Portland Pirates

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Portland Pirates
City: Portland, Maine
League: American Hockey League
Conference: Eastern Conference
Division: Atlantic Division
Founded: 1993
Home Arena: Cumberland County Civic Center
Colors: black, red, silver
Owner(s): Brian Petrovek
General Manager: Bob Murray
Head Coach: Kevin Dineen
Media: Portland Press Herald
Affiliates: Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Franchise history
1975 to 1982: Erie Blades
1982 to 1993: Baltimore Skipjacks
1993 to present: Portland Pirates
Championships
Division Championships: 1 (2005–06)
Conference Championships: 1 (1995–96)
Calder Cups: 1 (1993–94)

The Portland Pirates are a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Portland, Maine, USA at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks from 1982 to 1993.

Contents

[edit] History

The Pirates were founded in 1993–94 as an affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The team was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks, who relocated to Maine. The Pirates replaced the void made by the Maine Mariners who departed to become the Providence Bruins a year earlier. The Capitals affiliation ended after 12 seasons in 2005.

The Pirates first season proved to be their most successful one, as they won the Calder Cup with a 43–27–10 record. Their next season they had 104 points, but were upset in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the 1995–96 season they again reached the Calder Cup Finals despite a subpar record of 32–34–10, but lost to the Rochester Americans.

Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for the Pirates. Despite an excellent 100 point season, they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in 1999–2000.

For the first four seasons, they were coached by current Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz. They played host to the AHL All-Star Classic in 2003.

In the 2006 AHL playoffs, the Pirates went for a thrilling playoff run, only to be defeated by the eventual Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears in a dramatic seven-game series.

In 2005 the Pirates announced a five year lease extension at the Cumberland County Civic Center, ending speculation that the team might relocate. The Pirates also signed a three year affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2005, but the Ducks announced on June 3, 2008 that they were affiliating with the Iowa Stars instead of renewing the agreement.

On June 10, 2008, the Pirates and the Buffalo Sabres announced that they had reached a new affiliation agreement, ending several months of speculation. [1]

The market was previously home to

[edit] Season-by-season results

[edit] Regular Season

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points Goals
for
Goals
against
Standing
1993–94 80 43 27 10 0 96 328 269 2nd, North
1994–95 80 46 22 12 0 104 333 233 2nd, North
1995–96 80 32 34 10 4 78 282 283 3rd, North
1996–97 80 37 26 10 7 91 279 264 3rd, New England
1997–98 80 33 33 12 2 80 241 247 3rd, Atlantic
1998–99 80 23 48 7 2 55 214 273 5th, Atlantic
1999–00 80 46 23 10 1 103 256 202 2nd, New England
2000–01 80 34 40 4 2 74 250 280 5th, New England
2001–02 80 30 31 15 4 79 220 225 4th, North
2002–03 80 33 28 13 6 85 221 195 4th, North
2003–04 80 32 27 13 8 85 156 160 5th, Atlantic
2004–05 80 34 34 6 6 80 175 242 6th, Atlantic
2005–06 80 53 19 5 3 114 306 241 1st, Atlantic
2006–07 80 37 31 3 9 86 225 232 6th, Atlantic
2007–08 80 45 26 5 4 99 238 215 3rd, Atlantic

[edit] Playoffs

Season Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
1993–94 W, 4–1, ALB W, 4–2, ADIR bye W, 4–2, MONC
1994–95 L, 3–4, PROV
1995–96 W, 3–1, WOR W, 4–2, SPR W, 4–3, SJNB L, 3–4, ROCH
1996–97 L, 2–3, SPR
1997–98 W, 3–1, FRED L, 2–4, SJNB
1998–99 Out of playoffs.
1999–00 L, 1–3, WOR
2000–01 L, 0–3, SJNB
2001–02 Out of playoffs.
2002–03 L, 1–2, MTB
2003–04 W, 2–0, PROV L, 1–4, HART
2004–05 Out of playoffs.
2005–06 W, 4–2, PROV W, 4–2, HART L, 3–4, HER
2006–07 Out of playoffs.
2007–08 W, 4–1, HART W, 4–2, PROV L, 3–4, WBS

[edit] Team records

[edit] Single Season

Goals: 41 Flag of Canada Michel Picard (1993–94)
Assists: 73 Flag of Canada Jeff Nelson (1993–94)
Points: 107 Jeff Nelson (1993–94)
Penalty Minutes: 355 Flag of Canada Mark Major (1997–98)
GAA: 1.99 Flag of Canada Maxime Ouellet (2003–04)
SV%: .930 Maxime Ouellet (2003–04)

[edit] Career

Career Goals: 147 Flag of Canada Kent Hulst
Career Assists: 224 Flag of Canada Andrew Brunette
Career Points: 360 Kent Hulst
Career Penalty Minutes: 797 Flag of Canada Kevin Kaminski
Career Goaltending Wins: 79 Flag of Canada Martin Brochu
Career Shutouts: 17 Maxime Ouellet
Career Games: 473 Kent Hulst

[edit] Roster

(Preliminary roster for 2008-2009)

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Birthplace
53 Flag of Canada Adam Dennis L Toronto, Ontario
Flag of Sweden Jhonas Enroth L Stockholm, Sweden
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Birthplace
2 Flag of Canada Mike Card R Kitchener, Ontario
3 Flag of the United States Mike Weber L Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
4 Flag of Canada Michael Funk L Abbotsford, British Columbia
42 Flag of Slovakia Andrej Sekera L Bojnice, Slovakia
Flag of the United States Chris Butler R St. Louis, Missouri
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Birthplace
17 Flag of Canada Dylan Hunter LW R Quebec City, Quebec
21 Flag of Canada Marc-Andre Gragnani LW L Montréal, Quebec
23 Flag of Slovakia Marek Zagrapan C L Prešov, Slovakia
26 Flag of Canada Mark Mancari RW R London, Ontario
27 Flag of the United States Patrick Kaleta RW R Buffalo, New York
37 Flag of the United States Michael Ryan C L Boston, Massachusetts
41 Flag of Canada Clarke MacArthur LW L Lloydminster, Alberta
Flag of the United States Nathan Gerbe C L Oxford, Michigan
Flag of Germany Philip Gogulla LW L Düsseldorf, Germany
Flag of the United States Tim Kennedy LW L Buffalo, New York
Flag of Germany Felix Schutz C L Erding, Germany

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sabres to parent Portland. buffalonews.com (2008-06-10). Retrieved on 2008-06-10.

[edit] External links