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| Buffalo Bisons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Buffalo, New York |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Operated | 1940–1970 |
| Home arena | Memorial Auditorium |
| Colors | Red, white, blue |
| Affiliates | Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks New York Rangers |
| Franchise history | |
| 1926–1930 | Hamilton Tigers (CPHL, IHL) |
| 1930–1940 | Syracuse Stars (IHL, IAHL) |
| 1940–1970 | Buffalo Bisons |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 5 (1945–46,1953–54, 1958–59,1962–63,1968–69) |
| Division titles | 8 (1942–43,1944–45,1945–46,1949–50,1950–51,1962–63,1968–69,1969–70) |
| Calder Cups | 5 (1942–43,1943–44, 1945–46,1962–63,1969–70) |
TheBuffalo Bisons were anAmerican Hockey Leagueice hockey franchise that played from 1940 to 1970 inBuffalo, New York. They replaced theoriginal Buffalo Bisons hockey team, which left the area in 1936 afterits arena collapsed. They were the second professional hockey team to play their games in the Buffalo city proper, after the short-livedBuffalo Majors of the early 1930s; the previous Bisons team had played across the border at an arena inFort Erie, Ontario.
The Bisons played at the newly constructedMemorial Auditorium, and at various times had affiliations with theMontreal Canadiens,Chicago Black Hawks andNew York Rangers. The team was brought to Buffalo from Syracuse byLouis M. Jacobs, then owner of the Buffalo basedSportservice and the father ofJeremy Jacobs the current owner of theBoston Bruins. In 1955, Jacobs sold the team to the Chicago Black Hawks ownerArthur Wirtz and used Buffalo as its top farm team. However, a struggle occurred and Chicago threatened to move the team out of Western New York. Local bottling owners in the Pastor Brothers bought the team.
The team's unusual logo stems from the Bisons being purchased in 1956 by the owner of the local franchise ofPepsi-Cola Ruby Pastor, who changed the team's colors and logo to reflect the soft drink company; the Bisons retained the logo for the rest of their existence.[1]
They wereCalder Cup champions in 1943, 1944, 1946, 1963 and 1970, and runners-up in 1948, 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1962.
The team ceased operations after the 1969–70 season due to the awarding of aNational Hockey League expansion team, theBuffalo Sabres, to begin play in 1970–71. Like thePittsburgh Hornets three years earlier (also shut down because of NHL expansion), the Bisons closed out their existence with one final championship.
BroadcasterRick Jeanneret called several games during the Bisons' final season and moved into a similar role with the Sabres in 1971.
After the Bisons folded, the Sabres were granted an AHL franchise, which was used to establish theCincinnati Swords in 1971. The Sabres used old Bisons jerseys in the team's first training camp in 1970.[2] However the Swords is not a continuation of the Bisons as the team folded and the AHL granted Cincinnati a new team.
On September 18, 2010, the Sabres announced that they would be adopting a third jersey that pays homage to the Bisons during their2010–11 season. The Bisons-inspired third jersey was used for that and the following season before being discontinued. Elements from the Bisons-inspired throwbacks were incorporated into the Sabres'2018 NHL Winter Classic jerseys.[3] Those jerseys also became partly inspired by the Sabres new kits in 2020 along with elements used from the Sabres jerseys from 1970 to 1996.
| AHL Season | Bisons Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | Points | Goals For | Goals Against | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940–41 | 1940-41 | 56 | 19 | 27 | 10 | 48 | 148 | 176 | 4th, West |
| 1941–42 | 56 | 25 | 25 | 6 | 56 | 182 | 157 | 4th, West | |
| 1942–43 | 56 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 63 | 189 | 143 | 1st, West | |
| 1943–44 | 54 | 25 | 16 | 13 | 63 | 201 | 168 | 2nd, East | |
| 1944–45 | 60 | 31 | 8 | 21 | 70 | 200 | 182 | 1st, East | |
| 1945–46 | 62 | 38 | 16 | 8 | 84 | 270 | 196 | 1st, East | |
| 1946–47 | 64 | 36 | 17 | 11 | 83 | 257 | 173 | 2nd, West | |
| 1947–48 | 68 | 41 | 23 | 4 | 86 | 277 | 238 | 3rd, West | |
| 1948–49 | 68 | 33 | 27 | 8 | 74 | 246 | 213 | 5th, West | |
| 1949–50 | 70 | 32 | 29 | 9 | 73 | 226 | 208 | 1st, East | |
| 1950–51 | 70 | 40 | 26 | 4 | 84 | 309 | 284 | 1st, East | |
| 1951–52 | 68 | 28 | 36 | 4 | 60 | 230 | 298 | 3rd, East | |
| 1952–53 | 64 | 22 | 39 | 3 | 47 | 160 | 236 | 7th, AHL | |
| 1953–54 | 70 | 39 | 24 | 7 | 85 | 283 | 217 | 1st, AHL | |
| 1954–55 | 64 | 31 | 28 | 5 | 67 | 248 | 228 | 4th, AHL | |
| 1955–56 | 64 | 29 | 30 | 5 | 63 | 239 | 250 | 3rd, AHL | |
| 1956–57 | 64 | 25 | 37 | 2 | 52 | 209 | 270 | 5th, AHL | |
| 1957–58 | 70 | 25 | 42 | 3 | 53 | 224 | 301 | 6th, AHL | |
| 1958–59 | 70 | 38 | 28 | 4 | 80 | 233 | 201 | 1st, AHL | |
| 1959–60 | 72 | 33 | 35 | 4 | 70 | 251 | 271 | 5th, AHL | |
| 1960–61 | 72 | 35 | 34 | 3 | 73 | 259 | 261 | 4th, AHL | |
| 1961–62 | 70 | 36 | 31 | 3 | 75 | 247 | 219 | 2nd, West | |
| 1962–63 | 72 | 41 | 24 | 7 | 89 | 237 | 199 | 1st, West | |
| 1963–64 | 72 | 25 | 40 | 7 | 57 | 194 | 260 | 4th, West | |
| 1964–65 | 72 | 40 | 26 | 6 | 86 | 261 | 218 | 2nd, West | |
| 1965–66 | 72 | 29 | 40 | 3 | 61 | 215 | 243 | 4th, West | |
| 1966–67 | 72 | 14 | 51 | 7 | 35 | 207 | 386 | 4th, West | |
| 1967–68 | 72 | 32 | 28 | 12 | 76 | 239 | 224 | 3rd, West | |
| 1968–69 | 74 | 41 | 18 | 15 | 97 | 282 | 192 | 1st, West | |
| 1969–70 | 72 | 40 | 17 | 15 | 95 | 280 | 193 | 1st, West |
| Season | 1st round | 2nd round | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940–41 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1941–42 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1942–43 | W, 4-2,Hershey | bye | W, 3-0,Indianapolis |
| 1943–44 | W, 4-1,Indianapolis | — | W, 4-0,Cleveland |
| 1944–45 | L, 2-4Cleveland | — | — |
| 1945–46 | W, 4-1,Indianapolis | bye | W, 4-3,Cleveland |
| 1946–47 | W, 2-0,Springfield | L, 0-2,Pittsburgh | — |
| 1947–48 | W, 2-1,Hershey | W, 2-0,New Haven | L, 0-4,Cleveland |
| 1948–49 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1949–50 | L, 1-4,Cleveland | — | — |
| 1950–51 | L, 0-4,Cleveland | — | — |
| 1951–52 | L, 0-3,Cincinnati | — | — |
| 1952–53 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1953–54 | L, 0-3,Cleveland | — | — |
| 1954–55 | W, 3-1,Cleveland | — | L, 2-4,Pittsburgh |
| 1955–56 | L, 2-3,Providence | — | — |
| 1956–57 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1957–58 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1958–59 | W, 4-1,Rochester | — | L, 2-4,Hershey |
| 1959–60 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1960–61 | L, 1-3,Hershey | — | — |
| 1961–62 | W, 2-0,Rochester | W, 3-1,Hershey | L, 1-4,Springfield |
| 1962–63 | W, 4-2,Providence | bye | W, 4-3,Hershey |
| 1963–64 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1964–65 | W, 3-1,Pittsburgh | L, 2-3,Hershey | — |
| 1965–66 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1966–67 | Out of playoffs | ||
| 1967–68 | L, 2-3,Quebec | — | — |
| 1968–69 | L, 2-4,Hershey | — | — |
| 1969–70 | W, 4-2,Quebec | 1st in round-robin vs. Springfield &Montreal | W, 4-0,Springfield |