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In
the Beginning...
The Armchair Hockey League (AHL) was formed in the Summer of 1992.
The League initially began with 11 franchises: A-Puck Nophobia,
Itchy & Scratchy, Tuxedo Terror, Lukinbock Handers,
Baylor Bondsmen, Peruvian Devil-Gerbils, Two Sports Guys,
Niagara
on the Lake Wolverines, McNall's Millionaires,
Baffin Island Belugas and the Untouchables. |
Early days of the AHL - the league's first champions, the
Peruvian Devil-Gerbils |
The league presented two
championship trophies that would be contested on a yearly basis: the AHL Championship and
the President's Cup. The AHL Championship would be awarded to the team finishing
first-overall at season's end. The President's Cup is given to the team winning the
President's Cup playoff tournament.
Age of
Expansion
The AHL quickly gained acclaim throughout the hockey world as
being a world-class league, and requests for expansion franchises began to overwhelm the
league's governors. After much deliberation, the AHL's ownership unanimously agreed
to expansion and in the fall of 1993, the Hollywood
Henchmen stepped on the ice as the league's first-ever Expansion team. In '94
the AHL suffered its first work stoppage due to a contract impasse between the league and
the Players Association. An agreement was eventually reached, but only half the 1994
season could be saved. |
| However, this did nothing to
diminish interest in the league and in 1995 two more expansion franchises, Ragbend Spockers and the
Caaguazu Corporate Raiders, were welcomed into the
league bringing the number of teams to 14. |
Near-death for
the AHL
To the outside world, the league was at its strongest point in
1995 with excellent growth, having expanded 3 times since its inception, strong,
competitive franchises all around and solid league management. But internally, there
were problems that had been building over the years. The division between league
governors revolved around the direction the AHL should take. Player salaries,
accusations of franchises "tanking" (i.e. giving up on the season), bribery
scandals, distribution of Prize Money were among the most hotly debated issues at league
meetings. The Rules Meeting in the summer of 1995 was disastrous to the stability
of the AHL as all these issues came to a head, prompting some teams to outright walk-out
in the middle of the meeting. "I had just bought the Raiders 2 months previous,
but I was ready to fold up the franchise right there and then", recalls the Corporate
Raiders' grand-poobah.
"I had researched the AHL and I found it to be a strong, competitive, healthy
league interested in the promotion and the growth of the sport of hockey.
Unfortunately, what I saw was senseless bickering over petty issues and egos that would
dwarf our largest arenas." The chasm between league owners only widened as the
'95-96 season wore on. |
Caaguazu gives the Raiders a hero's
welcome after winning their 2nd President's Cup
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| At the end of the season five
franchises folded: Springfield Salmon Kings
(formerly Tuxedo Terror), Devil-Gerbils, Hawaiians, Spockers and AHL Champions
Killer Bunnies of Kapuskasing (formerly
Baylor Bondsmen). President's Cup champions Hollywood Henchmen, fed up with league
infighting, sold their franchise in the aftermath. |
Messier, one of the victims of the exodus
of franchises from the AHL, was on both the Hawaiians and Belugas when they folded |
Rebirth of the
AHL
After the dust settled in the Spring of 1996, the AHL was left
with nine franchises and there were rumors that the exodus had not yet ended.
However, despite the apparent setback, the AHL was determined to forge a newer, stronger,
more prosperous league out of the ashes of the old. "The AHL is dead, long live
the AHL!", was the battle-cry that emanated throughout league offices. The new
age of the Armchair Hockey League began when, under the recommendation of the
Raiders, the AHL welcomed two new expansion teams, Manigotagan
Mosquito Macabre and Transcona Moondogs, in the
summer of 1996. Both teams exhibited the sense of competitiveness, stability and
commitment to the league that the AHL was seeking and were the cornerstones to the rebirth
of the new and improved AHL. The change in attitude and direction in the
league was obvious to all and was described as "a breath of fresh air" by one
owner. The AHL's core franchises, A-Pucks, Moondogs, By-Tor
& the Snow Dog (formerly Itchy & Scrathy/Ren & Stimpy), Corporate Raiders,
Sports Guys, Wolverines, Mosquitos, Millionaires, and Untouchables were now more unified
than ever before. League disputes became more and more infrequent and GM's actually
looked forward to the yearly Rules meeting. In the spring of 1998 the last of the
"old guard", Henchmen and Belugas, folded their franchises and the Old
Testament, according to the AHL, officially closed. The New Testament
was ready to be written.
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New Millennium
- New Beginning
The new AHL continued rebuilding its foundation by welcoming 3
expansion franchises in the summer of 1998 (Viagra
Up-and-Comers, Longsticks H.C., Bruno's Dogpuckers) and one in 1999
(Lame Duck Soup). The AHL now enjoys league-wide prosperity with 13 strong, competitive
franchises. The brashness and exuberance of the newer franchises is complemented by
the savvy and guile of the league's founding fathers. Owners' focus has shifted
towards a more concentrated effort on the well-being of the league as whole, rather than
on individual teams. The AHL Rules & Regulations have reflected this change in
attitude and the rulebook now concentrates on bridging the gap between the higher-ranked
and lower-ranked teams; the age of the "haves" and "have nots" is now
a thing of the past. The result: parity. Parity is the axiom of the new AHL
as every team now feels that championships are within their grasp. With seven active
expansion franchises, the AHL is a league reborn and the new millennium signals a new
beginning as well for the league. |
The "building blocks" of the
AHL's new generation: Dogpuckers, Moondogs, Up-and-Comers, Raiders, Mosquitos, Longsticks |
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