23–2 record, they went on to sweep the Philadelphia Phantoms in the first round, overcome a 3–2 deficit to beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second, and then defeated Providence , 4–1, in the conference finals. They opened their 21st Calder Cup appearance with a 5–4 overtime win over the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg , but lost Game 2, 3–1. Back home in Hershey,
11904-508: The first time in its history. At the same time, the then-rival IHL lost half of its eight members after the 1935–36 season, leaving it with just four member teams: the Buffalo Bisons , Syracuse Stars , Pittsburgh Hornets , and Cleveland Falcons . With both leagues down to the bare minimum number of teams to be viable, the governors of both leagues recognized the need for action to assure their member clubs' long-term survival. Their solution
12032-679: The first-ever Calder Cup championship. The Calder Cup continues on today as the AHL's playoff championship trophy. After two seasons of interlocking play, the governors of the two leagues' seven active teams met in New York City on June 28, 1938, and agreed that it was time to formally consolidate. Maurice Podoloff of New Haven, the former head of the Can-Am League, was elected the I-AHL's first president. The former IHL president, John D. Chick of Windsor, Ontario , became vice-president in charge of officials. The new I-AHL also added an eighth franchise at
12160-752: The following season with the Flyers Hextall won both the Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy .) Although the Bears lost to the Adirondack Red Wings in the Calder Cup finals, Tookey also won the Jack Butterfield Trophy as MVP of the play-offs.) Although the Bears finished fourth in the Southern Division in 1986–87 with 87 points (43–36–1), their top line of Tookey, Fitzpatrick and Ray Allison finished first, fifth and seventh in overall league scoring with 124, 85 and 84 points respectively and accounted for
12288-656: The home of the Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchman ice hockey team and since 2021, the Hershey Cubs of the United States Premier Hockey League . When built in 1936 as the Hershey Sports Arena, the building was the largest monolithic structure in the United States in which not a single seat suffered from an obstructed view. For 64 years it was the home of the Hershey Bears hockey team from 1938 to 2002. The second sport at
12416-399: The increased demand and competition for their services. This did not seem to affect the AHL at first, as it expanded to 12 teams by 1970. However, to help compensate for the rise in player salaries, many NHL clubs cut back on the number of players they kept under contract for development, and players under AHL contracts could now also demand much higher paychecks to remain with their clubs. As
12544-462: The last five seasons. The Bears each made the 2011 , 2012 , and 2013 playoffs , however they were all eliminated in the first round, and failed to make the 2014 playoffs . The Bears advanced to the second round of the 2015 Calder Cup playoffs , but were eliminated by the Hartford Wolf Pack . In the 2015–16 season , the Bears qualified for the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs where they defeated
12672-544: The league in 1940 after a new arena was constructed for them). The makeshift new I-AHL played out the rest of its first season (as well as all of the next) with just seven teams. At the end of the 1936–37 season, a modified three-round playoff format was devised and a new championship trophy, the Calder Cup , was established. The Syracuse Stars defeated the Philadelphia Ramblers in the final, three-games-to-one, to win
12800-497: The league's MVP. Tookey's 124 points that year is still the sixth-best single-season total for an individual player in AHL history, just fourteen points less than the current league record of 138 set by former Bear Don Biggs with the Binghamton Rangers in 1992–93. With the start of the 1987–88 season, Hershey became the first professional hockey club outside of the NHL to reach the half century mark and that year also both won
12928-492: The league's top two scorers in linemates Marshall and Dunc Fisher , and Mathers himself earning All Star honors on defense for the sixth time in seven years, the Bears won both the regular season and playoff championships in 1957–58. Although Hershey finished the 1958–59 season with just a .500 record (32–32–6), they defeated the Cleveland Barons in the first round before upsetting the regular-season champion Buffalo Bisons in
13056-509: The lineup that night for Crescent was a 23-year-old center named Lloyd S. Blinco, a native of Grand Mere, Quebec , who came to Hershey the next season and would remain continuously associated with Hershey hockey for a half century as a player, coach, and manager. The popularity of these amateur hockey matches prompted chocolate-maker and amusement park operator Milton Hershey and his long-time entertainment and amusements chief, John B. Sollenberger , to bring pro hockey to Hershey by sponsoring
13184-474: The main event being a tag-team match featuring WWF Champion Hulk Hogan teaming with André the Giant facing the team of Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy . On October 13, 1953, the arena also hosted an extravagant birthday celebration for President Dwight D. Eisenhower whose farm and "weekend White House" was located in nearby Gettysburg . Phish performed and recorded their show, on December 1, 1995, which
13312-600: The new AHL city of Portland, Maine both the regular-season and Calder Cup playoff titles in each of that club's first two seasons of operation. The folding of the NAHL, meanwhile, suddenly left two of its stronger teams, the Philadelphia Firebirds and Binghamton, New York -based Broome Dusters , without a league to play in. The owners of the Dusters solved their problem by buying the Reds franchise and moving it to Binghamton as
13440-595: The only NHL team currently without an AHL affiliate. However, the Hurricanes loaned some players to the Wolves, such as Vasili Ponomaryov and Antti Raanta . On May 2, 2024, the Hurricanes and Wolves committed to a three-year affiliation beginning with the 2024–25 season. Notes Current member Former member Opted out of season due to COVID-19 pandemic Gold star = Won Calder Cup Still-active teams in bold . The American Hockey League first held an All-Star Game in
13568-458: The only ex-IHL teams still in their original cities until the 2015 relocations when the IceCaps moved back to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose. Beginning with the 2015–16 season , twelve franchises have since relocated due to NHL parent clubs' influence on their development teams and players. Of the twelve relocated franchises, nine were relocated because they were directly owned by NHL teams and
13696-443: The organization iced was the amateur Hershey B'ars in the newly formed Tri-State Hockey League which included three other teams from Philadelphia , Baltimore , and Atlantic City . After a single season in 1932–33, that circuit reformed itself into a larger, seven-club Eastern Amateur Hockey League in which Hershey played first as the "Chocolate B'ars" (1933–1934), then again as the "B'ars" (1934–1936), and finally from 1936 to 1938 as
13824-405: The play-off finals twice, and brought Hershey a seventh Calder Cup championship in 1987–88. In his first year as the Bears' coach, Paddock led the club to first place overall in the regular season with a 48-29-3 record and either four goals in the final game of that 1985–86 season, left wing Ross Fitzpatrick became the third Bear to score 50 goals in a season while rookie goalie Ron Hextall set
13952-593: The playoffs after a two-year absence. The team came off with a strong start by winning their first two series, against the Norfolk Admirals and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins , in four games each. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Bears played the Portland Pirates . The Bears quickly took a 2–0 series lead, but then lost the third game. The Bears then rebounded and won Game 4 to take
14080-404: The professional level (goaltenders are exempt from this rule). The annual playoff champion is awarded the Calder Cup , named for Frank Calder , the first President (1917–1943) of the NHL. The defending champions following the 2023–24 season are the Hershey Bears , winning their 13th Calder Cup in franchise history. The AHL traces its origins directly to two predecessor professional leagues:
14208-545: The same city since the league's inaugural season as a fully merged league when the Rhode Island Reds franchise was sold and moved to New York state as the Binghamton Dusters after the 1976–77 campaign. Defenseman Henry J. "Hank" Lauzon, an original EAHL B'ar, became the first player to sign with the new Bears. The former EAHL club's coach, Herb Mitchell, guided the IAHL Bears for their first three seasons. The Bears made
14336-568: The shortening of the series due to poor attendance. The game between Hershey and Winnipeg was cancelled as both teams went home early, with the tournament being completed by a best-of-three series between Sudbury and Wembley, which Sudbury won on a sudden death overtime goal by George Hastie in the third game. Since 1936, the Canadian–American Hockey League and International Hockey League had formed an eight-team "circuit of mutual convenience" playing an interlocking schedule as
14464-409: The shoulders a tan color instead of one color going around the entire jersey. The official mascot of the Bears is a brown bear called "Coco". Coco wears a Bears home jersey, white helmet, brown hockey gloves, and ice skates while skating and black track pants with black shoes. He debuted on October 14, 1978, at the Hersheypark Arena. Since 2001, The Hershey Bears annually host a charity event called
14592-462: The state capital of Harrisburg . The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still playing in its original city. The Bears organization has served as the primary development club for the NHL's Washington Capitals since 2005-06 . Since 2002–03 , the hockey club's home games have been played at Giant Center , located less than half
14720-438: The team also had nine first- and second-year players including second-year winger Brian Dobbin who finished third in team scoring behind Lamoureux and Maxwell with 83 points (36-47) even though he had been recalled to Philadelphia seven times during the campaign and only played in 54 games for Hershey, and rookie center Glen Seabrooke also broke the 30-goal mark (32) and was fifth overall in Bears scoring with 78 points. On defense
14848-402: The team's primary colors are often referred to as "chocolate and white"), a reference to The Hershey Company and its products. The primary logo is a medium brown bear, outlined in dark brown, roaring while standing on a hockey stick centered above the Hershey Bears wordmark. The wordmark has Hershey in tan above Bears in white (both outlined in dark brown). All these parts are contained by
14976-451: The top two teams advance to the final game, with the winner declared the challenge champions. The AHL All-Star Classic was postponed in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Laval Rocket , who had been selected to host, ultimately hosted the event in 2023. Since the 2009–10 season, at least one team in the AHL has hosted an outdoor ice hockey game each year. The Syracuse Crunch
15104-608: The “World” team in 1997 and “PlanetUSA” from 1998 to 2010). The format was revamped again in 2011 to pit the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference. In 2014, a team of AHL all-stars hosted the Swedish Hockey League club Färjestad BK . Since 2016, the all-star game has been replaced by the AHL All-Star Challenge, a three-on-three round-robin tournament among teams from the league's four divisions;
15232-634: Was announced that the Stockton Heat would be relocating to Calgary , Alberta , starting the 2022–23 season . For the 2023–24 season , the Chicago Wolves operated as the league's only unaffiliated team, making them the first team to operate without an NHL partner since the inaugural season of the Worcester IceCats during the 1994–95 season . Consequently, the Carolina Hurricanes became
15360-690: Was damaged, but reported to not be in danger of collapse. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Hersheypark Arena is the home rink for the Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchmen Women's and Men's ice hockey teams. LVC competes in NCAA Division III as of 2016, and previously competed in the ACHA . In addition, the arena hosts the Hershey Junior Bears, a youth team sponsored by the Bears organization. On most weekends during
15488-620: Was honored with the Lester Patrick Award in 1987 for his "contributions to hockey in the United States", and in 1992 he became the second individual to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame based on a career in the AHL. While the Mathers era in Hershey started slowly with a fourth-place finish in 1956–57, he led the Bears back-to-back Calder Cup titles in his second and third seasons as a player-coach. With Bobby Perreault and Mayer in goal,
15616-542: Was later released as a live album, entitled Live Phish 12.01.95 . On March 2, 1962, Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain recorded a record-setting 100 points in an NBA game against the New York Knicks , a record that still stands today. On July 5, 2012, a fire damaged the arena, which was in the midst of refurbishment. At about 3:00 PM local time, the fire was upgraded to five alarms. The fire burned for about two hours before being extinguished. The roof
15744-495: Was not reversed. However, two events in the fall of 1977 helped reverse the trend. The first of these was the decision of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers to return to the league as a team owner, and the second was the unexpected collapse of the North American Hockey League just weeks before the start of the 1977–78 season. The Flyers' new AHL franchise became the immediately successful Maine Mariners , which brought
15872-655: Was preceded the previous night by a game between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens alumni. Two outdoor games were announced for the 2012–13 AHL season, but a meeting between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toronto Marlies at Comerica Park in Detroit as part of the festivities surrounding the NHL Winter Classic was not held because of the cancellation of the NHL Winter Classic. On January 20, 2013,
16000-554: Was replaced by Mark French , a former coach in the ECHL. The 2009–10, Bears won a franchise-record 12 consecutive games and notched a 24-game win streak at the Giant Center . They went on to win 60 games, breaking the old AHL record of 57 and finishing a point shy of tying the single-season points record. The Bears rallied from a 2–0 deficit against the Texas Stars to win their 11th Calder Cup, their second consecutive championship and third in
16128-705: Was the first organization to put on an outdoor game in the AHL on February 20, 2010, building a rink at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York , and packing a record 21,508 fans in for the Mirabito Outdoor Classic against the Binghamton Senators . The contest, which was also televised to an international audience on NHL Network , was won by the Crunch, 2–1. The Connecticut Whale hosted
16256-408: Was the third outdoor game in AHL history and it more than doubled the league's previous single-game attendance mark. On January 21, 2012, the Steeltown Showdown between Ontario rivals, the Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs , was held at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario , with the Marlies winning 7–2 in front of 20,565 fans, the largest crowd ever for an AHL game in Canada. The AHL game
16384-421: Was to play an interlocking schedule. While the Can-Am was based in the Northeast and the IHL in the Great Lakes , their footprints were close enough for this to be a viable option. The two leagues' eight surviving clubs began joint play in November 1936 as a new two-division "circuit of mutual convenience" known as the International-American Hockey League. The four Can-Am teams became the I-AHL East Division, with
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