New York Raiders The New York Raiders were a founding member of the World Hockey Association based in New York City . Intended to be the WHA ' s flagship franchise , its short tenure was a result of being unable to complete with the National Hockey League ' s established New York Rangers , and the expansion New York Islanders . After its inaugural season , the team was known as the New York Golden Blades and eventually relocated to Cherry Hill , New Jersey , becoming the New Jersey Knights . New York Raiders . The New York Raiders participated in the first WHA draft . Its coach was Camille Henry and the very first draft pick - second overall - was Al Sims . Sims did not , however , play for the Raiders , but he signed with the Boston Bruins instead . The team was initially slated to play in the brand - new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island . However , Nassau County didn ' t consider the WHA a professional league and wanted nothing to do with the Raiders . Nassau County retained William Shea to get an NHL team to play in the new building . The NHL responded by hastily awarding a franchise to Long Island — the New York Islanders . The Islanders ' lease with the Coliseum was structured in such a way to effectively lock out non - NHL teams . The Raiders were forced to play in Madison Square Garden , where they faced being tenants to their major competitor , the New York Rangers . The situation rapidly became untenable , with an onerous lease and poor attendance . The three original owners defaulted , and the league ended up taking control of the team midway through the season . < br clear = " all " > New York Golden Blades . Following the season , a new local owner bought the team and renamed it the New York Golden Blades . Among the Golden Blades ' claims to fame was the only female coach in U . S . professional sports , their power skating coach . The Golden Blades were forced to revert to a Sundays - only home schedule , due to the high price of rent at Madison Square Garden , and scheduling conflicts with other events that took place in the arena . This wasn ' t enough to save the team , and the league was forced to take over the franchise again 24 games into the season . Realizing that it could not hope to compete with both the Rangers and the Islanders , the WHA moved the Golden Blades to New Jersey soon after taking control . New Jersey Knights . The New Jersey Knights started play part way through the 1973 – 74 season , in Cherry Hill , New Jersey . Their home ice rink was Cherry Hill Arena . After 1974 , the team moved to San Diego , California and became known as the San Diego Mariners . The Knights home rink , the Cherry Hill Arena had a slope in the ice surface , which caused pucks to shoot upward from results of a pass , or shot . The arena was also closely cramped , with players not having adequate changing and dressing facilities . The Cherry Hill Arena was one of the last professional hockey arenas to have " chicken wire " fencing above the arena boards instead of plexiglass . Arena grounds are now the site of the Cherry Hill Shopping Center and Cherry Hill Inn Season - by - season record . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes "