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.
Winger Bruce Cline enjoyed a long and successful career in the American Hockey League with the Providence Reds, Buffalo Bisons, Hershey Bears and, most notably, the Springfield Indians.
A native of Massawippi, Que., Cline had a memorable debut in the AHL, capturing the Dudley “Red” Garrett Award as the league’s outstanding rookie in 1956 and helping Providence to a Calder Cup championship. He spent half of the next season in the NHL with the New York Rangers, then went on to play 11 more years in the AHL.
After a year in Buffalo, Cline moved on to Springfield and won Calder Cups in each of his first three seasons with the Indians. In 1960-61, Cline registered 40 goals, 52 assists and 92 points – all high-water marks for his entire career – and was named a First Team AHL All-Star. He scored 38 goals the next year and 39 in 1962-63 (when he earned Second Team All-Star honors).
Cline’s numbers began to decline when he got Hershey in 1963, but he averaged a point per game over the 1966-67 season, and retired a year later with 321 goals and 452 assists for 773 points, numbers that still leave him in the top 20 all-time in each category.
| Career AHL Statistics – Bruce Cline | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1955-56 | Providence Reds | 64 | 27 | 30 | 57 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 1956-57 | Providence Reds | 36 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 1957-58 | Providence Reds | 70 | 19 | 40 | 59 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| 1958-59 | Buffalo Bisons | 70 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 39 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1959-60 | Springfield Indians | 70 | 25 | 50 | 75 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| 1960-61 | Springfield Indians | 72 | 40 | 52 | 92 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 1961-62 | Springfield Indians | 70 | 38 | 40 | 78 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| 1962-63 | Springfield Indians | 72 | 39 | 48 | 87 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963-64 | Hershey Bears | 64 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 1964-65 | Hershey Bears | 72 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| 1965-66 | Hershey Bears | 53 | 19 | 26 | 45 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Hershey Bears | 70 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1967-68 | Hershey Bears | 40 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| AHL Totals | 823 | 321 | 452 | 773 | 217 | 89 | 24 | 34 | 58 | 31 | |
