American Hockey Association (1926-1942)

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The American Hockey Association (AHA) was a North American ice hockey minor league , which was founded in 1926 and dissolved in 1942. A league of the same name existed in the 1992/93 season. The United States Hockey League , which existed from 1945 to 1951, succeeded the AHA.

history

The American Hockey Association was founded in 1926 as a successor to the United States Amateur Hockey Association ( USAHA ) when it was decided to found a professional league to offer American players in particular the opportunity to play ice hockey professionally. Another goal was to compete against the teams of the National Hockey League for the Stanley Cup after the Western Hockey League had been disbanded after the 1925/26 season , the champions of which had previously competed in a playoff series against the NHL champions. However, this never came about because it was decided to award the Stanley Cup as a fixed trophy to the playoff winner of the NHL. Starting in 1931, the Central Hockey League created serious competition for the AHA and teams like the Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints joined the CHL. In the 1934/35 season , however, the two leagues came closer together, developed a common game plan and played games between the teams of both competitions. For the 1935/36 season, the CHL and the AHA finally merged, with the game operations continued under the banner of the American Hockey Association and the teams from Minneapolis and St. Paul returned to the AHA. Over time, many talented AHA players made the leap into the National Hockey League, while former NHL stars ended their careers in the AHA. The end of the AHA, which repeatedly had to struggle with financial problems of its teams and relocations during the current seasons, came after the USA entered the war in World War II , when the arenas of the clubs were needed for other purposes. After the war ended in 1945, the successor United States Hockey League was created .

Teams

master

  • 1934/35: St. Louis Flyers
  • 1935/36: St. Louis Flyers
  • 1936/37: Minneapolis Millers
  • 1937/38: St. Louis Flyers
  • 1938/39: St. Louis Flyers
  • 1939/40: St. Paul Saints
  • 1940/41: St. Louis Flyers
  • 1941/42: Omaha Knights

literature

  • Dan Diamond (Ed.): Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League . 1st edition. Total Sports, 1998, ISBN 0-8362-7114-9 .

Web links