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.

Buffalo Bisons
CityBuffalo, New York
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
Operated1940–1970
Home arenaMemorial Auditorium
ColorsRed, white, blue
AffiliatesMontreal Canadiens
Chicago Black Hawks
New York Rangers
Franchise history
1926–1930Hamilton Tigers (CPHL, IHL)
1930–1940Syracuse Stars (IHL, IAHL)
1940–1970Buffalo Bisons
Championships
Regular season titles5 (1945–46, 1953–54,
1958–59, 1962–63, 1968–69)
Division titles8 (1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1969–70)
Calder Cups5 (1942–43, 1943–44,
1945–46, 1962–63, 1969–70)

History

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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 logo to reflect the soft drink company; the Bisons retained the logo for the rest of their existence.[1]

They were Calder Cup champions in 1943, 1944, 1946, 1963 and 1970, and runners-up in 1948, 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1962.

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.[2] However the Swords is not a continuation of the Bisons as the team folded and the AHL granted Cincinnati a new team.

After the Bisons

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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.[3] 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

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Regular season

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AHL
Season
Bisons
Season
Games Won Lost Tied Points Goals
For
Goals
Against
Standing
1940–41 1940-41 56 19 27 10 48 148 176 4th, West
1941–42 56 25 25 6 56 182 157 4th, West
1942–43 56 28 21 7 63 189 143 1st, West
1943–44 54 25 16 13 63 201 168 2nd, East
1944–45 60 31 8 21 70 200 182 1st, East
1945–46 62 38 16 8 84 270 196 1st, East
1946–47 64 36 17 11 83 257 173 2nd, West
1947–48 68 41 23 4 86 277 238 3rd, West
1948–49 68 33 27 8 74 246 213 5th, West
1949–50 70 32 29 9 73 226 208 1st, East
1950–51 70 40 26 4 84 309 284 1st, East
1951–52 68 28 36 4 60 230 298 3rd, East
1952–53 64 22 39 3 47 160 236 7th, AHL
1953–54 70 39 24 7 85 283 217 1st, AHL
1954–55 64 31 28 5 67 248 228 4th, AHL
1955–56 64 29 30 5 63 239 250 3rd, AHL
1956–57 64 25 37 2 52 209 270 5th, AHL
1957–58 70 25 42 3 53 224 301 6th, AHL
1958–59 70 38 28 4 80 233 201 1st, AHL
1959–60 72 33 35 4 70 251 271 5th, AHL
1960–61 72 35 34 3 73 259 261 4th, AHL
1961–62 70 36 31 3 75 247 219 2nd, West
1962–63 72 41 24 7 89 237 199 1st, West
1963–64 72 25 40 7 57 194 260 4th, West
1964–65 72 40 26 6 86 261 218 2nd, West
1965–66 72 29 40 3 61 215 243 4th, West
1966–67 72 14 51 7 35 207 386 4th, West
1967–68 72 32 28 12 76 239 224 3rd, West
1968–69 74 41 18 15 97 282 192 1st, West
1969–70 72 40 17 15 95 280 193 1st, West

Playoffs

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Season 1st round 2nd round Finals
1940–41 Out of playoffs
1941–42 Out of playoffs
1942–43 W, 4-2, Hershey bye W, 3-0, Indianapolis
1943–44 W, 4-1, Indianapolis W, 4-0, Cleveland
1944–45 L, 2-4 Cleveland
1945–46 W, 4-1, Indianapolis bye W, 4-3, Cleveland
1946–47 W, 2-0, Springfield L, 0-2, Pittsburgh
1947–48 W, 2-1, Hershey W, 2-0, New Haven L, 0-4, Cleveland
1948–49 Out of playoffs
1949–50 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, Pittsburgh
1955–56 L, 2-3, Providence
1956–57 Out of playoffs
1957–58 Out of playoffs
1958–59 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, Springfield
1962–63 W, 4-2, Providence bye W, 4-3, Hershey
1963–64 Out of playoffs
1964–65 W, 3-1, Pittsburgh L, 2-3, Hershey
1965–66 Out of playoffs
1966–67 Out of playoffs
1967–68 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

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  1. ^ "Pastor Deal For Ice Herd Is Complete.," Buffalo Courier-Express, Buffalo, NY - July 18, 1956.
  2. ^ Fink, James (December 3, 2019). "Present greets past as Sabres host founding owners". Buffalo Business First. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  3. ^ "Sabres unveil 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic uniform". Buffalo Sabres. November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
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