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Portland Pirates
Portland Pirates
City	Portland, Maine
League	American Hockey League
Conference	Eastern Conference
Division	Atlantic Division
Founded	1993
Home arena	Cumberland County Civic Center
Colors	Black, red, silver, white;
Owner(s)	Brian Petrovek
General manager	Bob Murray
Head coach	Kevin Dineen
Media	Portland Press Herald
Affiliates	Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Franchise history
1975 to 1982	Erie Blades
1982 to 1993	Baltimore Skipjacks
1993 to present	Portland Pirates
Championships
Division Championships	1 (2005–06)
Conference Championships	1 (1995–96)
Calder Cups	1 (1993–94)

The Portland Pirates are a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, serving as the top farm team for the Buffalo Sabres of the National 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.

[edit] History

The Portland 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 1999–00.

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 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2005, but the Ducks announced on June 3, 2008, that they were affiliating with the Iowa Stars instead of renewing the agreement.

[edit] 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)

[edit] Season-by-season results

[edit] 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

[edit] 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	—	—	—

[edit] Team records

[edit] Single season

Goals: 41

Michel Picard (1993–94)

Assists: 73

Jeff Nelson (1993–94)

Points: 107 Jeff Nelson (1993–94)

Points (By a Defenseman): 51 Marc-Andre Gragnani (2008-09)

Penalty minutes: 355

Mark Major (1997–98)

GAA: 1.99

Maxime Ouellet (2003–04)

SV%: .930 Maxime Ouellet (2003–04)

[edit] Career

Career goals: 147

Kent Hulst

Career assists: 224

Andrew Brunette

Career points: 360 Kent Hulst

Career penalty minutes: 797

Kevin Kaminski

Career goaltending wins: 79

Martin Brochu

Career shutouts: 17 Maxime Ouellet

Career games: 473 Kent Hulst

[edit] Roster

Updated March 6, 2009.[1][2]

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

Defensemen
#	Player	Shoots	Birthplace
2	Cliff Loya	L	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3	Matt MacDonald	L	Niagara Falls, Ontario
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
#	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
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
	Mark McCutcheon	C	R	Ithaca, New York