The Cincinnati Tigers were a minor league

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

during the 1981–82 season. They played in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, at the

Riverfront Coliseum Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the fa ...

. The team was owned and operated by Maple Leaf Gardens Limited, and served as a

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. Prior to launching the Tigers, the Leafs were affiliated with the

New Brunswick Hawks The New Brunswick Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Home games were played at the Moncton Coliseum. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) between 1978 and 1982. The Hawks operated as a mino ...

of 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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL), which they shared with the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. However,

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

, owner of the Leafs, decided that they needed a developmental team of their own, with a spokesperson citing the limited number of roster spots as the rationale for the move. The team averaged only 1,500 fans and lost $750,000 in their first season, leading the Leafs to dissolve the Tigers in the spring of 1982. Shortly thereafter, with Chicago having pulled out of New Brunswick in favour of affiliating with the

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 existe ...

on their own, the Leafs relocated the New Brunswick Hawks to St. Catharines, Ontario to establish the St. Catharines Saints as their farm team.

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{reflist

External links

Cincinnati Hockey Archives
Central Professional Hockey League teams Toronto Maple Leafs minor league affiliates Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment 1981 establishments in Ohio 1982 disestablishments in Ohio Ice hockey clubs established in 1981 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1982 Sports teams in Cincinnati Defunct ice hockey teams in Ohio