Albany River Rats

This article is about the defunct American Hockey League team, for the recreational team established in 2024, for please see Albany River Rats HC.
The Albany River Rats were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center.
== History ==
=== Founding to 2010 ===
The team was founded as the Capital District Islanders (playing at Houston Field House on campus at RPI located across the Hudson River in Troy, New York) in 1990 but changed their name when the New Jersey Devils sold their old affiliate the Utica Devils to become linked with this team.
In 1998, Walter Robb purchased the franchise from original owner Al Lawrence, allowing the franchise to remain in Albany. Garen Szablewski has served as CEO and President of the River Rats for 15 years since 1994.
The Rats' glory days came in the mid to late 1990s making seven consecutive playoff appearances, won 2 division titles, and took home the AHL's Calder Cup in 1995. Also in 1995, their parent club, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup. 
However, wins have declined since the 1997–98 season, the last time Albany won a playoff series. The River Rats finished last in each of the 6 seasons between 2000–01 and 2005–06. A new affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes beginning in the 2006–07 season brought hope of a return to AHL glory not seen in Albany since the late '90s.
On March 22, 2006, the Devils announced that they were cutting ties with the River Rats after the 2005–06 AHL season, as the parent club announced the purchase of the Lowell Lock Monsters. Despite the move, the River Rats were not relocated. In April 2006, The Carolina Hurricanes signed a one year agreement (with the option to renew for two additional) with the River Rats to be their farm affiliate. Later on, Carolina was joined by the Colorado Avalanche in a one-year partnership agreement. On February 22, 2007, the Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats announced that their affiliation agreement had been extended through the 2008–09 season. 
On April 24, 2008, the River Rats lost 2–3 to the Philadelphia Phantoms in the longest game played in AHL history. The Phantoms Ryan Potulny scored 2:58 into the fifth overtime. Albany gave up 101 shots on goal, and goaltender Michael Leighton made 98 saves. 
=== Move to Charlotte ===
On January 22, 2010, a report out of Raleigh, North Carolina that the franchise was to be sold and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. The new franchise would be the new affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes with a team name of the Charlotte Checkers.
On February 10, 2010 the River Rats web site announced the sale of the River Rats is complete and they will be moving to Charlotte at the conclusion of the 2009-10 AHL Season. "Capital District Sports, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, the Albany River Rats, has sold its American Hockey League franchise to MAK Hockey, LLC located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sale will not affect the remainder of the 2009-10 season, with regular season games concluding on April 10, 2010 followed by the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs." "CAPITAL DISTRICT SPORTS ANNOUNCES RIVER RATS SALE" - AlbanyRiverRats.com However after the end of the 2010 season the team will relocate to Charlotte, North Carolina and be known as the Checkers and play in the Time Warner Cable Arena.
Shortly following the sale of the franchise, officials in Albany, as well as AHL President Dave Andrews, told media outlets the city would likely have a team for the 2010-2011 season and may even keep the River Rats title and logo, which remain property of former owner Walter Robb. It was reported in the Albany Times Union and the Portland Press Herald on March 15 that talks between the Times Union Center and the Portland Pirates to relocate the Pirates have broken off. Both Newspapers are reporting that Times Union Center GM Bob Belber said that they will go in a new direction and try to sign a deal with the Lowell Devils and bring back the Devils affiliaton to Albany. On the 6th of June the New Jersey Devils announced the relocation of the Lowell Devils to Albany to begin play in the AHL in the 2010-2011 season as the Albany Devils.http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=531414
:This market was previously served by: Albany Choppers of the IHL (1990–91)
:The franchise was replaced by: Albany Devils of the AHL, a relocation of the Lowell Devils (2010-present)
:The franchise was later known as: Charlotte Checkers
=== 2009 Bus Crash ===
On February 19, 2009, five people were seriously injured when a bus carrying the team home from a game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side on Interstate 90 in western Massachusetts. Nicolas Blanchard, Joe Jensen, Jonathan Paiement, Casey Borer, and the River Rats radio color commentator John Hennessy were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with "serious" injuries.
=== Affiliates ===
*New Jersey Devils (1993–2006)
*Colorado Avalanche (2006–2007)
*Carolina Hurricanes (2006–2010)
== Season-by-season results ==
=== Regular season ===
Season 	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SOL	Points	Goalsfor	Goalsagainst	Standing
1993–94	80 	38 	34 	8 	— 	— 	84 	312 	315 	3rd, North
1994–95	80 	46 	17 	17 	— 	— 	109 	293 	219 	1st, North
1995–96	80 	54 	19 	7 	— 	— 	115 	322 	218 	1st, Central
1996–97	80 	38 	28 	9 	5 	— 	90 	269 	231 	3rd, Empire State
1997–98	80 	43 	20 	11 	6 	— 	103 	290 	223 	1st, Empire State
1998–99	80 	46 	26 	6 	2 	— 	100 	275 	230 	2nd, Empire State
1999–00	80 	30 	40 	7 	3 	— 	70 	225 	250 	4th, Empire State
2000–01	80 	30 	40 	6 	4 	— 	70 	216 	262 	6th, Mid-Atlantic
2001–02	80 	14 	42 	12 	12 	— 	52 	172 	271 	4th, East
2002–03	80 	25 	37 	11 	7 	— 	68 	197 	235 	5th, East
2003–04	80 	21 	39 	11 	9 	— 	62 	182 	257 	7th, East
2004–05	80 	29 	38 	— 	6 	7 	71 	198 	248 	7th, East
2005–06	80 	25 	48 	— 	4 	3 	57 	206 	278 	7th, Atlantic
2006–07	80 	37 	36 	— 	4 	3 	81 	246 	258 	4th, East
2007–08	80 	43 	30 	— 	3 	4 	93 	213 	198 	3rd, East
2008–09	80 	33 	40 	— 	3 	4 	73 	219 	258 	7th, East
2009–10	80 	43 	29 	— 	3 	5 	94 	244 	231 	2nd, East
=== Playoffs ===
Season 	1st round 	2nd round 	3rd round 	Finals
1993–94	L, 1-4, PORT 	— 	— 	—
1994–95	W, 4-0, ADIR 	W, 4-2, PROV 	-- 	W, 4-0, FRED
1995–96	L, 1-3, CORN 	— 	— 	—
1996–97	W, 3-1, ADIR 	W, 4-3, ROCH 	L, 1-4, HAM 	—
1997–98	W, 3-0, ADIR 	W, 4-0, HAM 	L, 2-4, PHIL 	—
1998–99	L, 3-2, HAM 	— 	— 	—
1999–00	L, 3-2, ROCH 	— 	— 	—
2000–01	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2001–02	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2002–03	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2003–04	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2004–05	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2005–06	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2006–07	L, 1-4, HER 	— 	— 	—
2007–08	L, 3-4 PHIL 	— 	— 	—
2008–09	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs	Out of playoffs
2009–10	W, 4-0 WBS 	L, 0-4 HER 	— 	—
== Team records ==
=== Single season ===
:Goals: 46 Jeff Williams (1998-99) 
:Assists: 63 Keith Aucoin (2006-07)
:Points: 99 Keith Aucoin (2006-07)
:Penalty Minutes: 348 Matt Ruchty (1994-95)
:GAA: 2.10 Michael Leighton (2007-08)
:SV%: .931 Michael Leighton (2007-08)
=== Career ===
:Career goals: 155 Steve Brule
:Career assists: 214 Steve Brule
:Career points: 369 Steve Brule
:Career penalty minutes: 1197 Rob Skrlac
:Career goaltending wins: 77 Peter Sidorkiewicz
:Career shutouts: 8 Peter Sidorkiewicz
:Career games: 423 Jiri Bicek
==Current roster==
As of April 14, 2010.
Goaltenders	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders
# 	 	Player 	Catches 	Date of birth 	Place of birth
31 	 	Justin Pogge 	L 	April 22, 1986 	Fort McMurray, AB, Canada
35 	 	Justin Peters	L 	August 30, 1986	Blyth, ON, Canada
Defensemen	Defensemen	Defensemen 	Defensemen	Defensemen 	Defensemen
# 	 	Player 	Shoots 	Date of birth 	Place of birth
2 	 	Jamie McBain 	R 	February 25, 1988	Edina, MN, USA
4 	 	Zack Fitzgerald	L 	May 16, 1985 	Two Harbors, MN, USA
5 	 	Tim Conboy 	R 	March 22, 1982 	Farmington, MN, USA
6 	 	Jay Harrison 	R 	November 3, 1982 	Oshawa, ON, Canada
7 	 	Kyle Lawson 	R 	July 11, 1987 	Southfield, MI, USA
28 	 	Casey Borer 	L 	July 28, 1985 	Minneapolis, MN, USA
33 	 	Bryan Rodney 	R 	April 22, 1984 	London, ON, Canada
34 	 	Brett Bellemore	R 	June 25, 1988 	Windsor, ON, Canada
Forwards	Forwards	Forwards 	Forwards	Forwards	Forwards 	Forwards
# 	 	Player 	Position	Shoots 	Date of birth 	Place of birth
8 	 	Nick Dodge 	C 	R 	May 1, 1986 	Oakville, ON, Canada
9 	 	Drayson Bowman 	LW 	L 	March 8, 1989 	Grand Rapids, MI, USA
10 	 	Mike Angelidis 	C 	L 	June 27, 1985 	Unionville, ON, Canada
11 	 	Zach Boychuk 	C 	L 	October 4, 1989 	Airdrie, AB, Canada
12 	 	Steven Goertzen 	RW 	R 	May 26, 1984 	Stony Plain, AB, Canada
15 	 	Stefan Chaput 	C 	L 	March 11, 1988 	Montreal, QC, Canada
17 	 	Jerome Samson 	RW 	R 	September 4, 1987	Greenfield Park, QC, Canada
18 	 	Jacob Micflikier 	LW 	L 	July 11, 1984 	Winnipeg, MB, Canada
19 	 	Rob Hennigar 	C 	L 	April 4, 1983 	St. Catharines, ON, Canada
20 	 	Jiri Tlusty 	LW 	L 	March 16, 1988 	Slaný, Czechoslovakia
25 	 	Chris Terry 	C 	L 	April 7, 1989 	Brampton, ON, CAN
26 	 	Nicolas Blanchard	LW 	L 	May 31, 1987 	Granby, QC, Canada
32 	 	Oskar Osala 	LW 	L 	December 26, 1987	Vaasa, Finland
36 	 	Brad Herauf 	LW 	L 	August 24, 1982 	Regina, SK, Canada
Staff 	Staff 	Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff
Title 	Staff member 	 	 	 	 	
Head coach 	Jeff Daniels 	 	 	 	 	
Assistant coach	Geordie Kinnear	 	 	 	 	
Head trainer 	Brian Maddox 	 	 	 	 	
== References ==
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* 
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== External links ==
*The Internet Hockey Database - Albany River Rats
Category:American ice hockey teams
Category:American Hockey League team
Albany River Rats
Category:New Jersey Devils
Category:Carolina Hurricanes
Category:Colorado Avalanche
Category:Established in 1993
Category:Defunct Teams
Category:Disestablished in 2010
Category:American Hockey League teams