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TorontoPhantomspng
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1997
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2002
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New York CityHawks, New England Sea Wolves
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none
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The were a team in the
Arena Football League . Their nickname was a reference to the
Peregrine Falcon , several of which make their nests on ledges high up on
New York 's skyskrapers.
Despite the failure of the
New York Knights in
1988 , the AFL decided once again to make an effort to establish a team in the nation's largest media market, and granted a franchise to the New York CityHawks prior to the
1997 season. The major circumstance that differentiated this situation from that of the Knights was that the CityHawks' owners were also the owners of their home arena
Madison Square Garden , whereas the Knights had been tenants there.
The Arena Football League had intended to re-enter the New York market in 1997 by putting an expansion team in the
New Jersey Meadowlands , located just across the
Hudson River from New York City. Among the ownership of the new
New Jersey team were several ex-
NFL players, most notably former
New York Giant Joe Morris .
In response to the AFL's placing a team in New Jersey, the Madison Square Garden owners requested a team of their own for the Garden. This request was granted by the League with only months to go before the beginning of the 1997 season, while the New Jersey team had been granted several months earlier. The New Jersey team, the
New Jersey Red Dogs , thus had twice the preparation time as did the CityHawks going into both teams' initial season of 1997.
The CityHawks played poorly, winning only 2 of 14 games during their first season, despite being led by Head Coach -
21 , the Red Dogs scored 91 points vs. Texas; the CityHawks scored only 9 points in a loss to Tampa Bay.
In 1998, the CityHawks replaced Kuharich with veteran
NCAA coach
Chuck Shelton , who was taking his first Arena Football job. However, the team fared almost as poorly as they had done the first season, winning only 3 of 14 games.
The team drew very few fans in each of its two seasons at the Garden, and the coverage in the New York
Media ranged from nonexistent (at best) to derisive (at worst). On one occasion, then-Garden President
Dave Checketts appeared as a guest on all-sports
Radio station
WFAN , and he attempted to turn the conversation (which had been about the
NBA 's
New York Knicks , which also were owned by the Garden's owners) towards the subject of the CityHawks. Upon hearing this suggestion, hosts
Mike Francesa and
Chris Russo laughed openly at Checketts, and refused to let him continue speaking about the CityHawks. The hosts did not stop their on-air mockery until Checketts returned to the subject of the Knicks.
However, Checketts and the Garden management were themselves largely responsible for the CityHawks' status as laughing stocks. First, they had applied for the team with very little time remaining for preparation before the opening of the 1997 season. Then, in their second season, they replaced a career AFL coach with a coach who had no experience with the Arena game.
But, the biggest failing on the part of Garden management was the lack of promotion -- no billboards, no (Women's National Basketball Association) and the Garden's team, the
New York Liberty . The Garden's management put extraordinary effort into promoting the new basketball team, blanketing the media with ads for it immediately from its inception. In comparison, Garden management put very little effort into promoting -- or even running -- its Arena Football team.
The Garden owners announced that the club would be transferred to
Harford ,
Connecticut for the
1999 season, would be renamed the , and would play at the
Hartford Civic Center . After two seasons in Hartford, the club was sold to new owners who transferred it to
Toronto ,
Ontario ,
Canada , and gave it the new name '''Toronto Phantoms'''. The league folded the team after the
2002 season.
The CityHawks had several individual players of outstanding quality, most notably
Quarterback Mike Perez ,
Kicker Mike Black , defensive specialist/kick returner
Ron Carpenter , and all-around threat
Connell Maynor . Maynor, a very interesting case, was primarily a quarterback by trade, but played
Wide Receiver /
Linebacker for the CityHawks. One week in 1997, he won the award for the league's top "ironman" (player who plays both on
Offense and
Defense , as 6 of 8 players must do in Arena Football). As a QB, Maynor would later lead the
Orlando Predators to a league championship by winning ArenaBowl XIV in
2000
In addition, the CityHawks were the first AFL team to have different helmets for home and road games. In 1997, they wore their gold helmets at home, with black jerseys and gold pants; and wore the reverse on the road: black helmets, gold jerseys, black pants. In 1998, they adopted a one-color scheme, dressing in all black at home, and in all gold on the road.
The were in Hartford for two seasons, and were coached by
Mike Hohensee , the former
Albany Firebirds coach who has been the head coach of the
Chicago Rush since that team's inception in 2001. In 2000, the Sea Wolves posted the first winning record in franchise history (8-6). That season also saw the debut of offensive specialist
Damien Harrell , who went on to blossom after the team moved on to Toronto, and has continued his fine career into the
2006 season with several outstanding years for the
Colorado Crush .
The team did little better financially in New England than it had in New York, and was sold to new owners, who relocated it to Toronto after the
2000 season.
The marked an abortive attempt by the
Arena Football League to enter the
Canadian market. The team played the
2001 and
2002 Arena seasons in
Toronto , and were then disbanded.
All home games were played at the
Air Canada Centre , also the home of the
Toronto Maple Leafs of the
National Hockey League and the
Toronto Raptors of the
National Basketball Association .
The Phantoms' logo was quite impressive, with a Grim Reaper character whose scythe carried the word "Toronto" with the word "Phantoms" appearing over it.
In 2001, the Phantoms posted a reasonable 8-6 record, making the playoffs. They would beat the
New York Dragons in the first round of the playoffs; however, they would lose to the
Nashville Kats in the second round.
In 2002, they went 5-9, missing the playoffs.
Among the notable Phantoms players were OS Damien Harrell, and position (defensive back) associated with the World Champion
New England Patriots and then the
New York Jets of the
NFL ). During their time in Toronto, these players were not widely recognized in an already congested sports market.
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"6" align="center" '''New York CityHawks'''
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"6" align="center" '''New England Sea Wolves'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Oklahoma_Wranglers" class="copylinks">Oklahoma Wranglers )
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"6" align="center" '''Toronto Phantoms'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Nashville_Kats" class="copylinks">Nashville Kats )
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"2" (including playoffs)
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