The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League . They played in Albany , New York at the Times Union Center .
41-517: River Rats may refer to: Albany River Rats , an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League! River Rats , a Hardy Boys novel. " River Rats ", the seventh episode of All Grown Up! . Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title River Rats . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
82-764: A challenger to the NHL with teams in North America and Europe that would begin play in November of that year. One of six inaugural franchises announced in the league's initial press conference was the Albany Admirals, which was to be owned by businessman Joseph O'Hara and had signed a lease to play in the Knickerbocker Arena. The Capital hockey community was abuzz with excitement, and commitments for over 3,000 season tickets were received. However, by
123-712: A game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side on Interstate 90 in Becket , Massachusetts . Nicolas Blanchard , Joe Jensen , Jonathan Paiement , Casey Borer , and the River Rats radio color commentator John Hennessy were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with serious injuries. In late January, 2010, word began to leak out of Raleigh that the franchise was about to be sold and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. On February 10, it became official as
164-853: A new AHL team was granted to neighboring Troy. Local car dealer Mike Cantanucci formed the Capital District Islanders , who would play in the RPI's Houston Fieldhouse and be affiliated with the NHL's New York Islanders . Despite playing in the state-of-the-art Knickerbocker Arena, the Choppers became the casualty of the Tri-Cities price and attendance wars. Welker's management style turned off advertisers, sponsors, and fans alike, and on February 11, 1991 with dwindling attendance, high lease and travel costs, no NHL affiliation to help pay expenses, and not enough money to meet player payroll,
205-618: A one-year agreement (with the option to renew for two additional) with the River Rats to be their farm affiliate; the end result was essentially a swap of AHL affiliates as the Lowell franchise had previously been the top affiliate of Carolina. Later on, Carolina was joined by the Colorado Avalanche in a one-year partnership agreement. On February 22, 2007, the Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats announced that their affiliation agreement had been extended through
246-460: A seventh-place division finish in their inaugural season to a fourth-place finish and playoff berth in season two, to a 34-34-12 record in 1992-93, good for third in the division and another first-round playoff exit. Significant changes were made for the 1993-94 season. Cantanucci sold the franchise to local insurance executive Al Lawrence, and the team switched affiliations from the Islanders to
287-535: A strain on relationships between the leagues. There was some speculation that the IHL was intending to compete directly with the NHL, especially when a lockout in 1994–95 threatened to wipe out the NHL season. However, in the 1995–96 season, the IHL's "soft" salary cap was just $ 1.5 million, while the lowest NHL team payroll that season was $ 11.4 million. A Fall 1994 article in Sports Illustrated praising
328-613: The 1945–46 IHL season with four teams in Windsor and Detroit , and operated as semi-professional league. In 1947, a team from Toledo, Ohio , joined the league, and the following year the IHL expanded significantly, with teams in four additional U.S. cities. The expansion did not take hold, and for 1949–50, the league was back down to teams in Detroit and Windsor as well as two nearby Canadian cities, Sarnia, Ontario , and Chatham, Ontario . Windsor dropped out in 1950, and expansion into
369-715: The Albany Devils . The relationship only lasted through the 2016–17 season, after which the Devils announced they would be relocating their AHL team to Binghamton, New York to replace the Ottawa Senators ' team after they relocated. International Hockey League (1945%E2%80%932001) The International Hockey League ( IHL ) was a minor professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1945 to 2001. The IHL served as
410-672: The American Hockey League team was based 45 minutes north of Albany in Glens Falls, NY, it relied on fans from the Capital Region as a vital part of their market. The situation set the stage for a flurry of activity as other teams and leagues eyed the area. It began when area investors tried to secure an expansion American Hockey League franchise for Albany, but the Adirondack Red Wings nixed
451-989: The National Hockey League 's alternate farm system to the American Hockey League (AHL). After 56 years of operation, financial instability led to the league's demise. Six of the surviving seven teams merged into the AHL in 2001. The IHL was formed on December 5, 1945, in a three-hour meeting at the Norton Palmer Hotel in Windsor, Ontario . In attendance were Jack Adams (coach of the Detroit Red Wings), Fred Huber (Red Wings public relations), Frank Gallagher (amateur hockey organizer in Detroit and Windsor), Lloyd Pollock (Windsor hockey pioneer), Gerald McHugh (Windsor lawyer), Len Hebert, Len Loree and Bill Beckman. The league began operations in
SECTION 10
#1732776694646492-558: The New Jersey Devils . With the Knickerbocker Arena untapped as a hockey facility, the franchise moved from the campus of RPI to the 15,000-seat downtown arena, and changed their nickname to the Albany River Rats. The Rats' glory days came in the mid- to late-1990s making seven consecutive playoff appearances, winning two division titles, and taking home the AHL's Calder Cup in 1995. Also in 1995, their parent club,
533-546: The Troy Slapshots joined the same league and played just 6 games before folding in November 17, 1986. After this troubled period for hockey in the region, construction of the palatial Knickerbocker Arena in downtown Albany in 1990 changed the face of the sport in the Capital District. The week that the new arena opened, plans were unveiled worldwide for the formation of the fledgling Global Hockey League ,
574-665: The 1950s, with another major expansion in 1959. In the 1962–63 season, the IHL played an interlocking schedule with the NHL-owned Eastern Professional Hockey League , which itself folded after its 1962–63 season. After 11 seasons as a strictly U.S.-based league, the IHL admitted two Canadian teams in 1963, with the Windsor Bulldogs and the return of the Chatham Maroons. Both teams dropped out after one season, however, and
615-472: The 2008–09 season. On April 24, 2008, the River Rats lost 3–2 to the Philadelphia Phantoms in the (until then) longest game played in AHL history. The Phantoms' Ryan Potulny scored 2:58 into the fifth overtime. Albany gave up 101 shots on goal, and goaltender Michael Leighton made 98 saves. On February 19, 2009, five people were seriously injured when a bus carrying the team home from
656-721: The AHL as expansion teams for the 2001–02 season. Between them, they have played for the AHL Calder Cup seven times, winning four—including three in a row after their arrival. As well, the Cincinnati Cyclones was readmitted to the East Coast Hockey League , which hosted the team from 1990 to 1992 before it moved to the IHL. The Orlando Solar Bears (the final IHL playoff champions) and the Kansas City Blades were not admitted into
697-698: The AHL because their owner, Rich DeVos , who also owned the Griffins, was allowed to own only one AHL franchise. The league's other two teams, the Cleveland Lumberjacks and Detroit Vipers , ceased operations along with the league. Two former IHL teams that moved to the AHL have since relocated: the Utah Grizzlies moved to Cleveland, Ohio , to become the Lake Erie Monsters (rebranded as Cleveland Monsters in 2016) in 2007 and
738-417: The AHL, the affiliations of NHL clubs, the higher classification and better quality of play of the AHL, and the new rivalry between the established Wings and the fledgling Islanders. The AHL knew the market was not big enough to support three professional hockey teams, but they were willing to take the risk. The AHL convinced the Adirondack Red Wings to waive their territorial rights to the Capital Region, and
779-463: The Albany River Rats website announced that the sale of the franchise had been completed, and that the team would be moving to Charlotte at the conclusion of the 2009–10 AHL Season. "Capital District Sports, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, the Albany River Rats, has sold its American Hockey League franchise to MAK Hockey, LLC located in Charlotte, North Carolina . The sale will not affect
820-624: The Carolina Hurricanes beginning in the 2006–07 season brought hope of a return to AHL glory not seen in Albany since the late 1990s. On March 22, 2006, the Devils announced that they were cutting ties with the River Rats after the 2005–06 AHL season, as the parent club announced the purchase of the Lowell Lock Monsters . Despite the move, the River Rats were not relocated. In April 2006, The Carolina Hurricanes signed
861-677: The Choppers folded in midseason. The AHL was the clear winner in the battle for hockey in the Capital Region, and the result was a new AHL franchise that would become the predominant hockey franchise in the metropolitan area for the next two decades. The team competed in the AHL as the Capital District Islanders for three seasons, playing on campus at RPI located across the Hudson River in Troy , New York . The Islanders showed slow but modest improvement in their three years in Troy, moving from
SECTION 20
#1732776694646902-633: The Houston Aeros moved to Des Moines, Iowa , to become the Iowa Wild in 2013. A third team, the Manitoba Moose, temporarily relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to become the St. John's IceCaps from 2011 to 2015. Three former franchises have been relaunched in lower-tier leagues since the IHL's demise. The Utah Grizzlies name was revived by the former Lexington Men O' War of
943-525: The IHL and mocking the NHL only fueled the fire. In said article, IHL officials detailed plans to continue expanding the league to large markets in North America, as well as, "a six-team European league with franchises in England, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Sweden and France." In response, many NHL clubs shifted their affiliations to the AHL , and by 1997–98, only four of 18 IHL teams had NHL affiliations. With
984-572: The New Jersey Devils, won the Stanley Cup. However, wins declined after the 1997–98 season, the last time Albany won a playoff series. By 1998, owner Al Lawrence had been mired in bankruptcy court and was forced to sell the River Rats hockey team. Walter Robb purchased the franchise, allowing the franchise to remain in Albany. The River Rats finished last in each of the six seasons between 2000–01 and 2005–06. A new affiliation with
1025-523: The Portland franchise would not come to fruition, Albany did not go long without an AHL franchise. On June 6, it was announced that the Lowell Devils would be relocating to Albany, reestablishing the city's connection with the New Jersey Devils. Despite the tradition of the River Rats branding, officials announced that as a separate entity from the previous franchise, the new team would be known as
1066-543: The U.S. began again, with Toledo rejoining the league and new teams in Grand Rapids, Michigan (1950), Troy, Ohio , (1951), Cincinnati (1952), Fort Wayne, Indiana (1952), and Milwaukee (1952). At the same time, the last Canadian team left the league in 1952, when the Chatham Maroons pulled out. Three new U.S. cities were added in 1953. The league would expand and shrink between five and nine teams through
1107-696: The city would likely have a team for the 2010-2011 season and might even keep the River Rats nickname and logo, which remained the property of former owner Walter Robb. On March 15, it was reported in the Albany Times Union and the Portland Press Herald that Albany officials had their sights set on the AHL's Portland Pirates as a potential candidate for relocation, but talks between the Times Union Center and Pirates ownership eventually broke off. Although relocation of
1148-406: The defunct World Hockey Association or abandoned by the NHL. The IHL also entered markets that had existing NHL teams, such as Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles . In 1996, the IHL moved its Atlanta and Minneapolis–Saint Paul franchises to Quebec City and Winnipeg , respectively, restoring the league's Canadian presence and filling the void left by the departure of the NHL's Quebec Nordiques and
1189-529: The effort by invoking their territorial rights to the Tri-Cities area. Soon after, an attempt to establish an International Hockey League franchise at the "Knick" was vetoed by IHL Governors concerned about the travel costs for teams in the Midwest-based league. Then attempts to lure the A-Wings to the new arena were thwarted when that franchise signed a new ten-year lease to remain in Glens Falls. In
1230-567: The end of May, disagreements between O'Hara and the league founders led O'Hara to withdraw his franchise from the new league. In June, the league postponed its opening season by a year, but the venture never materialized and the Global Hockey League never made it to the ice. Since 1979, Capital Region hockey fans, press and media had effectively adopted the Adirondack Red Wings as their pseudo-home team. Although
1271-581: The end of the 1980s the city of Albany had never had a minor league professional hockey team. Three separate attempts to establish teams in the neighboring cities of Schenectady and Troy had proven unsuccessful. The first was in the 1952-53 season when the Capital Region had its first foray into pro hockey in the form of the Troy Uncle Sam Trojans , who played a single season in the Eastern Hockey League , finishing last in
River Rats - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-551: The five-team loop and folding after the season. Professional hockey would not return to the Capital Region until the 1980s, with a pair of failed attempts to establish franchises in the low-level Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The Schenectady Chiefs were awarded a charter franchise in the ACHL's inaugural 1981-82 season, but after drawing minuscule crowds in a rink built in a converted department store, that team folded on November 18, 1981 after just nine games. Roughly five years later,
1353-407: The hockey war was on. The AHL hoped to create a situation that might somehow force the IHL team out of the market. League officials felt that if they added an additional AHL franchise to the market, they'd create a natural rival for the Adirondack Red Wings. Although the Choppers had the distinct advantage of the new arena, the AHL was hoping to counter that advantage with the established fan base of
1394-400: The late 1980s and continuing into the mid-90s, the IHL expanded or re-located existing franchises into major U.S. markets such as Atlanta , Cincinnati , Cleveland , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Kansas City , Las Vegas , Minneapolis–Saint Paul , Orlando , Phoenix , Salt Lake City , San Antonio , San Diego , and San Francisco . Many of these markets had been previously served by
1435-431: The league would not have a Canadian team again until 1996. Bill Beagan served as commissioner of the IHL from 1969 to 1978. The Canadian Press cited him for turning around the league's financial situation and making it a top-tier development system for future NHL talent. Starting in the late 1960s, the IHL's quality of play significantly improved. By the mid-1970s it was on par with the American Hockey League (AHL),
1476-427: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=River_Rats&oldid=730454915 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Albany River Rats Without a viable indoor arena with an ice surface, through
1517-494: The longtime top feeder league for the National Hockey League . Many IHL teams became the top farm teams of NHL teams. In 1984, the league swallowed up a few surviving members of the Central Hockey League , which had ceased operations. In 1985, the league adopted the shootout to determine tie games in place of traditional overtime. The NHL would begin using the shootout to avoid tie games in 2005. Beginning in
1558-533: The loss of subsidized salaries, high expansion fees (by the end the league was charging as much as $ 8 million US for new teams), exploding travel costs and the NHL itself moving back into some of its markets, the league's rapid expansion proved a critical strain, and it folded after the 2000–01 season. Six IHL franchises (the Chicago Wolves , Grand Rapids Griffins , Houston Aeros , Utah Grizzlies , Milwaukee Admirals and Manitoba Moose ) were admitted into
1599-410: The original Winnipeg Jets . The minimum requirements for an IHL expansion team in 1995 were "a 10,000-seat arena, a population base of one million, and a $ 6 million franchise fee." As the league expanded into larger markets, many of the smaller-market teams (such as Fort Wayne, Peoria, Muskegon, Kalamazoo and Flint) left the IHL and joined lower-level leagues. The IHL's expansion into NHL markets put
1640-530: The remainder of the 2009-10 season, with regular season games concluding on April 10, 2010 followed by the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs ." The relocated team, to be known as the Charlotte Checkers , would remain the top affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and replace that city's ECHL franchise of the same name. Shortly after the announcement of the sale of the franchise, officials in Albany, as well as AHL President Dave Andrews, told media outlets that
1681-682: The summer of 1990, David Welker, the owner of the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League, having made an arrangement to absorb a portion of other teams' travel costs, announced he was moving his franchise to Knickerbocker Arena, and the Albany Choppers were born. Officials of the established American Hockey League felt that the Midwest-based IHL was invading their territory, and