When Abbotsford’s American Hockey League team was named the Canucks, some disliked the lack of originality in both the affiliate and parent team sharing a moniker.
But the Abbotsford Canucks aren’t even the first AHL team to use it – that distinction falls to the Hamilton Canucks, who existed from 1992 to 1994.
AHL arrived in Hamilton due to former NHL-er Pat Hickey, who led an ownership team that also included former Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Canadian Football League Hall-of-Famer Bernie Faloney. The AHL awarded an expansion franchise to the group in April 1992 and their home would be Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.
Remembering the Hamilton Canucks (the first @TheAHL team to be called the Canucks) – pic.twitter.com/5A3lIBjAf5
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) July 25, 2023
The group signed an affiliation deal with the Vancouver Canucks and named the team the Canucks prior to play in the 92-93 season.
The Hamilton Canucks failed to make the playoffs in 92-93, compiling a record of 29-45-6 in the AHL’s Southern Division. The team was coached by Jack McIlhargy (who went on to become an assistant coach in Vancouver from 99-00 to 05-06) and had an average attendance of 4,773.
Players who hockey fans may recognize on that inaugural team include: Mario Marios, Rick Vaive, Jiri Slegr, Jassen Cullimore, Mike Peca, Garry Valk, Shawn Antoski and goalie Troy Gamble. The team also featured former Canucks first round draft picks Libor Polasek (1992) and Jason Herter (1989).
Hickey’s original partners left the team in the summer of 1993 and the new group allegedly began having both financial issues and were unhappy with the lease at Copps Coliseum. Hickey left the group in October of 1993 and in early-November the team shutdown their team offices at Copps Coliseum and ceased operations.
Yr1 of Hamilton Canucks a money losing pile for the owners.Summer bfr yr2/ownership turns into a fake company "double hitch" then a week into the season/ goes bankrupt & Copps office is empty. Sadly AHL steps in and runs the team rest of yr and hires staff/ disaster again #hamont pic.twitter.com/m3yYcu8dRB
— Hamilton Hockey (@hamhockeypast) January 19, 2023
There was a possibility that the club would fold during the 1993-94 season, but the Vancouver Canucks chose to assume responsibility of the club for the remainder of the season.
Hamilton qualified for the playoffs in 93-94 and finished with a record of 36-37-7. They were eliminated in round one of the playoffs. Attendance dropped to 3,349 for 93-94.
Recognizable players in 93-94 included: Scott Walker, Adrian Aucoin and goalie Mike Fountain.
More Hamilton Canucks history pic.twitter.com/E2DKnUbfzQ
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) July 25, 2023
Following the team’s elimination from the playoffs, the team was moved to Syracuse, N.Y. and became known as the Crunch. That team still exists to this day.
The Copps Coliseum, which opened in 1985, is still in operation and is now known as the FirstOntario Centre. The building is the current home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock. However, later this month the building will close for 20 months for signification renovations.
The only other semi-professional team to be called Canucks was the California-based Ontario Canucks. They played in the 1958-59 season in the California Hockey League. They finished with a record of 8-23-2 that season.
There have been a number of junior hockey teams with the Canucks name including: the Calgary Canucks (Alberta Junior Hockey League), Dawson Creek Canucks (Cariboo Hockey League), Kitchener Canucks (OHL), Moose Jaw Canucks (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League) and Niagara Falls Canucks (Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League).