| Toronto Phantoms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| General information | |||
| Founded | 1997 | ||
| Folded | 2002 | ||
| Headquartered | Air Canada Centre inToronto,Ontario | ||
| Colors | Black, light blue, red, grey, and white | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owner | Rogers Communications (2000–2002) | ||
| Head coach | Mark Stoute (2001–2002) | ||
| Team history | |||
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| Home fields | |||
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| League / conference affiliations | |||
Arena Football League (1997–2002)
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| Playoff appearances (2) | |||
TheToronto Phantoms were a professionalarena football team based inToronto, Ontario. The team was a member of theEastern Division of the National Conference of theArena Football League (AFL). The team also previously operated inNew York City andHartford, Connecticut.
The team began in 1997 as theNew York CityHawks. Their name was a reference to theperegrine falcon, several of which make their nests on ledges high up onNew York's skyscrapers.
Despite the failure of theNew York Knights in1988, 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 the1997 season. The major circumstance that differentiated this situation from that of the Knights was that the CityHawks were owned byMadison Square Garden, while the Knights had been tenants at the Garden.
The Arena Football League had intended to re-enter the New York market in 1997 by putting an expansion team in theNew Jersey Meadowlands, located just across theHudson River from New York City. Among the ownership of the newNew Jersey Red Dogs were several ex-NFL players, most notably formerNew York GiantJoe Morris.
In response to the AFL's placing a team in New Jersey, the Madison Square Garden ownership requested a team of its own. 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 founded several months earlier. The CityHawks thus had only half the preparation time that the Red Dogs had going into both teams' initial season of 1997.
The CityHawks played poorly, winning only two of 14 games during their first season, despite being led by Head CoachLary Kuharich, who had coached theTampa Bay Storm to the league championship by winningArenaBowl VII in1993. Meanwhile, the cross-river Red Dogs, under Head CoachJohn Hufnagel, had charged out of the gate, winning 8 of their first 9 games, and setting a (then) league record by scoring 91 points in one game against theTexas Terror (a record which was surpassed in2001 when theNew York Dragons scored 99 against theCarolina Cobras). To illustrate the contrasting fortunes of the two teams: during the weekend of games that included June 20–21, the Red Dogs scored 91 points against Texas; the CityHawks scored only nine points in a loss to Tampa Bay.In 1998, the CityHawks replaced Kuharich with veteranNCAA coachChuck 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 Garden announced that the club would be transferred toHartford, Connecticut for the1999 season, would be renamed theNew England Sea Wolves, and would play at theHartford Civic Center, an arena also managed (although not owned) by Garden management.
The CityHawks had several individual players of outstanding quality, most notablyquarterbackMike Perez,kickerMike 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 playedwide receiver/linebacker for the CityHawks. One week in 1997, he won the award for the league's top "ironman" (player who plays both onoffense anddefense, as six of eight players had to do at that time in Arena Football). As a quarterback, Maynor would later lead theOrlando Predators to a league championship by winningArenaBowl XIV.
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.
TheNew England Sea Wolves were in Hartford for two seasons, and were coached byMike Hohensee, the formerAlbany Firebirds coach who has been the head coach of theChicago Rush since that team's inception in 2001 until its fold in 2009 following the folding of the original version and subsequent revival of the league. In 2000, the Sea Wolves posted the first winning record in franchise history (8–6). That season also saw the debut of offensive specialistDamian Harrell, who went on to blossom after the team moved on to Toronto.
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 the2000 season.
TheToronto Phantoms marked an abortive attempt by theArena Football League to enterCanada. The team was purchased by a group led by TD Securities Inc. investment banker, Rob Godfrey. The majority share of the team was owned byRogers Communications[1][2] alongside minority owners Ronnie Strasser, Peter Shoniker and Simon Serruya The group paid a reported $6–8 million for the franchise.[3] The Phantoms played the2001 and2002 Arena seasons inToronto, and were then disbanded.
All home games were played at theAir Canada Centre, also the home of theToronto Maple Leafs of theNational Hockey League, theToronto Raptors of theNational Basketball Association, and theToronto Rock of theNational Lacrosse League. The team's primary rival was theBuffalo Destroyers, located 80 miles south in Buffalo.
The Phantoms' logo included aGrim Reaper character whose scythe carried the word "Toronto" with the word "Phantoms" appearing over it. The name came fromThe Phantom of the Opera, theAndrew Lloyd Webber musical that played at theCanon Theatre (then Pantages Theatre) in Toronto for nine years.The name was also a nod to minority owner Ronnie Strasser, whose family owned Phantom Industries, a women's hosiery company.
In2001, the Phantoms posted a reasonable 8–6 record, winning the AFLEastern Division Championship,[4] and making the playoffs. They would beat theNew York Dragons in the first round of the playoffs; however, they would lose to theNashville Kats in the second round.
In2002, they went 5–9, missing the playoffs. Following the season, Rogers announced that they were suspending operations of the franchise. The Phantoms drew an average of just 6,976 fans per game over their two seasons atAir Canada Centre. Six years later, Rogers entered into afive-year sharing agreement withRalph Wilson to lease Wilson's NFLBuffalo Bills to Rogers for an annual regular season game in exchange for cash, marking the return of American football to Canada, after a fashion.
Among the notable Phantoms players were Offensive SpecialistDamian Harrell,fullback/linebacker Jermaine Younger, as well as defensive back/wide receiver Ty Law (unrelated to theNFL player of the same name). During their time in Toronto, these players were not widely recognized in an already congested sports market.
| Toronto Phantoms Hall of Famers | ||||
| No. | Name | Year Inducted | Position(s) | Years w/ Phantoms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84 | Fred Gayles | 2002 | WR/DB | 1997 |
| -- | Mike Hohensee | 2012 | Head Coach | 1999–2000 |
| 7 | Damian Harrell | 2014 | WR/DB | 1999–2002 |
| Kicker of the Year | |||
| Season | Player | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Mike Black | K | |
The following Phantoms players were named toAll-Arena Teams:
The following Phantoms players were named to All-Rookie Teams:
| Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Lary Kuharich | 1997 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chuck Shelton | 1998 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Hohensee | 1999–2000 | 13 | 15 | 0 | .464 | 0 | 1 | |
| Mark Stoute | 2001–2002 | 13 | 15 | 0 | .464 | 0 | 1 | |
