‘I don’t see the AHL coming back’

The demise, challenges of the American Hockey League in Atlantic Canada

SYDNEY — There was a time when the American Hockey League had a strong presence in Atlantic Canada, drawing fans in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

During the 1990s, seven NHL teams had affiliate club's the Atlantic Canada — three teams in New Brunswick, two in Nova Scotia and single teams in P.E.I. and Newfoundland.

All the clubs who once called the East Coast home have since relocated or folded, leaving the Atlantic provinces shut out from professional hockey.

Why did the teams leave? Dave Andrews, the former president and CEO of the American Hockey League for 26 years, believes the demise of the league in Atlantic Canada was the result of many factors.

“A lot of them were economic issues with NHL teams, and the Canadian dollar at the time was in a bad spot,” said Andrews in a recent interview with the Cape Breton Post.

“The Canadian-based NHL teams who owned all of those (AHL) teams were looking for ways to reduce their expenses and increase revenue at the minor league level.”

PACKING UP AND LEAVING

The downward spiral for the Atlantic Canada teams began in 1993 when the Quebec Nordiques moved the Halifax Citadels to eastern Ontario to become the Cornwall Aces.

The next year, in 1994, the Moncton Hawks, who were the affiliate for the Winnipeg Jets, folded. The Jets themselves would only spend two more years in Winnipeg before the NHL club was moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators moved their affiliate team from New Haven, Conn. to Charlottetown to become the Prince Edward Island Senators in 1993. The franchise suspended operations after the 1996 season, claiming the island's capital was too small to support an AHL team.

In Cape Breton, 1996

“I think major junior hockey is doing well in those centres and I just don’t think the AHL would work any better than major junior teams do — it’s a much different business model.”

Dave Andrews Former president and CEO of the American Hockey League

was a dark year for local fans, who three years earlier, had witnessed their beloved Oilers win a Calder Cup. The Edmonton Oilers moved the franchise from Sydney to Hamilton, Ont., to become the Bulldogs.

Three years later, the Montreal Canadiens pulled the Fredericton Canadiens from the New Brunswick capital, electing to relocate the club to Quebec City to become the Citadelles. The club had been in Fredericton for nine years.

The Saint John Flames, who joined the AHL in 1993, survived the dreaded 1990s for Atlantic Canada teams. The Calgary Flames organization kept the team in New Brunswick until 2003, but in 2005 the franchise became the Omaha Ak-sar-ben Knights, based in Nebraska.

In sports terms, the St.

John's Maple Leafs were the final cut. The Toronto Maple Leafs kept the club in Newfoundland until 2005 when they relocated the franchise to Toronto to become the Marlies.

“When you lost Halifax and Moncton, the economic scale of the Atlantic Division wasn't making sense anymore — and then Cape Breton and P.E.I. were gone,” said Andrews, who retired as president of the AHL last year, but remains on the league's board of governors.

“For the most part, you couldn't point to the fan support as being the single factor of teams leaving because if you really look at the fan support in those communities in the year the teams relocated, it wasn't a dramatic difference from what it had been.”

The AHL would make a

return to Newfoundland in 2011 with the St. John's Icecaps, who at the time were the affiliate team for Winnipeg, and later Montreal.

The Icecaps would be the Jets' affiliate until 2015 when they relocated their team to Winnipeg to become the Manitoba Moose. The Canadiens moved the Hamilton Bulldogs to become the Icecaps in 2015, but the team left St. John's in 2017 to become the Laval Rocket.

WORKING OUT

Despite the disappointment of teams leaving their respective cities, the demise of the professional ranks paved the way for junior hockey in Atlantic Canada.

Today the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has teams in Cape Breton, Charlottetown,

Halifax, Moncton and Saint John.

“With what the QMJHL has been able to do in Atlantic Canada, I think it all worked out for the best for everyone,” said Andrews.

“It's not as expensive to run a major junior team than it is to run an AHL team these days — I think hockey fans are well served by the QMJHL, it's a really good league with really good players.”

Meanwhile, Fredericton is home to the Maritime Junior Hockey League's Fredericton Red Wings, who play their home games at the Grant Harvey Centre.

As for Newfoundland, St. John's was granted a QMJHL expansion team in 2005. The team — known as the Fog Devils — played three seasons in Newfoundland before relocating to the Montreal area.

Today, St. John's is the only Atlantic Canadian city with a professional hockey team. The city is home to the Newfoundland Growlers, who currently play in the ECHL. The team didn't play in 202021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrews was straight forward when asked if he sees the AHL returning to Atlantic Canada in the near future.

“I don't see the American Hockey League coming back,” said Andrews. “I think major junior hockey is doing well in those centres and I just don't think the AHL would work any better than major junior teams do — it's a much different business model.”