When AHL Teams called the Moncton Coliseum Home

You may know the Moncton Wildcats, once the junior team of Brad Marchand. But they were once an AHL team, the affiliate for NHL teams. After decades of teams in varying local leagues, Moncton would see its first AHL team, the New Brunswick Hawks. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs shared the Hawks from 1978 to 1982. During their 4 seasons in the AHL, they never finished lower than 2nd in their division. How did they do it? The following future NHL head coaches played on the Moncton Hawks for at least one season: Joel Quenneville, Darryl Sutter, Ron Wilson and Bruce Boudreau. In 79-80: Boudreau, Sutter and Wilson finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in points for the team. The Hawks won their division and marched all the way to the Calder Cup final, only to lose to the Hershey Bears in 6 games. Sutter won AHL Rookie of the Year for his efforts. After another good year in 80-81, the Hawks had moved on from all those future coaches I mentioned and brought in 2 players: Steve Larmer and Mike Kaszycki. They combined for 200 points in 81-82, and the Hawks were dominant. They cruised to a Calder Cup victory. Kaszycki’s 139 points in 95 regular and postseason games were a single-season record for the AHL. Only 7 players have matched it since. Orval Tessier coached that team, their 5th coach in 4 years. He went on to win the Jack Adams with Chicago and a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2001 as a scout. Despite a Calder Cup victory, excellent fan support, and strong attendance, a dispute over the arena led to the partnership's collapse. Chicago left, and the Leafs moved the team to St. Catharines to be closer to the parent club. This team is now the Toronto Marlies, and the New Brunswick Hawks have as many Calder Cups as the Marlies do today. Thankfully, the Oilers swooped in and created the Moncton Alpines. Unfortunately, the Alpines weren’t good. They never made the playoffs, and attendance fell. From a hockey sense, the most notable part was the Messier family reunion. Mark Messier never played for the team, but his brother, Paul Messier, played a season with the team, and Mark’s father, Doug Messier, was the coach during the Alpines’ entire tenure in Moncton. That tenure lasted 2 years, from 1982-1984. The Oilers would move the team to Nova Scotia, ending another team’s time in Moncton. Once again, Moncton would not have to wait long for another AHL team to arrive, as the other Alberta-based NHL team saved the day, and the Moncton Golden Flames arrived in 1984 as the farm team for the Calgary Flames (and the Bruins starting in 1985). Multiple players from the 1989 Stanley Cup-winning squad played for the Golden Flames. Mike Vernon played 47 games, Gary Roberts put up 38 points in 38 games, Joel Otto put up 63 points in 56 games, and the head coach from 85-87 was Terry Crisp, who went on to be head coach of the 1989 Flames. This doesn’t even include Brett Hull, who scored 50 goals in the 86-87 season. Crisp also spoke very highly of Moncton, saying that he felt very welcomed. Overall, the Golden Flames were much better run than the Alpines. Attendance numbers jumped up, and the team made the playoffs more often than not. Sadly, that meant only 2 of their 3 years. They moved to Salt Lake, Utah, in 1987. The AHL was rapidly expanding, and the Hub of NB wasn’t catching up. Luckily, one more team would give Moncton a chance. The Winnipeg Jets brought back the Hawks. The Moncton Hawks had the perfect man to lead them: Rick Bowness. He guided the Hawks through a rough first season and a miraculous turnaround, narrowly missing the Calder Cup final. The Hawks consistently made the playoffs and kept up the tradition of serving as the farm team for future NHL head coaches. Dan Bylsma and Claude Julien both played games with the Hawks and won a Stanley Cup as head coaches. In 93-94, their final season, the Hawks went on a magical run. They started the season 10-19-1 in their first 30 games and still made the playoffs. In round 1, they faced the Saint John Flames, Calgary’s new affiliate and a fellow NB team. After going down 3-2 in the series, Moncton won game 6 2-1 and game 7 3-1, winning the series in 7. In round 2, they faced the St. John’s Leafs, Toronto’s new affiliate. The Hawks would barely avoid going down 3-1 in the series with an OT win in game 4, win game 5 5-0 and seal the series with a 5-4 win in game 6 to make it to the semi-final. They faced the Cornwall Aces and swept them with ease, setting up a Calder Cup final against the Portland Pirates, who were in their very first season. Once again, Moncton was in OT in game 4, down 2-1, but this time their opponent scored the winner, and Moncton eventually lost in 6 games. 2 weeks later, the team was dead. Moncton lost the logistics and finances needed to host an AHL team. The Moncton Coliseum still stands, and the AHL banners live in that old barn, but Moncton finally has that new arena, the Avenir Centre, where new hockey legends are made in the Hub.

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