Cincinnati Swords
| Cincinnati Swords | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Operated | 1971–1974 |
| Home arena | Cincinnati Gardens |
| Colors | navy and yellow |
| Affiliates | Buffalo Sabres |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | one (1972–73) |
| Division Championships | one (1972–73) |
| Calder Cups | one (1972–73) |
The Cincinnati Swords are a defunct American Hockey League team, founded in 1971, when the newly created NHL expansion team, Buffalo Sabres, exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team to replace the team they forced out of the AHL, the Buffalo Bisons. Originally the Sabres wished to place the team in South Florida. However, the AHL balked because a prospective South Florida team would have effectively been isolated from the rest of the league. Their nearest rivals would have been the Tidewater Wings, over 500 miles away. The Sabres then proposed to base the team in Cincinnati. Although they were only in existence of three years, the Cincinnati Swords were immensely popular with their fan base.
In their first season, they qualified for the playoffs. After a sweep over the Hershey Bears, the Swords lost to the Baltimore Clippers 4-2. The 1972–73 season was not a disappointing one, however. The Swords broke numerous AHL records, including most points in a season (113), most wins in a season (54), most homes wins (32), most road wins (22), most points at home (65), and most points in road games (48). They outscored opponents 351-206. After a sweep over the Richmond Robins and a 4-2 series win over the Virginia Wings in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, the Cincinnati Swords became Calder Cup champions after defeating the previous Calder Cup champions, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, 4-1--becoming one of the youngest AHL teams to take the title.
The third season was the final season for the Swords. They qualified for the playoffs, but lost to the eventual Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, 4-1.
In 1974, Cincinnati was granted an expansion franchise in the World Hockey Association, the Cincinnati Stingers, to begin play in 1975-76. Despite the Swords' popularity, the Sabres were not willing to compete with a WHA team and elected to fold the Swords after the 1973–74 season.
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