New Hampshire Freedoms
The New Hampshire Freedoms were the state's first professional hockey team, competing in the NEHL during the 1978-79 season. The NEHL sprang from the ashes of the NAHL, with former NAHL clubs like the Baltimore Clippers and the Erie Blades joining traditional NAHL markets such as Syracuse, Utica, and Johnstown. Later, the NEHL was renamed the EHL in an attempt to carry on the tradition of the earlier EHL, which lasted for decades and ultimately became the NAHL.
Neither the Freedoms nor the NEHL would survive. The games for the Freedoms were played in the Everett Arena in Concord and the JFK Coliseum in Manchester. With average crowds of roughly 500 in both places, they did not perform well in terms of attendance. They picked up and relocated to Cape Cod in December 1978, only a few months into their first season, and became the Cape Cod Freedoms. They'd conclude the season in Cape Cod before relocating to Richmond, Virginia, and becoming the Rifles. The Freedoms went 33-36-1 in their lone season. The NEHL would dissolve following the 1980-81 season.
Neither the Freedoms nor the NEHL would survive. The games for the Freedoms were played in the Everett Arena in Concord and the JFK Coliseum in Manchester. With average crowds of roughly 500 in both places, they did not perform well in terms of attendance. They picked up and relocated to Cape Cod in December 1978, only a few months into their first season, and became the Cape Cod Freedoms. They'd conclude the season in Cape Cod before relocating to Richmond, Virginia, and becoming the Rifles. The Freedoms went 33-36-1 in their lone season. The NEHL would dissolve following the 1980-81 season.
