Hockey History

Professional hockey was brought to Hamilton by Pat Hickey, shown here at Copps Coliseum in 1992. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator

Flights of Fancy – Former Red Wings player brought AHL and hope to Hamilton hockey scene
Pat Hickey ushered in new era in 1992 with Hamilton Canucks

In April of 1992 it was announced that Hamilton would be awarded an American Hockey League franchise, and this operation was coming to Hamilton thanks to the efforts of former Hamilton Red Wings player Pat Hickey.

“I see this as a window of opportunity for me,” said Hickey, who was 39 at the time. “I’ve been working on this for 12 months. I have had serious conversations with the people in Hamilton for a number of weeks.”

The former NHL and WHA star worked in financial circles on Wall Street when he was playing with the New York Rangers, and by the mid-1980s was a licensed broker. When the market took a bit of a downturn and Bruce McNall bought the Los Angeles Kings in 1987, Hickey went to work for the new owner, running the Kings AHL affiliate in New Haven.

Through his Double Hitch Enterprises, a company started by Hickey in 1973, Hickey said he had talked to 10 NHL clubs regarding possible affiliations at the AHL level for a Hamilton team, and the most promising was a minor team with the Vancouver Canucks.

Hickey was upbeat when the Canucks came to Hamilton for the start of the 1992-93 season at the newly-finished Copps Coliseum.

“I know what I’m doing,” he said. “This is the right thing to do and the right place. It’s not just a belief in me. It’s a belief in the Vancouver Canucks and their strategies and a belief the community will support a good product.”

The deal with the AHL team and the city was for three years in which the club reportedly was to pay $1 million annually to the city plus some of the gate revenues.

Hickey also believed that Hamilton’s closeness to the large NHL markets of Toronto and Buffalo would not have a negative impact on the new franchise.

“The American League is renown for being a great product and the people here have not see it,” he said. “It’s been 45 years since they have had professional hockey.

“We can create our own identity,” he continued. “This is not the NHL, it’s the AHL. It’s robust, fast hockey, and now it’s ours, the Hamilton Canucks. We can’t guarantee wins or losses but it will be exciting.”
Well, for the next two seasons, the Canucks offered lackluster hockey, with a 29-45-6 record for 1992-93, and a 36-37-7 showing for 1993-94. The team pulled out of Hamilton after those two years, eventually becoming the present Syracuse Crunch franchise.

And not long after the second season began for the Canucks, the man who did so much to bring the team to the city was gone.

Late in October of 1993, Hickey, who was president and governor of the Hamilton Canucks, was no longer involved, resigning his post because of a difference of opinions with the new ownership group.

“Pat is a gifted administrator in the NHL style,” explained Canucks co-owner Brad Sherman. “But the new owners feel that for AHL hockey to succeed in Hamilton we need to go beyond the NHL marketing model. We need to be promoters, staging special entertainment events around our hockey games. If we add these promotions to our good hockey team, we’ll be successful.”

Unfortunately, the Canucks were a hard sell in Hamilton, and the owners pulled the plug after only the two seasons, leaving the city once again without any major hockey until the return of the AHL in 1996 with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens affiliate.

For Pat Hickey’s playing career, including his three years in Hamilton, go his profile in the “Played in Hamilton” section.

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