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The same day, June 28, 1938, that the league that would become the American Hockey League (AHL) became official, they welcomed what would become the longest-continuous hockey franchise after the NHL’s Original Six, the Hershey Bears. 

At an annual meeting, held in New York City, two professional leagues officially disbanded and formed a new combined league. The Canadian-American Hockey League (Can-Am League) and the International Hockey League (IHL) had each formed in the 1920s (in 1926 and in 1929). By 1936, the former had lost two teams, so they had the Springfield Indians, Philadelphia Ramblers, Providence Reds, and New Haven Eagles. The latter league had lost four teams, leaving the Buffalo Bisons, Syracuse Stars, Pittsburgh Hornets, and Cleveland Falcons. To survive, the Can-Am teams became the East Division and the IHL became the West to play a “circuit of mutual convenience.” When the governors of the active teams met in 1938, they permanently consolidated the leagues into the International-American Hockey League (IAHL).

To lead the IAHL, they chose Maurice Podoloff of New Haven, Connecticut as president. He had headed the Can-Am League through its role as the East Division. Podoloff would remain president for 16 years (while dividing his time as president of the NBA). John Digby Chick of Windsor, Ontario, former IHL president, became vice-president in charge of officials. The new IAHL then chose to expand the seasons, beginning with 1938-39, to 54 games.

As a top priority, the new IAHL wanted to bring their total back up to an even eight clubs (since the Buffalo Bisons had dropped out of the West Division back in December 1936). Thus, they admitted the Hershey Bears to begin playing that coming season with Herb Mitchell as coach and J.F. Sollenberger as their head. Hershey already had three amateur players from their team willing to turn pro and had recruited seven more players from IAHL’s Pittsburgh team. 

As the Scranton Times-Tribune printed the next day, “Hershey has long been a hot hockey center, drawing large crowds for its eastern amateur league games.” The first amateur games were played there in 1931. The next year, Milton S. Hershey, of chocolate fame, established the Hershey Hockey Club, and they played as the Hershey B’ars in the Tri-State Hockey League. The year after that, Hershey became a founding member of the replacement seven-team Eastern Hockey League (EAHL). When criticized for “B’ars” being “too commercial,” the team officially took the name Bears in 1936. After building the Hershey Sports Arena that spring, the Bears placed first in the EAHL standings and won the league title for the second time in a row. They repeated the feat the next season.

With the IAHL affiliation, the Bears kept winning, finishing their inaugural season at the top of the Western Division. However, they failed to beat Philadelphia’s team in a rousing Pennsylvanian playoff series. Playing in their original arena until 2002 and since then at Giant Center, the Bears have won 11 Calder Cup championships, making them the winningest AHL franchise. They are also the longest-lasting. After the Rhode Island Reds were sold and relocated in 1977, Hershey became the only remaining team from the original eight.

When their second season ended in 1940, the IAHL dropped the “International” to become the American Hockey League. The AHL has mostly flourished and grown since then, primarily through absorbing teams from defunct leagues. Currently, the AHL includes 27 U.S.-based teams and four in Canada. These teams are all affiliated with an NHL team and serve to develop their players. Since 2005, the Hershey Bears have been the development team for the Washington Capitals, who won the Stanley Cup championship in 2018.

Additional Sources:
In her personal history, Kyle Hurst hated her toe picks and wanted to skate on a hockey team like her brother. With age comes wisdom, and realizing how poorly she skates, she now much prefers watching the professionals. Writing about history for her day job, Kyle enjoys combining her two loves by writing hockey history. She still hates toe picks.

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