Tombstone
Formed:
Disbanded: September 24, 19771ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Hockey league folds”. The Star (Montreal, QC). September 26, 1977
First Game:
Last Game: April 10, 1977
Seasons: 4
States & Provinces: 5
(MA, ME, NY, PA, Quebec)
Leadership
Commissioner:
- July 1975 – September 1977: John Timmins
Trophy Case
Background
The North American Hockey League was one of two leagues (the Southern Hockey League was the other) that formed out of the break-up of the Eastern Hockey League in 1973. NAHL franchises stretched from Pennsylvania up through New York and New England to Quebec, where the league’s lone Canadian entry, the Beauce Jaros, made their home. It was a rough-and-tumble operation and the league’s antics – particularly the goonism and emphasis on fighting so prevalent in minor league hockey of the era – that provided the inspiration for the Paul Newman comedy Slap Shot. The film’s fictional Charlestown Chiefs club was modeled after the NAHL’s Johnstown Jets.
Many NAHL clubs served as farm clubs for members of the World Hockey Association, a 1970’s rival to the National Hockey League. Thus, a few clubs such as the Maine Nordiques (farm club of the Quebec Nordiques) and Long Island Cougars (Chicago Cougars) adapted their names from WHA parent clubs.
Demise
Reduced to only four teams, the NAHL owners voted to disband in late September 1977, just a few weeks before what would have been the league’s fifth season. Two NAHL teams, the Broome (NY) Dusters and Philadelphia Firebirds survived the death of the NAHL and joined hastily joined the American Hockey League in time to start the 1977-78 season just a few weeks later.
The end came only seven months after Slap Shot hit movie theatres in February 1977. The film never references the NAHL by name – the characters in Slap Shot play in the fictitious “Federal League”.
North American Hockey League Franchise List
| FRANCHISE | YEARS ACTIVE | LOCKHART CUP CHAMPIONS |
|---|---|---|
| Beauce Jaros | 1975-1977 | Never |
| Broome Dusters | 1973-1977 | Never |
| Buffalo Norsemen | 1975-1976 | Never |
| Cape Codders | 1974-1976 | Never |
| Cape Cod Cubs | 1973-1974 | Never |
| Erie Blades | 1975-1977 | Never |
| Johnstown Jets | 1973-1977 | 1975 |
| Long Island Cougars | 1973-1975 | Never |
| Maine Nordiques | 1973-1977 | Never |
| Mohawk Valley Comets | 1973-1977 | Never |
| Philadelphia Firebirds | 1974-1977 | 1976 |
| Syracuse Blazers | 1973-1977 | 1974 & 1977 |
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One Response
That was one fun league a great league.I remember watching rejean lemelin play for the firebirds. And evevtualy he made it to the nhl arlanta flames .In high scgool i played at the spectrum before the flyers and flames . I got to tell Mrs lemalin how much i appreciated the firebirds and his pkay .The civic center in philly was a great place to watch a gamea real old barn type rink I look back at those times with great happiness nothing to this day has matched it.