The Moncton-based New Brunswick Hawks were established in 1978 as members of the
American Hockey League (AHL), and were jointly operated by the
Chicago Black Hawks and the
Toronto Maple Leafs as their
farm team.
Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL) and the Black Hawks each owned half of the franchise. By 1980,
Harold Ballard, owner of the Leafs, had decided that they needed a developmental team of their own, with a spokesperson citing the limited number of roster spots as the rationale for the move. MLGL launched the
Cincinnati Tigers in the old
Central Hockey League in 1981 to serve as their own affiliate, while retaining their share of the New Brunswick Hawks. However, after the Tigers averaged only 1,500 fans and lost $750,000 in their first season, the Leafs folded the Tigers in the spring of 1982. That same summer, with Chicago having already pulled out of New Brunswick in favour of affiliating with the
Springfield Indians on their own, even though the team had the fifth highest attendance in the league. The Maple Leafs wanted to relocate the team closer to Toronto, with both
St. Catharines and
Niagara Falls in Ontario potential destinations for the franchise. When MLGL applied to the AHL to relocate the New Brunswick Hawks to St. Catharines, the nearby
Buffalo Sabres initially blocked the move due to objections to a team moving into their territory without prior discussions with them. However, following protests by fans in St. Catharines and threats by Ballard to suspend the Moncton franchise to prevent another AHL team from playing in the city and to sue the Sabres and NHL for $20 million, ==Coaches==