Buffalo Bisons (1940-1970)

American Hockey League (1940-1970)

Background

Buffalo, New York was a founding member of the International-American Hockey League (today’s AHL) in 1936. The original Bisons were a notably luckless outfit. Buffalo itself had no suitable arena for professional hockey. The team intended to play across the border at the 5,000-seat Peace Bridge Arena in Fort Erie, Ontario. But the Peace Bridge Arena roof collapsed under heavy snowfall in March 1936. The Bisons were forced to play their home games in Niagara Falls as the 1936-37 season got underway. This proved unsustainable and the team folded after just 11 games on December 10, 1936.

After three more winters without hockey, the AHL returned to Buffalo in 1940 with the construction of Memorial Auditorium. Louis M. Jacobs of Jacobs Brothers Concessions purchased the Syracuse Stars of the AHL and moved the team to Buffalo to play at the Aud in the winter of 1940-41.

Calder Cups

The Bisons advanced to the AHL’s Calder Cup championship series nine times in 30 seasons of play. Buffalo’s finest stretch came during the WWII era, when the Bisons claimed three Calder Cups in four years between 1943 and 1946. The team also took home the Cup in 1963 and in the final season of 1969-70.

Ownership

Bisons founder Louis M. Jacobs was one of three brothers who built Buffalo-based Jacobs Brothers Concessions, a food service company that serviced theaters and ballparks. Jacobs owned the Bisons from 1940 until 1955 when he sold the team to the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks for a reported $150,000 (Associated Press, Ottawa Citizen, January 8, 1955).

The Blackhawks stewarded the team for the 1955-56 season and then returned the Bisons to local ownership. Reuben, Al & Sam Pastor, brothers who operated Buffalo’s Pepsi bottling plant, purchase the Bisons from Chicago for an estimated $125,000 (United Press, Pittsburgh Press, July 18, 1956).

The Pastors changed the Bisons logo to a bottle cap featurin Pepsi-styled fonts (top right). The brothers owned the Bisons for fourteen seasons until the team folded to make way for the NHL’s expansion Buffalo Sabres franchise in 1970.

Trivia

Center Larry Wilson was the Bisons’ all-time ironman. In 13 seasons from 1955 to 1968, Wilson established Bisons club records for games (784), goals (267), assists (429) and points (696).

Fred Shero coached the Bisons to the Calder Cup in the team’s final season in 1969-70. He later coached the Broad Street Bullies-era Philadelphia Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 & 1975.

Buffalo Bisons Shop

Links

American Hockey League Media Guides

American Hockey League Programs

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