NHL Teams and Their AHL Affiliates Quiz

Answer: Hershey Bears

The Capitals-Penguins rivalry is one of the NHL's great battles, and fittingly, the Hershey Bears maintain that rivalry in miniature with the nearby Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Probably no AHL team is more storied. The Bears' history dates back to 1932, when Milton S.

Hershey of chocolate and theme park fame founded the Hershey Hockey Club. In 2009 the Bears became the first team to win the Calder Cup (the AHL's championship trophy) ten times. Many hockey notables have played for Hershey: Frank Mathers, Mike Nykoluk, Emile Francis, and Jim Rutherford to name a handful.

In fact, Gordie Howe once said that "Everybody who is anybody in hockey has played in Hershey."

Answer: Toronto Marlies

The Toronto Marlies are affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs. "Marlie" is short for "Marlboro", named after the Duke of Marlborough (the only relation to the cigarettes is the shortening of the name, meant to avoid any such associations). The original Toronto Marlboros played in the junior leagues, from 1903 until 1991. To use the name, the original Marlboros wrote to the Duke himself, who granted permission to use his name and family crest.

The same crest appears on the Marlies' logo today, as does the blue maple leaf, which the Marlboros used before the Maple Leafs themselves! (Or should that be "themselfs"?)

Answer: Bakersfield Condors

Many AHL affiliates are situated in a city with some connection to the parent club. With 1,283 miles between their stadia, the Bakersfield Condor are definitely an exception to that rule. Although this sounds massively inconvenient, it really isn't: it keeps them within spitting distance of most of the AHL's Pacific Division teams in southern California, Vegas, and New Mexico. The Seattle Krakens and the Coachella Valley Firebirds (1,009 miles apart) are also oriented thus for similar reasons, while the Syracuse Crunch (affiliates of the Tampa Bay Lightning: 1,102 miles apart) do much the same thing on the east coast.

It doesn't hurt that Bakersfield is close (in sports terms) to Los Angeles: a certain Mr. Gretzky won Stanley Cups for both the Oilers and the L.A. Kings.

Answer: Rochester Americans

Not to be outdone by Montreal's Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres are affiliated with a team whose name is continentally non-specific. The Americans have indeed bounded across the country, first as the Detroit Olympics, and later as the original iteration of the Pittsburgh Hornets (who actually predate the Pittsburgh Penguins).

The original Hornets were affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, due to the closure of their rink at Duquesne Gardens, the Hornets had to find a new hive. They became the Rochester Americans in 1956.

The team had an excellent run at the Calder Cup from 1964 to 1967, appearing in four consecutive finals and winning three of them.

Answer: Hartford Wolf Pack

The Hartford Wolf Pack have a natural rivalry with the Bridgeport Islanders (affiliate of the NY Islanders), who play their home games a little over an hour away. Why Connecticut? Besides its proximity to New York City, it's simply much cheaper real estate for a giant arena. Bridgeport is Connecticut's big marine port, while Hartford is the capital. "Wolfpacking" is a tactic used in submarine warfare, and Connecticut prides itself on its construction of many U.S. Navy submarines.

The Wolf Pack has proven successful as a farm team: several Rangers stars graduated from Hartford, including Pavel Buchnevich, Igor Shesterkin, and K'Andre Miller.

Answer: Ontario Reign

And by "you could easily mistake," I of course mean "I wrote this whole Interesting Info section assuming 'Ontario' meant the Canadian province." In fact, the Reign are in Ontario, California, only about an hour away from the LA Kings rink. During the AHL's Pacific expansion in 2001, the old Kings affiliates, the Manchester Monarchs of New Hampshire, relocated to the Pacific, becoming the Reign.

Not to leave the Granite Staters without some ice action, the team from the ECHL (a league below the AHL) also called the Ontario Reign moved to Manchester and became the new Monarchs.

Answer: Laval Rocket

The Laval Rocket play just eight miles away from the Canadiens, but I don't think ten pro teams could satiate Quebec's hunger for hockey. Originally playing for Montreal as the St. John's IceCaps (based in Newfoundland and Labrador's capital city), the team relocated and renamed in 2017.

The team is named for Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the legendary Canadiens right winger who was the first player to score 50 goals in one NHL season. Notable Canadiens Jake Evans and Michael "Big Sexy" McCarron got their start with the Rocket.

Answer: Springfield Thunderbirds

Simpsons family eat your heart out: the Springfield Thunderbirds aren't from the Queen City of the Ozarks, but rather Springfield, Massachusetts. Coincidentally, both Springfields are the third-largest cities in their states. Not coincidentally, given Springfield's long hockey history, the AHL is headquartered in the town.

The Springfield, Mass. area has had a minor league team since the AHL's founding, although their original Springfield Indians have since fled to Abbotsford, Canada on the opposite side of the continent. (Between the Indians and the Thunderbirds, a third AHL team, the Falcons, called Springfield home before being sold to Tucson). The Thunderbirds' first Calder Cup appearance was in the 2021-22 season, losing to the Chicago Wolves.

Answer: Utica Comets

Utica in NY state has had an AHL team since 2013, but the allegiance changed in 2021, from the Canucks to the New Jersey Devils. Although new to the area, Utica has taken to its team with open arms. Under the Canucks, the Comets set a league record with 138 consecutive sell-outs from 2013 to 2018. Under the Devils, the Comets have farmed a number of major players, including defenseman Seamus Casey and goalie Nico Daws.

Answer: Grand Rapids Griffins

From the other side of the Lower Peninsula, the Grand Rapids Griffins have been securing prospects for the Detroit Red Wings since 2001. They won the Calder Cup in the 2012-13 and 2016-17 seasons. The Griffins have been dynamite as a farm team, scooping future Wings Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, and Jimmy Howard. Nine of the Red Wings who won the 2007-08 Stanley Cup were former Griffins.

Answer: Tucson Roadrunners

The Roadrunners have bounced between several different franchises and locations. They were originally the Springfield Falcons (that's Springfield, Massachusetts, still), but were relocated to Tucson as affiliates of the Arizona Coyotes (Coyotes... Roadrunners... rings a bell).

In 2024, the Coyotes were purchased by Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz basketball team, to become affiliates of the new Utah Mammoth. The Roadrunners' logo still matches the Coyotes' older colors.

Answer: Chicago Wolves

Chicago's United Center is home to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Bulls, but uptown at the Allstate Arena, the Hurricanes-affiliated Chicago Wolves play. This hasn't been without controversy. As you can imagine, the parent club saw the farm team as... a farm team, existing to provide the Hurricanes with strong prospects.

The Wolves, on the other hand, strove to excel within the AHL. This same different in attitudes drove the Charlotte Checkers to cease Hurricanes affiliation and swap to the Calder-focused Florida Panthers in 2019.

In 2023, the Hurricanes split from the Wolves, temporarily making the Wolves the AHL's first unaffiliated team since 1995. The Wolves then reaffiliated with Carolina in 2024.