As part of the American Hockey League’s 70th anniversary this season, theahl.com will be taking a look at some of the legendary careers that have been carved in the AHL over the last seven decades.
One of its original stars, Les Cunningham’s career actually predated the AHL, as he skated two seasons with the Buffalo Bisons before they joined the newly-formed American Hockey League in 1936.
Cunningham’s 10 AHL seasons were all spent with the Cleveland Barons, where he won three Calder Cup championships and was named to five postseason AHL All-Star Teams, all in succession from 1941-45.
The Calgary native led the league in scoring in 1941, and played in the first AHL All-Star Game, a World War II fundraiser in 1942.
By the time he played his final game for the Barons in 1947, Cunningham was the league’s career scoring leader with 579 points in 517 games.
In 1947-48, the AHL introduced the Les Cunningham Plaque, which is still awarded annually to the league’s most valuable player.
| Career AHL Statistics – Les Cunningham | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1936-37 | Cleveland Falcons | 19 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1937-38 | Cleveland Barons | 48 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 55 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 1938-39 | Cleveland Barons | 52 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 49 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| 1940-41 | Cleveland Barons | 56 | 22 | 42 | 64 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 1941-42 | Cleveland Barons | 56 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| 1942-43 | Cleveland Barons | 55 | 35 | 47 | 82 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 1943-44 | Cleveland Barons | 52 | 26 | 52 | 78 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| 1944-45 | Cleveland Barons | 56 | 35 | 45 | 80 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2 |
| 1945-46 | Cleveland Barons | 62 | 33 | 44 | 77 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 |
| 1946-47 | Cleveland Barons | 61 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — |
| AHL Totals | 517 | 233 | 346 | 579 | 216 | 58 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 13 | |
