Maine Mariners (AHL)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maine Mariners
founding 1977
history Part I:
Maine Mariners
1977 - 1987
Utica Devils
1987 - 1993
Saint John Flames
1993 - 2003
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
2005 - 2007
Quad City Flames
2007 - 2009
Abbotsford Heat
2009 - 2014
Adirondack Flames
2014 -2015
Stockton Heat
since 2015

part II:
Maine Mariners
1987 - 1992
Providence Bruins
since 1992
Stadion Cumberland County Civic Center
Location Portland , Maine
Team colors orange, black (1977–1987)
black, gold (1987–1992)
Calder cups 1977/78 , 1978/79 , 1983/84

The Maine Mariners were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League . They played in Portland , Maine , USA at the Cumberland County Civic Center from 1977 to 1992 . The team was relocated to Providence in 1992 and renamed the Providence Bruins .

history

Since 1973, the Maine Nordiques from the North American Hockey League had been a professional ice hockey team in the US state of Maine , which served as the farm team of the Québec Nordiques from the World Hockey Association . 1977 should franchise the American Hockey League in Portland are settled and there were three applications for it. The already established AHL team of the Rhode Island Reds was ready to play some of their home games in town. The Québec Nordiques also wanted their farm team to play in Portland, but home games should also be played in Lewiston . Only the Philadelphia Flyers from the National Hockey League wanted to install an AHL team as a farm team that is exclusively based in Portland and they finally got the contract.

The Maine Mariners went into their first season in the fall of 1977 and played successful ice hockey from the start. At the end of their first season they were the best team in the main round and they continued to play sovereignly in the playoffs and won the Calder Cup as the second team in the history of the AHL in their debut season . In the second season they built on that, won again the title of best team of the regular season and were able to defend the Calder Cup after a successful final.

The guarantee for the success in the first years was coach Bob McCammon , who was honored twice with the Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award as the best coach in the league and was thus promoted to head coach of the Flyers in the early 1980s. Among the players, Wayne Schaab , Paul Evans , Bernie Johnston , Barry Dean and Gordie Clark stood out, who particularly shone on the offensive and shaped the image of the team for longer. In addition, in their first season with Blake Dunlop , the team placed the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the most valuable player in the AHL, who, however, only rarely played for Maine in the second season and became a regular in the NHL.

In the following four years, the Mariners failed twice prematurely in the playoffs and had to cope with some setbacks for the first time, but twice they moved into the finals again, but were subject to the Adirondack Red Wings and the Rochester Americans . The young Swedish goalkeeper Pelle Lindbergh , who joined the Mariners in 1980 , stood out in particular . In his first season he led the team to the final and after the season received the awards as the most valuable player and best new professional in the league .

After six successful years as the Philadelphia Flyers farm team, the collaboration ended and the Mariners acted as a cooperation partner of the New Jersey Devils from the 1983/84 season . The team then played the worst season of their existence and ended the regular season with 33 wins from 80 league games, which meant they could still qualify for the playoffs. Tom McVie , who had led the team to the finals last year, was appointed head coach by the New Jersey Devils and the inexperienced John Paddock had taken over responsibility for the Mariners for the rest of the season. In the playoffs, however, the team showed a different side and caused a surprise when they were still able to win the Calder Cup after the weak main round.

When Tom McVie took over the coaching position again for the 1984/85 season , the Mariners were able to stabilize in the regular season in the following two years, but they remained unsuccessful in the playoffs. When the first major low point in franchise history was finally reached in the spring of 1987 with the missed qualification for the playoffs, several major changes were pending.

In the summer of 1987, the Boston Bruins took over the Maine Mariners as their farm team and replaced the last unsuccessful Tom McVie with the inexperienced Mike Milbury , who had been a defender for the Bruins in the twelve years before and was about to start his coaching career. There were also some changes in the roster, as Boston dropped a lot of young players in Maine. The 1987/88 season was ultimately also a success, as the team returned to the best teams in the league.

But the positive result did not last long and the following four years were largely marked by failure. 1989 and 1990 they missed the playoffs before coach Rick Bowness , who had meanwhile replaced Milbury, was able to lead the Mariners to the finals despite a poor season result, where they failed in the first round.

In 1991/92 the team finally reached its all-time low. With only 23 wins from 80 games of the season, they finished last in the AHL. It was also the last season in Portland. The team owners were in negotiations with the city of Providence in the US state of Rhode Island and they finally came to the result to relocate the franchise and rename it Providence Bruins .

Achievements and honors

Club records

Career

Surname number
Most games Paul Evans 489 (in 7 seasons)
Most goals Paul Evans 164
Most templates Paul Evans 296
Most of the points Paul Evans 460 (164 goals + 296 assists)
Most penalty minutes Bruce Shoebottom 1069

season

Surname number season
Most goals Gordie Clark 50 1981/82
Most templates Bernie Johnston 66 1978/79
Most of the points Gordie Clark 101 (50 goals + 51 assists) 1981/82
Most penalty minutes Dave Brown 418 1982/83

Web links