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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 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.
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Donald Hamilton McKenney was a Canadian ice hockey forward and coach. He played in the National Hockey League between 1954 and 1968 with five teams, mostly with the Boston Bruins. After retiring he worked as a coach for Northeastern University for over twenty years.
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John Thomas Riley was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. He was the first general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League. He served the Penguins from their founding through the spring of 1970, and then in a second term from January 1972 to January 1974. In 1975, he became Commissioner of the Southern Hockey League. From 1979 to 1983 he served as President of the International Hockey League.
Professional ice hockey in Connecticut has a rich tradition dating from the mid-1920s. Most of these teams were NHL minor league affiliates located in New Haven, though with the closure of the New Haven Coliseum, minor league affiliates now exist only exist in Hartford and Bridgeport. Hartford had its own Major league team, the Whalers team that existed in Hartford from 1974-97. Independent hockey leagues teams have also been gaining a foothold in Danbury starting in 2004.
The 2021–22 AHL season was the 86th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 15, 2021, and ended on April 30, 2022. The regular season was followed by the Calder Cup playoffs, which had not been held since 2019 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The playoffs began on May 2, 2022, and ended on June 25, 2022, with the Chicago Wolves winning their third Calder Cup.
The District of Columbia has a small but expanding relationship with ice hockey in the United States. With the Washington Capitals serving as the flagship franchise in the region, ice hockey has seen steady growth in the Washington, D.C. area.
References
- ↑ "BLADES ARE SET FOR WASHINGTON". Bridgeport Telegram . Bridgeport, Connecticut. October 30, 1957. p. 24.
- ↑ "Washington Lions hockey team [1952-1953 EHL] statistics and history at hockeydb.com". HockeyDB.
