The Cape Codders were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that played at the

Cape Cod Coliseum Cape Cod Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena located off White's Path in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. In addition to sporting events, the coliseum hosted rock concerts. The 46,000-square foot concrete arena opened in 1972 and sat between 5,000� ...

South Yarmouth, Massachusetts South Yarmouth is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Yarmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,092 at the 2010 census, the highest of the three CDPs in Yarmouth. ...

History

The Cubs started play as an expansion franchise in the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

in 1972, the same year their home arena—the

—was constructed. An affiliate of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

, the Cubs were coached by former Bruin

Bronco Horvath Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968. Early life Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family t ...

and they won the EHL's Central Division championship in their first year of play. When the EHL folded, the Cubs became founding members of the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

for the 1973–74 season. A poor start on the ice and at the gate resulted in the firing of Horvath. Defenseman Mike De Marco replaced him on an interim basis until the team hired minor league defenseman Nick Polano of the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The t ...

to be player-coach for the remainder of the season. For 1974–75, the team changed its name, its affiliations and its coach, becoming the Cape Codders and signing working agreements with the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

New England Whalers New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and

Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1975–76 WHA season, 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and t ...

. Larry Kish, a former All-America defenseman at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

who previously had coached the Rhode Island Eagles and

Suncoast Suns The Suncoast Suns was a minor league professional ice hockey team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and played home games at the Bayfront Center. The Suns began in the Eastern Hockey League in 1971, and was a founding member of the Southern Ho ...

, was named coach. The franchise went out of business in 1977. The Hyannis Presidents team in the movie ''

Slap Shot ''Slap Shot'' is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by George Roy Hill, written by Nancy Dowd, and starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean. It depicts a minor league ice hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity ...

'' was based on the Cape Cod Cubs, and featured one of its actual players, Mark Bousquet.

References

External links

Today in Cape history: Cape Cod Coliseum is put up for saleThe Internet Hockey Database
Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Defunct ice hockey teams in Massachusetts North American Hockey League (1973–1977) teams Eastern Hockey League teams 1974 establishments in Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 1974 1976 disestablishments in Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1976 Sports clubs and teams in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Yarmouth, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-sport-team-stub