Any league Gary Davidson got involved with was totally unstable, The ABA did okay but had issues especially towards the end, the WHA had a cult following but was unstable, the WFL.....just Google it now that was a train wreck!
Love your channel. I live in Kentucky, US and no one here likes hockey. It's like talking hockey with a buddy daily. Always a treat. You should be on NHL network or ESPN.
Amazing that in the 66-67 season there were only 6 major league hockey teams in all of North America. 8 seasons later (74-75) between the NHL and WHA there were 32 teams.
Fun fact: The Baltimore team moved so fast they used old Baltimore AHL jerseys with a giant replacement logo crudley sewn on the front for home games. (the away jerseys just said BALTIMORE diagnaly across the front.)
Better story than that from the WFL. The New York Stars, who were doomed from the start because of the stadium they were forced to play in, moved midway through the first season to Charlotte and since the star on their helmet had NY in it, they got a bunch of Chicago Bears "C" and used it to cover the NY in the star.
The WHA were innovators! Teams in Texas, Phoenix, Ohio, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg teams leaving Minnesota and giving Minnesota another team shortly after! Swedes and Soviets playing with Canadians and Americans! Big offence! BLUE PUCKS! The WHA shaped the NHL we know today... well except the blue pucks.
Baltimore was supposed to get an expansion team in 1967 except the Arena (still standing today) sucked even back then. Businessmen from Philadelphia were awarded that expansion slot and constructed the Philadelphia Spectrum. Baltimore is 90 minutes to Philadelphia and an hour to Washington DC. Baltimore is a dumpy city, has an arena that was obsolete in 1970, and has 2 NHL teams within 90 minutes.
No scoring leaders with all the records!? What about Andre Lacroix over 100 assists. Anders Hedberg rookie 53 goals 100 points, Ulf Nilsson rookie 94 assists 120 points. Both playing with Bobby Hull, 77-65-142. But Winnipeg just scored 250 goals (no debt).
Shannon! This is absolutely fucking excellent! You could go longer and delve deeper into the transfers and exchanges, and the details of players and statistics. Just as you said, in only so many words. We don't have the NHL as we know it without the WHA. Maybe the player "ownership" rules come to the fore at some point down the road. People must understand that the WHA/NHL courtcase pushed those rules forward by decades potentially.
Back In the 90's in Britain we had 2 teams, Billingham/Cleveland/Teeside Bombers and Solihul Barons/blaze who seemed to change there name/location on a weekly basis. Both teams were league whipping boys but were bizarrely well supported by small but passionate fanbases. Solihul was a genuinely intimidating place to play. This also happened to Murrayfield who went from title contenders to bankrupt almost overnight.
In regards to a team in Baltimore, the city originally wanted to be a part of the NHL expansion of 1967. However, the last new franchise to be awarded was St. Louis because the owners of the Blackhawks were looking to unload the arena there on someone else. The league only wanted to approve a Baltimore franchise if they could replace a permanent stage at one end of their arena with more seats, which they obviously refused to do.
Fun Fact: At the time of the founding of the soon to be short lived Denver Spurs(and how the players found out is hilarious) the San Antonio Spurs were still a part of the ABA(who merged with the NBA for the 1976-77 season) so considering that the ABA was also founded by Gary Davidson there would be no copyright infringement. Also, funny how more established leagues took aspects of the "rival" leagues. Like the NBA adopted the 3 point shot & the 24 second clock from the ABA and the NFL adopted the 2 point conversion and replay from the USFL(yes the AFL had the 2 point conversion but the NFL didn't implement it until after the USFL used it).
Great look back at the WHA. In 74,-75, or at least at the beginning of the season, there were 18 NHL and 14 WHA teams, a number we won’t see until next year when they, ya know, release the Kraken.
My all time favourite WHA story was how bad the financial situation was for the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Paycheque’s would bounce if you weren’t among the first to cash them. Mike Walton would run after practice on payday in full gear ( minus the skates) to get to the bank to ensure he’d greet his money.
If you like that you need to watch Small Potatoes from ESPN about the USFL. The San Antonio Gunslingers only used one particular bank in Podunk, Texas and on payday the players would literally have a Gumball Rally(or Cannonball Run) to get to this bank before the money ran out.
The Denver Spurs played in the Western League, and were going to join the NHL along with the Seattle Totems in 1976. For various reasons that didn't pan out, and the Western League folded, so the Spurs' owner decided to join the WHA instead.
I think someone told me once that there was an incident with the Denver Spurs where they were playing a home game and the organist played "Oh Canada" because the team was going to be relocated to a Canadian city and the players on Denver didn't even know it. Crazy stuff!
Thats true, the owner wanted to sell because the NHL was coming to Denver and he knew they were doomed. A group came forward but part of the deal was they had to immediately to Ottawa. The deal fell through.
It was great fun in Winnipeg and most games were sold out and they won the cup 3 years out of 7. We had a team that was good, nobody cared about the teams that couldn’t make it. The NHL was quick to take away a lot of the Europeans when they saw how good they were. Then when they expanded and took in the 4 WHA teams they were sure quick to take all the players but 4 from each WHA team Even at that, on Saturday HNIC the Jets beat les canadiens 6-2 on tuxedo night. Even the Zamboanga driver wore a white tux.
I don't think anyone was confused about the new team names in the WHA. At that time, there were two teams called Giants, two Kings teams, two Jets teams and two Cardinals teams; which were in the same city.
Have to disagree on the Calgary Cowboys jersey. They we're awesome as well the logo. Been fun to see how you break down the WHA. Wasn't around to know the unstable craziness that it was.
When Shannon says a team has the worst jersey design ever, you know it was a bad idea. haha Being born in 72, I was aware of the WHA, but my family never took it seriously and focused on the NHL.
that's funny how some teams move and change names mid season. bobby hull and gordie howe great players. wasn't derek Sanderson wha. the wha was all-over the place lol.
Seems to be a recurring theme. Rival league comes in and offers new interesting rule changes, league folds but the ideas live on in the established league. Look at the WHA and NHL and even the original XFL and NFL with the sky cams and mid game sideline interviews
If it weren't for the USFL the NFL wouldn't have the 2 point conversion(even though the old AFL used it) or the replay system. And football in Jacksonville for that matter.
Let's make a deal: Houston, you can have the coyotes on the sole condition that you name them the Aeros which is just a name too cool to no longer exist.
The NHL stealing ideas from the WHA like regular season OT and a Canadian division like how the NFL stole a bunch of rules from its rival leagues like the 2 point conversion and regular season OT and hopefully eventually the Rouge.
Since you didn't include the top 10 scorers, here they are for the season: Andre Lacroix, San Diego (41G, 106A, 147P) Bobby Hull, Winnipeg (77G, 65A, 142P) Serge Bernier, Quebec (54G, 68A, 122P) Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg (26G, 94A, 120P) Larry Lund, Houston (33G, 75A, 108P) Wayne Rivers, San Diego (54G, 53A, 107P Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg (53G, 47A, 100P) Gordie Howe, Houston (34G, 65A, 99P) Wayne Dillon, Toronto (29G, 66A, 95P) Mike Walton, Minnesota (48G, 45A, 93P)
In all seriousness, do you think a league like the WHA could start up today (after we have a solution to the pandemic) and compete with the NHL? #1 benefit for fans: no Gary Bettman & no lockouts! 😃
The WHA today could only exist today as a 2nd tier leauge. Also to differentiate itself make it an old time physical hockey league with enforcers and agitators bringing energy + action into the game. You cannot outbid the NHL monopoly on skilled talent. Might as well do something a little different instead of being a watered down imitator. WHA could be a retirement leauge for NHL (castoffs) or AHL veterans (who lost ice time to younger developmental roster spots), or skip Juniors and earn a professional salary.
You can probably tell who I’m a fan with this comment but over the three WHA season videos you can’t talk about them without mentioning the “Hot line” I hope to you mention them in your next video.
Say what you want about the WHA, thanks to them the Toronto had a second team, why the hell don't they have won now? it's ridiculous would be the second or third most valuable franchises .
I just found this channel and this series. It's a good effort, but really the stream of snarky comments about the WHA are not fair. I mean, it survived almost as long as the AFL and the ABA, and way longer than anything else. WFL, anyone? USFL? The NHL had its issues during the 70's too. Oakland-to-California-to-Cleveland-merge-with-Minnesota, KC-to-Colorado-to-NJ, Atlanta-to-Calgary. Not to mention that the playoff formats and bracketing changed almost every year. So again, give the WHA a break. It's a shame that Gordie Howe is not recognized as the all-time combined NHL+WHA goal scorer over Gretzky. Yes, it's true. And Howe didn't even play the first year of the WHA. If the NHL doesn't count his WHA goals, they shouldn't count his last NHL year in 1980 (15 goals) which would not have happened if not for the WHA.
It's certainly a Basketball, then Football state, but god damn if I had a billion dollars to spend (and likely burn) I'd love to have an NHL team here in Indiana. Something to contend with all the annoying Blackhawks fans.
![[Gegagedigedagedago] NEW Help Gegagedigedagedago Nugget escape from Nikocado Avocado Challenge](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hJWnwRC2Fz8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm finding this WHA series genuinely hilarious. Never realized how much of a trainwreck this league actually was
Couldn’t agree more
It was a entertaining train wreck.
It was not unlike the Vince Russo era of WCW, except worse.
Same, I knew it was unstable. But I didn’t know how unstable until now
Any league Gary Davidson got involved with was totally unstable, The ABA did okay but had issues especially towards the end, the WHA had a cult following but was unstable, the WFL.....just Google it now that was a train wreck!
Love your channel. I live in Kentucky, US and no one here likes hockey. It's like talking hockey with a buddy daily. Always a treat. You should be on NHL network or ESPN.
Not for nothing but the Kentucky Throroughblades had one of the coolest jerseys of all time.
@@Rockhound6165 Louisville riverfrogs unis ruled
Amazing that in the 66-67 season there were only 6 major league hockey teams in all of North America. 8 seasons later (74-75) between the NHL and WHA there were 32 teams.
Fun fact: The Baltimore team moved so fast they used old Baltimore AHL jerseys with a giant replacement logo crudley sewn on the front for home games. (the away jerseys just said BALTIMORE diagnaly across the front.)
They did not even finish the season the WHA desicded too disdaind the team
Better story than that from the WFL. The New York Stars, who were doomed from the start because of the stadium they were forced to play in, moved midway through the first season to Charlotte and since the star on their helmet had NY in it, they got a bunch of Chicago Bears "C" and used it to cover the NY in the star.
The Calgary Cowboys jersey looks like an Arby’s jersey
It really does lol
Its not nearly as bad as hockey guy said
The WHA were innovators! Teams in Texas, Phoenix, Ohio, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg teams leaving Minnesota and giving Minnesota another team shortly after! Swedes and Soviets playing with Canadians and Americans! Big offence! BLUE PUCKS! The WHA shaped the NHL we know today... well except the blue pucks.
I love this WHA series
Baltimore was supposed to get an expansion team in 1967 except the Arena (still standing today) sucked even back then. Businessmen from Philadelphia were awarded that expansion slot and constructed the Philadelphia Spectrum.
Baltimore is 90 minutes to Philadelphia and an hour to Washington DC. Baltimore is a dumpy city, has an arena that was obsolete in 1970, and has 2 NHL teams within 90 minutes.
Gosh, this series is awesome!
No scoring leaders with all the records!? What about Andre Lacroix over 100 assists.
Anders Hedberg rookie 53 goals 100 points, Ulf Nilsson rookie 94 assists 120 points. Both playing with Bobby Hull, 77-65-142. But Winnipeg just scored 250 goals (no debt).
These vids have been too funny lol keep up the good work
If memory serves, an effective strategy against the roadrunners was just to paint the picture of a goal against the end boards.
Underrated comment.
That only works when they play the Arizona coyotes:-)
These videos are both informative and hilarious at the same time. It's awesome
Just looked up images of the Calgary Cowboys uniforms....what the heck were they thinking?
Bold of you to assume they were thinking. This was the WHA!
I actually laughed out loud during this video, multiple times
You know what's fix this? A third girlfriend. Love that line lol
That’s funny
Amazing videos
WHA: Expansion and relocation means stability.
“That’s a bold move, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for them”
Shannon! This is absolutely fucking excellent! You could go longer and delve deeper into the transfers and exchanges, and the details of players and statistics.
Just as you said, in only so many words. We don't have the NHL as we know it without the WHA. Maybe the player "ownership" rules come to the fore at some point down the road. People must understand that the WHA/NHL courtcase pushed those rules forward by decades potentially.
I hope your wife is ok and feeling better
1975 Chicago Cougars. Assistant coach Jacques Demers. Last Canadian team Stanley Cup head coach.
Back In the 90's in Britain we had 2 teams, Billingham/Cleveland/Teeside Bombers and Solihul Barons/blaze who seemed to change there name/location on a weekly basis. Both teams were league whipping boys but were bizarrely well supported by small but passionate fanbases. Solihul was a genuinely intimidating place to play. This also happened to Murrayfield who went from title contenders to bankrupt almost overnight.
In regards to a team in Baltimore, the city originally wanted to be a part of the NHL expansion of 1967. However, the last new franchise to be awarded was St. Louis because the owners of the Blackhawks were looking to unload the arena there on someone else. The league only wanted to approve a Baltimore franchise if they could replace a permanent stage at one end of their arena with more seats, which they obviously refused to do.
Fun Fact: At the time of the founding of the soon to be short lived Denver Spurs(and how the players found out is hilarious) the San Antonio Spurs were still a part of the ABA(who merged with the NBA for the 1976-77 season) so considering that the ABA was also founded by Gary Davidson there would be no copyright infringement. Also, funny how more established leagues took aspects of the "rival" leagues. Like the NBA adopted the 3 point shot & the 24 second clock from the ABA and the NFL adopted the 2 point conversion and replay from the USFL(yes the AFL had the 2 point conversion but the NFL didn't implement it until after the USFL used it).
Great look back at the WHA. In 74,-75, or at least at the beginning of the season, there were 18 NHL and 14 WHA teams, a number we won’t see until next year when they, ya know, release the Kraken.
Do you remember Ed Mio ??
The WHA is similar to when the Beatles launched Apple Records and the boutique store. An absolute tire fire.
Well, the WHA lasted slightly longer.
@@Rockhound6165 Fair enough!
The Baltimore Blades logo and jerseys looked kinda cool (besides the weird orange ellipse behind it). I just Googled it because I was curious
Legend has it they're still looking for some of those WHA teams on the move.
My all time favourite WHA story was how bad the financial situation was for the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Paycheque’s would bounce if you weren’t among the first to cash them. Mike Walton would run after practice on payday in full gear ( minus the skates) to get to the bank to ensure he’d greet his money.
If you like that you need to watch Small Potatoes from ESPN about the USFL. The San Antonio Gunslingers only used one particular bank in Podunk, Texas and on payday the players would literally have a Gumball Rally(or Cannonball Run) to get to this bank before the money ran out.
If hockey guy has ten pucks, and he gives away 12, how fantastic is he going to feel? Remember to show your work.
4 puck sake
Kind of fantastic.
I love the old Aeros jerseys
The Denver Spurs played in the Western League, and were going to join the NHL along with the Seattle Totems in 1976. For various reasons that didn't pan out, and the Western League folded, so the Spurs' owner decided to join the WHA instead.
Instead Denver got the Scouts a few seasons later who were a bigger trainwreck than the Spurs were.
I think someone told me once that there was an incident with the Denver Spurs where they were playing a home game and the organist played "Oh Canada" because the team was going to be relocated to a Canadian city and the players on Denver didn't even know it. Crazy stuff!
Thats true, the owner wanted to sell because the NHL was coming to Denver and he knew they were doomed. A group came forward but part of the deal was they had to immediately to Ottawa. The deal fell through.
It was great fun in Winnipeg and most games were sold out and they won the cup 3 years out of 7. We had a team that was good, nobody cared about the teams that couldn’t make it. The NHL was quick to take away a lot of the Europeans when they saw how good they were. Then when they expanded and took in the 4 WHA teams they were sure quick to take all the players but 4 from each WHA team
Even at that, on Saturday HNIC the Jets beat les canadiens 6-2 on tuxedo night. Even the Zamboanga driver wore a white tux.
I don't think anyone was confused about the new team names in the WHA. At that time, there were two teams called Giants, two Kings teams, two Jets teams and two Cardinals teams; which were in the same city.
If only they would have picked Houston to merge into the NHL at that point.
I agree
Houston & Cincinnati made more sense than Hartford.
Have to disagree on the Calgary Cowboys jersey. They we're awesome as well the logo. Been fun to see how you break down the WHA. Wasn't around to know the unstable craziness that it was.
I hope you can do a brief video on Andre Lacroix who played for the NY golden blades/SD mariners.
And Philadelphia/Vancouver Blazers and Jersey Knights.
Will Ferrell should do Semi Pro 2 and make it about Jackie Moon inheriting a WHA team
Hi👋 Josie Brooklyn, 🗽 .
This was a good series, never knew that teams kept moving.
WHA rules!!!!
There should be an NHL team here in Indianapolis again
I'm beginning to think that Shannon didn't approve of, nor is particularly nostalgic about, the WHA...
I think it's just he doesn't remember it like some of us old fogies do..
The Calgary Cowboys jersey - if Arby’s had a hockey team.
"Put a diamond in the swear jar"! Hahahaha
When Shannon says a team has the worst jersey design ever, you know it was a bad idea. haha Being born in 72, I was aware of the WHA, but my family never took it seriously and focused on the NHL.
If Calgary Cowboys had the worst jersey of all time, it should be Shannon's holiest of holy grail jerseys to his collection.
Watching these back and man Shannon was really on one during this series. Must have been the no hockey at the time.
actually, if my info is correct expansion in the 90's saved the NHL during a lean time... the expansion fees kept a few teams above bankruptcy.
that's funny how some teams move and change names mid season. bobby hull and gordie howe great players. wasn't derek Sanderson wha. the wha was all-over the place lol.
Seems to be a recurring theme. Rival league comes in and offers new interesting rule changes, league folds but the ideas live on in the established league. Look at the WHA and NHL and even the original XFL and NFL with the sky cams and mid game sideline interviews
If it weren't for the USFL the NFL wouldn't have the 2 point conversion(even though the old AFL used it) or the replay system. And football in Jacksonville for that matter.
@@Rockhound6165 Another good point
Let's make a deal: Houston, you can have the coyotes on the sole condition that you name them the Aeros which is just a name too cool to no longer exist.
Aw!! the memories.
The NHL stealing ideas from the WHA like regular season OT and a Canadian division like how the NFL stole a bunch of rules from its rival leagues like the 2 point conversion and regular season OT and hopefully eventually the Rouge.
The Michigan Stags had a sick logo though
Bruh
J S no cap
Since you didn't include the top 10 scorers, here they are for the season:
Andre Lacroix, San Diego (41G, 106A, 147P)
Bobby Hull, Winnipeg (77G, 65A, 142P)
Serge Bernier, Quebec (54G, 68A, 122P)
Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg (26G, 94A, 120P)
Larry Lund, Houston (33G, 75A, 108P)
Wayne Rivers, San Diego (54G, 53A, 107P
Anders Hedberg, Winnipeg (53G, 47A, 100P)
Gordie Howe, Houston (34G, 65A, 99P)
Wayne Dillon, Toronto (29G, 66A, 95P)
Mike Walton, Minnesota (48G, 45A, 93P)
When do the Harlem Globetrotters enter the league?
I don't know, but I think they did offer Evil Knievel (probably misspelled) a contract at one point.
right after the Washington Generals
The only thing missing from the WHA is a team in Atlanta.
Say what you want about the WHA but I love this league. Wish I was around during its existence.
Howe has more goals than Gretzky in era adjusted.
Slap shoot is based on the WHA
But who won the scoring title this year?
Andre Lacroix
There is a funny story about how Toronto lost their team to a southern us city and an owner who was in prison.
Really enjoying this series. I cant wait til we get to the highly violent Birmingham Bulls!
Forgetting about the Vancouver GIANTS?
Shannon confirms he has a harem.
In all seriousness, do you think a league like the WHA could start up today (after we have a solution to the pandemic) and compete with the NHL?
#1 benefit for fans: no Gary Bettman & no lockouts! 😃
I doubt it but that would be fun. The NHL has too many teams and salaries are too high for a rival league to make sense.
The WHA today could only exist today as a 2nd tier leauge. Also to differentiate itself make it an old time physical hockey league with enforcers and agitators bringing energy + action into the game. You cannot outbid the NHL monopoly on skilled talent. Might as well do something a little different instead of being a watered down imitator.
WHA could be a retirement leauge for NHL (castoffs) or AHL veterans (who lost ice time to younger developmental roster spots), or skip Juniors and earn a professional salary.
Hate to rain on your parade, but if you don't think they'd have their own Bettman and lockouts/strikes, you're kidding yourself.
Here's the top goaltenders as well:
Ron Grahame, Houston (33-10-0, .900 SV, 3.03 GAA
Bob Whidden, Cleveland (9-16-1, .912 SV, 3.23 GAA)
Wayne Rutledge, Houston (20-15-0, .892 SV, 3.24 GAA)
Ernie Wakely, Winnipeg-San Diego (23-15-2, .900 SV, 3.25 GAA)
Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland (26-24-2, .905 SV, 3.26 GAA)
Jack Norris, Phoenix (14-15-4, .891 SV, 3.27 GAA)
John Garrett, Minnesota (30-23-2, .905 SV, 3.28 GAA)
Gary Kurt, Phoenix (25-16-4, .885 SV, 3.27 GAA
Jacques Plante, Edmonton (15-14-1, .890 SV, 3.32 SV)
Don McLeod, Vancouver (32-35-2, .891 SV, 3.35 GAA)
Which idiot decided starting with any more than like 8 teams was a good idea?
You can probably tell who I’m a fan with this comment but over the three WHA season videos you can’t talk about them without mentioning the “Hot line” I hope to you mention them in your next video.
Yes!
🇸🇪
🇸🇪
🇨🇦
The GOAT is in this thumbnail
Gretzky is the Goat
LOL Took the NFL 12 years to finally get stable. BTW, the WHA reminds me of the USFL (1983-85) just without Donald Trump.
Wow I thought the Michigan Stags were IHL
“Everything that’s gonna happen is already here” does this mean the NHL is gonna end up merging with the KHL?
Say what you want about the WHA, thanks to them the Toronto had a second team, why the hell don't they have won now? it's ridiculous would be the second or third most valuable franchises .
Talking about fun, is the XFL 2.0 dead already? Havent heard anything
This was the year I stopped watching mostly because the Sharks(LA) we’re gone! It was “fun” while it lasted! 😉😄
I just found this channel and this series. It's a good effort, but really the stream of snarky comments about the WHA are not fair. I mean, it survived almost as long as the AFL and the ABA, and way longer than anything else. WFL, anyone? USFL?
The NHL had its issues during the 70's too. Oakland-to-California-to-Cleveland-merge-with-Minnesota, KC-to-Colorado-to-NJ, Atlanta-to-Calgary. Not to mention that the playoff formats and bracketing changed almost every year. So again, give the WHA a break.
It's a shame that Gordie Howe is not recognized as the all-time combined NHL+WHA goal scorer over Gretzky. Yes, it's true. And Howe didn't even play the first year of the WHA. If the NHL doesn't count his WHA goals, they shouldn't count his last NHL year in 1980 (15 goals) which would not have happened if not for the WHA.
It's certainly a Basketball, then Football state, but god damn if I had a billion dollars to spend (and likely burn) I'd love to have an NHL team here in Indiana. Something to contend with all the annoying Blackhawks fans.
Were the Toronto Toros lawn mowers or something dood? Too bad they aren't still there; I could use them to mow the Leafs off my lawn dood.
Shannon had me almost peeing myself. Who howns the Chiefs?
You're completely wrong
76 and a half daffodils toppling coat hangers in reverse on sour peach turntables
First????