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The Buffalo Bisons began in 1928 playing for the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL) which was subsequently renamed the International Hockey League (IHL) and finally the American Hockey League (AHL) in 1936. Though the team was incorporated in Buffalo, they played their home games in nearby Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Two time champions in 1932 and 1933, the Bisons were coached by three future NHL Hall of Famers Persey Leseur, Frank Nighbor, and Mickey Roach, and featured a future Hall of famer on the ice in forward Carl Voss. In 1936 the team's arena roof collapsed unexpectedly and the team, grappling with the Great Depression, could not afford to replace it. They were forced to cease operations and did not return to the AHL until 1940.
In 1940, Louis Jacobs (who also at the time owned the Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball team) purchased the Syracuse AHL franchise and moved them to Buffalo. Three years later they acquired their first Calder Cup, a feat they repeated 8 times in their thirty year history. Led by such stalwarts as Jacques Plante, Terry Crisp, and Toe Blake, the team was a perennial league favorite. In 1950 the team was bought by the hometown company of PepsiCo, who marketed the team on its bottle caps (now treasured collector's items.) In 1970 the team won the final league championship and then promptly merged with the Sabres to form their new NHL expansion team.
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