North American Hockey League (1973–1977)

This article is about the defunct professional league. For the junior league in the United States, see North American Hockey League. For the Quebec-based professional league, see Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey.

North American Hockey League

File:North american hockey league 1973-77.gif
Founded	1973
Ceased	1977
Replaced by	American Hockey League
No. of teams	7 to 10
Country	United States & Canada
Most titles	Syracuse Blazers (2)

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league that existed from 1973 to 1977. Several of the NAHL teams operated as developmental ("farm") teams for World Hockey Association franchises. The NAHL was one of two leagues, along with the Southern Hockey League, that were formed after the Eastern Hockey League ceased operations in 1973. The Lockhart Cup was the league's championship trophy. With the loss of a number of franchises and financial struggles, the NAHL folded in September 1977.

Teams

Team name	Years	Seasons	City
Beauce Jaros	1975–1976	2	Saint-Georges, Quebec
Broome Dusters	1973–1977	4	Binghamton, New York
Buffalo Norsemen	1975–1976	1	North Tonawanda, New York
Cape Cod Cubs / Cape Codders	1973–1976	3	South Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Erie Blades	1975–1977	2	Erie, Pennsylvania
Johnstown Jets	1973–1977	4	Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Long Island Cougars	1973–1975	2	Commack, New York
Maine Nordiques	1973–1977	4	Lewiston, Maine
Mohawk Valley Comets	1973–1977	4	Utica, New York
Philadelphia Firebirds	1974–1977	3	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Syracuse Blazers	1973–1977	4	Syracuse, New York

Timeline

<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:20 top:20 Period = from:1925 till:1985 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =

id:majorGridColor value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)
id:lineColor      value:gray(0.5)
id:notpro         value:rgb(0.82,0.80,0.80)

id:Black                value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.0)
id:CapeCodYellow        value:rgb(0.99,0.67,0.02)
id:LongIslandGreen      value:rgb(0.05,0.38,0.20)
id:ErieBlue             value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.42)
id:BroomeGold           value:rgb(0.82,0.66,0.10)
id:MaineBlue            value:rgb(0.02,0.01,0.89)
id:SyracuseBlack        value:rgb(0.08,0.07,0.08)
id:PhiladelphiaRed      value:rgb(0.99,0.0,0.0)
id:BeauceOrange         value:rgb(0.99,0.39,0.14)

ScaleMajor = start:1930 increment:10 gridcolor:majorGridColor

LineData =

at:1973 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66  #NHL forms
at:1977 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66  #NHL forms

1. -- Text Positions

Define $Up = shift:(,1)

Define $Left = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,) Define $LeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(25,) Define $LeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(3,)

Define $UpLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,1) Define $UpLeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(-1,1) Define $UpLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(1,1)

Define $Right = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,) Define $RightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2) Define $RightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,)

Define $UpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,1) Define $UpRightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,1) Define $UpRightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,1) Define $UpUpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,10)

Define $Down = shift:(,-10) Define $Downx2 = shift:(,-20) Define $DownRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $DownRightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,-10) Define $DownLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-2,-10) Define $DownLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(1,-10)

Define $t = textcolor

Define $champ = text:"•" $t:white fontsize:L shift:(-2, -1) Define $I = text:"(I)"

TextData =

 pos:(200,100)
 tabs:(20-left)
 fontsize:M
 text:" "
 text:"• indicates Lockhart Cup-winning season"

BarData =

1. -- Teams

 bar:MohawkValleyComets
 bar:JohnstownJets
 bar:SyracuseBlazers
 bar:CapeCodders
 bar:ErieBlades
 bar:BroomeDusters
 bar:MaineNordiques
 bar:PhiladelphiaFirebirds
 bar:BuffaloNorsemen
 bar:BeauceJaros

PlotData =

 color:notpro
 $t:black
 width:20
 fontsize:S
 mark:(line, Black)
 anchor:middle # other options are anchor:from anchor:till
 align:center  # other options are align:left  align:right
 shift:(0,-7)

1. -- MohawkValleyComets

 bar:MohawkValleyComets from:1927 till:1973 color:notpro text:"(NYSAHL / NYOHL / EHL)"
 bar:MohawkValleyComets from:1973 till:1977 color:Black $Right text:"(Mohawk Valley Comets)"

1. -- JohnstownJets

 bar:JohnstownJets from:1950 till:1973 color:notpro text:"(EAHL / IHL / EHL)"
 bar:JohnstownJets from:1973 till:1977 color:Black $Right text:"(Johnstown Jets)"

 bar:JohnstownJets at:1975 $champ mark:(line, Black )

1. -- SyracuseBlazers

 bar:SyracuseBlazers from:1967 till:1973 color:notpro text:"(EHL)"
 bar:SyracuseBlazers from:1973 till:1977 color:SyracuseBlack $Right text:"(Syracuse Blazers)"

 bar:SyracuseBlazers at:1974 $champ mark:(line, SyracuseBlack)
 bar:SyracuseBlazers at:1977 $champ mark:(line, SyracuseBlack)

1. -- CapeCodders

 bar:CapeCodders from:1972 till:1973 color:notpro text:"(EHL)"
 bar:CapeCodders from:1973 till:1976 color:CapeCodYellow $Right text:"(Cape Cod Cubs / Codders)"

1. -- ErieBlades

 bar:ErieBlades from:1973 till:1975 color:LongIslandGreen $left text:"(Long Island Cougars)"
 bar:ErieBlades from:1975 till:1977 color:ErieBlue $Right text:"(Erie Blades)"

1. -- BroomeDusters

 bar:BroomeDusters from:1973 till:1977 color:BroomeGold $left text:"(Broome Dusters)"

1. -- MaineNordiques

 bar:MaineNordiques from:1973 till:1977 color:MaineBlue $left text:"(Maine Nordiques)"

1. -- PhiladelphiaFirebirds

 bar:PhiladelphiaFirebirds from:1974 till:1977 color:PhiladelphiaRed $left text:"(Philadelphia Firebirds)"
 bar:PhiladelphiaFirebirds from:1977 till:1980 color:notpro text:"(AHL)"

 bar:PhiladelphiaFirebirds at:1976 $champ mark:(line, PhiladelphiaRed)

1. -- BuffaloNorsemen

 bar:BuffaloNorsemen from:1975 till:1976 color:Black $left text:"(Buffalo Norsemen)"

1. -- BeauceJaros

 bar:BeauceJaros from:1975 till:1976 color:BeauceOrange $left text:"(Beauce Jaros)"

</timeline>

Lockhart Cup

Gregg Pilling sitting behind the Lockhart Cup in a team photo of the 1976-77 Philadelphia Firebirds

Gregg Pilling and the Lockhart Cup in 1976

The championship trophy of the North American Hockey League was named the Lockhart Cup in honor of Tommy Lockhart, founder of the Eastern Hockey League. The trophy was last awarded on April 10, 1977, to the Syracuse Blazers, and has since gone missing. The Hockey Hall of Fame stated that the Lockhart Cup is one of "about three historical trophies that have disappeared". Its last known whereabouts was reported to be in the basement of Danny Belisle, the coach of the Blazers in the 1976–77 season.

Season	Champion	Runner-up
1973–74	Syracuse Blazers	Long Island Cougars
1974–75	Johnstown Jets	Broome Dusters
1975–76	Philadelphia Firebirds	Beauce Jaros
1976–77	Syracuse Blazers	Maine Nordiques

League dissolves

In September 1977 the league folded. It had been struggling financially. The league by then consisted of five teams, after the Syracuse team folded in 1976 after winning the league championship. The league had discussed continuing with five teams, but the Utica team was in dire straits would have to have been carried by the other four teams. Each would have had to post $50,000 to keep the league alive. The Binghamton and Philadelphia teams declined. Due to the closing of the league, all the players were released outright from their contracts.

Legacy in film

The league served as the inspiration for the film Slap Shot. Ned Dowd, who played for the Johnstown Jets, was the brother of the film's screenwriter, Nancy Dowd. Ned played for Johnstown during a season where the team was for sale, when his sister came to live in Johnstown and was inspired to write the screenplay. The film contains references to "Syracuse" and "Broome County", which were teams in the NAHL. Some of the incidents depicted actually occurred in actual NAHL games.

External links

• Encyclopedia of the North American Hockey League Blog
• Teams and standings