History
The Portland Pirates were founded in 1993–94 as an affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The owner was Tom Ebright, and the GM & CEO was W. Godfrey Wood. The team was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks, who relocated to Maine. On August 4, 1993, forward Eric Fenton was signed to a professional contract to become the very first member of the fledgling Portland Pirates team. The Pirates replaced the void made by the Maine Mariners who departed to become the Providence Bruins a year earlier. The Capitals affiliation ended after 12 seasons in 2005.
The Pirates first season proved to be their most successful one to date, as they won the Calder Cup with a 43–27–10 record. Their next season they had 104 points but were upset in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the 1995–96 season they again reached the Calder Cup Finals, despite a sub-par record of 32–34–10, but lost to the Rochester Americans.
Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for the Pirates. Despite an excellent 100 point season, they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in 1999–00.
For the first four seasons, they were coached by current Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz. They have played host to the AHL All-Star Classic twice (in 2003 and 2010).
In the 2006 AHL playoffs the Pirates went for a playoff run, only to be defeated by the eventual Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears in a seven-game series.
In 2005 the Pirates announced a five year lease extension at the Cumberland County Civic Center, ending speculation that the team might relocate. The Pirates also signed a three year affiliation agreement with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2005, but the Ducks announced on June 3, 2008, that they were affiliating with the Iowa Chops instead of renewing the agreement.
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