Pan-American Hockey League: 1999-2000 Final Season

[JCRGraphix]

I have to be honest, I've been kind of irritated that just as I've been working on a huge project, I've seen other people doing something similar. I have been a fan of the Fictional History series on here, and decided to do my own. I was planning on doing all of the work, and releasing it it as a book on issuu. In fact, I got 26 years into the history of the league before deciding to post my progress here and then put together the book as I'm going along.

I've created the complete league timeline with all of the franchises moves and realignments planned out. I've also created about 50 logos, over 300 uniforms, and put together stats for 26 seasons thus far.

This league is inspired by the American Basketball Association, World Hockey Association, and International Hockey League, and borrows from each of their respective histories.

The league begins in 1950 with the merger of the North Country Hockey League and Southern Ontario Hockey Association. I will post one year at a time with what's going on in the league.

I am currently stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York (North Country and it's called here), so I decided to start this as a regional league. In the 1950-51 season, the two former leagues became divisions in the new Pan-American Hockey League. They compete for the brand new Leif Erikson Cup.

The NCHL teams that survived the merger included the Burlington (VT) Earls, Ogdensburg (NY) Rivermen, Pine Camp (NY) Rangers, Plattsburgh (NY) Panthers, and Watertown (NY) Braves. Those from the SOHA included the Guelph Royals, Hamilton Steelers, Kingston Chiefs, Markham Tigers, and Toronto Beavers.



The 1950-51 season was the first season of the Pan-American Hockey League following the merger of the North Country Hockey League and the Southern Ontario Hockey Association. Ten teams played 56 games each. The first PAHL game was played on October 11, 1950 and was won 5-3 by the Pine Camp Rangers, an all-Army squad based out of Pine Camp, over the Toronto Beavers. The Guelph Royals led the Canadian Division until the final two games of the regular season when they were bested twice in a home and home series by the Markham Tigers.

The playoffs began with a preliminary round with the second place teams from the American (Watertown Braves) and Canadian Division (Guelph Royals) facing off with the Guelph Royals emerging victorious. The third place teams would also face off with the Hamilton Steelers defeating the Pine Camp Rangers. For the league semi-finals, the first place teams from each division (Burlington Earls vs. Markham Tigers) would face off with the Markham Tigers emerging as victors. The winners of the preliminary round also faced off with the Guelph Royals winning.

The first ever Leif Erikson Cup final was a strictly Canadian affair with the Markham Tigers defeating the Guelph Royals three games to two to win their first championship.


Standings:





Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away
Guelph Royals Home Away
Hamilton Steelers Home Away
Kingston Chiefs Home Away
Markham Tigers Home Away
Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away
Pine Camp Rangers Home Away
Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away
Toronto Beavers Home Away
Watertown Braves Home Away

[jrcollis714]

Interseting. Uniforms look good (for their time), but I would like more description of what happened.

[JCRGraphix]

Interseting. Uniforms look good (for their time), but I would like more description of what happened.

edited in OP

[JCRGraphix]

The 1951-52 PAHL season was a wild one with some late season heroics that shook up the standings. Ten teams played 64 games. The Pine Camp Rangers who were decimated during the off-season by deployments to the Korean War were able to get some solid players back mid-season, and quickly jumped from fourth in the American Division to first by the final game. The Plattsburgh Panthers suffered another dismal season, only winning five games. Halfway through the season with a record of 0-22-3, the entire coaching staff was fired, and the owner coached the team himself.

The 1952 playoffs followed the same format as the 1951 playoffs with the second and third place teams in each division squaring off. The Canadian teams again proved too much for the American Division with the Markham Tigers rolling over the Burlington Earls, and the Toronto Beavers handling the Ogdensburg Rivermen. The semi-final saw its firts American victory with the Pine Camp Rangers sweeping the heavily-favored Guelph Royals wearing their newly updated uniforms. The Toronto Beavers would also defeat the Markham Tigers in a fierce rivalry match-up.

In the second Leif Erikson Cup matchup, it seemed like the Toronto Beavers had things under control quickly jumping to a two game lead, however the Pine Camp Rangers were able to get a lucky goal late in the third period to win game three. The Beavers won game four and had momentum coming into game five to close out the Rangers. The Rangers would not accept defeat though, and dominated the final three games to defeat the Beavers in game seven to win their first Leif Erikson Cup.

During the off-season, exhibition matches were played between some PAHL clubs and clubs from the Great Lakes Hockey League.

Standings:

Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Pine Camp Rangers Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

[JCRGraphix]

The 1952-53 PAHL season had ten teams playing 70 games each. The Pine Camp Rangers were renamed the Camp Drum Rangers to reflect the new name of the Army post and redesigned their jerseys from the diagonal text to arched text similar to the Ranger tab worn by Army Rangers. Their rivals, the Watertown Braves also changed their uniforms slightly, removing blue from all but their logo. The Rangers and Braves were extremely competetive during the regular season with the Braves finishing atop the American Division despite the Rangers having more wins. The Hamilton Steelers had a dominant season winning 45 games placing them well above the rest of the Canadian Division.

The 1953 playoffs followed a similar format, but slightly tweaked with the second place team in each division taking on the third place team in the preliminary round. The Camp Drum Rangers defeated the Burlington Earls, and the Guelph Royals defeating the Markham Tigers. In the semi-finals, the Hamilton Steelers swept the Watertown Braves, and the Guelph Royals edged the Camp Drum Rangers in seven games.

Despite being heavily favored in the third Leif Erikson Cup, the Hamilton Steelers were not prepared for the Guelph Royals who won the cup in only five games.

During the off-season, the PAHL negotiated a merger with the Great Lakes Hockey League absorbing their six teams for the 1953-54 season.

Standings:

Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

[aburden]

Love the detail in this league, and all the teams look pretty unique. One of my top historic fantasy threads on the site. Only complaint is how small and cluttered all those uniforms look in only one picture. Any way we can see the teams individually?

[JCRGraphix]

Love the detail in this league, and all the teams look pretty unique. One of my top historic fantasy threads on the site. Only complaint is how small and cluttered all those uniforms look in only one picture. Any way we can see the teams individually?

I could figure something out. I'm pretty sure you can only use a certain number of pictures in each post.

edit- I'll post a link for each team if you want more detail.

[JCRGraphix]

The 1953-54 PAHL season saw six new teams join the league as a result of the merger with the Great Lakes Hockey League. The Kalamazoo Checkers, named for the Checker Cab Company based in Kalamazoo, led those teams which made up the new Great Lakes Division with an amazing record of 57 wins, 13 losses, and 10 ties. Other teams that joined the league included the Lansing Governors, Milwauke Ales, Windsor Ambassadors, Toledo Blades, and Grand Rapids Eagles.

In the 1953-54 playoffs, there were two matchups in each division with the first place teams taking on the fourth and the second and third facing off. For the North Country Division, the Burlington Earls defeated the Camp Drum Rangers four games to one, and the Ogdensburg Rivermen defeated the Watertown Braves four games to one. In the Canadian Division, the Kingston Chiefs stunned the favored Hamilton Steelers, defeating them in six games, and the Markham Tigers swept the Guelph Royals. Although the Kalamazoo Checkers were dominant all season, the Windsor Ambassadors gave them a bit of a scare forcing a game seven which the Checkers would win. The Milwauke Ales would fall to the Lansing Governors in another tight seven game series.

In the division finals, the Ogdensburg Rivermen swept the division-leading Burlington Earls to win the North Country Division title. The Canadian Division title would go to the Kingston Chiefs who downed the Markham Tigers in seven. Finally, the Lansing Governors pulled past the heavily favored Kalamazoo Checkers winning game seven in overtime, and since the Great Lakes Division had the number one seed in the playoffs, the Governors would recieve a bye for the semi-finals.

The semifinal was a best-of-three series which was absolutely dominated by the Ogdensburg Rivermen winning both games 7-2 and 5-1 respectively.

The Leif Erikson Cup finals were more competitive than the final record would show with all five games settled in overtime. The Ogdensburg Rivermen would eventually triumph though in game five.

Standings:

Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Grand Rapids Eagles Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Kalamazoo Checkers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Lansing Governors Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Milwaukee Ales Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toledo Blades Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

Windsor Ambassadors Home Away

In addition to adding some new teams, the Ogdensburg Rivermen would add a new road uniform with their logo on the front.

[Guest darkpiranha]

Great start. Can't have too many league series, so long as they are top quality like this one.

Something I'd request you add to the yearly standings is maybe a running total for how many championships a team has won. This could be just a separate listing below the main standings featuring only the teams who have won, sorted. By the third season, I was already having to scroll up and down asking myself "Wait, is this Guelf's first or second title?"

Or, in general, some sort of running tally indicating a team's historical success, and indicating championships, finals losses, and maybe even times in playoffs.

(Longtime simulator, here, and what I most love is the grand historical sweeps provided by decades of history)

[JCRGraphix]

Great start. Can't have too many league series, so long as they are top quality like this one.

Something I'd request you add to the yearly standings is maybe a running total for how many championships a team has won. This could be just a separate listing below the main standings featuring only the teams who have won, sorted. By the third season, I was already having to scroll up and down asking myself "Wait, is this Guelf's first or second title?"

Or, in general, some sort of running tally indicating a team's historical success, and indicating championships, finals losses, and maybe even times in playoffs.

(Longtime simulator, here, and what I most love is the grand historical sweeps provided by decades of history)

I have that going already on in an extensive excel. I think I'll put something together every ten years, or when a team drops out.

[JCRGraphix]

Here's a sneak peak at the book I'm putting together, parts have been blurred for your protection... Those are all hand-drawn illustrations.

[JCRGraphix]

All of the teams that played in the 1953-54 season returned to the PAHL for the 1954-55 season, and other than a minor striping change on the Kingston Chiefs' uniforms, the league looked pretty much the same. The returning Leif Erikson Cup champions, the Plattsburgh Panthers had a solid season, tied for first in the North Country Division until the final week of the season when they tied both of their games, and the Camp Drum Rangers won theirs to steal the lead. The Kalamazoo Checkers were also dominant in the Great Lakes Division winning 45 of their games.

The division semifinals were pretty cut and dry with the Guelph Royals sweeping the Hamilton Steelers, and the Kingston Chiefs falling in six games to the Markham Tigers in the Canadian Division. The Great Lakes Division had Kalamazoo sweeping Lansing, and the Grand Rapids Eagles beating the Windsor Ambassadors four games to one. The Camp Drum Rangers dominated the Watertown Braves finishing them out in four, and the Plattsburgh Panthers beat the Ogdensburg Rivermen in six.

The division finals were much more competitive with two of the series going to seven games. The Plattsburgh Panthers beat the Camp Drum Rangers and the Grand rapids Eagles beat the Kalamazoo Checkers in seven. The Markham Tigers had an easier time, downing the Guelph Royals in five. In the best of three semifinal round, the Grand Rapids Eagles defeated the Markham Tigers in three games, but the Tigers didn't give up without a fight.

The 1955 Leif Erikson Cup finals featured a Plattsburgh Panthers team with a great amount of momentum coming off of their defeat of the Rangers, and a Grand Rapids team that had gotten the snot kicked out of them by the Tigers. The Plattsburgh Panthers were able to outskate the tired Grand Rapids Eagles, and defeated them four games to two for their first Leif Erikson Cup.

Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Grand Rapids Eagles Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Kalamazoo Checkers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Lansing Governors Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Milwaukee Ales Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toledo Blades Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

Windsor Ambassadors Home Away

Also... here's the hardware the PAHL competes for. The boat can be filled with champagne and drank through the dragon's mouth.

[MSO94]

I am REALLY loving this series

[JCRGraphix]

Currently finishing up the last few franchises, let's just say the 80s and 90s get pretty wild. Cooperalls are a thing...

[JCRGraphix]

All uniforms are finally complete! 366 in all. Now I just have to do the stats, narrations, and put it into book form.

The 1955-56 PAHL season had 16 teams playing 80 games each. For the first time since the beginning of the league, there were some financial issues among some of the team owners. The Burlington Earls were hemmoraging money after two dismal seasons, and were bought out at the end of the regular season in which they finished at the bottom of the North Country Division. The Toronto Beavers and Grand Rapids Eagles were also experienceing financial woes despite solid performances by each team. The Eagles would finish as the league's regular season champs with an impressive record of 46-17-17.

The 1956 division semifinals were significantly more competitive than the previous year's. In the North Country Division, the Camp Drum Rangers beat the Plattsburgh Panthers in five games while the Ogdensburg Rivermen downed the Watertown Braves four games to two. In the Canadian Division, the Kingston Chiefs swept the Hamilton Steelers and the Guelph Royals needed all seven games to take down the Toronto Beavers. In the Great Lakes Division, the Grand Rapids Eagles beat the Windsor Ambassadors in five and the Lansing Governors knocked out the Kalamazoo Checkers in seven.

For the division finals, the Ogdensburg Rivermen triumphed over the Camp Drum Rangers in six games, the Kingston Chiefs beat the Guelph Royals also in six, and the Lansing Governors edged the Grand Rapids Eagles in seven games. The best-of-three semifinal went to the Kingston Chiefs, who beat the Lansing Governors two games to one.

The Leif Erikson Cup Finals saw the 1954 champions, the Ogdensburg Rivermen, taking on finals newcomers, the Kingston Chiefs. The Chiefs proved too much for the Rivermen to handle, winning the series in six games to capture their first Leif Erikson Cup title.

The Lansing Governors and Plattsburgh Panthers altered their uniforms for the 1955-56 season. From now on, I will be posting the uniform changes on here as well.

Uniforms:

Burlington Earls Home Away

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Grand Rapids Eagles Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Kalamazoo Checkers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Lansing Governors Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Milwaukee Ales Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toledo Blades Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

Windsor Ambassadors Home Away

[JCRGraphix]

I am interested in comments/criticism if anybody has any.

[JCRGraphix]

The 1956-57 PAHL season had 16 teams playing 80 games each. Despite being on the brink of financial collapse, the Grand Rapids Eagles finished the season with an impressive 53-13-10 record to lead the league. During the previous offseason, the Burlington Earls were bought out and moved to Hartford, CT to become the Hartford Whalers. They would finish their first season in fourth place in the North Country Division.

The 1957 playoffs were the last of this particular format as the league would go to two divisions the following season. The division semifinals featured some exciting matchups in the North Country Division with the Hartford Whalers defeating the Ogdensburg Rivermen in six games and the Camp Drum Rangers edging the Watertown Braves in seven. In the Canadian Division, the Guelph Royals beat the Toronto Beavers in five, and the Kingston Chiefs swept the favored Hamilton Steelers. In the Great Lakes Division, the Grand Rapids Eagles swept the Milwaukee Ales, and the Kalamazoo Checkers finished off the Toledo Blades in five games.

In the division finals, the Kalamazoo Checkers proved too much for the Grand Rapids Eagles winning the series in six. The Kingston Chiefs prevailed over the Guelph Royals in a tight seven game series, and the Hartford Whalers eliminated the Camp Drum Rangers in five. In the semifinal round, the Kingston Chiefs beat the Hartford Whalers in only two.

In the Leif Erikson Finals, the defending champion Kingston Chiefs took on the Kalamazoo Checkers. It was a long and brutal series that was not settled until the final moments of game seven. The Kingston Chiefs won their second Leif Erikson Cup to become the league's first back-to-back champions, a feat that would not be repeated until 1961 and 62.

For the 1957-58 season, the Hartford Whalers took to the ice with simple traditional uniforms with a modern-for-the-time wordmark. The Markham Tigers also updated their look, dropping orange from their color scheme. It proved not to be a popular move.

Uniforms:

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Grand Rapids Eagles Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Hartford Whalers Home Away

Kalamazoo Checkers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Lansing Governors Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Milwaukee Ales Home Away

Ogdensburg Rivermen Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Toledo Blades Home Away

Toronto Beavers Home Away

Watertown Braves Home Away

Windsor Ambassadors Home Away

[timberwolf]

I'm really enjoying this series! I was thinking of doing a hockey series as well so it's good to see one that's kept up!

[JCRGraphix]

During the offseason preceding the 1957-58 season, financial turmoil again took its toll with two franchises ceasing operations (Toronto Beavers and Watertown Braves) and one being bought out and relocated. The players from the Beavers and Braves were dispersed throughout the league via a dispersal draft held just weeks before the season began. The Ogdensburg Rivermen moved south to Syracuse, NY to become the Syracuse Mohawks. The former Braves owner bought a 49% share in the Kingston Chiefs who were also starting to have financial issues of their own. Their logo was changed to reflect this new ownership.

The 1957-58 PAHL season had 14 teams playing 80 games each. The Camp Drum Rangers had a dominant season going 50-27-3 to finish first in the new Eastern Division. The biggest surprise was the collapse of the defending Leif Erikson Cup champion Kingston Chiefs who were unable to resign many of their star players. The Chiefs finished dead last in the Eastern Division with an embarrassing 13-58-9 record. The Western Division was very tight with the top three teams (Kalamazoo Checkers, Grand Rapids Eagles, and Toledo Blades) only separated by 2 wins.

The format of the playoffs was changed to better suit the new makeup of the league. The first and fourth place teams and second and third place teams would face off for the division semifinal. In the Western Division semifinals, the Kalamazoo Checkers defeated the Guelph Royals in six games while the Grand Rapids Eagles swept the Toledo Blades in a matchup that many thought would be tighter. In the Eastern Division, the Camp Drum Rangers edged the Hartford Whalers in seven, and the Hamilton Steelers took down the Syracuse Mohawks in six.

The division finals featured two very different matchups. The Western Division was a very even matchup with the Grand Rapids Eagles only prevailing after returning from a 3-1 series deficit. The Eastern Division matchup was much less competitive with the Camp Drum Rangers steamrolling the Hamilton Hammers defeating them in four games and setting the PAHL record for most goals scored in a playoff game with a lopsided 14-0 game 4 victory.

The Leif Erikson Cup finals were a high-scoring affair with the Camp Drum Rangers defeating the Grand Rapids Eagles in six hard-fought games. This was the franchise's second Leif Erikson Cup and Grand Rapids' second time falling short.

As far as uniforms go, the 1957-58 season saw quite a few minor changes. The Camp Drum Rangers went back to diagonal script on the front of their uniforms, the Gueplh Royals changed to white pants, the Kingston Chiefs changed their logo, and the Syracuse Mohawks took to the ice with their new uniforms.

Uniforms:

Camp Drum Rangers Home Away

Grand Rapids Eagles Home Away

Guelph Royals Home Away

Hamilton Steelers Home Away

Hartford Whalers Home Away

Kalamazoo Checkers Home Away

Kingston Chiefs Home Away

Lansing Governors Home Away

Markham Tigers Home Away

Milwaukee Ales Home Away

Plattsburgh Panthers Home Away

Syracuse Mohawks Home Away

Toledo Blades Home Away

Windsor Ambassadors Home Away

[timberwolf]

Noooo not Toronto!