History
Once the Cumberland County Civic Center began construction in 1976, there was discussion of the building hosting a minor league hockey franchise. Three franchises eventually made bids to play AHL hockey in Portland: the WHA's Quebec Nordiques, the AHL's Rhode Island Reds, and the Philadelphia Flyers from the NHL. Quebec, who had already a farm team in Lewiston (the Maine Nordiques of the NAHL), was considering supporting affiliates in Portland as well. Rhode Island, who were an established AHL franchise, didn't want to relocate to Portland, but instead proposed scheduling a dozen regular season games there. Philadelphia was the only franchise that wanted to utilize Portland as their teams sole farm club, and in 1977, the agreement to create the Maine Mariners was struck. It proved to be bad news for the Maine Nordiques, who ceased operations after the 1977 season.
Bob McCammon was the team's first head coach. The first regular season game in franchise history was played in Portland in front of 6,566 spectators on October 15, 1977 against the Binghamton Broome Dusters.
The Mariners are the only franchise in league history to win the Calder Cup title in their first two seasons (1977–78, 1978–79) and at the time were the only team to ever capture the Calder Cup during their inaugural season. Later, the feat was matched by the team that brought AHL hockey back to Portland, the Portland Pirates.
Maine returned to the Calder Cup final in 1980–81 and first-year goaltender Pelle Lindbergh became the only goaltender in AHL history, and just the third player ever, to win the AHL regular season MVP and AHL outstanding rookie award in the same season. Bob McCammon won his second AHL coach of the year award.
In 1983–1984 the franchise was taken over by the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. The same season Maine became only the fourth team in AHL history to win a Calder Cup title with a losing regular season record. The Mariners defeated the Rochester Americans in a rematch of the previous year’s finals four games to one. It was the local’s third Calder Cup crown and their fifth finals appearance in seven years. Maine’s championship year was truly a team effort as no members of the club made the all-star team, won a league award during the regular season, or placed in the regular season top ten in scoring. Bud Stefanski was the first recipient of the new AHL playoff MVP award.
Following the 1986-87 season, the Mariners franchise was moved to Utica, New York, renaming themselves the Utica Devils. However, Portland was not without hockey, as the league approved an expansion team supplied by players from the Boston Bruins. The new affiliation with the Bruins saw the team's colors changed from Flyers orange and black (the team never wore the Devils colors during their affiliation) to Bruins black, gold and white. After five seasons in Portland, the Maine Mariners franchise was moved to Providence, RI following the 1991-92 season and renamed the Providence Bruins. The final Mariners home game took place on April 4, 1992 against Fredericton.
This market was previously served by:
- Maine Nordiques of the (NAHL) (1973–1977)
This market is now the home to:
- Portland Pirates (1993–present)
Read more about this topic: Maine Mariners
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“I believe my ardour for invention springs from his loins. I can’t say that the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
—Caresse Crosby (1892–1970)
“In history the great moment is, when the savage is just ceasing to be a savage, with all his hairy Pelasgic strength directed on his opening sense of beauty;—and you have Pericles and Phidias,—and not yet passed over into the Corinthian civility. Everything good in nature and in the world is in that moment of transition, when the swarthy juices still flow plentifully from nature, but their astrigency or acridity is got out by ethics and humanity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)