The Long Island Cougars were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played at the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York , from 1973 to 1975. The Cougars were a member of the North American Hockey League , and were runners up for the Lockhart Trophy to the Syracuse Blazers in the 1973–74 season.
7-540: The Cougars replaced the long-running Long Island Ducks , who had folded earlier in 1973, along with the rest of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). Several refugees from the defunct EHL formed the North American Hockey League during the summer of 1973. The NAHL clubs quickly formed affiliation agreements to serve as farm clubs for teams in the upstart World Hockey Association , which was challenging
14-519: Is believed to be the role model for Paul Newman 's character of Reggie Dunlop in the movie Slap Shot . Brophy encouraged and epitomized "old-time hockey" and brash physical play, retired as the league's career leader in penalty minutes, and was once suspended for half of a season for knocking down a referee. Brophy was quoted as saying, "Once you're a Duck, you're a Duck for the rest of your life," as Ducks General Manager John Muckler traded Brophy six times and got him back seven times. The Ducks won
21-976: The Eastern Hockey League North Division in 1964–65 and 1965–66. They were the Eastern Hockey League playoff champions and won the Walker Cup Trophy on April 7, 1965. The New York Islanders of the National Hockey League , who began play in 1972–73, had originally been widely expected to adopt the Long Island Ducks name. The name was later taken by the Long Island Ducks , an independent baseball team in Central Islip , which began play in 2000. The Ducks' arena in Commack
28-520: The Eastern League folded. In 1961, the President of the franchise, William H. Linck, held a contest among fans to name the team. The winner was the first entry received, from George Resch of Cambria Heights, Queens , who named the team "Ducks". Aside from naming rights, Resch received two season tickets for winning the contest. The Ducks are most famously known for player-head coach John Brophy , who
35-631: The Eastern League's all-time penalty minutes leader, was the Cougars' head coach. They lost in the finals to the Syracuse Blazers . The Cougars played one final year on Long Island during the 1974–75 season, making the playoffs again despite a 29–40–5 record under new coach Ron Racette. In the spring of 1975 the Chicago Cougars of the WHA went out of business. In May of that year, Cougars owned Ben Kasper moved
42-661: The NHL for top talent and expansion markets during the 1970s. Long Island was offered a new franchise to stand in for the Ducks, and took both the nickname and green and gold color scheme from their parent club, the Chicago Cougars of the WHA. During the NAHL's first season, the Cougars advanced to the Lockhart Cup championship series. Minor league hockey legend John Brophy, a longtime Ducks star and
49-604: The team to Erie, Pennsylvania , where they were renamed the Erie Blades . Season-by-season results: Additionally, Brian Glenwright and Dan Lodboa both played for the Chicago Cougars. Long Island Ducks (ice hockey) The Long Island Ducks were a minor league hockey team in the Eastern Hockey League owned by Al and Renee Baron that played their home games at the Long Island Arena (usually referred to as Commack Arena). The team played from 1959 until 1973, when
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