World Hockey Association

North American ice hockey league, 1972–1979

This article is about the 1971–79 North American professional ice hockey league. For the 2000s defunct proposal for a major league of hockey, see World Hockey Association (proposed). For the defunct minor professional hockey league, see World Hockey Association 2.

World Hockey Association

Sport| Ice hockey
Founded| September 13, 1971; 53 years ago (September 13, 1971)
Ceased| June 22, 1979; 46 years ago (June 22, 1979)
Countries| United States
Canada
Most titles| Winnipeg Jets (3)

The World Hockey Association (French: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.

The WHA tried to capitalize on the lack of hockey teams in a number of major American cities and mid-level Canadian cities, and also hoped to attract the best players by paying more than NHL owners would. The WHA successfully challenged the NHL's reserve clause, which had bound players to their NHL teams even without a valid contract, allowing players in both leagues greater freedom of movement. Sixty-seven players jumped from the NHL to the WHA in the first year, led by star forward Bobby Hull, whose ten-year, $2.75 million contract was a record at the time. The league took advantage of drafting young players, as the NHL amateur draft at the time stipulated players had to be at least 20 years old to be drafted (in 1974, the NHL moved the age to 18 to compete with the WHA for that year only). The WHA took the initiative to sign European players, most famously with Václav Nedomanský, the first Czechoslovak to defect to North America to play hockey in 1974; the initiative to sign European players ushered in a new era in North American hockey. Other noted names to enter the WHA in later years included Gordie Howe, who elected to return to hockey at age 45 with the Houston Aeros in 1973 to play with his sons Mark and Marty. In the seven seasons of giving out the Avco World Trophy, one of (or both) the Winnipeg Jets and Houston Aeros made the Final in each year, with Houston winning twice and Winnipeg winning three times.

The WHA was chronically unstable, with franchises occasionally relocating or folding in the middle of the season. It had an acrimonious relationship with the NHL, resulting in numerous legal battles, as well as competition for control of players and markets. In spite of this, merger talks began almost immediately. NHL owners voted down a 1977 plan to merge six WHA teams (the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Cincinnati Stingers, Houston Aeros, and Winnipeg Jets) into the NHL before a 1979 merger was approved.[1] The final WHA game was played on May 20, 1979, as the Jets defeated the Oilers to win their third Avco World Trophy.

As a result, the WHA ceased operations, and four teams joined the NHL for the 1979–80 season: the Edmonton Oilers, New England (renamed Hartford) Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets. Of these four teams, two of the three Canadian teams — the Nordiques and Jets — eventually moved south to Denver and Phoenix, respectively. The Whalers later moved from Hartford to Raleigh, North Carolina, and were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes. The Oilers are the only WHA merger team to retain both their original nickname and city.

## History

[edit]

### Founding

[edit]

The World Hockey Association was founded in 1971 by American promoters Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson. The men had previously been the founder and first president of the American Basketball Association, respectively.[2] They quickly recruited Bill Hunter, president of the junior Western Canada Hockey League.[3] Hunter and Murphy traveled across North America recruiting franchise owners, and by September 1971, had announced that the league would begin in 1972 with ten teams,[4] each having paid $25,000 for their franchise.[5]

The average NHL salary in 1972 was $25,000, the lowest of the four major sports, while each player was bound by a reserve clause, that automatically extended their contract by one year when it expired, tying them to their team for the life of their career.[6] In October 1972, the WHA announced that it would not use the reserve clause, stating that "The reserve clause won't stand up to the scrutiny of ... players, players associations, the United States Congress, the public, and the Supreme Court."[7] The WHA also promised much higher salaries than the NHL offered, and by the time the league began play, it had lured 67 former NHL players to its league, including Bernie Parent, Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson, J. C. Tremblay, and Ted Green.[8] The biggest name signed was former Chicago Black Hawks star Bobby Hull, who agreed to a ten-year, $2.7 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, the largest in hockey history at the time, and one that lent the league instant credibility.[9]

The NHL tried to block several of the defections. The Boston Bruins attempted to restrain Sanderson and Cheevers from joining the WHA, though a United States federal court refused to prohibit the signings. The Black Hawks were successful in having a restraining order filed against Hull and the Jets pending the outcome of legal action the Black Hawks were taking against the WHA. The new league was eager for the court action, intending to challenge the legality of the reserve clause.[10]

In November 1972, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia placed an injunction against the NHL, preventing it from enforcing the reserve clause and freeing all players who had restraining orders against them, including Hull, to play with their WHA clubs. The decision effectively ended the NHL's monopoly on major league professional hockey talent.[11]

### Teams

[edit]

On November 1, 1971, twelve teams were formally announced. They included cities without NHL teams such as the Miami Screaming Eagles, as well as teams in cities where the league's promoters believed there was room for more than one team, such as the Los Angeles Aces, Chicago Cougars, and New York Raiders. Two of the original twelve teams moved before the first season started: the Dayton Arrows became the Houston Aeros and the San Francisco Sharks became the Quebec Nordiques. The Los Angeles franchise then took the nickname Sharks to replace Aces. The Calgary Broncos and the Screaming Eagles folded outright, replaced by the Philadelphia Blazers and the Cleveland Crusaders.

Although the league had many players under contract by June 1972, including a few NHL stars such as Bernie Parent, many of them were career minor league and college players. The new league was not considered much of a threat, until Bobby Hull, arguably the NHL's top forward at the time, jumped over. Hull had not been thought to be seriously considering signing with the WHA, even though he was in contentious salary negotiations with the Chicago Black Hawks, and when he told reporters that he would only move to the WHA "for a million dollars", it was both intended by Hull and taken by his audience to be a joke since a million dollars at that time was considered to be a ridiculous amount of money for a hockey player. Nevertheless, the Winnipeg Jets offered Hull a five-year, one million dollar contract with a one million dollar signing bonus. Hull accepted the Jets' offer, sealing the deal in an elaborate signing ceremony at Portage and Main. Hull's move to the upstart league attracted a few other top stars such as Cheevers, Sanderson, and Tremblay.

The WHA officially made its debut on October 11, 1972, at the Ottawa Civic Centre, when the Alberta Oilers defeated the Ottawa Nationals 7–4. Although the quality of hockey in the early years was predictably below that of the NHL, the WHA had indeed made stars out of many players that had little or no playing time in the NHL. For a very brief time in the leadup to the first season, the league tried orange pucks (an idea floated around in varying degrees by the NHL for years). However, the dye apparently affected the quality of the pucks that became potato-shaped when hit during play; the result was they later changed the color of the pucks to dark blue.[12][13]

The New England Whalers, the best team in the league for the first season, eventually won the WHA's inaugural championship, later renamed the Avco World Trophy when the Avco Financial Services Corporation became its main sponsor. However, the trophy had not yet been completed, and the Whalers skated their divisional championship trophy around the ice surface, much to the embarrassment of the WHA office. As it turned out, the best team in the league for a season for points would win the playoffs in five of the seven WHA playoffs (with 1977 and 1979 being the lone exceptions); four of the seven Avco Cup Finals were decided by the two best teams in the regular season (1974, 1977, 1979 being the exceptions). No Avco Cup Finals game played reached overtime.

### Problems

[edit]

Alternate WHA logo

Right from the start, the league was plagued with problems. Many teams often found themselves in financial difficulty, folding or moving from one city to another, sometimes mid-season. Citing arena troubles, two of the original twelve teams, the Dayton Arrows and the San Francisco Sharks, relocated before the first season began, becoming the Houston Aeros and Quebec Nordiques, respectively. The Calgary Broncos and the Miami Screaming Eagles, folded outright before the first puck dropped, being replaced by the Philadelphia Blazers and the Cleveland Crusaders.

The New York Raiders, initially intended to be the WHA's flagship team, suffered from numerous problems. While they planned to play in the brand new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Nassau County did not consider the WHA a major league and wanted nothing to do with the Raiders. The county recruited William Shea, leader of New York City's successful lobbying campaign to get baseball's National League to expand following the 1957 departures of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Working with the NHL, Shea swiftly won over the initially reluctant president of the New York Rangers, Bill Jennings, who was persuaded that it would be better to accept competition from an NHL team that would at least be willing to pay his club compensation for sharing the Rangers' territory as opposed to a WHA team that would owe his franchise nothing. The NHL quickly awarded a franchise to Long Island, the New York Islanders, who locked up the Coliseum for their own use from 1972 onwards. The Raiders were first forced to rent space at Madison Square Garden, where they were tenants to the Rangers. The situation rapidly became untenable, with an onerous lease and poor attendance, so the three original owners defaulted and the league ended up taking control of the team midway through the season. The Raiders were sold after their inaugural season. They were renamed the New York Golden Blades for the 1973–74 season, but were forced into a Sundays-only home schedule due to the high price of rent and scheduling conflicts with other events at Madison Square Garden. This was not enough to save the team, and the league was forced to take over the franchise again 24 games into the second season. Realizing that it could not hope to compete with both the Rangers and the Islanders, the WHA moved the Golden Blades to New Jersey soon after taking control. Renamed the Jersey Knights, they played at the Cherry Hill Arena which had a slope in the ice surface,[14] causing pucks to shoot upward from results of a pass or shot, chain link fencing instead of Plexiglas surrounding the rink, and inadequate, cramped changing and dressing facilities. Teams routinely changed coaches: of the twelve coaches hired for 1972, just two were retained by 1974 (Bill Dineen and Billy Harris)[15] 56 head coaches were hired by WHA teams in seven seasons, and eleven of them lasted longer than two years: Bill Dineen, Harry Neale, Jacques Demers, Terry Slater, Joe Crozier, Ron Ingram, Billy Harris, Pat Stapleton, Glen Sather, Glen Sonmor, and Bobby Hull. [16]

Ahead of the 1973–74 season, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard deliberately made the Toronto Toros' lease terms at Maple Leaf Gardens as difficult as possible after they moved from Ottawa. The Toros were owned by John F. Bassett, son of Canadian media mogul John Bassett. The older Bassett had formerly been part-owner of the Leafs with Ballard and Stafford Smythe before falling out with his two partners. At the time of the Toros' lease at Maple Leaf Gardens, Ballard was serving a lengthy prison term for fraud and tax evasion and was unable to intervene; but by the time the Toros played their first game, Ballard had been paroled and had regained control of the Gardens. Much to Bassett's outrage, the arena was dim for the first game. Ballard also ordered the cushions from the home bench removed for Toros' games (he told an arena worker, "Let 'em buy their own cushions!"). It was obvious that Ballard was angered at the WHA being figuratively in his backyard, and took out his frustration with the renegade league on the Toros. These terms compelled Bassett to move the team to Birmingham after three seasons.[17]

The league bottomed out in 1975–76 with its third expansion team, the Denver Spurs. A mainstay of the minor Western Hockey League, they were originally supposed to join the NHL in the same way the Vancouver Canucks and California Golden Seals had in the preceding decade. When the NHL reneged on the agreement, and Spurs owner Ivan Mullenix was unable to negotiate an early entry into the NHL, he accepted an offer to join the WHA for the 1975–76 season. However, Denver residents felt betrayed after three years of hype for an NHL team. They did not consider the WHA a major league, and stayed away from Spurs games.

However, halfway through the season, the NHL's Kansas City Scouts began serious talks about moving to Denver. Knowing he could not even begin to compete with an NHL team, Mullenix began talks with a group of Ottawa businessmen who insisted the Spurs move immediately as a condition of further talks. As a result, the Spurs abruptly moved to become the Ottawa Civics while on a road trip. After only seven games as the Civics, the franchise folded when it became clear that the Ottawa group did not have nearly enough financing to buy the team. The Spurs/Civics franchise only played 41 games total, making them easily the shortest-lived franchise in WHA history. The NHL soon fulfilled its promise to Denver by moving the Scouts there to become the Colorado Rockies in the 1976 offseason.

Part of the financial trouble was attributed to the high player salaries. For instance, the Philadelphia Blazers signed Derek Sanderson for $2.6 million, which surpassed that of Brazilian soccer star, Pelé, making him the highest-paid athlete in the world at the time.[18] Unfortunately, his play did not live up to the expectations of his salary, and between an early-season injury, intemperate remarks to the press, and Blazer financial troubles, Sanderson's contract was bought out before the end of the season.

As well, big stars lacked supporting players and the quality of the on-ice product suffered.

### Competing for talent

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The WHA won several key victories, including a court ruling that prevented the NHL from binding players to its teams via the reserve clause, and the signings of more NHL stars such as Gordie Howe, Andre Lacroix, Marc Tardif, and in later years, Frank Mahovlich and Paul Henderson. Howe had been lured out of a two-year retirement for the chance to play alongside his sons, Mark and Marty, who opted to turn pro a year ahead of their NHL draft eligibility.

In the 1974–75 season, to broaden a depleted talent pool, the WHA began signing European players, which the NHL had largely ignored up to that time, in serious numbers, including stars such as Swedish Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson and Czech center Vaclav Nedomansky, who had just defected from Czechoslovakia. Winnipeg especially loaded up with Scandinavian players and became the class of the league, with Hedberg and Nilsson combining with Bobby Hull to form one of hockey's most formidable forward lines. Along with the mass import of European stars, Vancouver attempted unsuccessfully to lure Phil Esposito away from the NHL by offering a contract similar to that of Bobby Hull, with a million dollars upfront.[19]

### International play

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The 1972 Summit Series, which pitted Team Canada against the Soviets, did not permit WHA players, due to the decision of series organizer Alan Eagleson, an NHL agent who was influential in forming the Canadian team. Bobby Hull, one of the best WHA players, was ruled ineligible to play because of his defection from the NHL, despite being initially selected by coach Harry Sinden. Dennis Hull initially planned to boycott the event as well as a show of support for his older brother, but Bobby persuaded him to stay on Team Canada. Other WHA stars turned down included Gerry Cheevers, J.C. Tremblay and Derek Sanderson. Some NHL owners also threatened not to free their players to participate if WHA players were permitted.

The WHA organized the 1974 Summit Series against the Soviets, giving an opportunity for Hull and 46-year-old Gordie Howe to play for Canada against the Soviet team, which the Soviets won 4–1–3.

In the 1976 Canada Cup, the NHL and NHLPA broadened the scope of the competition, inviting to the tournament a number of hockey countries and allowing each invited country to send the best possible team they could muster, so this time WHA players were permitted. WHA players played on four of the tournament's six teams.

In December 1976 and January 1977, the Super Series '76-77 tournament took place, opposing the HC CSKA Moscow (Red Army) and WHA teams. The Red Army won the series 6–2.

### Decline and merger

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Main article: NHL–WHA merger

By the 1976–77 season, it had become evident that many of the WHA's franchises were teetering on the verge of financial collapse, and that the (at one time) combined 32 teams of the NHL and WHA had badly strained professional hockey's talent pool.

In 1977, merger discussions with the National Hockey League were first initiated, with Houston, Cincinnati, Winnipeg, New England, Quebec, and Edmonton applying for entry to the NHL, who voted the proposal down. Merger discussions resumed in 1978, but Houston was not part of the proposal this time. During the final series of talks, Aeros owner Kenneth Schnitzer suggested to the NHL that either his team be admitted as an expansion team independent of a merger, or he would attempt to purchase an existing club and relocate it to Houston. Neither came to fruition, and as a result the Aeros elected to fold on July 6, 1978. Another proposal had the Edmonton Oilers and the New England Whalers moving to the NHL, with the Winnipeg Jets following a year later, but this was also not accepted by the NHL.

The final two seasons of the WHA saw the debut of many superstars, some of whom became hockey legends in the NHL, including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mike Liut, and Mike Gartner. The Birmingham Bulls alone featured future NHLers Rick Vaive, Michel Goulet, Rob Ramage, Ken Linseman, Craig Hartsburg, Rod Langway, Mark Napier, Pat Riggin and Gaston Gingras.[20]

By the end of the final season, only six teams remained. Facing financial difficulty and unable to meet payrolls, the WHA finally came to an agreement with the NHL in early 1979. Under the deal, four WHA clubs – the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers (renamed the Hartford Whalers), Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets – joined the NHL. The other two WHA teams, the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls, were paid $1.5 million apiece in compensation. The NHL treated the new clubs' arrival as an expansion, not a merger, and refused to recognize any WHA records. While the four new clubs were allowed to stock their rosters through the expansion draft, NHL teams were allowed to reclaim players who had jumped to the WHA.[21]

The WHA was able to extract three key concessions. First, the WHA teams were allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters to keep their rosters from being completely stripped clean by the NHL teams. Second, the NHL allowed all of the WHA's Canadian teams to be part of the deal. The NHL had originally been willing to take only the Oilers, Whalers, and Jets, but the WHA insisted that the Nordiques be included as well. Third, although the NHL had insisted on treating the deal as an expansion, it agreed to freeze the expansion fee for each team at $6 million U.S., the same fee paid by every other team that had joined the NHL in the 1970s. By comparison, when the Atlanta Flames were sold and moved to Calgary one year later, the sale was $16 million U.S.

The deal came up for a vote at the NHL Board of Governors meeting in Key Largo, Florida on March 8, 1979. The final tally was 12–5, one vote short of passage, as a three-quarters majority was required to permit a merger.[22] The Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks voted against the deal. The Bruins were not pleased with having to share New England with the Whalers. Los Angeles and Vancouver feared losing home dates with NHL teams from the East. Montreal and Toronto were not enamored at the prospect of having to split revenue from Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts six ways rather than three.[21]

When a second vote was held in Chicago on March 22, 1979, Montreal and Vancouver changed their votes, allowing the deal to go forward. Vancouver and Los Angeles were won over by the promise of a balanced schedule, with each team playing the others twice at home and twice on the road. The Canadiens' owners, Molson Breweries, were feeling the effects of a massive boycott that originated in Edmonton, Quebec City, and Winnipeg and spread across Canada.[21] With the boycott severely hurting Molson's sales, the brewer reached agreement with the owners of the three Canadian WHA teams to have Molson replace their competitors (and Nordiques owners) Carling O'Keefe as the exclusive beer supplier for the Oilers' and Jets' arenas; it is probable that this concession was made in exchange for the Canadiens' vote.

The agreement officially took effect on June 22, 1979 (three months to the day after the deciding vote). On that day, the WHA folded and the NHL formally granted expansion franchises to Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec City, and Winnipeg.

## Legacy of the WHA

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On the ice, the WHA teams had proven themselves to be the NHL's competitive equals, winning more games than they lost in interleague exhibition games.[23]

The WHA had many lasting effects on NHL hockey. The NHL used to recruit virtually all its players from Canada, but following the success of the Jets' Hedberg and Nilsson, scouts began looking overseas for the best players that Europe could offer. Teams such as the Whalers and Fighting Saints offered excellent opportunities for young American players, and several U.S.-born or -raised NHL stars of the early 1980s (such as Mark Howe, Rod Langway, Dave Langevin, Robbie Ftorek, and Paul Holmgren) had begun their pro careers in the WHA. As a result, the NHL evolved into a truly cosmopolitan league during the 1980s. Looking back on the league a decades later, Howard Baldwin called the WHA "a successful failure."[24]

The WHA ended the NHL policy of paying its players only a fraction of the league's profits and, combined with the abolition of the reserve clause, led to much higher player salaries. Many great stars began their careers in the WHA, including Mark Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Gartner, Mike Liut, and Mark Messier. Messier was the last WHA veteran to play in the NHL; he opened his professional career with 52 games with the Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers in 1978–79, and played his last NHL game on April 3, 2004. The final active player and official in any on-ice capacity for the league was referee Don Koharski, who started as a linesman for the WHA and retired at the end of the 2008–09 NHL season.

The WHA instituted sudden death overtime for regular season games to break ties. If no team scored during a 10-minute overtime period, the game ended in a tie. In the 1983–84 season, the NHL then instituted a 5-minute sudden death overtime period to break regular season ties.[25]

The WHA had experimented with blue colored pucks, which were supposedly easier for fans to see. The NHL did not adopt the blue pucks, but any remaining blue WHA pucks are highly sought after collectors' items.

### Fate of surviving teams

[edit]

The former WHA clubs, by the terms of the expansion, could protect only two goalies and two skaters each in the player dispersal draft. The Jets posted a dismal nine wins in their second season (second-fewest all-time for a season in the NHL), and finished last. The other WHA teams did respectably well in their first year, with the Whalers and Oilers earning playoff berths. The Oilers chose to protect Wayne Gretzky in the dispersal draft, which would prove fortuitous.[21] Gretzky and the Whalers' Gordie Howe were selected to the mid-season All-Star Game, respectively the second-youngest and the oldest ever to play in the match.

The 1980s was a successful period for the former WHA teams. The Oilers shattered numerous NHL records and amassed a Stanley Cup dynasty, winning five Cups in its first eleven seasons.[26] The Jets of the 1980s, decimated by the dispersal draft, developed a solid nucleus of players that helped the club achieve respectable regular-season finishes. After missing the playoffs in their first NHL season, the Nordiques quickly became competitive, advancing as far as the third round of the playoffs in their third season. Quebec developed an intense rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. The Whalers had similar rivalries with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, and skated to the 1986–87 Adams Division title.

In the 1990s, the former WHA clubs suffered from escalating player salaries (ironically, the same trend that was instigated by the WHA). The ex-WHA clubs based in Canada were also hit hard by the declining value of the Canadian dollar. The Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche, where they have won the Stanley Cup three times (1996, 2001, 2022), the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996 and became the Phoenix Coyotes (the NHL would return to Winnipeg in 2011), and the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina in 1997 and became the Carolina Hurricanes, where they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. To date, the Oilers remain as the last ex-WHA team still in its original city, where they have won the Stanley Cup five times.[27] Only the Jets (later renamed the Arizona Coyotes) franchise never won the Cup, with their furthest advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs being the Western Conference Finals in 2012. The Coyotes suspended operations following the 2023–24 season with the team's hockey assets being sold to the expansion Utah Hockey Club (now Utah Mammoth).

## Trophies and awards

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This is a list of the trophies and awards that were handed out annually by the World Hockey Association.

* Avco World Trophy – Awarded to the playoff champion
* Gary L. Davidson Award / Gordie Howe Trophy – Most valuable player of the regular season
* Bill Hunter Trophy – Leading scorer of the regular season
* Lou Kaplan Trophy – Rookie of the year
* Ben Hatskin Trophy – Best goaltender
* Dennis A. Murphy Trophy – Best defenseman
* Paul Deneau Trophy – Most gentlemanly player
* Howard Baldwin Trophy / Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy – Coach of the year
* WHA Playoff MVP – Most valuable player in the playoffs

## Teams

[edit]

Three Canadian teams completed all seven WHA seasons based in the same city, and were the same three Canadian teams that ultimately joined the NHL. The other WHA team to enter the NHL, the Whalers, were the only other WHA team to play all of its home games over seven seasons within a relatively small geographical area, having moved 100 miles (160 km) from Boston to Hartford. Of the original 12 WHA franchises, only the Winnipeg Jets remained for all seven seasons without relocating, changing team names, or folding.

Franchise  | Cities/Names  | Years  | Fate

|
|
|

Alberta/Edmonton Oilers | Alberta Oilers  | 1972–1973  | Joined NHL, 1979,
as Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers  | 1973–1979
Chicago Cougars | Chicago Cougars  | 1972–1975  | Folded, 1975
Cincinnati Stingers | Cincinnati Stingers  | 1975–1979  | Joined Central Hockey League, 1979–80
Calgary Broncos,
Cleveland Crusaders,
Minnesota Fighting Saints | Calgary Broncos (never played)  | 1972  | Folded, 1977
Cleveland Crusaders  | 1972–1976
Minnesota Fighting Saints  | 1976–1977
Denver Spurs,
Ottawa Civics | Denver Spurs  | 1975–1976  | Folded, 1976
Ottawa Civics  | 1976
Dayton Arrows,
Houston Aeros | Dayton Arrows (never played)  | 1972  | Folded, 1978
Houston Aeros  | 1972–1978
Indianapolis Racers | Indianapolis Racers  | 1974–1978  | Folded, 1978
Los Angeles Aces,
Los Angeles Sharks,
Michigan Stags,
Baltimore Blades | Los Angeles Aces (name changed after San Francisco moved)  | 1972  | Folded, 1975
Los Angeles Sharks  | 1972–1974
Michigan Stags  | 1974–1975
Baltimore Blades  | 1975
Minnesota Fighting Saints | Minnesota Fighting Saints  | 1972–1976  | Folded, 1976
New England Whalers | New England Whalers  | 1972–1979  | Joined NHL, 1979,
as Hartford Whalers
(now Carolina Hurricanes)
New York Raiders/Golden Blades,
Jersey Knights,
San Diego Mariners | New York Raiders  | 1972–1973  | Folded, 1977
New York Golden Blades  | 1973
Jersey Knights  | 1973–1974
San Diego Mariners  | 1974–1977
Ottawa Nationals,
Toronto Toros,
Birmingham Bulls | Ottawa Nationals  | 1972–1973  | Joined Central Hockey League for 1979–80 season
Toronto Toros  | 1973–1976
Birmingham Bulls  | 1976–1979
Miami Screaming Eagles,
Philadelphia Blazers,
Vancouver Blazers,
Calgary Cowboys | Miami Screaming Eagles (never played)  | 1972  | Folded, 1977
Philadelphia Blazers  | 1972–1973
Vancouver Blazers  | 1973–1975
Calgary Cowboys  | 1975–1977
Phoenix Roadrunners | Phoenix Roadrunners  | 1974–1977  | Folded, 1977
San Francisco Sharks,
Quebec Nordiques | San Francisco Sharks (never played)  | 1972  | Joined NHL, 1979,
as Quebec Nordiques
(now Colorado Avalanche)
Quebec Nordiques  | 1972–1979
Winnipeg Jets | Winnipeg Jets  | 1972–1979  | Joined NHL, 1979,
as Winnipeg Jets
(now Arizona Coyotes, suspended operations in 2024)

## WHA All-Star Game

[edit]

Every season of the World Hockey Association had an All-Star Game with four different formats. The most used format had the Western and Eastern Division each name their All-Stars, which was used four times. Twice saw world-based matchups and one matched the defending Avco Cup champion versus All-Star selections.[28][29][30][31]

* 1973 Eastern Division 6, Western Division 2 @ Quebec
* 1974 Eastern Division 8, Western Division 4 @ St. Paul
* 1975 Western Division 6, Eastern Division 4 @ Edmonton
* 1976 Canadian-based teams (5) 6, US-based teams (9) 1 @ Cleveland
* 1977 Eastern Division 4, Western Division 2 @ Hartford
* 1978 AVCO Cup champion Quebec Nordiques 5, WHA All-Star team 4 @ Quebec
* 1979 WHA All-Star team vs Dynamo Moscow in a three-game series @ Edmonton. WHA won all 3 games 4–2, 4–2, 4–3

## Hockey Hall of Fame members

[edit]

Main article: World Hockey Association Hall of Fame

Nineteen people that were involved with the WHA have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.[32]

World Hockey Association Hall of Famers

Players
Name | WHA Team | Tenure | Induction
Andy Bathgate | Vancouver Blazers | 1974–1975 | 1978
Gerry Cheevers | Cleveland Crusaders | 1972–1976 | 1985
Mike Gartner | Cincinnati Stingers | 1978–1979 | 2001
Michel Goulet | Birmingham Bulls | 1978–1979 | 1998
Wayne Gretzky | Indianapolis Racers
Edmonton Oilers | 1978–1979 | 1999
Gordie Howe1 | Houston Aeros
New England Whalers | 1973–1979 | 1972
Mark Howe | Houston Aeros
New England Whalers | 1973–1979 | 2011
Harry Howell | New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights
San Diego Mariners
Calgary Cowboys | 1973–1976 | 1979
Bobby Hull | Winnipeg Jets | 1972–1979 | 1983
Dave Keon | Minnesota Fighting Saints
Indianapolis Racers
New England Whalers | 1975–1979 | 1986
Rod Langway | Birmingham Bulls | 1977–1978 | 2002
Frank Mahovlich | Toronto Toros
Birmingham Bulls | 1974–1978 | 1981
Mark Messier | Cincinnati Stingers
Indianapolis Racers | 1978–1979 | 2007
Vaclav Nedomansky | Toronto Toros
Birmingham Bulls | 1974–1977 | 2019
Bernie Parent | Philadelphia Blazers | 1972–1973 | 1984
Jacques Plante | Edmonton Oilers | 1974–1975 | 1978
Norm Ullman | Edmonton Oilers | 1975–1977 | 1982
Administrators
Name | Position | Tenure | Induction
Bud Poile | WHA executive vice-president | 1973–1976 | 1990
Maurice Richard | Coach, Quebec Nordiques | 1972 | 1961
Glen Sather | Coach, Edmonton Oilers | 1976–1979 | 1997

Notes:

* 1 Inducted prior to WHA play

## See also

[edit]

* List of ice hockey leagues
* List of WHA head coaches
* World Hockey Association (proposed)

## References

[edit]

Footnotes

1. ^ Jeff Jacobs (June 27, 1994). "Forget Rest; 1979 Draft Best of All". Hartford Courant.
2. ^ Willes, 2004, pp. 8–9
3. ^ Willes, 2004, p. 14
4. ^ "World Hockey Association sees action next October". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 2, 1971. p. 15.
5. ^ Willes, 2004, p. 18
6. ^ Willes, 2004, pp. 11–12
7. ^ Willes, 2004, p. 17
8. ^ Pincus, 2006, p. 139
9. ^ Willes, 2004, p. 33
10. ^ McFarlane, 1990, p. 132
11. ^ McFarlane, 1990, p. 133
12. ^ "Remember This? The Ottawa Nationals". ottawa.citynews.ca. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
13. ^ "NHL considered using orange pucks many times in its history - Vancouver Is Awesome". www.vancouverisawesome.com. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
14. ^ "A Nowhere Ride". Sports Illustrated. May 28, 1979. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013.
15. ^ "St Louis Sporting News Archives, Oct 19, 1974, p. 61". Archived from the original on July 8, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
16. ^ "WHA Coach Register | Hockey-Reference.com". www.hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
17. ^ "Hockey Trade Rumors – NHL Rumors from around the league – 37 Year Cup Drought – The Legacy of Harold Ballard". Archived from the original on November 11, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
18. ^ Avery, Martin. "From Derek Sanderson to Derek Jeter to Sean Avery". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
19. ^ Thunder and Lightning: a No-B.S. Hockey Memoir, Phil Esposito and Peter Golenbock, ISBN 978-0-7710-3086-4
20. ^ Bill Boyd, All Roads Lead to Hockey, 2004, Key Porter Books, ISBN 1-55263-618-6
21. ^ a b c d Hunter, Douglas (1997). Champions: The Illustrated History of Hockey's Greatest Dynasties. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 1-57243-213-6.
22. ^ Scott Adam Surgent, The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association, 1972–1979, 1995, Xaler Press, ISBN 0-9644774-0-8
23. ^ "WHA vs NHL". WHAhockey.com. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
24. ^ Duhatschek, Eric (February 9, 2022). "Duhatschek: Looking back at 50 years of the World Hockey Association and the legacy that remains". The New York Times.
25. ^ "New Rules Are Nothing New". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
26. ^ "1984-85 Edmonton Oilers voted greatest NHL team in history". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. June 5, 2017. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
27. ^ Duhatschek, Eric (August 23, 2012) [December 29, 2010]. "Harley Hotchkiss: Finding practical solutions to everyday problems". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
28. ^ "A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey - Wh". Archived from the original on May 6, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
29. ^ "1973 WHA East Division Semi-Finals: CLC vs. PHB".
30. ^ Surgent, Scott (1990). The Complete World Hockey Association 11th Edition. Surgent. p. 510-512. ISBN 978-1727753424.
31. ^ "The Complete World Hockey Association - 1972-73 Playoff Results".
32. ^ "HHOF - Player Inductees Search: By Team".

General

* McFarlane, Brian (1990). 100 Years of Hockey. Summerhill Press. ISBN 0-929091-26-4.
* Pincus, Arthur (2006). The Official Illustrated NHL History. Reader's Digest. ISBN 0-88850-800-X.
* Willes, Ed (2004). The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-8947-3.

## External links

[edit]

* Internet Hockey Database – standings and statistics
* WHA Hockey.com – unfinished, but still the most complete history of the league
* WHA Hall of Fame

* v
* t
* e

World Hockey Association

Teams|

* Alberta Oilers
* Baltimore Blades
* Birmingham Bulls
* Calgary Broncos
* Calgary Cowboys
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* Cleveland Crusaders
* Dayton Arrows
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Trophies
and awards|

* Avco World Trophy
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* Ben Hatskin Trophy
* Dennis A. Murphy Trophy
* Paul Deneau Trophy
* Howard Baldwin Trophy / Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy
* WHA Playoff MVP
* WHA All-Star Team
* WHA All-Star Game
* List of WHA players with 50-goal seasons

Related articles|

* List of WHA seasons
* List of WHA players
* WHA amateur draft
* NHL–WHA merger
* North American Hockey League
* Broadcasters

Seasons|

* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
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* 1978–79

Playoffs|

* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
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* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

All-Star Games|

* 1973
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* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

* v
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* e

World Hockey Association seasons

Seasons|

* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79

Playoffs|

* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

All-Star Games|

* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

* Champions
* 1979 NHL expansion

* v
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* e

National Hockey League

| Western Conference| Eastern Conference

|

Pacific Division

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Central Division

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Atlantic Division

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| Events|

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|

History|

* Eras
* pre-NHL (1883–1926)
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* 1917–1942
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* Since 2017
* All-time standings
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* merger
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Others|

* Streaks
* wins
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* Category
* 2024–25 season

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* United States
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Other|

* Yale LUX

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