- New York Golden Blades
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Raiders/Golden Blades/Knights League World Hockey Association Operated 1972–1974 Franchise history 1972–1973 New York Raiders 1973–1974 New York Golden Blades/
New Jersey Knights1974–1977 San Diego Mariners The New York Raiders were an ice hockey team and founding member of the World Hockey Association based in New York City. Intended to be the WHA's flagship franchise, its short tenure was a result of being unable to compete with the National Hockey League's established New York Rangers, and the expansion New York Islanders. After its inaugural season, the team was known as the New York Golden Blades and eventually relocated to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, becoming the New Jersey Knights.
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New York Raiders
New York Raiders City New York City, NY Home arena Madison Square Garden Head coach Camille Henry The New York Raiders participated in the first WHA draft. Its coach was Camille Henry and the very first draft pick - second overall - was Al Sims. Sims did not, however, play for the Raiders, but he signed with the Boston Bruins instead.
The team was initially slated to play in the brand-new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island. However, Nassau County didn't consider the WHA a professional league and wanted nothing to do with the Raiders. Nassau County retained William Shea to get an NHL team to play in the new building. The NHL responded by hastily awarding a franchise to Long Island—the New York Islanders. The Islanders' lease with the Coliseum was structured in such a way to effectively lock out non-NHL teams.
The Raiders were forced to play in Madison Square Garden, where they faced being tenants to their major competitor, the New York Rangers. The situation rapidly became untenable, with an onerous lease and poor attendance. The three original owners defaulted, and the league ended up taking control of the team midway through the season.
New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights
New York Golden Blades City New York City, NY Home arena Madison Square Garden Jersey Knights City Cherry Hill, New Jersey Home arena Cherry Hill Arena Following the season, New York real estate mogul Ralph Brent bought the team and renamed it the New York Golden Blades. While they managed to acquire Andre Lacroix from the Philadelphia Blazers, he was essentially all the franchise had going for it.
The situation improved very little from the previous season; at times, the Golden Blades played before "crowds" of only 500 people (in an 18,000-seat arena). Sinking in debt, Brent surrendered the team to the league in late November, 20 games into the season, with a 6-12-2 record. Soon after, the WHA moved the team to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, and renamed them the Jersey Knights. In a sense, this returned the WHA to Philadelphia; the Blazers had moved to Vancouver shortly after Lacroix left for the then-Golden Blades.
The newly minted Knights soon discovered their new home, Cherry Hill Arena, had a slope in the ice surface, which forced visiting teams to skate uphill two out of three periods. (One drawback was that pucks would sometimes shoot upwards unexpectedly; one Knight was knocked cold when a would-be pass jumped up and nailed him between the eyes.) The arena was also closely cramped, with players not having adequate changing and dressing facilities; visiting teams had to dress at their hotel. On the ice, the Knights played over-.500 hockey and were in playoff contention before losing their last six games to finish 32-42-4, last in the Eastern Division.
After 1974, the team moved to San Diego, California and became known as the San Diego Mariners.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Season Team name GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs 1972–73 Raiders 78 33 43 2 68 303 334 900 6th, Eastern Did not qualify 1973–74 Golden Blades/Knights 78 32 42 4 68 268 313 933 6th, Eastern Did not qualify Franchise totals 156 65 85 6 136 571 644 1833 External links
World Hockey Association Teams Alberta Oilers · Baltimore Blades · Birmingham Bulls · Calgary Broncos · Calgary Cowboys · Chicago Cougars · Cincinnati Stingers · Cleveland Crusaders · Dayton Arrows · Denver Spurs · Edmonton Oilers · Houston Aeros · Indianapolis Racers · Los Angeles Sharks · Miami Screaming Eagles · Michigan Stags · Minnesota Fighting Saints · New England Whalers · New Jersey Knights · New York Golden Blades · New York Raiders · Ottawa Civics · Ottawa Nationals · Philadelphia Blazers · Phoenix Roadrunners · Quebec Nordiques · San Diego Mariners · San Francisco Sharks · Toronto Toros · Vancouver Blazers · Winnipeg JetsTrophies
and awardsCategories:- Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States
- World Hockey Association teams
- Sports clubs established in 1972
- Sports clubs disestablished in 1974
- Sports in New York City
- Ice hockey teams in New York
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