International Hockey League 1945-1988 Part I

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The IHL was formed in December 1945 and initially consisted of four cross-border teams in Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. In 1947, a team from Toledo, Ohio joined the league, and the following year the IHL expanded significantly, with teams in four additional U.S. cities. The expansion did not take hold, and for 1949-50, the league was back down to teams in Detroit and Windsor as well as two nearby Canadian cities, Sarnia, Ontario and Chatham, Ontario. Windsor dropped out in 1950, and expansion into the U.S. began again, with Toledo rejoining the league and new teams in Grand Rapids, Michigan (1950), Troy, Ohio, (1951), Cincinnati (1952), Fort Wayne, Indiana (1952), and Milwaukee (1952). At the same time, the last Canadian team left the league in 1952, when the Chatham Maroons pulled out. Three new U.S. cities were added in 1953. The league would expand and shrink between five and nine teams through the 1950s, with another major expansion in 1959. In the 1962-63 season, the IHL played an interlocking schedule with the NHL-owned Eastern Professional Hockey League, which itself folded in 1963. After 11 seasons as a strictly U.S.-based league, the IHL admitted two Canadian teams in 1963, with the Windsor Bulldogs and the return of the Chatham Maroons. Both teams dropped out after one season, however, and the league would not have a Canadian team again until 1996.

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Category:

Sports

Tags:

• CINCINNATI MOHAWKS
• COLUMBUS SEALS
• COLUMBUS OWLS
• IHL
• COLUMBUS CHECKERS
• DAYTON GEMS
• FORT WAYNE KOMETS
• CHATHAM MAROONS
• AKRON AMERICANS
• DENVER MAVERICKS
• DES MOINES CAPITALS
• GRAND RAPIDS ROCKETS
• INDIANAPOLIS CHECKERS
• INDIANAPOLIS CHIEFS

[mounsteres]

Toledo Mercurys (1947–1962)

Toledo Blades (1963–1970)

Toledo Hornets (1970–1974)

Toledo Goaldiggers (1974–1986)

[goblew14]

fort wayne komets

[lemond234]

Muskegon Mohawks.

[hrudey3032]

The 2 team pictures of the Indianapolis Checkers were from 79-80,80-81 when the Checkers were in the original Central Hockey League.The Checkers joined the IHL in 1984

[BruceWalters]

The original IHL consisted of six teams, not four. Four teams were in Detroit, and two in Windsor.