Erie Blades

Erie Blades
founding	1975
resolution	1982
history	Erie Blades 1975–1982 Baltimore Skipjacks 1982–1993 Portland Pirates 1993–2016 Springfield Thunderbirds since 2016
Stadion	Erie County Field House
Location	Erie , Pennsylvania
Team colors	gold, black, white
league	North American Hockey League (1975–1977) Eastern Hockey League (1978–1981) American Hockey League (1981–1982)
Cooperations	Boston Bruins Pittsburgh Penguins

The Erie Blades were an American ice hockey franchise based in Erie , Pennsylvania . The venue for the Blades was the Erie County Field House .

history

The Erie Blades were founded in 1975 and played in the North American Hockey League for the first two years of their existence . For the season 1978/79, the team moved to the North Eastern Hockey League , before they were active in the Eastern Hockey League for two years . Before the 1981/82 season, the Erie Blades were inducted into the American Hockey League and became a farm team of the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins . This decision also brought a change of coach: Nick Polano , who was the Blades coach for the first six years, was replaced by Lou Angotti . In their first AHL season, the team disappointed and only got 50 points in 80 games, so the Blades merged with the Baltimore Skipjacks from the Atlantic Coast Hockey League and continued to play in Baltimore , Maryland , under their name in the AHL. Both the coach Lou Angotti and 16 of his players have been transferred to the new team.

The void left by the Erie Blades was filled by the Erie Golden Blades , who played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1982 to 1987 .

Season statistics (AHL)

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats after overtime, SOL = defeats after shootout , Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals against, PIM = penalty minutes

season	GP	W.	L.	T	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	space	Playoffs
1981-1982	80	22nd	52	6th	-	-	50	317	425	6th, South	not qualified

Team records

Career records

Games: 76 Andy Spruce , Dave Hannan , Dave Barr

Goals: 33 Dave Hannan

Assists: 52 Mike Krushelnyski

Points: 83 Mike Krushelnyski

Penalty minutes: 185 Gary Rissling

Well-known former players

• Craig MacTavish

Web links

• The Internet Hockey Database Statistics Erie Blades
• The Internet Hockey Database - Player List Erie Blades