The Capital District Islanders were a team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

based in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, which is located within a region popularly called the

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

. The Islanders were the principal minor league affiliate of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

during the 1990–91, 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons. The Islanders were born out of an effort to coax an AHL team into Albany's newly built

Knickerbocker Arena The MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity ...

. However, the

Adirondack Red Wings The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, United States at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the Natio ...

, based in

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

, had long claimed the Capital District as part of its home territory, and initially refused to allow an AHL expansion team to play in Albany. Those plans changed when the International Hockey League expanded eastward out of its Great Lakes stronghold to move the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

to Knickerbocker Arena as the

Albany Choppers The Albany Choppers were an independent professional ice hockey team in Albany, New York competing in the International Hockey League during the 1990–91 season. Creation The Fort Wayne Komets had been mainstays of the IHL for four decades. ...

. By this time, the IHL had firmly established itself as the AHL's equal, and the AHL was unnerved by this encroachment into its Northeastern heartland. It sought to sabotage the Choppers by locating another team in the Albany area. It hastily granted an expansion team to a group headed by one of the suitors for an Albany AHL franchise, car dealer Michael Cantanucci. The new team would play at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

Houston Field House Houston Field House is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. It is the nation's third-oldest college hockey rink, behind Northeastern University's Matthews Arena and Princeton ...

on its Troy campus. It quickly secured an affiliation with the NHL Islanders, bringing with them most of the players who had been on the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

champion

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

the previous year. In the ensuing price and attendance wars, the Choppers folded midseason. The Islanders' best record was in the 1992–93 season, when the team finished 34-34-12 for third place in its division and a playoff berth. Among the team's notable players were

Greg Parks Gregory Roy Parks (March 25, 1967 – June 16, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He won a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. He also played 23 games in the National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; ...

, its leading career scorer in only one and a half seasons; forwards Richard Kromm and

Brent Grieve Brent J. Grieve (born May 9, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left wing and coach. He played 97 games in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1993 and 1996. Playing career As a youth, Grieve played in the 1982 ...

, defensemen Dennis Vaske,

Jeff Finley John Jeffrey Finley (born April 14, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. In 708 career games in the National Hockey League, Finley scored 13 goals and 70 assists for 83 points. Career Finley was drafted by the N ...

and

Dean Chynoweth Dean E. Chynoweth (born October 30, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins. Drafted 13th overall by the Islanders in the 1987 NHL En ...

and goaltender

Danny Lorenz Danny Lorenz (born December 12, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team ...

. In 1993, Cantanucci sold the franchise to local insurance magnate Albert Lawrence. Lawrence renamed the team the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

, changed its affiliation to the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

, and moved the team to Albany's

, the same arena in which the Albany Choppers played in 1990. The current AHL affiliation of the

is the Bridgeport Islanders.

Season-by-season results

;Regular season ;Playoffs

References

{{Defunct AHL Ice hockey teams in New York (state) Defunct American Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Ice hockey clubs established in 1990 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1993 Sports in Capital District (New York) Defunct sports teams in New York (state) New York Islanders minor league affiliates 1990 establishments in New York (state) 1993 disestablishments in New York (state)