The very first pro hockey game I saw was while on a school field trip - the Toronto Toros visiting the Edmonton Oilers. Jacques Plante (I think - not sure since I was only 10 or 11) helped teach me it wasn't just the Maple Laffs I was born to hate ... :)
Dan Brisebois
Can still see Barry Melrose punching a guy or two!!!! and Robbie and Mark helping out! (Cincinnati Stingers). Hated to see the Jets, Quebec, and N.E. Whalers move!! Maybe someday, they will return! I shall never forget the WHA!!!!!!
Andreux
Awesome site! I watched the Cowboys for one season in Calgary and love the league for bringing pro hockey to western Canada.
Lexus Sakic
I saw my first WHA game at Boston Garden in January of 1974. The Cleveland Crusaders played the New England Whalers in a Saturday matinee. I also saw the Toronto Toros play three different times at hockey's greatest shrine-Maple Leaf Gardens. January 10, 1975 against the San Diego Mariners, April 4, 1975 against the Winnipeg Jets and Bobby Hull and then April 6, 1975 against the Houston Aeros featuring the Howe family. Harold Ballard of the Leafs nickle-and-dimed the Toros so that owner Johnny Bassett (Ballard's former partner in the Leafs' ownership) was forced to move to Birmingham, Alabama despite drawing crowds in the 9-10,000 range at MLG. It was wide-open hockey. Very entertaining.
Terry Proctor
Fantastic website! Brings back a lot of great memories. It takes me back over 30 years ago when I was a kid and followed my favorite team, the Cleveland Crusaders.
Ron Rositani
Former WHA player for the Cincinnati Stingers and the Hartford Whalers. Had 50 goal season for Cincinnati and 2 in the NHL for Hartford. Nice work. A lot of fun reliving some great memories of the league.
Blaine Stoughton
I still have a Philadelphia Blazers puck my dad gave me. Thanks for the memories!
Mike
Brought back a lot of fond memories. I graduated in 1972 and went to a lot of Saints games and bought souvenier jerseys(that I still own), etc. in hopes that if we could drive over 150 miles to see a game, the local people would come out and support the team as well. I enjoyed the site and will come back for more info-funny how much a person forgets over time until something jogs their memory, which your site did. Thank-you.
Pryce
I was 14 years old when I went to the New England Whalers first home game vs the Blazers in 1972. We drove from Hartford (my home town) to Boston which at that time was quite a distance for a family of five boys. We had made the trip many times to the Garden for Bruins/Habs tilts. Man how I wish I had those ticket stubs or the program guide. All my father kept talking about on the way to the game was Derek Sanderson and Bernie Parent and how they left the NHL for the WHA. He was a huge Bruins fan. Little did I know at that time how much the WHA would mean to me later on in life. When the Whalers eventually moved to Hartford in 75 it was a like a dream come true cause all I had to do was walk 8 blocks to see the Whale, the cheap tickets were $3.75 at the Hartford Civic Center. Christ that was a lot of money to me at the time. When the Whalers moved after the '97 season it ripped the soul out of us in Hartford.
Rob Arsego
I saw the Toros play out of the old Varsity Arena in Toronto. While the hockey in the early days of the league may not have been the same caliber as the top NHL teams of the time it was much more exciting then the brand of hockey the Leafs were putting out during that same period. The arena may not have been that great either but you were close to the ice and price was terrific considering I was a high school student at the time. It was much better live then what we later saw on TV.
Gary Jardine
I remember the day Cheevers signed with Cleveland, I felt the world was ending. Little did I know it was beginning. The WHA did more for hockey players salaries than anything in their history, finally seeing to it these men were paid what they were worth. And the hockey was damned good. The WHA-Russia ’74 Summit though we lost was thrilling from beginning to end largely due to Cheevers in net, who was later called the best goalie the Russians ever faced. I had always hoped for an All-Star game between the best of the two leagues, but also felt the NHL was scared and had a great deal to lose by playing that game and perhaps losing. Loved the WHA and watched many a game.
John Foote
My first and only WHA game featured the Jets and Bobby Hull. I lived in the Buffalo area and caught a game on Channel 9 out of Hamilton on a Saturday afternoon. Got to see a 5-5 overtime tie. Don’t remember the other team because Bobby Hull was playing. Wished I could have seen more but didn’t always pick up channel 9 with the rabbit ears. Did follow the league in the annuals and was a fan of the LA Sharks. Also remember Pat Hickey taking some penalty shots during an exhibition. Want to say the goalie was Evil Knievel but not sure. Maybe someone else remembers this. Thanks for a great site.
Ric Wattie
As a big fan of Dennis Murphy and his penchant for getting involved in “rebel leagues” I couldn’t help but get caught up in the small, but rabid, group of fans for the LA Sharks. I bought season tickets for the inaugural season…4 rows directly behind one of the goals at the LA Sports Arena…$60 for the entire season…at that rate, if they had sold out the entire arena on a season basis they still would have lost money. Three particular memories stand uppermost. For whatever reason, the Sharks and Nordiques really didn’t like each other…one night I had to work late and arrived at the arena 45 minutes are the scheduled start of the game…turns out I missed only 6 minutes of play because of three first period brawls that broke out between the two teams…got to see most of the game, just sorry I missed the sparring.
Year two (an utterly miserable…and final…season for the team in LA) the Sharks brought in Marc Tardif…an obviously skilled and dominating presence on the ice…very quiet (he didn’t know much English)…wizard with the puck…but seemingly very non-aggressive…then one night someone crossed him the wrong way…one-punch knockout…stunning!
Later that year the team fired their head coach and replaced him with Ted McCaskill (father of later major-league pitcher Kirk), a slow, lumbering, can’t-score forward, but could he ever fight (as a current Blue Jackets fan, I can’t help but think of Jody Shelley)…first night as coach, fisticuffs break out in front of the bench…first person I looked at was McCaskill and it was obvious he was ready to come over the boards when he realized he was now in a suit and not a uniform.
The next year the Sharks were gone, but the Mariners came to San Diego. Andre Lacroix…nothing more need be said. I partial season tickets and the Mariners sent out a rather unique Christmas card to their supporters. I was a black-and-white poster of an empty sheet of ice littered with discarded gloves and sticks…with the message “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.” Great times…great memories…I still have some Sharks stationery they discarded after their final game…and almost all of the press guides from the first three seasons of the league.
Greg Gack
My Dad took me to my first hockey game ever, I was 5 years old, The Minnesota Fighting Saints-vs-I can't remember who. He bought me a Saints pennant on a wooden dowl. I remember waving that pennant like mad at the game. I can't remember the score or who won. I just remember being at the game. I still have that pennant, I will never forget that experience.
Frank Bobick
I remember my fondest memory of the Toronto Toros, was I sent them a letter stating I would play Goal for them. They had Gratton at the time and The Toros sent me a letter inviting me to Training camp. Unfortunately for me before training camp they were sold and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, Wish I had kept that letter.
Albert Sheppard
I was 12 years old when it was announced the Crusaders were leaving Cleveland to merge with the Saints. I think I cried. Listening to every game on the Radio (Steve Albert - voice) while doing homework and, those long winter night drives out to the Richfield Coliseum (1/2 way to Akron) sometimes taking up to 2 hours to get home after a lake-effect snowstorm hit during the game. Other than the ridiculous location of the "Big House on the Prairie" it was the best arena in any league at that time. Getting the NHL Barons for a couple of seasons after the Oakland Seals failure was a brief respite, but no match for the excitement experienced in the years with the Crusaders. Over expansion simply killed franchises like Cleveland. With the following they had, with decent management allowing them to hold on a couple more years, I think they would been an excellent compliment to the NHL along with the Nords, Whalers, Oilers, and Jets. We would have at least been spared the Bluejackets! Thanks for this site for a chance to reminisce...
Jim Rigo
I opened up a bank account with TD Bank just to get tickets to Vancouver Blazers games for a $1. Saw tons of games and used to go down to the glass to get autographs in warmups (the glass was much shorter back then). Got Gordie Howe's when the Aeros were in town but my best memory is about some deranged kid when the Toros came to town. He kept crying out for Tony Featherstone's autograph depsite the fact the Big M was standing next to us signing for anyone. Other than that--Big Ralph MacSweyn, Don "Smokey" McLeod, Joe the Cro,Claude St,. Sauveur, "Soupy" Campbell and Danny Lawson all live on in my heart.Brian Maitland
