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.
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Famous quotes containing the words york, golden, blades, jersey and/or knights:
“So much missing, no sense of self, no core, no trust. Only a deep hollow we need to fill.”
—Sister Michele, Indian nun. As quoted in the New York Times Magazine, p. 35 (January 16, 1994)
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And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines, and silver hooks.”
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Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
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They are no wealthier than I;
But with as brave a core within
They rear their boughs to the October sky.
Poor knights they are which bravely wait
The charge of Winter’s cavalry,
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Discumbered of their Persian luxury.”
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