St. John's Maple Leafs
| St. John's Maple Leafs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | St. John's, Newfoundland |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Operated | 1991–2005 |
| Home arena | Mile One Centre and Memorial Stadium |
| Colours | Blue and White |
| Owner(s) | Maple Leaf Gardens Limited |
| Affiliates | Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1978–1982 | New Brunswick Hawks |
| 1982–1986 | St. Catharines Saints |
| 1986–1991 | Newmarket Saints |
| 1991–2005 | St. John's Maple Leafs |
| 2005–present | Toronto Marlies |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles |
1 1993–94 |
| Division Championships |
3 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97 |
| Conference Championships |
1 1991–92 |
| Calder Cups |
0 None |
The St. John's Maple Leafs were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada at Memorial Stadium from 1991–2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001–2005.
The AHL had a strong presence in Atlantic Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, largely due to the desire of several National Hockey League Canadian franchises to continue to pay players sent down to the minors in Canadian dollars, but by 2004 St. John's was the only remaining team in the region. The desire of the parent Toronto Maple Leafs to reduce travel costs and to have a tenant for the Ricoh Coliseum resulted in the team's relocation to Toronto for the 2005–06 season.
The St. John's Maple Leafs were established in 1991 when the Toronto Maple Leafs moved its AHL farm team to St. John's, becoming the first professional ice hockey team in Newfoundland and Labrador. The team played their home games at the Memorial Stadium until 2001, when they moved to the Mile One Centre, where they remained until becoming the Toronto Marlies. The Leafs' AHL franchise was established in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1978 as the New Brunswick Hawks, where they played until 1982. The franchise also had stops in St. Catharines, Ontario as the St. Catharines Saints (1982-1986) and Newmarket, Ontario as the Newmarket Saints (1986-1991) prior to arriving in St. John's.
The Maple Leafs were very popular throughout their existence, and they made multiple appearances in the AHL Calder Cup playoffs (only missing the playoffs in 2000, 2003 and 2004). The team was in the Calder Cup finals in their inaugural season, losing 4–3 to the Adirondack Red Wings, but they won the semifinal round by earning the most points during the regular season out of the three remaining teams in the playoffs, the others being the Red Wings and the Rochester Americans. Their first season was the only time the team made it to the finals, and they never made it past the conference semi-finals round after that. They made subsequent appearances in the second round, losing 4–0 in 1993 to the eventual Calder Cup champion Cape Breton Oilers, and lost the second round in their remaining appearances, all of which were won by the conference champions for the season, losing 4–2 to the Moncton Hawks in 1994, 4–3 to the Hamilton Bulldogs in 1997, and 4–0 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2002. However, the team was the division champion for the 1992–93 and 1996–97 seasons, and won the regular season title for the 1993–94 AHL season.
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