Poughkeepsie Panthers

The Connecticut Cougars was a semi-professional ice hockey team in North Eastern Hockey League (NEHL). The team was originally the Poughkeepsie Panthers and was based in Poughkeepsie, New York. After very low attendance in the first few games in Poughkeepsie, the team was to be relocated to Connecticut and renamed the Connecticut Cougars but negotiations with an arena broke down and the Cougars finished as a road team for the remainder of the season.

Panthers Head Coach Jason Gerhard was replaced with Dan Stewart when the team was to be relocated. The Cougars started slow as the whole team had been revamped from the coaching staff down. Stewart put together a very good team. The Cougars started to come on by the seasons end. If the Cougars had a little more time in the season they definitely would have been able to win more games.