In this installment of Boldly Jacksonville, we take a closer look at the lone season (1973-1974) of the Jacksonville Barons here in Northeast Florida. The Barons were the second hockey team to call the First Coast home. The Barons competed in the American Hockey League (AHL), marking the highest league level to compete in Jacksonville.
In fact, of the 41 rostered players that suited up for the Barons in that 1973-1974 season, 38 of them saw action at the major league level during their careers, either at the National Hockey League (NHL), or the now defunct Western Hockey Association (WHA).
The Barons franchise was initially established in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, as the Cleveland Indians before briefly taking on the name Falcons and later becoming the Barons in 1936. The club became one of the most successful teams in American Hockey League history, winning nine Calder Cups and boasted stacked NHL-caliber rosters. As a result, Cleveland almost became the NHL’s seventh team.
The addition of a World Hockey Association (WHA) team called the Cleveland Crusaders, would eventually force the Barons out of Cleveland in the middle the 1972-1973 season, as it became apparent that two pro hockey teams in Cleveland was not going to work.
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Team owner Nick Mileti made the decision to move the Barons midseason to Jacksonville in February 1973. Initially, the First Coast came out in high numbers to support the AHL’s Barons, with over 9,100 fans packing the Jacksonville Coliseum for the first game. Due to scheduling issues, the new Jacksonville team had to play three of their 19 remaining games back in Cleveland.
The team was coached by John Muckler, who would later become a well-known NHL general manager. However, as a coach, Muckler’s team struggled mightily for a season and a half in Jacksonville. Despite the AHL’s higher level of talent and competition, the team’s on-ice woes took their toll on the fan base and attendance declined sharply.
Citing significant financial losses following the 1973-1974 season, owner Nick Mileti was forced to shut down the longstanding Barons franchise for good, after a successful run of nearly 38 years.
The end of the Barons franchise in 1974 also marked the end of professional hockey in the State of Florida until the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning arrived on the scene in 1992.
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