The Cleveland Barons were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Cleveland Arena. At the time they folded, they were the most successful team in AHL history, the original incarnation of the Barons played in the AHL from 1937 to 1973. In that time, they won ten division titles and nine Calder Cups, which, although the team had been defunct for over three decades, remained a record until 2009, when the Hershey Bears won their 10th Calder Cup. In 1973, they relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, where they were known as the Jacksonville Barons; they lasted only through the 1973–1974 season before folding.

History

The team traces its roots back to the 1929–30 season of the International Hockey League, as the "Cleveland Indians." The Indians played for five seasons, until being renamed the Cleveland Falcons for the 1934–35 season. The Falcons played for three more years, when they became the Barons in 1937–38.

From 1934 to 1949, the team was owned by Al Sutphin, who was also an owner of the Braden-Sutphin Ink Company in Cleveland. Sutphin, a true sportsman, was known to often pay better salaries than NHL teams at the time (1930s and 1940s), and some players preferred to remain in "minor league" Cleveland instead of playing in the "major" NHL. Sutphin built the Cleveland Arena, at the time one of the largest and most beautiful hockey facilities in North America. It was rumored that the dormant Montreal Maroons NHL franchise would be transferred to Cleveland but nothing came of it.Condon, op.cit. p.75-77

Sutphin sold the team and arena in 1949. The Barons sought acceptance into the National Hockey League during the early 1950s, but purported financing irregularities caused the NHL to turn down the bid. The Barons then challenged the NHL for the right to play for the Stanley Cup, which was also rejected. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Barons played to standing-room-only audiences.

The preeminent star of the franchise was Fred Glover, the team's career leader in goals, assists, points, penalty minutes and seasons, (and second in league history in all those categories). Also notable was Hall of Famer goaltender Johnny Bower, who before he starred in the NHL played brilliantly for the Barons for nine seasons and is the AHL's career shutout leader. From 1949 to 1961, the Barons' general manager was James C. Hendy, a Hall of Fame Builder and the first prominent statistician in the history of the sport. Other notable players included Les Cunningham, a five-time league All-Star for whom the AHL's MVP award is named, Jack Gordon, Norm Beaudin, Bill Needham (the team's career leader in games played), Cal Stearns, Fred Thurier and Les Binkley.

In 1972, Barons owner Nick Mileti became the owner of a new team in the World Hockey Association (WHA), which had been founded as a second major league in competition with the NHL. The appearance of this new team, the Cleveland Crusaders, saw the market for the minor league product vanish almost overnight. The Barons could not compete with the WHA practice of hiring ex-NHL players whose contracts had expired, and consequently lost many fans. In addition, creation of the new "major league" drew much of the established talent away from the AHL. Mileti decided the teams could not co-exist, and moved the Barons mid-season in January 1973, to Jacksonville, Florida. Scheduling conflicts caused the Barons to stay in Cleveland for a month. The Barons played their last game in Cleveland, a 5-1 loss to the Richmond Robins on February 4, 1973, on front of 435 fans. The Jacksonville Barons, as they were then known, played in the Jacksonville Coliseum, which had previously been home to the Jacksonville Rockets of the Eastern Hockey League. The Barons drew a crowd of 9,189 to their first game in the Jacksonville, but attendance declined afterward. They played one further season in Jacksonville before Mileti determined the franchise was not viable. Stating that he had lost around $1 million, he folded the team and sold it to a group in Syracuse, New York, which became the Syracuse Eagles.

The team was replaced in this market by: Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA (1972–1976) A second team called the Cleveland Barons, this time in the NHL (1976–1978) Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL (1992–2001) A third Cleveland Barons, second in AHL (2001–2006) Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters (2007–present) of the AHL

Team records Single season Goals: Roy Kelly, 46, 1950 Assists: Fred Glover, 69, 1960 Points: Glover, 107, 1960 Career Career goals: Glover, 410 Career assists: Glover, 695 Career points: Glover, 1105 Career penalty minutes: Glover, 2164 Career goaltending Wins: Johnny Bower, 284 Career shutouts: Bower, 38 Career games: Bill Needham, 981

American Hockey League Hall of Famers AHL Hall of Fame Honored Members Name Seasons Induction Year Johnny Bower 1945-53, 1957-58 (player) 2006 Fred "Bun" Cook 1943-56 (head coach) 2007 Les Cunningham 1936-39, 1940-47 (player) 2009 Bill Dineen 1959-61 (player) 2014 Fred Glover 1952-68 (player)1962-68 (head coach) 2006 Jack Gordon 1951-61 (player)1956-62, 1968-70 (head coach) 2012 Jim Hendy 1949-61 (general manager) 2015 Steve Kraftcheck 1949-50, 1953-58 (player) 2008 Bruce Landon 1973-74 (player) 2016 Gil Mayer 1959-61 (player) 2007 Marcel Paille 1956-57 (player) 2010 Art Stratton 1955-56, 1958-59 (player) 2015 Fred Thurier 1945-52 (player) 2020

Season-by-season results Cleveland Indians 1929–1934 (International Hockey League) Cleveland Falcons 1934–1936 (International Hockey League) Cleveland Falcons 1936–1937 (International-American Hockey League) Cleveland Barons 1937–1940 (International-American Hockey League) Cleveland Barons 1940–1972 Cleveland / Jacksonville Barons 1972–1973 Jacksonville Barons 1973–1974

Regular season Season Games WonLostTiedPoints Goalsfor Goalsagainst Standing 1929–30 4224 9 9 57125 781st, IHL 1930–31 482418 6 541311123rd, IHL 1931–32 481525 8 381101427th, IHL 1932–33 421027 5 251001476th, IHL 1933–34 441624 4 361041216th, IHL 1934–35 442023 1 401151324th, IHL 1935–36 482519 4 541491462nd, West 1936–37 481327 8 341131523rd, West 1937–38 48251211 611261141st, West 1938–39 542322 9 551451383rd, West 1939–40 562424 8 561271304th, West 1940–41 562621 9 611771621st, West 1941–42 563319 4 701741523rd, West 1942–43 562129 6 481901964th, West 1943–44 543314 7 732241761st, West 1944–45 60341016 782561991st, West 1945–46 622826 8 642692543rd, West 1946–47 643818 8 842722151st, West 1947–48 68431312 983321971st, West 1948–49 684121 6 882862513rd, West 1949–50 704515101003572301st, West 1950–51 714422 5 932812211st, West 1951–52 684419 5 932651662nd, West 1952–53 644220 2 862481641st, AHL 1953–54 703832 0 762692273rd, AHL 1954–55 643229 3 672542222nd, AHL 1955–56 642631 7 592252314th, AHL 1956–57 643526 3 732492102nd, AHL 1957–58 703928 3 812321632nd, AHL 1958–59 703730 3 772612522nd, AHL 1959–60 723430 8 762672294th, AHL 1960–61 723635 1 732312343rd, AHL 1961–62 703928 3 812552031st, West 1962–63 723134 7 692702532nd, West 1963–64 723730 5 792392073rd, West 1964–65 722443 5 532282854th, West 1965–66 723832 2 782432172nd, West 1966–67 723627 9 812842303rd, West 1967–68 72283014 702362554th, West 1968–69 74303212 722132452nd, West 1969–70 72233316 622222554th, West 1970–71 723926 7 852722082nd, West 1971–72 76323410 742692634th, West 1972–73 762344 9 552513295th, West 1973–74 762444 8 562443345th, South

Playoffs Season1st round2nd roundFinals 1929–30 W, 2–0, London —W, 3–1, Buffalo 1930–31 3rd place in double round robin. 1931–32 Out of playoffs 1932–33 Out of playoffs 1933–34 Out of playoffs 1934–35 L, 0–2, London —— 1935–36 L, 1–3, Buffalo —— 1936–37 Data unavailable 1937–38 Data unavailable 1938–39 ????W, 3–1, Philadelphia 1939–40 Out of playoffs 1940–41 W, 3–1, Providence byeW, 3–2, Hershey 1941–42 W, 2–0, Washington L, 1–2, Hershey — 1942–43 W, 2–0, Providence L, 0–2, Indianapolis — 1943–44 W, 4–3, Hershey —L, 0–4, Buffalo 1944–45 W, 4–2, Buffalo —W, 4–2, Hershey 1945–46 W, 2–0, Providence W, 2–1, Pittsburgh L, 3–4, Buffalo 1946–47 L, 0–4, Hershey —— 1947–48 W, 4–1, Providence byeW, 4–0, Buffalo 1948–49 W, 2–1, Springfield L, 0–2, Hershey — 1949–50 W, 4–1, Buffalo byeL, 0–4, Indianapolis 1950–51 W, 4–0, Buffalo byeW, 4–3, Pittsburgh 1951–52 L, 2–3, Providence —— 1952–53 W, 3–1, Syracuse —W, 4–3, Pittsburgh 1953–54 W, 3–0, Buffalo —W, 4–2, Hershey 1954–55 L, 1–3, Buffalo —— 1955–56 W, 3–1, Pittsburgh —L, 0–4, Providence 1956–57 W, 4–3, Hershey —W, 4–1, Rochester 1957–58 L, 3–4, Springfield —— 1958–59 L, 3–4, Hershey —— 1959–60 L, 3–4, Rochester —— 1960–61 L, 0–4, Springfield —— 1961–62 L, 2–4, Springfield —— 1962–63 W, 2–0, Rochester L, 2–3, Hershey — 1963–64 W, 2–0, Rochester W, 3–0, Hershey W, 4–0, Quebec 1964–65 Out of playoffs 1965–66 W, 3–0, Pittsburgh W, 3–0, Springfield L, 2–4, Rochester 1966–67 L, 2–3, Rochester —— 1967–68 Out of playoffs 1968–69 L, 2–3, Quebec —— 1969–70 Out of playoffs 1970–71 W, 3–1, Hershey L, 1–3, Springfield — 1971–72 L, 2–4, Baltimore —— 1972–73 Out of playoffs 1973–74 Out of playoffs

References

External links Cleveland Barons Hockey Scrapbook — 1962–63 Season at Cleveland Public Library The Internet Hockey Database - Cleveland Barons (AHL)