The Portland Pirates are a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Portland, Maine, at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks from 1982 to 1993.

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History

The Pirates were founded in 1993–94 as an affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The team was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks, who relocated to Maine. The Pirates replaced the void made by the Maine Mariners who departed to become the Providence Bruins a year earlier. The Capitals affiliation ended after 12 seasons in 2005.

The Pirates first season proved to be their most successful one, as they won the Calder Cup with a 43–27–10 record. Their next season they had 104 points, but were upset in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the 1995–96 season they again reached the Calder Cup Finals despite a subpar record of 32–34–10, but lost to the Rochester Americans.

Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for the Pirates. Despite an excellent 100 point season, they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in 1999–2000.

For the first four seasons, they were coached by current Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz. They played host to the AHL All-Star Classic in 2003.

In the 2006 AHL playoffs, the Pirates went for a thrilling playoff run, only to be defeated by the eventual Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears in a dramatic seven-game series.

In 2005 the Pirates announced a five year lease extension at the Cumberland County Civic Center, ending speculation that the team might relocate. The Pirates also signed a three year affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2005, but the Ducks announced on June 3, 2008, that they were affiliating with the Iowa Stars instead of renewing the agreement.

The Sabres era

On June 10, 2008, the Pirates and the Buffalo Sabres announced that they had reached a new affiliation agreement, ending several months of speculation. ^[1]

On August 5, 2008, the team announced that Kevin Dineen has been retained as head coach. ^[2]

On February 10, 2009, the team played in Buffalo at HSBC Arena for the first time before a crowd of 11,144. The Pirates lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Albany River Rats. The Sabres faithfull were pleased with the aggressive play and numerous fights during the game. It has been announced that the Pirates will play in Buffalo twice in 2009-10. The first game will be played on November 12 and the second will be March 7; both games will be against the Rochester Americans (the Sabres' previous AHL affiliate).

;The market was previously home to:

• Maine Mariners (1977–1992)

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1993–94	80	43	27	10	0	—	96	328	269	2nd, North
1994–95	80	46	22	12	0	—	104	333	233	2nd, North
1995–96	80	32	34	10	4	—	78	282	283	3rd, North
1996–97	80	37	26	10	7	—	91	279	264	3rd, New England
1997–98	80	33	33	12	2	—	80	241	247	3rd, Atlantic
1998–99	80	23	48	7	2	—	55	214	273	5th, Atlantic
1999–00	80	46	23	10	1	—	103	256	202	2nd, New England
2000–01	80	34	40	4	2	—	74	250	280	5th, New England
2001–02	80	30	31	15	4	—	79	220	225	4th, North
2002–03	80	33	28	13	6	—	85	221	195	4th, North
2003–04	80	32	27	13	8	—	85	156	160	5th, Atlantic
2004–05	80	34	34	—	6	6	80	175	242	6th, Atlantic
2005–06	80	53	19	—	5	3	114	306	241	1st, Atlantic
2006–07	80	37	31	—	3	9	86	225	232	6th, Atlantic
2007–08	80	45	26	—	5	4	99	238	215	3rd, Atlantic
2008–09	80	39	31	—	3	7	88	249	239	3rd, Atlantic

Playoffs

Season	Prelim	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
1993–94	—	W, 4–1, ALB	W, 4–2, ADIR	bye	W, 4–2, MONC
1994–95	—	L, 3–4, PROV	—	—	—
1995–96	—	W, 3–1, WOR	W, 4–2, SPR	W, 4–3, SJNB	L, 3–4, ROCH
1996–97	—	L, 2–3, SPR	—	—	—
1997–98	—	W, 3–1, FRED	L, 2–4, SJNB	—	—
1998–99	Out of playoffs.
1999–00	—	L, 1–3, WOR	—	—	—
2000–01	—	L, 0–3, SJNB	—	—	—
2001–02	Out of playoffs.
2002–03	L, 1–2, MTB	—	—	—	—
2003–04	W, 2–0, PROV	L, 1–4, HART	—	—	—
2004–05	Out of playoffs.
2005–06	—	W, 4–2, PROV	W, 4–2, HART	L, 3–4, HER	—
2006–07	Out of playoffs.
2007–08	—	W, 4–1, HART	W, 4–2, PROV	L, 3–4, WBS	—
2008–09	—	L, 1–4, PROV	—	—	—

Team records

Single season

Career

Roster

Updated March 6, 2009.

Goaltenders
#		align=left	Player	Catches	Birthplace
1		Jhonas Enroth	L	Stockholm, Sweden
33		Kellen Briggs	R	Colorado Springs, Colorado

Defensemen
#		align=left	Player	Shoots	Birthplace
2		Cliff Loya	L	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3		Matt MacDonald	L	Niagara Falls, Ontario-bgcolor="#eeeeee"	4		Chris Butler	L	St. Louis, Missouri-->
5		Paul Baier	R	Summit, New Jersey
6		Mike Weber	L	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
9		Mike Card	R	Kitchener, Ontario
14		Zach Tarkir	R	Fresno, California
17		Marc-Andre Gragnani	L	Montréal, Quebec
28		Mike Kostka	R	Etobicoke, Ontario
36		Kenny McAulay	L	Baddeck, Nova Scotia
55		Michael Funk	L	Abbotsford, British Columbia

Forwards
#		align=left	Player	Position	Shoots	Birthplace
7		Dylan Hunter	LW	R	Quebec City, Quebec
10		Tim Kennedy	LW	L	Buffalo, New York
15		Felix Schutz	C	L	Erding, Germany
19		Nathan Gerbe	C	L	Oxford, Michigan
22		Kyle Rank	RW	R	Elmira, Ontario-bgcolor="#eeeeee"	23		Matt Ellis	C	L	Welland, Ontario-->
24		Jimmy Bonneau	LW	L	Baie-Comeau, Quebec
25		Mark Mancari	RW	R	London, Ontario
27		Colton Fretter	RW	R	Harrow, Ontario
37		Derek Whitmore	LW	L	Rochester, New York

AHL awards and trophies

Calder Cup 1993—94 Richard F. Canning Trophy 1993—94, 1995—96 Frank Mathers Trophy 2005–06 Emile Francis Trophy 2005–06 Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Olaf Kolzig and Byron Dafoe: 1993–94 Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award Barry Trotz: 1993–94 Glen Hanlon: 1999–00 Kevin Dineen: 2005–06 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy Olaf Kolzig: 1993–94

James C. Hendy Memorial Award Tom Ebright: 1993–94 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Jim Carey: 1994–95 Jaroslav Svejkovsky: 1995–96 Nathan Gerbe: 2008–09 Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Jim Carey: 1994–95 Martin Brochu: 1999–00 Les Cunningham Award Martin Brochu: 1999–00 Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Kent Hulst: 2000–01 Chris Ferraro: 2002–03 James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Dave Ahlers: 2002–03

References

1. Sabres to parent Portland
2. Dineen Named Head Coach