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Saint John Riptide

Saint John Riptide
2016–17 NBL Canada season
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Division Atlantic Division
League ABA 2007–2008
PBL 2009–2011
NBLC 2011–present
Founded 2007
History Manchester Millrats (ABA)
2007–2008
Manchester Millrats (PBL)
2008–2010
Saint John Mill Rats (PBL)
2010–2011
Saint John Mill Rats (NBLC)
2011–2016
Saint John Riptide (NBLC)
2016–present
Arena Harbour Station
Location Saint John, New Brunswick
Team colours Navy blue, gold, white
              
President Scott VanWart
Team manager Rob Spon
Head coach Rob Spon
Website www.sjriptide.ca

The Saint John Riptide are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saint John, New Brunswick. They compete in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) as a member of the Atlantic Division. The Riptide play their home games at Harbour Station. The Riptide are one of two professional basketball teams from the province of New Brunswick, the other being the Moncton Miracles. The team was established in 2007 as the Manchester Millrats, an expansion team based in Manchester, New Hampshire, which played in the American Basketball Association (ABA). They would later move to the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in 2008, relocated to Saint John in 2010, and renamed in 2016.

The Manchester Millrats, in their inaugural season in the ABA, compiled a regular-season record of 28–12, playing their home games at the Fieldhouse of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). They won their first 12 games and won their first four games against the reigning champion Vermont Frost Heaves, the only losses the Frost Heaves had all year. The Millrats were one of eight teams to make the post-season. They got to the semifinals but lost in overtime to the San Diego Wildcats. Larry Lessett was the head coach.

There were logistical nightmares, as two of the four teams in the Millrats' division suspended operations. The ABA flew the Millrats to the Bahamas once and to Singapore twice to play against ABA teams with no local competition. Nevertheless, Millrats management organized additional games against local rivals and gave season-ticket owners the full number of events they had been promised, although the final regular-season game was played at a private center ten miles away.


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