The Cincinnati Swords were an

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

team that played at the

Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati Gardens was an indoor arena located in Cincinnati, Ohio, that opened in 1949. The 25,000 square foot (2,300 m²) brick and limestone building at 2250 Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill had a entrance that was decorated with six three-dimens ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

from 1971 to 1974. They were owned by and the affiliate of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

History

The Swords were founded in 1971 when the newly created NHL team, the Buffalo Sabres, exercised their option to create their own AHL

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

to replace the team they forced out of the AHL, the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. The Sabres had wished to place the team in South Florida, but the AHL balked because a team there would have effectively 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 The Hollywood Sportatorium was an indoor arena in Pembroke Pines, Florida (originally Hollywood), located at 17171 Pines Boulevard (originally 16661 West Hollywood Boulevard). The Sportatorium was from downtown Miami and from downtown Fort L ...

, 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 The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

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 homes 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 The Richmond Robins were a professional ice hockey team based in Richmond, Virginia. They were a member of the American Hockey League for five seasons from 1971–72 to 1975–76. Their cross-state rivals in the AHL were the Virginia Wings. The ...

and a 4-2 series win over the

Virginia Wings The Virginia Wings were a professional ice hockey team based in Norfolk, Virginia of the greater Hampton Roads area. They were an affiliated farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and a member of the American Hockey League for three seasons from 197 ...

in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, the Cincinnati Swords defeated the defending league champions, the

Nova Scotia Voyageurs The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. They played in the American Hockey League, from 1971 to 1984. Originally chartered as the Houston Apollos of the Central Hockey League, the org ...

to win the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

- 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 World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

, the

Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are t ...

, 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 The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

's Cincinnati Cyclones.

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{Defunct AHL Defunct American Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1971 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1974 Ice hockey teams in Ohio Buffalo Sabres minor league affiliates 1971 establishments in Ohio 1974 disestablishments in Ohio