Maine Mariners (AHL)

For the ECHL team that began play in 2018–19, see Maine Mariners (ECHL).
Maine Mariners
CityPortland, Maine
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
Founded1977 (First franchise)
1987 (Second franchise)
Operated1977–1987 (first franchise)
1987–1992 (second franchise)
Home arenaCumberland County Civic Center
ColorsOrange, black
   
Black, gold
   
AffiliatesPhiladelphia Flyers,
New Jersey Devils,
Boston Bruins
Franchise history
First Franchise
1977–1987Maine Mariners
1987–1993Utica Devils
1993–2003Saint John Flames
2005–2007Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
2007–2009Quad City Flames
2009–2014Abbotsford Heat
2014–2015Adirondack Flames
2015–2022Stockton Heat
2022–PresentCalgary Wranglers
Second Franchise
1987–1992Maine Mariners
1992–presentProvidence Bruins
Championships
Regular season titlesthree (1977–78, 1978–79), 1983–84
Division titlesfive (1977–78,
1978–79, 1980–81,
1984–85, 1987–88)
Calder Cupsthree (1977–78,
1978–79, 1983–84)

The Maine Mariners were two separate professional ice hockey teams in the American Hockey League. They both played in Portland, Maine, at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

History

First franchise

Once the Cumberland 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: the World Hockey Association's Quebec Nordiques, the American Hockey League's Rhode Island Reds, and the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers. The Nordiques, who already had a farm team in nearby Lewiston (the Maine Nordiques of the North 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 even played the first ever AHL game at Cumberland County Civic Center, an 8–4 defeat to the Springfield Indians played 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 the 1977–78 season with the Hampton Gulls and Philadelphia Firebirds.[2] The Reds ultimately relocated to Binghamton, New York to become the Binghamton 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 the Philadelphia 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 outfielder Dwight Evans dropped the ceremonial opening faceoff.[4]

The Mariners are the only franchise in league history to win the Calder 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, the Portland Pirates. The Mariners defeated the New Haven Nighthawks in both the 1978 and 1979 Calder Cup Finals.[5]

Maine returned to the Calder Cup final in 1980–81 and first-year goaltender Pelle 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 the Adirondack Red Wings, two games to four.[6] The Mariners would return to the Calder Cup Finals in 1983, being swept by the Rochester Americans.[7]

Ahead of the 1983–84 season, the Flyers sold the Mariners to the New 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 a Calder 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.

Second franchise

Following the 1986–87 season, the Devils moved the original Mariners franchise to Utica, New York, as the Utica Devils.[10] However, Portland was not without hockey, as the league approved an expansion team supplied by players from the Boston Bruins, with Bruins general manager Harry 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 the 1991–92 season, after five seasons in Portland, the Mariners franchise was moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and renamed the Providence 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 the Cumberland County Civic Center. The final Mariners game took place on April 4, 1992, at the Cumberland County Civic Center, a 12–1 defeat to the Fredericton Canadiens.[13]

Portland was not without AHL hockey for long; a season later, the Baltimore Skipjacks relocated to Portland to become Portland Pirates.[14] The Pirates played in Maine until 2016,[a] when the franchise was relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts to become the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The Maine Mariners name is currently being used by an ECHL team that has played in Portland since 2018.[15]

This market has also been served by:

Season-by-season results

Regular season

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

Playoffs

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.

Notable players

References

  1. ^ "Lopsided Scores in AHL Action". Associated Press, via The Gettysburg Times. March 7, 1977. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  2. ^ "AHL adds Portland, Hampton". Associated Press, via The Windsor Star. May 19, 1977. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  3. ^ "Mariners Lose AHL Opener". Associated Press, via the Lewiston Evening Sun. October 15, 1977. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  4. ^ "Puck Drops At Portland". Associated Press, via the Lewiston Daily Sun. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  5. ^ "Mariners win title". Associated Press, via the Bangor Daily News. May 14, 1979. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  6. ^ "Vasko Gives Red Wings Calder Title". Associated Press, via the Reading Eagle. May 21, 1981. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  7. ^ "Rochester Defeats Maine for Calder Title". Associated Press, via the Bangor Daily News. May 20, 1983. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  8. ^ "Maine Hockey History". Maine Mariners. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
  9. ^ "Mariners gain the Calder Cup". United Press International, via the Bangor Daily News. May 17, 1984. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  10. ^ ""Hockey"". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. April 24, 1987. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Perkins, Tom (May 8, 1987). "Portland, Bruins make the connection". Lewiston Sun-Journal. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  12. ^ Tighe, Michael (May 23, 1992). "Mariners pick up, move to Providence". Lewiston Sun-Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  13. ^ "Canadiens crush Mariners in finale". Associated Press, via the Bangor Daily News. April 6, 1992.
  14. ^ "SKIPJACKS EYE MOVE TO MAINE". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 1993-03-15. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-05-08.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ^ "Portland lands a pro hockey team for the fall of 2018". Portland Press Herald. June 15, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  16. ^ "Ken Linseman (b. 1958) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com". HockeyDB.
  17. ^ "Pete Peeters Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com". HockeyDB.
  18. ^ "Alain Vigneault Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com". HockeyDB.
  1. ^ While the Pirates' home arena was the Cumberland County Civic Center, due to renovations at the Civic Center and a lease dispute between the team and county, the Pirates played the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine.
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