A mainstay in the American Hockey League for nearly half a century, Bruce Landon is considered by many to be synonymous with hockey in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Ontario native was drafted as a goaltender by the Los Angeles Kings in 1969 and joined their AHL affiliate in Springfield that fall, helping the club reach the Calder Cup Finals in 1970 before winning the championship in 1971. He had a brief stints with the Jacksonville Barons and Rhode Island Reds before returning to Springfield in 1977, but a knee injury forced him to retire that December at the age of 28.
Landon immediately took a marketing and public relations position in the Indians’ front office, and he was honored in 1980 with the AHL’s Ken McKenzie Award for outstanding promotion of his club. Landon was named general manager of the Indians in 1982, and in 1989 he was selected the winner of the James C. Hendy Memorial Award as the league’s outstanding executive.
Landon was the GM of Springfield’s back-to-back Calder Cup championship teams in 1990 and 1991, an even more impressive feat considering the titles were won with two different NHL affiliates (New York Islanders, Hartford Whalers). Then in 1994, with the Indians moving to Worcester, Landon helped organize a group of investors and purchased an expansion franchise to keep the American Hockey League in Springfield.
Landon was president and general manager of the Springfield Falcons from their inception in 1994 until stepping down in 2014. He has since continued to serve the club as director of hockey operations, and enters his 39th season as an executive in Springfield in 2015-16.
For his outstanding career contributions to the American Hockey League, Landon received the prestigious Thomas Ebright Award in 2002.