Mar 27, 2023
It's more
International Hockey League (1945-2001) memories this week as
Episode 181 guest Eric Weltner returns for a look back at one
of minor league hockey's most dominant, yet curiously ephemeral
franchises - the Cincinnati Mohawks (1952-58).
Not to be
confused with the middling AHL team of the same name that pre-dated
them by three years, the IHL Mohawks were the class of their
circuit during the 1950s - winning an incredible six consecutive
regular season crowns and five Turner Cup championships during
their brief six-year existence.
No wonder,
since the Mohawks constituted the primary farm team of the NHL's
then-supreme and talent-overloaded Montreal Canadiens, who
themselves were busy monopolizing multi-consecutive Stanley Cups
during the decade.
Weltner's
new film "The Mohawk
Monopoly" looks at the curious story of the Mohawks'
incredible, yet short-lived run, their revered home ice at the
Cincinnati Gardens, and the team's place in a long line of
professional hockey franchises that called (and still call) "The
'Nati" home.