Springfield Falcons
| Springfield Falcons | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Operated | 1994–2016 |
| Home arena | MassMutual Center |
| Colors | Falcons Blue, Black, Yellow, Gray |
| General manager | Bruce Landon |
| Media |
The Springfield Republican WHYN NewsRadio 560 WSHM-LD, WWLP WGGB-TV |
| Franchise history | |
| 1994–2016 | Springfield Falcons |
| 2016–present | Tucson Roadrunners |
| Championships | |
| Division Championships | 4 (1995–96, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2013–14) |
The Springfield Falcons were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center.
In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes and relocated to Tucson, Arizona, before the start of the 2016–17 AHL season.
In 1994, the longtime AHL Springfield Indians team was sold to interests that moved the franchise to Worcester, Massachusetts, to become the Worcester IceCats (now the Utica Comets). Ex-Indian players Bruce Landon, then the general manager of the Indians, and Wayne LaChance, a local rink owner, secured an expansion franchise for Springfield for the 1994-95 season. The Indians name was still under trademark, so the new owners named the team after Andy and Amelia, a pair of nesting peregrine falcons that was a popular local civic symbol. The AHL, which was headquartered in nearby West Springfield, was keen to maintain a presence in a city that had hosted a team in the AHL or its predecessors for all but nine years since 1926, and readily granted an expansion franchise to Landon and LaChance.
The Falcons secured affiliation with both the Hartford Whalers and the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL. Since the Indians had been the Whalers' top affiliate in their last few years, this allowed the Falcons to secure most of the players who had played for the Indians the previous season. Veteran defenseman John Stevens (the last captain of the Indians, who shared the co-captaincy that first year with Rob Murray) scored the franchise's first goal.
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