In 1998, Walter Robb purchased the franchise from original owner Al Lawrence, allowing the franchise to remain in Albany. Garen Szablewski has served as CEO and President of the River Rats for 15 years since 1994.
The Rats' glory days came in the mid to late 1990s making seven consecutive playoff appearances, won 2 division titles, and took home the AHL's Calder Cup in 1995. Also in 1995, their parent club, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup.
However, wins have declined since the 1997–98 season, the last time Albany won a playoff series. The River Rats finished last in each of the 6 seasons between 2000–01 and 2005–06. A new affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes beginning in the 2006–07 season brought hope of a return to AHL glory not seen in Albany since the late '90s.
On March 22, 2006, the Devils announced that they were cutting ties with the River Rats after the 2005–06 AHL season, as the parent club announced the purchase of the Lowell Lock Monsters. Despite the move, the River Rats were not relocated.1 In April 2006, The Carolina Hurricanes signed a one year agreement (with the option to renew for two additional) with the River Rats to be their farm affiliate.2 Later on, Carolina was joined by the Colorado Avalanche in a one-year partnership agreement. On February 22, 2007, the Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats announced that their affiliation agreement had been extended through the 2008–09 season. 3
On April 24, 2008, the River Rats lost 2–3 to the Philadelphia Phantoms in the longest game played in AHL history. The Phantoms Ryan Potulny scored 2:58 into the fifth overtime. Albany gave up 101 shots on goal, and goaltender Michael Leighton made 98 saves.
On January 22, 2010, a report out of Raleigh, North Carolina (and the Times Union of Albany, NY) that the franchise was to be sold and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. The new franchise would be the new affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes with a team name of the Charlotte Checkers.
On February 19, 2009, five people were seriously injured when a bus carrying the team home from a game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side on Interstate 90 in western Massachusetts. Nicolas Blanchard, Joe Jensen, Jonathan Paiement, Casey Borer, and the River Rats radio color commentator John Hennessy were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with "serious" injuries.1
