Toronto Marlies

The Marlies trace their history back to the New Brunswick Hawks, which were founded in 1978 as the first professional ice hockey team in New Brunswick, and were jointly operated by the Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks as a farm team.^[1][2] Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL) and the Black Hawks each owned half of the franchise.^[3][4][5]

The Hawks played until 1982 when they relocated to St. Catharines, Ontario^[6] as the St. Catharines Saints, this time as a sole Leafs affiliate; the Hawks had opted to affiliate with the Springfield Indians. After four seasons, the team moved to Newmarket, Ontario as the Newmarket Saints, where they played for five seasons before moving to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador^[7][8] as the St. John's Maple Leafs, the first professional ice hockey team in Newfoundland and Labrador. The team played their home games at Memorial Stadium until 2001, when they moved to Mile One Centre.

The AHL had a strong presence in Atlantic Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. However, after the turn of the millennium, NHL teams sought to have their AHL affiliates located geographically closer to their parent clubs in order to ease the movement of players between the minors and the NHL. By 2004, St. John's was the only remaining team in the region. Although the team was extremely popular and had excellent attendance, the parent Maple Leafs wanted to cut back on escalating travel costs. By the time of the team's final season in Newfoundland, their nearest opponent was the Portland Pirates, 1,781 km (1,107 mi) away. Additionally, Ricoh Coliseum (formerly CNE Coliseum and now Coca-Cola Coliseum) had recently been renovated for hockey use, and the NHL Leafs were looking to place a team there. The Coliseum had been home to the Toronto Roadrunners, top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, in the 2003–04 season. These factors resulted in the team's relocation to Toronto for the 2005–06 season.

The team is named after the former Toronto Marlboros, a junior hockey team that played in Toronto from 1904 to 1989, the last 62 years of that time under common ownership with the Leafs. The team was long known as the "Marlies" to fans and media alike. To avoid any potential association with the similarly named cigarette brand, MLSE uses the abbreviated form as the team's official nickname.

During the 2011–12 AHL season, the Marlies advanced to the Calder Cup Finals, the deepest playoff run for a Toronto-based team since the Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967. They lost to the Norfolk Admirals in a four-game sweep.

In 2015–16 season, the Marlies moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference due to the relocation of five teams to California.

The Marlies compete against Ontario rivals the Belleville Senators in the "Battle of the 401" or "Battle of Ontario" since the 2017-18 season.

During the 2017–18 AHL season, the Marlies won their first Calder Cup after a 4–3 series win over the Texas Stars in the finals.^[9] It was the first professional hockey title for a Toronto-based team since 1967.

On December 1, 2019, Greg Moore was named as head coach of the Marlies, replacing Sheldon Keefe who was promoted to head coach of the Maple Leafs.^[10]

On May 21st, 2023, Moore was relieved of his duties. John Gruden was announced as the teams new Head Coach on July 4th, 2023.

Records as of the end of the 2023–24 season.^[11]

_[1]-Indicates league leading: most shootout losses

_[2]-Indicates league leading: fewest losses

_[3]-Indicates league leading: fewest goals against

• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario