EPISODE 297: The Cincinnati Mohawks - With Eric Weltner
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.