Portland Pirates
|
|
The Portland Pirates are the American Hockey League affiliate of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, based in Portland, Maine. They play in the Cumberland County Civic Center. They were founded in 1993 as an affiliate of the Washington Capitals, a year after the Maine Mariners folded, and after the Baltimore Skipjacks decided to relocate to Maine. The Capitals affiliation ended after 12 seasons in 2005.
The team colors are red, black, silver and white and the logo is a cartoonish pirate with a hockey stick.
Their first season proved to be their most successful one, as they won the Calder Cup with a 43-27-10 record. Their next season they had 104 points, but were upset in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the 1995-96 season they again reached the Calder Cup Finals despite a subpar record of 32-34-10, but lost to the Rochester Americans.
Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for the Pirates. Despite an excellent 100 point season, they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in 1999-2000.
For the first four seasons, they were coached by current Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz. They played host to the AHL All-Star Classic in 2003, and there are talks of building a new civic center in Portland to help keep the Pirates in town.
In 2005 the Pirates announced a 5-year lease extension at the Cumberland County Civic Center, ending speculation the team may relocate to another city. They also signed a 5-year affiliation agreement with Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2005.
| American Hockey League | Missing image American_Hockey_League_logo.png |
| 2004-05 teams: Albany River Rats | Binghamton Senators | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | Chicago Wolves | Cincinnati Mighty Ducks | Cleveland Barons | Edmonton Roadrunners | Grand Rapids Griffins | Hamilton Bulldogs | Hartford Wolf Pack | Hershey Bears | Houston Aeros | Lowell Lock Monsters | Manchester Monarchs | Manitoba Moose | Milwaukee Admirals | Norfolk Admirals | Philadelphia Phantoms | Portland Pirates | Providence Bruins | Rochester Americans | San Antonio Rampage | Springfield Falcons | St. John's Maple Leafs | Syracuse Crunch | Utah Grizzlies | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | Worcester IceCats | |
| Trophies and Awards: Calder Cup | |