Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise , originally based in West Springfield , Massachusetts and later Springfield , Massachusetts . The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League . They existed for a total of 52 seasons from 1926 to 1994 , with three interruptions . The Indians had two brief hiatuses from 1933 - 35 , and from 1942 - 46 . The team was known as the Syracuse Warriors from 1951 - 54 ; in addition , the team was named the Springfield Kings from 1967 - 74 . The Indians won seven Calder Cup championships , one while known as the Kings in 1971 . Early history . The Indians had their start in the Canadian - American Hockey League in 1926 . The " Can - Am , " as it was called , was founded in Springfield and the Indians were one of the five initial franchises . It was run at the time by Lester Patrick and the National Hockey League ' s New York Rangers , and future NHL stars such as Charlie Rayner , Earl Seibert ( who after his playing days were through would be the Indians ' long time coach ) , Cecil Dillon and Ott Heller saw their start in Springfield uniforms . The Indians played in the Can - Am League until the 1932 – 33 season , having to fold thirteen games into the season . In 1935 - 36 , Lucien Garneau transferred his Quebec Beavers franchise to Springfield , resurrecting the Indians name ; the team was now associated with the NHL ' s Montreal Canadiens . The Great Depression caused cutbacks all around , and the Can - Am merged with the International Hockey League to form the International - American Hockey League , which changed its name to the American Hockey League , having lost its last Canadian franchises , in 1941 . But before that time , the man who cast his shadow over the team for most of its existence , Boston Bruins ' s superstar defenseman Eddie Shore , purchased the team in 1939 . Industriously , he split games between the Bruins and the Indians , even going to far to provoke a trade to the Amerks to make the train commute easier . He retired from the NHL after that season , but played for Springfield for two more seasons . Shore ' s often - controversial but ever - colorful management style would permeate the team for the next three decades and provide generations of hockey players and fans with anecdotes . Despite early stars like Shore , Fred Thurier , Frank Beisler and Pete Kelly , success eluded the Indians on the ice . However , in the 1941 – 42 season , the Indians finished in first place . Disaster struck in the following season . With World War II , the United States army requisitioned the Eastern States Coliseum , Springfield ' s home arena , for the war effort , leaving the Indians homeless . Shore loaned Indians players to the Buffalo Bisons for the duration , returning the players to Springfield for the 1946 – 47 season . However , on ice success continued to elude the team , and despite the presence of stars such as Harry Pidhirny and Jim Anderson the franchise failed to have a winning record for over a decade more , including a temporary franchise relocation as the Syracuse Warriors from 1951 - 54 ( during which Shore fielded a Springfield team in the low - minor Eastern Amateur Hockey League and later the Quebec Hockey League using the Indians name ) . The team ' s few superlatives in this time included the 1955 season - during which Ross Lowe won the only league MVP award in franchise history and Anderson was named rookie of the year - and All - Star Team citations to Eldie Kobussen at center in 1948 , Billy Gooden in 1951 , Lowe , Gordon Tottle and Don Simmons in 1955 , Gerry Ehman and Cal Gardner in 1958 , and Pidhirny in 1959 . " They could have played in the NHL . . . " . Matters turned around in dramatic fashion for the 1959 – 60 season . Behind an affiliation with the Rangers bringing stars Bill Sweeney and goaltender Marcel Paille over from Providence , and an immensely deep team with star forwards Pidhirny , Anderson , Ken Schinkel , Bruce Cline , Brian Kilrea , and defensemen Ted Harris , Kent Douglas , Noel Price and Bob McCord , the Indians led the league in the regular season three straight years and won three straight Calder Cup s , losing only five playoff games in that span . Sweeney won the league scoring title three years in a row , Paille the best goaltending record two years running , and Springfield defensemen won the best defenseman award two years running . With the most dominant team the AHL has ever seen - - no team before or since won three straight regular season OR playoff championships - - the stands in the old Coliseum were filled night after night , and it was said of the 1959 - 1962 Indians that they could have played in the NHL . . . and not have finished last . 1959 – 60 : Sweeney finished second in league scoring behind Fred Glover of Cleveland with 96 points , Floyd Smith finished third and Bruce Cline ninth . The Indians led the league with a 43 - 23 - 6 record , and defeated Rochester four games to one in the finals for the franchise ' s first Calder Cup . Sweeney was named to the First All - Star Team at center , Paille to the Second Team at goal , McCord to the Second Team at defense , Smith to the Second Team at left wing , and Parker McDonald to the Second Team at right wing . 1960 – 61 : Indians led the league with a 49 - 22 - 1 record , a mark unsurpassed until the 1973 season . The magnificent offense scored 344 goals , nearly a hundred more than any other team . Sweeney led the league in scoring , while Cline placed third , Kilrea fourth , Bill McCreary Sr . fifth and Anderson seventh in a show of offensive dominance unique in the history of the AHL , while Paille led the league in goaltending . The Indians became the second team in league history to go undefeated in the playoffs , sweeping the Cleveland Barons and the Hershey Bears . Paille was named to the First All - Star Team , as was Cline at right wing , McCord was awarded the Eddie Shore Award as the league ' s best defenseman , and Sweeney and Anderson were named to the Second Team . 1961 – 62 : Indians led the league with a 45 - 22 - 3 record . Sweeney defended his scoring title , while Kilrea placed fourth and Anderson tenth , and Paille led the league in goaltending once more . Springfield defeated Buffalo four games to one in the finals to win its record third Calder Cup in a row . Douglas won best defenseman honors , Sweeney and Paille repeated as First Team All - Stars , and McCord and Smith were named to the Second Team again . The expansion era and beyond . Although Sweeney led the league in scoring in 1963 for a third time , the party was over for the Indians . While they still had a winning record and an offense that led the league , the Rangers had moved Paille to Baltimore , and the team missed the playoffs that year in a tight divisional race . They continued to miss the playoffs for most of the rest of the Sixties . In the meantime , Eddie Shore ' s oft - capricious and notoriously miserly ownership style caused increasing friction with his players , who staged wildcat strikes in 1966 and 1967 . Representing them , a young lawyer named Alan Eagleson gained prominence , and went on to form the National Hockey League Players ' Association ( NHLPA ) . The following season the Indians had the benefit of a league lacking powerful teams - - only Baltimore and Cleveland had winning records . The team just squeaked into the playoffs with a losing record - - winning a one - game playoff with the Quebec Aces to do it - - and rampaged to Springfield ' s fourth Calder Cup championship with a sparkling 11 - 1 playoff record , led by future NHL star center Butch Goring and Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Billy Smith and sweeping a shellshocked Providence Reds squad . The 1971 Kings were , and remain , the team with the poorest record ever to win the Cup . The following year Goring and Smith were gone , and the franchise spent two more years in the wilderness . But in the 1974 – 75 season , Eddie Shore enjoyed his final hurrah , taking full control of the team once more , changing its name midseason back to the Indians and reverting to the old blue - white - red uniforms , all to popular acclaim . With a cast of no - names , the club won its fifth Calder Cup championship ( becoming only the second fourth place team ever to do so ) , beating the New Haven Nighthawks four games to one in the finals . An elderly Shore sold the team after the next season , ending an era inextricably linking his name to Springfield hockey . The next fourteen years were hard ones for the once - proud franchise . Springfield went through a dizzying array of NHL affiliations , while no coach stayed longer than a single season . The revolving door did their on - ice record no good ; over that stretch , the Indians recorded only two winning seasons and won but a single playoff game . There were only sporadic bright spots ; a scoring title from minor - league great Bruce Boudreau in 1988 , quality seasons from future NHLers Charlie Simmer and Mario Lessard in 1978 , and a league - leading season in goal in 1983 from Bob Janecyk . The 1990s and the last cups . In 1990 fortunes changed once more , in an affiliation with the New York Islanders . A gallant squad coached by ex - NHL defensive whiz Jim Roberts sneaked into the playoffs in the final week in part due to veteran minor - league goaltender Rick Knickle ' s ( signed when injuries both in Springfield and Long Island sidelined the Indians ' top three goaltenders ) eight game undefeated streak , and on May 18 , 1990 , the team knocked off the heavily favored Rochester Americans in six games in the finals for the franchise ' s sixth Calder Cup . Future NHL goaltender Jeff Hackett won the playoff MVP , inspirational leader Rod Dallman provided tons of grit , while names such as Marc Bergevin , Tom Fitzgerald , team captain Rob DiMaio , Jeff Finley and Bill Berg were heard from by NHL fans for many years to come . In the middle of a dispute over leasing at the Springfield Civic Center , the Indians ' home for much of the previous two decades , the team ' s affiliation changed again to the Hartford Whalers . Despite fan anger at the loss of their favorites , only to be replaced from a Binghamton Whalers team recording the worst record in league history the season before , the 1990 – 91 new look Indians proved their naysayers wrong . Behind Roberts ' veteran coaching , they rampaged to the second best record in the league behind a powerful offense led by future NHLer Terry Yake , James Black , Chris Tancill and Michel Picard ( who led the league with a franchise - record 56 goals ) , and a rock solid defense led by captain John Stevens and Bergevin , who had been acquired by the Whalers in an early - season trade . In so doing , the team won the North Division regular season title , the Indians ' first division title since the Cup - winning squad of 1962 . Goaltender Kay Whitmore won the playoff MVP as Springfield defended their title against Rochester . The victory would be the Springfield franchise ' s seventh and final Calder Cup championship . End of an era . Roberts and several stars were promoted to Hartford the following fall , and while the Indians repeated for the final time as division champions in 1992 ( and in winning their seventh straight playoff series in the preliminary round of the playoffs , setting a new league record , ( since tied by the Hershey Bears ) , they never again gained the finals nor thereafter had a winning record . In 1993 the Indians made the semi - finals before being devastated by eventual champion Cape Breton Oilers . The team ' s last game was at home in the first round of the 1994 playoffs against the Adirondack Red Wings . In the fall of 1994 , the franchise was bought by out - of - town interests and moved to Worcester , Massachusetts , to become the Worcester IceCats . With good will from an American Hockey League with central offices across the river in West Springfield and run by ex - Indians Jack Butterfield and Gordon Anziano , longtime Springfield General Manager Bruce Landon secured a new franchise from the league and started play that season ( with the same Whalers ' - owned players as the previous season ) as the Springfield Falcons . The original franchise has been moved to Peoria , Illinois , for the 2005 – 06 AHL season , and is the oldest minor league franchise still in existence . The only professional hockey franchises older are the Montreal Canadiens , Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the NHL . The final active Springfield Indian playing any significant time with the franchise was Rob DiMaio , who last played in the 2006 preseason with the Dallas Stars . Michael Nylander of the Washington Capitals , who played four games for the Indians in 1994 , is the last active player who ever wore an Indians ' jersey . Hockey Hall of Famers . List of Springfield Indians alumni later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . Notable NHL / WHA alumni . List of Springfield Indians alumni that played more than 100 games in Springfield , and also played at least a hundred games in the National Hockey League and / or World Hockey Association or were otherwise notable hockey executives . Season - by - season results . Regular season . " First place finishes in bold . " Defeated Quebec Aces 4 - 3 in a single tiebreaker game to determine final playoff position . Playoffs . " Playoff champions in bold . " Defeated Quebec Aces 4 - 3 in a single tiebreaker game to determine final playoff position .