The Buffalo Bisons were an American Hockey League ice hockey franchise that played from 1940 to 1970 in Buffalo, New York. They replaced the original Buffalo Bisons hockey team, which left the area in 1936 after its arena collapsed. They were the second professional hockey team to play their games in the Buffalo city proper, after the short-lived Buffalo Majors of the early 1930s; the previous Bisons team had played across the border at an arena in Fort Erie, Ontario.

History The Bisons played at the newly constructed Memorial Auditorium, and at various times had affiliations with the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers. The team was brought to Buffalo from Syracuse by Louis M. Jacobs, then owner of the Buffalo based Sportservice and the father of Jeremy Jacobs, the current owner of the Boston Bruins. In 1955, Jacobs sold the team to the Chicago Black Hawks owner Arthur 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 of Pepsi-Cola Ruby Pastor, who changed the team's colors and front sweater to reflect the soft drink company's "globe" logo; the Bisons retained the mark for the rest of their existence."Pastor Deal For Ice Herd Is Complete.," Buffalo Courier-Express, Buffalo, NY - July 18, 1956.

They were Calder Cup champions in 1943, 1944, 1946, 1963 and 1970, and runners-up in 1948, 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1962. After winning their first Calder Cup, the Bisons hired John Ducey to handle public relations, and manage the Memorial Auditorium.

The team ceased operations after the 1969–70 season due to the awarding of a National Hockey League expansion team, the Buffalo Sabres, to begin play in 1970–71. Like the Pittsburgh Hornets three years earlier (also shut down because of NHL expansion), the Bisons closed out their existence with one final championship.

Broadcaster Rick 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 the Cincinnati Swords in 1971. The Sabres used old Bisons jerseys in the team's first training camp in 1970. However the Swords is not a continuation of the Bisons as the team folded and the AHL granted Cincinnati a new team.

American Hockey League Hall of Famers AHL Hall of Fame Honored Members Name Seasons Induction Year Jim Anderson 1957-58 (player) 2009 Bruce Cline 1958-59 (player) 2016 Dave Creighton 1961-62 (player) 2022 Billy Dea 1958-67 (player) 2017 Bill Dineen 1958-60 (player) 2014 Dick Gamble 1954-55, 1957-61 (player) 2007 Marcel Paille 1958-59 (player) 2010 Eddie Shore 1942-46 (general manager)1943-44 (player) 2006 Art Stratton 1961-63, 1964-65 (player) 2015 Bill Sweeney 1958-59 (player) 2010 Fred Thurier 1942-44 (player) 2020 Larry Wilson 1955-68 (player) 2011

After the Bisons On September 18, 2010, the Sabres announced that they would be adopting a third jersey that pays homage to the Bisons during their 2010–11 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. 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.

Season-by-season results Regular season AHLSeason BisonsSeason Games WonLostTiedPoints GoalsFor GoalsAgainst Standing1940–41 1940-4156192710481481764th, West1941–42 562525 6561821574th, West1942–43 562821 7631891431st, West1943–44 54251613632011682nd, East1944–45 6031 821702001821st, East1945–46 623816 8842701961st, East1946–47 64361711832571732nd, West1947–48 684123 4862772383rd, West1948–49 683327 8742462135th, West1949–50 703229 9732262081st, East 1950–51 704026 4843092841st, East 1951–52 682836 4602302983rd, East1952–53 642239 3471602367th, AHL 1953–54 703924 7852832171st, AHL1954–55 643128567248228 4th, AHL1955–56 642930 5632392503rd, AHL1956–57 642537 2522092705th, AHL1957–58 702542 3532243016th, AHL1958–59 703828 4802332011st, AHL1959–60 723335 4702512715th, AHL 1960–61 723534 3732592614th, AHL1961–62 703631 3752472192nd, West1962–63 724124 7892371991st, West1963–64 722540 7571942604th, West1964–65 724026 6862612182nd, West1965–66 722940 3612152434th, West 1966–67 721451 7352073864th, West1967–68 72322812762392243rd, West1968–69 74411815972821921st, West1969–70 72401715952801931st, West

Playoffs Season1st round2nd roundFinals1940–41 Out of playoffs1941–42 Out of playoffs1942–43 W, 4-2, Hershey byeW, 3-0, Indianapolis1943–44 W, 4-1, Indianapolis —W, 4-0, Cleveland1944–45 L, 2-4 Cleveland ——1945–46 W, 4-1, Indianapolis byeW, 4-3, Cleveland1946–47 W, 2-0, Springfield L, 0-2, Pittsburgh — 1947–48 W, 2-1, Hershey W, 2-0, New Haven L, 0-4, Cleveland1948–49 Out of playoffs1949–50 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, Pittsburgh1955–56 L, 2-3, Providence ——1956–57 Out of playoffs1957–58 Out of playoffs1958–59 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, Springfield1962–63 W, 4-2, Providence byeW, 4-3, Hershey1963–64 Out of playoffs1964–65 W, 3-1, Pittsburgh L, 2-3, Hershey —1965–66 Out of playoffs 1966–67 Out of playoffs1967–68 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

References

External links Buffalo Bisons History Buffalo Bisons - HockeyDB.com