The International Hockey League was a professional hockey league operating in Canada and the United States from 1929 to 1936. It is one of two direct ancestors 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 ...
.
It was formed when the
Canadian Professional Hockey League split into two leagues. The larger teams formed the IHL, which was one step below the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
. The smaller teams kept the CPHL name, and served as a farm system for the IHL for one season.
Three teams folded and two others merged after the 1935–36 season, leaving the IHL with only four teams—the minimum required for the league to be viable. The remaining teams joined with the
Canadian-American Hockey League, which had also been cut down to four teams, to form a "circuit of mutual convenience" called the "International-American Hockey League." The two leagues played an interlocking schedule for the next two years, with the IHL serving as the IAHL's Western Division and the Can-Am serving as its Eastern Division. The
Buffalo Bisons, a charter IHL member, suspended operations due to an arena collapse and subsequent financial problems after only 11 games, and the IAHL played as a seven-team unit for the rest of the season and all of the 1938–39 season.
At a meeting held in New York City on June 28, 1938, the two leagues formally merged into a unified league operating under the IAHL name. The
Eastern Amateur Hockey League's
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 ...
were added as an expansion team, replacing the Bisons.
["HERSHEY IN HOCKEY LEAGUE Admitted to Circuit as American-International Loops Unite" ''The Philadelphia Record'', June 29, 1938] The IAHL changed its name to the American Hockey League in 1940.
Teams
Timeline
See also
*
List of ice hockey leagues
References
External links
International Hockey League (1929-1936)at
HockeyDB
International Hockey League (1929-1936)at hockeyleaguehistory.com
at ottawavalleyonline.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Hockey League (1929-1936)
Defunct ice hockey leagues in the United States
Defunct ice hockey leagues in Canada
Sports leagues established in 1929
Sports leagues disestablished in 1936
1929 establishments in the United States
1936 disestablishments in the United States
1929 establishments in Canada
1936 disestablishments in Canada