Long Island Cougars

Long Island Cougars
City	Commack, New York
League	NAHL
Operated	1973-1975
Home arena	Long Island Arena
Colors	Green & Gold
Owner(s)	Benjamin Kasper

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 1973-1974 season.

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 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 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 season on Long Island in the winter of 1974-75, making the playoffs against 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 the team to Erie, Pennsylvania where they were renamed the Erie Blades .

Additionally, Brian Glenwright and Dan Lodboa both played for the Chicago Cougars.

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