Berlin River Drivers

Berlin River Drivers
City Berlin, New Hampshire
League Federal Hockey League
Operated 2015–2017
Home arena Notre Dame Arena
Colors Chocolate Brown, beige, black
                   
Owner(s) Lenny Lichtman
Media The Berlin Daily Sun
Franchise history
2015–2017 Berlin River Drivers

The Berlin River Drivers were a minor professional ice hockey team in the Federal Hockey League that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Berlin, New Hampshire, the River Drivers played their home games at the Notre Dame Arena.

History

On July 14, 2014, the FHL announced the River Drivers as a new franchise.[1] However, on September 8, 2014, the league announced that the league would expand instead into North Adams, Massachusetts (with the Berkshire Battalion), citing the market to be a better fit but not ruling out Berlin and the River Drivers' return for the 2015–16 season.[2]

The following offseason, on May 20, 2015, the FHL announced the River Drivers would begin play in the 2015–16 season at the newly renovated Notre Dame Arena.[3] They initially announced an affiliation with the Evansville IceMen of the ECHL for the 2015–16 season,[4] however, sometime before the season began the post and all references to the IceMen had been removed from the website.

After making it the championship in the 2016–17 season, the Berlin River Drivers ceased operations due to the increased overhead costs of running the team and not selling enough season tickets for the following season. In order to play the 2017–18 season, the team claimed it needed to sell 1,000 season tickets upfront in order to have enough money to operate. Their arena only had a capacity of 1,680.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Professional hockey coming to Berlin". The Berlin Daily Sun. July 14, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Berkshire Battalion Announced as 6th Federal Hockey League". FHL. September 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "FHL Approves Berlin River Drivers Membership Share". May 20, 2015. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Berlin RiverDrivers and Evansville IceMen Enter Affiliation Agreement". FHL. August 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ "RIVER DRIVERS SUSPEND OPERATIONS". FHL. May 18, 2017.
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