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| Maine Mariners | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Portland, Maine |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Founded | 1977 (First franchise) 1987 (Second franchise) |
| Operated | 1977–1987 (first franchise) 1987–1992 (second franchise) |
| Home arena | Cumberland County Civic Center |
| Colors | Orange, black Black, gold |
| Affiliates | Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins |
| Franchise history | |
| First Franchise | |
| 1977–1987 | Maine Mariners |
| 1987–1993 | Utica Devils |
| 1993–2003 | Saint John Flames |
| 2005–2007 | Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights |
| 2007–2009 | Quad City Flames |
| 2009–2014 | Abbotsford Heat |
| 2014–2015 | Adirondack Flames |
| 2015–2022 | Stockton Heat |
| 2022–Present | Calgary Wranglers |
| Second Franchise | |
| 1987–1992 | Maine Mariners |
| 1992–present | Providence Bruins |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | three (1977–78,1978–79),1983–84 |
| Division titles | five (1977–78, 1978–79,1980–81, 1984–85,1987–88) |
| Calder Cups | three (1977–78, 1978–79,1983–84) |
TheMaine Mariners were two separate professionalice hockey teams in theAmerican Hockey League. They both played inPortland, Maine, at theCumberland County Civic Center.
Once theCumberland County Civic Center began construction in 1976, there was discussion of the building hosting a minor league hockey franchise. Three franchises eventually made bids to play hockey in Portland: theWorld Hockey Association'sQuebec Nordiques, theAmerican Hockey League'sRhode Island Reds, and theNational Hockey League'sPhiladelphia Flyers. The Nordiques, who already had a farm team in nearbyLewiston (theMaine Nordiques of theNorth American Hockey League), was considering supporting affiliates in Portland as well. Rhode Island, who were an established AHL franchise originally founded in 1926, didn't want to relocate to Portland, but instead proposed scheduling a dozen regular season games there. The Reds played the first AHL game at Cumberland County Civic Center, an 8–4 defeat to theSpringfield Indians on March 6, 1977.[1]
Philadelphia was the only franchise that wanted to utilize Portland as their team's sole top-level farm club, and in May 1977, the agreement to create the Maine Mariners was struck. It proved to be bad news for the Maine Nordiques, who ceased operations after the 1977 season, along with the rest of the NAHL.
The Mariners entered the league for the1977–78 season with theHampton Gulls andPhiladelphia Firebirds.[2] The Reds ultimately relocated toBinghamton, New York to become theBinghamton Dusters ahead of the 1977–78 season.
Bob McCammon was the Mariners' first head coach. The first regular season game in Mariners team history was played on October 14, 1977, a 5–1 loss on the road to the Philadelphia Firebirds at thePhiladelphia Civic Center.[3] The first home game in franchise history was played in front of 6,566 spectators at the Cumberland County Civic Center on October 15, 1977, against the Binghamton Dusters.Boston Red Sox outfielderDwight Evans dropped the ceremonial opening faceoff.[4]
The Mariners are the only franchise in league history to win theCalder Cup title in their first two seasons (1977–78,1978–79) and at the time were the only team to ever capture the Calder Cup during their inaugural season. Later, the feat was matched by the team that brought AHL hockey back to Portland, thePortland Pirates. The Mariners defeated theNew Haven Nighthawks in both the 1978 and 1979 Calder Cup Finals.[5]
Maine returned to the Calder Cup final in1980–81 and first-year goaltenderPelle Lindbergh became the only goaltender in AHL history, and just the third player ever, to win the AHL regular season MVP and AHL outstanding rookie award in the same season. Bob McCammon won his second AHL coach of the year award. The Mariners would ultimately lose the Calder Cup to theAdirondack Red Wings, two games to four.[6] The Mariners would return to the Calder Cup Finals in1983, being swept by theRochester Americans.[7]
Ahead of the1983–84 season, the Flyers sold the Mariners to theNew Jersey Devils of the NHL.[8] However, the team kept the Flyers' colors of orange, black and white rather than switch to the Devils' red, green and white. The same season, Maine became only the fourth team in AHL history to win aCalder Cup title with a losing regular season record, finishing the regular season 33–36–11. The Mariners defeated the Rochester Americans in a rematch of the previous year's finals, four games to one.[9] It was the Mariners' third Calder Cup crown and their fifth finals appearance in seven years. Maine's championship year was truly a team effort as no members of the club made the all-star team, won a league award during the regular season, or placed in the regular season top ten in scoring.Bud Stefanski was the first recipient of the new AHL playoff MVP award.
Following the 1986–87 season, the Devils moved the original Mariners franchise toUtica, New York, as theUtica Devils.[10] However, Portland was not without hockey, as the league approved an expansion team supplied by players from theBoston Bruins, with Bruins general managerHarry Sinden travelling to Portland for the announcement.[11] The expansion team assumed the Mariners name, logo, and history and took on the Bruins' black-gold-white scheme.[11] Following the1991–92 season, after five seasons in Portland, the Mariners franchise was moved toProvidence, Rhode Island, and renamed theProvidence Bruins. The team had made the playoffs just twice under Bruins ownership, and had finished fifth in the North Division for four consecutive seasons. Team president Ed Anderson said that the team was losing at least 250 season ticket holders a year over the preceding four years, and had lost $500,000 since the second franchise entered the AHL.[12] The team was also dissatisfied with its lease agreement at theCumberland County Civic Center. The final Mariners game took place on April 4, 1992, at the Cumberland County Civic Center, a 12–1 defeat to theFredericton Canadiens.[13]
Portland was not without AHL hockey for long; a season later, theBaltimore Skipjacks relocated to Portland to become thePortland Pirates.[14] The Pirates played in Maine until 2016,[a] when the franchise was relocated toSpringfield, Massachusetts to become theSpringfield Thunderbirds.
TheMaine Mariners name is currently being used by anECHL team that has played in Portland since 2018.[15]
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| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | OTL | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | 80 | 43 | 28 | 9 | — | 95 | 305 | 256 | 1st, North |
| 1978–79 | 80 | 45 | 22 | 13 | — | 103 | 350 | 252 | 1st, North |
| 1979–80 | 80 | 41 | 28 | 11 | — | 93 | 307 | 266 | 3rd, North |
| 1980–81 | 80 | 45 | 28 | 7 | — | 97 | 319 | 292 | 1st, North |
| 1981–82 | 80 | 47 | 26 | 7 | — | 101 | 325 | 272 | 2nd, North |
| 1982–83 | 80 | 39 | 33 | 8 | — | 86 | 342 | 309 | 3rd, North |
| 1983–84 | 80 | 33 | 36 | 11 | — | 77 | 310 | 312 | 3rd, North |
| 1984–85 | 80 | 38 | 32 | 10 | — | 86 | 296 | 266 | 1st, North |
| 1985–86 | 80 | 40 | 31 | 9 | — | 89 | 274 | 285 | 2nd, North |
| 1986–87 | 80 | 35 | 40 | — | 5 | 75 | 272 | 298 | 5th, North |
| 1987–88 | 80 | 44 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 99 | 308 | 284 | 1st, North |
| 1988–89 | 80 | 32 | 40 | 8 | — | 72 | 262 | 317 | 5th, North |
| 1989–90 | 80 | 31 | 38 | 11 | — | 73 | 294 | 317 | 5th, North |
| 1990–91 | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | — | 80 | 269 | 284 | 5th, North |
| 1991–92 | 80 | 23 | 47 | 10 | — | 56 | 296 | 352 | 5th, North |
| Season | Prelim | 1st round | 2nd round | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | — | bye | W, 4–3,NS | W, 4–1,NH |
| 1978–79 | — | bye | W, 4–2,NS | W, 4–0,NH |
| 1979–80 | — | W, 4–2,NS | L, 2–4,NB | — |
| 1980–81 | — | W, 4–3,SPR | W, 4–3,NB | L, 2–4,ADIR |
| 1981–82 | — | L, 1–3,NS | — | — |
| 1982–83 | — | W, 4–3,NS | W, 4–2,FRED | L, 0–4,ROCH |
| 1983–84 | — | W, 4–3,ADIR | W, 4–1,NS | W, 4–1,ROCH |
| 1984–85 | — | W, 4–2,NS | L, 1–4,SHER | — |
| 1985–86 | — | L, 1–4,MONC | — | — |
| 1986–87 | Out of playoffs. | |||
| 1987–88 | — | W, 4–1,NS | L, 1–4,FRED | — |
| 1988–89 | Out of playoffs. | |||
| 1989–90 | Out of playoffs. | |||
| 1990–91 | L, 7–12,FRED† | — | — | — |
| 1991–92 | Out of playoffs. | |||
† Two game combined total goals series.
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