Canadian–American Hockey League
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1926 |
| Ceased | 1936 |
| No. of teams | 6 (max) |
| Countries | Canada United States |
| Last champion | Philadelphia Ramblers |
| Most titles | Springfield Indians (3) |
The Canadian–American Hockey League (CAHL), popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct predecessor of the American Hockey League. The organization of the league was announced on March 23, 1926, with the working title of "American Hockey League", to have franchises in New York, Providence, Boston and Montreal, and plans for a possible expansion into New Haven, Springfield, Newark and Jersey City.
For its first ten years the CAHL's membership varied between five and six teams, including teams in three of the four additional cities considered possibilities in March 1926 (the exception being Jersey City). However, when the Boston Bruin Cubs dropped out after the 1935–36 season, the league was reduced to just four active teams: Philadelphia, Providence, Springfield, and New Haven. At the same time, the International Hockey League, founded in 1929, had also been cut down to just four teams; Syracuse, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. With both leagues at the bare minimum number of teams to be viable, they decided to form a temporary "circuit of mutual convenience" known as the International-American Hockey League (IAHL). For the next two years, the two leagues played an interlocking schedule with the CAHL clubs serving as the IAHL's Eastern Division and the IHL as its Western Division.
At a meeting held in New York City on June 28, 1938, the two leagues formally merged into a unified eight-team circuit operating under the IAHL name with the addition of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League's then three-time defending champion Hershey Bears, which was awarded an IAHL franchise that day to replace the defunct Buffalo club. The league changed its name to the current American Hockey League in 1940.
Two current AHL franchises have roots in the CAHL. The Hartford Wolf Pack is descended from the Providence Reds franchise, which moved to Binghamton, New York, in 1977 before moving to Hartford in 1997. The Abbotsford Canucks are descended from the Springfield Indians franchise, which moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1994 before relocating to Peoria in 2005, to Utica in 2013, and to Abbotsford, British Columbia, in 2021.