The Cincinnati Swords were an

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

team that played at the Cincinnati Gardens in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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 (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

to replace the team they forced out of the AHL, the Buffalo Bisons. The Sabres had wished to place the team in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, 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, 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. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

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 and a 4-2 series win over the Virginia Wings in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, the Cincinnati Swords defeated the defending league champions, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs to win the Calder Cup - 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 () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

, the Cincinnati Stingers, 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's Cincinnati Cyclones.

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Playoffs

References

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