Rise of the WHL

[Alessandro]

A very interesting concept. It will be fun to see how it will be in the more modern years.

[Dkitson16]

1973-1974 Preseason

Buffalo despite needing defensive help pass over Mark Howe and take Mike Rogers a center at #1.

The Rangers, who look to repeat and Boston and Toronto are favourites to win the cup.

[Dkitson16]

1973-74 Regular Season Review

Rangers, Chicago, Phoenix and Vancouver won their divisions.

2 year Houston did tie Phoenix for points but lost the tie breaker.

Bobby Hull led the league in scoring and set a new record for goals in a season at 72.

Gilbert Perreault of Cleveland and RObbie Ftorek of Seattle rounded out the top 3. In Phoenix, Darryl Sittler, Rick Kehoe and Bobby CLarke all topped 100 points.

[Dkitson16]

1973 1974 Dan Bouchard Watch

Dan Bouchard improved his GAA but his wins dropped below 10 again.

Buffalo's record is equally sad and attendance is disastrous.

[Dkitson16]

1973 1974 Post Season

THe second year Houston Aeros win the CUP repeating the trick the Blues did a few years earlier!

[Dkitson16]

1974-1975 Preseason

The NHL expands by 4 teams again in part to complete its commitment to potential WHA owners.

Edmonton and Hartford complete arenas and join the league.

Kansas City and Cincinnati join as well. Washington had applied but Baltimore vetoed as they are within their territorial rights.

Other cities begin to look at the failing Buffalo franchise to purchase and move.

In the amateur draft KC couldn't get a decent scouting network up and draft Mike O'Connell (?) first overall. Bernie Federko goes to Edmonton in 2nd.

Buffalo fearing for Dan Bouchard's mental health take Mike Liut at 5th overall.

The pundits look to New York, Boston and Montreal to battle for the cup.

[Dkitson16]

1974-1975 Regular Season

New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Portland win their divisions.

Serbian born Ivan Boldirev of Denver leads the league in scoring with Mikita and Hull of Chicago and the BLues' Marcel Dionne trailing.

Mikita sets a new assist record with 99 (there's something about that number) and Hull scores 70 or more goals for the 4th time.

Ranger goalie Ed Giacomin sets a record with 44 wins and has a 1.90 GAA.

Buffalo's Dan Bouchard (screen capture at the bottom) has a career year more than doubling his career win total and posting a 2.87 GAA. Buffalo fans are not convinced and still stay away in droves. Ownership has offers to move but vow to hold out one more year to see if attendance improves.

[Dkitson16]

1974-1975 Post Season

Rangers win their 3rd cup in 5 years outlasting Denver!

[Dkitson16]

1975 1976 Preseason

Trottier is drafted by Edmonton giving them a solid one 2 punch at center with last years number 1 Federko.

Winnipeg goes for Langway, Atlanta for Bossy and Vancouver for Kent Nillson.

Boston, Montreal and the Rangers looking for their 4th cup in 6 years look to be strong cup contenders.

[Dkitson16]

1975 1976 Season

Rangers and Buffalo top their division in the East.

Vancouver and Denver top their divisions in the West. But San Diego finished second to Denver with the 2nd highest point total.

Ivan Boldirev of Denver once again leads the NHL in scoring with a record 160 points, beating Hull's old record of 142. Teammate and d-man Ron Greschner finishes 5th overall.

Marcel Dionne and Rick Kehoe finish 2 and 3.

Rookie Kent Nillson passed over by cities like Winnipeg and Atlanta in the draft, scores 108 points. He falls 1 point shy of Dionne's record 109.

In the crease Denver's Brodeur finishes with a GAA of 1.81 and Sv% of .930.

[Dkitson16]

1975 1976 Post Season

Rangers once again beat Denver in 7 and take their 4th cup in 6 years!

Dan Bouchard watch is over as he posted career numbers in almost every category.

Buffalo watch continues. They won their division but only drew 8,851 a game.

[Dkitson16]

1976 1977 Preseason

After fulfilling their promises to several potential WHA owners by granting them NHL teams the League decides to take a break from expansion.

Atlanta draft goalie Pete Peeters 1st overall, while Winnipeg goes for D-man Doug Wilson at #2.

New York, Denver and Boston appear to be Stanley Cup favourites.

Can Denver finally break through and get a cup after 2 straight 7 game defeats to New York?

[Dkitson16]

1976 1977 Regular Season

New York and Quebec top the eastern divisions, while San Diego and San Francisco top the Western divisions. Denver and Montreal also top 100 points.

Cleveland's Gilbert Perreault leads the league in scoring with teammate Steve Shutt finishing 3rd. Ivan Boldirev reigning scoring champ drops to 2nd.

The ageless Hull and Mikita both top 100 points.

[Dkitson16]

1976 1977 Post Season

The Rangers are knocked out in the 2nd round.

Quebec wins the battle of Quebec to reach the final

But Denver finally gets its cup in a sweep of the Nordiques!

[enf91]

Poor Buffalo. They finally top the division... then promptly fall to last place the next year.

No Philadelphia team?

[RMc]

Well, maybe the Sabres will move to Philly!

Hockey in Philadelphia has an interesting history. The old Montreal Maroons, dormant since 1938, attempted to move to Philly after WW2; per wiki:

At the 1945 annual league meeting, held on September 7, it was noted that the backers of the Maroons franchise were in discussion to sell to a group from Philadelphia fronted by Canadiens board member Len Peto. The league governors were prepared to approve the transfer, provided the Philadelphia group could prove they had the necessary funds for a hockey team.

Peto was able to get the necessary funding, and persuaded the league to transfer the Maroons to Philadelphia. However, despite being larger than all but two NHL cities, Philadelphia did not have an arena that could accommodate an NHL team. The city's largest arena, the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania, did not have an ice plant, and both Penn and Madison Square Garden (which managed the Palestra) balked at the expense of installing one. The only arena in the city with an ice plant, Philadelphia Arena, was ruled out because its sight lines and capacity (5,500) were deemed inadequate even for temporary use. The league gave Peto until the end of the 1946–47 season to find a suitable arena. In February, 1946 Peto announced plans to build a 20,000-seat arena on the site of the old Baker Bowl at a cost of $2.5 million. However, when his group was unable to get funding for the project by the league-imposed deadline, the NHL cancelled the Maroons franchise.

The Flyers, of course, came to town in 1967, so the Spectrum was built for them. But no Flyers, no Spectrum? Well, the 76ers had been in town since 1963 and playing at Convention Hall (built 1931, capacity 9,690) and would've probably wanted a new arena before long. And hockey wasn't an impossibility at the Convo: the WHA Blazers played there in 1972-73!

Then again, Philadelphia is a city famous for corruption and infighting, so it's quite possible that Philly's warring political factions would've kept a new arena from being built well into the 1970s. Ya never know!

[Dkitson16]

Originally Posted by RMc

Well, maybe the Sabres will move to Philly!

Hockey in Philadelphia has an interesting history. The old Montreal Maroons, dormant since 1938, attempted to move to Philly after WW2; per wiki:



The Flyers, of course, came to town in 1967, so the Spectrum was built for them. But no Flyers, no Spectrum? Well, the 76ers had been in town since 1963 and playing at Convention Hall (built 1931, capacity 9,690) and would've probably wanted a new arena before long. And hockey wasn't an impossibility at the Convo: the WHA Blazers played there in 1972-73!

Then again, Philadelphia is a city famous for corruption and infighting, so it's quite possible that Philly's warring political factions would've kept a new arena from being built well into the 1970s. Ya never know!

Not sure how I missed adding Philly. I haven't touched this in awhile and may have deleted the save.

Wiki actually has some errors based on some otherwise good books.

The NHL gave Peto until 1948 (they extended it in 47 for another year) to get his arena and revive the Maroons franchise. When that failed they advised him he would have to apply as an expansion franchise and returned the Maroons to the previous owners and it was then cancelled.

Peto kept trying into the 50's and then sued the NHL alleging a conspiracy to keep him out of the NHL. There is some evidence MSG / NYR did do that (to try and control the large arena business on the east coast) but Peto's lawsuits failed.

I can dig up the reference for the above later but don't have access to the books now.

Hockey Capital: Commerce, Capital and the National Hockey League 1917-1967 - James Andrew Ross its a PDF available on line - most of it up to 1945 was turned into a book Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. However since the Peto story is after 1945 it won't be in the book, just the PDF.