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.
Winnipeg native Phil Hergesheimer was a prolific scorer during the early days of the American Hockey League, averaging better than a point per game over his 11 seasons in the league.
Skating for the Cleveland Barons, Hergesheimer led the AHL with 25 goals in 1937-38 and 34 goals in 1938-39, winning a Calder Cup in 1939. He then spent parts of the next four seasons in the NHL.
In 1946-47, Hergesheimer joined the Philadelphia Rockets as player/coach. Leading a team that would win a woeful five games all season (5-52-7), Hergesheimer amazingly led the American Hockey League in scoring with 92 points in 64 games, scoring more than one quarter (48) of his team’s 188 goals.
Hergesheimer gave up the coaching reins but continued to excel on the ice as Philadelphia limped through two more miserable seasons. He racked up 42 goals and 73 points in 57 games in 1947-48, and followed up with 38 goals and 66 points in 67 games in 1948-49.
Hergesheimer closed out his AHL career playing two years with the Cincinnati Mohawks, topping the 30-goal mark once more in 1949-50.
Hergesheimer, whose brother Wally was also an AHL standout, was named a First Team AHL All-Star three times and a Second Team pick twice. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 89.
| Career AHL Statistics – Phil Hergesheimer | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1937-38 | Cleveland Barons | 47 | 25 | 20 | 45 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1938-39 | Cleveland Barons | 54 | 34 | 19 | 53 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
| 1941-42 | Hershey Bears | 12 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 4 |
| 1942-43 | Cleveland Barons | 36 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 1943-44 | Cleveland Barons | 33 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1945-46 | Cleveland Barons | 54 | 21 | 27 | 48 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 4 |
| 1946-47 | Philadelphia Rockets | 64 | 48 | 44 | 92 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1947-48 | Philadelphia Rockets | 57 | 42 | 31 | 73 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1948-49 | Philadelphia Rockets | 67 | 38 | 28 | 66 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1949-50 | Cincinnati Mohawks | 70 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1950-51 | Cincinnati Mohawks | 54 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |
| AHL Totals | 548 | 288 | 265 | 553 | 107 | 37 | 22 | 18 | 40 | 24 | |
