Cincinnati Swords



The Cincinnati Swords are a defunct American Hockey League team, founded in 1971, when the newly created NHL expansion team, Buffalo Sabres, exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team. Originally the Sabres wished to place the team in Florida but this was voted down by the AHL, so the Sabres instead put the franchise in Cincinnati. Although they were only in existence of three years, the Cincinnati Swords were immensely popular with their fan base.

In their first season, they would qualify for the playoffs. After a sweep over the Hershey Bears, the Swords would lose to the Baltimore Clippers 4-2. The 1972–73 season would not be a disappointing one, however. The Swords would change the record books (up to that point). These would include most points in a season (113), most wins in a season (54), most homes wins (32), most road wins (22), most points at home (65), and most points in road games (48). They outscored opponents 351-206. After a sweep over the Richmond Robins and a 4-2 series win over the Virginia Wings in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, the Cincinnati Swords would become Calder Cup champions after defeating the previous Calder Cup champions, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, 4-1.

The third season would the final season for the Swords. They qualified for the playoffs, but would lose to the Calder Cup champions later that year, Hershey Bears, 4-1. After the 1973–74 season, the Swords would soon jump to the World Hockey Association as the Cincinnati Stingers. Although they would not start until the 1975 season, the Sabres would pull the plug with their affiliate.