Cincinnati Swords

Lore & Background

The Cincinnati Swords were founded in 1971 when the newly created NHL team, the Buffalo Sabres, exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team to replace the team they forced out of the AHL, the Buffalo Bisons. The Sabres initially wished to place the team in South Florida, but the AHL balked because a team there would have been isolated from the rest of the league; their nearest rivals would have been the Tidewater Wings, over 500 miles away. Furthermore, the only sizable sports arena in the region, the Hollywood Sportatorium, had severe structural flaws that made it unsuitable as a professional sports venue. The Sabres then proposed to base the team in Cincinnati. Eventually, a team moved to Florida when the cross-state rival Cleveland Barons moved to Jacksonville in 1973. Although they were in existence for only three years, the Swords were immensely popular with Cincinnati fans. They qualified for the playoffs in their first season; they swept the Hershey Bears and lost 4-2 to the Baltimore Clippers in the second round. In 1972–73, the Swords broke numerous AHL records, including most points in a season (113), most wins in a season (54), most home 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 defeated the defending league champions, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs to win the Calder Cup — one of the youngest AHL teams to take the title. The third season was the final one for the Swords; in the playoffs, they lost to the eventual Calder Cup champions, the Hershey Bears, 4-1. In 1974, Cincinnati was granted an expansion franchise in the World Hockey Association, the Cincinnati Stingers, to begin play in 1975-76. Despite the Swords' popularity, the Sabres were not willing to compete with a WHA team and folded the Swords after the 1973–74 season. In 2017, the Sabres once again established a farm team relationship with a Cincinnati hockey team when they affiliated with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones.

Reader's Guide

The Cincinnati Swords, though short-lived, left a notable mark on the AHL. Their 1972–73 season was record-breaking, setting league marks for points (113), wins (54), home wins (32), road wins (22), home points (65), and road points (48), while outscoring opponents 351-206. That same season, they became one of the youngest AHL teams to win the Calder Cup, defeating the defending champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs. The team's popularity in Cincinnati was high, but the Sabres chose to fold the franchise after the 1973–74 season rather than compete with the incoming WHA expansion team, the Cincinnati Stingers. The Swords' legacy includes their brief but intense success and their role as a precursor to later hockey in Cincinnati; in 2017, the Sabres re-established a farm team relationship with the city through the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones.

Did You Know?

• The Swords broke numerous AHL records in 1972–73, including most points (113) and most wins (54) in a season.
• They defeated the defending Calder Cup champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs to win the championship in 1973.
• The Sabres originally wanted to place the team in South Florida, but the AHL rejected the location due to isolation and arena issues.
• The Swords were folded after the 1973–74 season because the Sabres did not want to compete with the incoming WHA's Cincinnati Stingers.