Professional hockey would not return to the Capital Region until the 1980s, with a pair of failed attempts to establish franchises in the low-level Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The Schenectady Chiefs were awarded a charter franchise in the ACHL's inaugural 1981-82 season, but after drawing minuscule crowds in a rink built in a converted department store, that team folded on November 18, 1981 after just nine games. In an ironic case of déjà vu, the Troy Slapshots joined the same league five years later, and played just 6 games before folding in November 17, 1986.