Hockey History

The Canucks had a frustrating two seasons in Hamilton. Here Libor Polasek of the Canucks lines up against Cape Breton goalie Andrew Verner in April of 1993. Cape Breton won this contest 5-4. Photo courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

The Hamilton Canucks, 1992-1994

Canucks Coach Jack McIlhargey (left) and Vancouver Canucks then president-general manager Pat Quinn are all smiles during the press announcement of the new AHL club in Hamilton. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

Vancouver farm club grappled with poor attendance and poor hockey

Through the efforts of former Hamilton Red Wings player Pat Hickey, Hamilton was home to the Vancouver Canucks of the AHL. Hickey was bringing in the Vancouver farm team to play at the newly-completed Copps Coliseum, and was president of the team.

Another Hamilton native, Pat Quinn, who was coach and president of the Vancouver NHL club at the time of the Hamilton team’s announcement in April of 1992, said at the time he didn’t think the new club would be a money-making venture, although he was pleased Hamilton acquired the franchise.

“As far as cutting losses, this is still an expense and it always will be,” noted Quinn at the time. “What you have in a development team is expense, no matter how you look at it.”
Arthur Griffiths, Vancouver Canucks vice-chairman, said he expected the club to lose as much as $2 million in its first year.

The team operated previously in Milwaukee in the International Hockey League, and Quinn said he wanted to move the team back into Canada.

“We’ve been looking at coming back to Canada with Hamilton in mind if they didn’t have an NHL team.”

It was only after the city’s bid to acquire an NHL expansion team failed, and the junior Steelhawks and Dukes clubs left Hamilton, that Vancouver felt the time was right for a pro team in the city.

Hickey worked with team owners Bernie Faloney and Dieter Beer to bring the Canucks to Hamilton, as well as negotiate a lease agreement with Copps.

“The American League is renowned for being a great product and the people here have not see it,” said Hickey. “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.”

“We didn’t come here to make money,” Quinn continued. “It was the whole thought of where our young people were going to develop that make it appealing.”

The Canucks were a hard sell in Hamilton, even with the best of intentions at the beginning.
“We want people to come to the rink and have fun,” added Quinn. “I think we can create a product people will want to see and part of that is telling the public about the product. We’re not the NHL, there’s no question about that, but what they are going to see are future NHL prospects being developed.”

Hickey also believed there was a good future in Hamilton.

“I believe the fans and the community will support us. I’m not here for a quick hit and I’m not here to aim for targets that can’t be met. I know it’s going to take some time to build and I am here to build something.”

And while the intentions were good, the caliber of hockey was not. The team posted a 29-45-6 record for its 1992-93 season, plagued with frustration and bad luck.

“You bust your ass every night and the same crap happens night after night,” related Canucks goalie Bob Mason after a 5-4 loss against Cape Breton in April of 1993. “It’s frustrating for everybody,” he went on. “It’s the same mistakes time and time again. I guess it goes with having such a young team.”

The team had a steep road to climb since it took to the ice at the beginning of the season, and was 4-13-2 early in December of the season.

“We’ve been fighting ever since the poor start,” noted Coach Jack McIlhargey after the Cape Breton loss. “And points come a lot easier at the beginning of the year than they do now.”

The team finished sixth in its division standings for the season.

And while the 1993-94 season was better, with a 36-37-7 record, and made the first round of the playoffs, losing in four straight to the Cornwall Aces, Hickey was gone, out of the franchise in October of 1993.

The team continued to struggle with poor attendance, and was forced to leave Hamilton after only two seasons. For the 1994-95 season, the team went to Syracuse, as the Crunch, and continues to play in the AHL.

Several Hamilton Canucks players did make it to the NHL, including Shawn Antoski, who played with Vancouver and Philadelphia, Hamilton native Jay Mazur, who was called up to Vancouver, and Rick Vaive, who played with the Maple Leafs, the Blackhawks, and the Sabres before playing with the Hamilton Canucks.

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