Long Island Ducks

The Long Island Ducks were one of many teams that came and went from the EBA in the 1960s and 1970s, however they have an interesting back story. The Ducks were originally successful as a hockey team in the Eastern Hockey League during the 1960s. As pro hockey expanded rapidly with the NHL and the creation of the WHA, many minor league teams like the Ducks were squeezed out of an over-saturated market. When the hockey Ducks met their demise, the team’s owner, Al Baron, got into basketball. The basketball Ducks played at the same arena as their hockey counterparts, the Long Island Arena in Commack, NY. The New York Nets also infamously spent a season there in 1968-69, where many times the hockey ice below the court would melt through and cause players to slip and slide during basketball games. The basketball Ducks played only one season in the EBA, 1977-78, and went 15-15. They would lose to the Lancaster Red Roses in the first round of the playoffs.