The Canadian–American Hockey League, popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct predecessor of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. For its first ten years the Can-Am's membership varied between five and six teams. However, when the Boston Bruin Cubs dropped out after the 1935–36 season, the league was reduced to just four active teams (Philadelphia, Providence, Springfield, and New Haven). At the same time, the Rust Belt-based International Hockey League had also been cut down to just four teams; Syracuse, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. With both leagues at the bare minimum number of teams to be viable, they decided to form a temporary "circuit of mutual convenience" known as the International-American Hockey League. For the next two years, the two leagues played an interlocking schedule with the Can-Am clubs serving as the IAHL's Eastern Division and the IHL as its Western Division. At a meeting held in New York City on June 28, 1938, the two leagues formally merged into a unified eight-team circuit operating under the IAHL name with the addition of the EAHL's then three-time defending champion

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

, which was awarded an IAHL franchise that day to replace the defunct Buffalo club. The league changed its name to the current American Hockey League in 1940. Two current AHL franchises have roots in the Can-Am. The Hartford Wolf Pack is descended from the Providence Reds franchise, which moved to

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

, in 1977 before moving to Hartford in 1997. The Abbotsford Canucks are descended from the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

franchise, which moved to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, in 1994 before relocating to Peoria in 2005, to Utica in 2013, and to

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...

, in 2021.

Teams

* Boston Tigers (named ''Tigers'' from 1926–1931 and in 1935, ''Cubs'' from 1931–1933, Tiger Cubs in 1933–34 and Bruin Cubs from 1934–1936) * Bronx Tigers (1931–32) * New Haven Eagles (1926–27 to 1935–36; joins IAHL) * Newark Bulldogs (1928–29) * Philadelphia Arrows (1927–28 to 1934–35) * Philadelphia Ramblers (1935–36; joins IAHL) * Quebec Castors (Beavers) (two separate franchises; first: 1926–27 to 1927–28, became the Newark Bulldogs; second: 1932–33 to 1934–35, became the Springfield Indians) * Providence Reds (1926–27 to 1935–36; joins IAHL) *

(two separate franchises; first: 1926–27 to 1932–33, folded; second: 1935–36, joins IAHL)

Timeline

Champions

The championship trophy was known as the Henri Fontaine Trophy.

Teams

Timeline

Champions

References

See also