A sports anniversary went by last fall that didn't even register a blip on the radar screen.
Last autumn was the 30th Anniversary of the World Hockey Association and hockey has never been the same.
The NHL either ignored or laughed at the upstart league -- until it whisked away Bobby Hull and continued the raid of NHL rosters.
Derek Sanderson, Gerry Cheevers, and others also jumped to the rival league for the promise of larger pay stubs.
While many returned to the NHL slightly chagrined, the older league eventually repeated the mistakes of the WHA.
It was on November 1, 1971 in New York City that the new league announced ten cities had been granted franchises.
The original 10 franchises would play in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, New York, Chicago, St. Paul, Miami, Dayton, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Toronto Maple Leafs' owner Harold Ballard ignored the threat of the rival league and paid a hefty price, losing most of his best players when he didn't bother to protect them.
Even before the opening season began a few teams moved. Calgary moved to Cleveland (later the Calgary Cowboys were born), the Miami Screaming Eagles moved to Philadelphia to become the Blazers (who in turn moved to Vancouver), San Francisco moved to Quebec City and were christened the Nordiques, and the Dayton Aeros became the Houston Aeros.
Soon an abundance of teams were hatched by owners with big dreams and often empty pockets.
Such teams as the San Diego Mariners, Minnesota Fighting Saints (twice), New York Raiders, Ottawa Civics, Cincinnati Stingers, and the Baltimore Blades were born and then folded during the seven years of league play.
The Ottawa Civics had an existence of 15 days and 6 games before packing it in.
The first incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints went so far as to have Plexiglas boards that gave fans a thrilling view of the action.
Toronto had the Toros for three years beginning in 1973 and while Ballard's Leafs floundered, the Toros soon became the darlings of hockey in Toronto.
Frank Mahovlich and 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson gave Toronto hockey fans something to cheer about in their Toro uniforms.
Overall, though, they couldn't compete with the Leafs at the box office and the Toros became the Birmingham Bulls for the 1976-77 season.
Many European players got their start in the WHA and they brought the freewheeling, open ice style to North American rinks.
Players such as Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson were recruited away from home for big money and their style of play influenced the NHL to draft more Europeans.
Marc Tardif, Andre Lacroix, and Tom Webster revitalized and extended their careers with their jump to the rival league.
Let's not forget that Wayne Gretzky got his start as a 17 year old with the Indianapolis Racers.
Some critics thought Gretzky would fold like a cheap suit when the WHA merged with the NHL, but he merely rewrote the NHL record book.
Despite the rocky financial state of most teams, the quality of play was very high and the WHA owned the better record in exhibition games between the rival leagues.
Strangely, the Montreal Canadiens never played against a WHA team, no doubt worried that a loss would hurt their mystique.
They laughed at the new league when they placed teams all over the North American map, especially in places like Phoenix, Miami, and Birmingham.
"Hockey doesn't belong in the sunbelt, we'd never do something like that," said the pro-NHL pundits.
Wanna bet?
The NHL has acquired a case of amnesia. In the past decade the league has expanded to the warm weather places of Anaheim, Miami, Tampa, Nashville, Atlanta, and San Jose.
Let's not forget the Quebec Nordiques move to Phoenix and Hartford's move to North Carolina.
Now, instead of two leagues, one with 17 teams and one with 12, we have one bloated league of 30 teams. Even for the serious hockey fan it is getting difficult to keep track of who is where.
Hockey already failed once in Atlanta with the Flames, so what makes the NHL think it will fly this time?
What will happen to the fan base if the Thrashers have several losing seasons in a row?
How many people in Florida really care about the Lightning-Panthers rivalry?
There is no rivalry between the Los Angeles Kings and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The NHL is at a crossroads. With a lockout probable in 2004, the league is heading down the path the WHA walked and that baseball continues to walk.
The fans pay for the multi-million dollar contracts in the way of increased ticket prices and seat licensing.
Wow! Fans have the privilege of paying for the privilege of buying tickets.
Many real sports fans can't afford to take their family to a hockey game without taking out a second mortgage, nor can they relate to a player earning millions and demanding more.
Taxpayers are often asked to bail out owners who claim poverty while forking out $40 million contracts. If a team dies through financial mismanagement, let it die -- it's called fiscal responsibility and accountability.
As the cynic said in the movie "Airplane," "They knew the risks, I say let them crash".
A bloated league makes for mediocrity anyway.
While it is difficult for Canadians to admit, hockey is simply not very important in most of America, it is way down the list in terms of popularity.
Having lived in America for a few years, this writer came to fully realize this when the NHL stories were buried deep in the sports pages.
Just as the California Golden Seals merged into the Minnesota North Stars, the league should merge a few clubs and have those players enter a draft pool.
The eight teams mentioned above (including Phoenix and Carolina) should merge into four, with teams staying in San Jose and Los Angeles.
What about Anaheim's run to the final this season?
What about it? Disney has been trying to unload the team for quite a while and getting to the final in 1996 hasn't helped Florida at the gate.
When Anaheim returns to mediocrity, the fans will leave. One team in Southern California is enough.
Los Angeles and San Jose have large population bases and while hockey will never be the equal of football, baseball, or basketball, both cities have supported hockey reasonably well.
The other two franchises would be awarded to Winnipeg and Quebec City.
Atlanta and Minnesota got a second chance, why shouldn't Winnipeg and Quebec?
The Habs-Nordiques rivalry would be renewed and both clubs would have that much more incentive to improve.
Expansion clubs in Minnesota and Columbus will do well since both states have a long tradition of outstanding college hockey teams and hockey is huge in both states.
The NHL has chosen to ignore the mistakes of the WHA and is now paying the price.
The gravy train for the players is running dry and the league has only itself to blame.
By John Berkovich
Published: 7/10/2003
Last autumn was the 30th Anniversary of the World Hockey Association and hockey has never been the same.
The NHL either ignored or laughed at the upstart league -- until it whisked away Bobby Hull and continued the raid of NHL rosters.
Derek Sanderson, Gerry Cheevers, and others also jumped to the rival league for the promise of larger pay stubs.
While many returned to the NHL slightly chagrined, the older league eventually repeated the mistakes of the WHA.
It was on November 1, 1971 in New York City that the new league announced ten cities had been granted franchises.
The original 10 franchises would play in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, New York, Chicago, St. Paul, Miami, Dayton, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Toronto Maple Leafs' owner Harold Ballard ignored the threat of the rival league and paid a hefty price, losing most of his best players when he didn't bother to protect them.
Even before the opening season began a few teams moved. Calgary moved to Cleveland (later the Calgary Cowboys were born), the Miami Screaming Eagles moved to Philadelphia to become the Blazers (who in turn moved to Vancouver), San Francisco moved to Quebec City and were christened the Nordiques, and the Dayton Aeros became the Houston Aeros.
Soon an abundance of teams were hatched by owners with big dreams and often empty pockets.
Such teams as the San Diego Mariners, Minnesota Fighting Saints (twice), New York Raiders, Ottawa Civics, Cincinnati Stingers, and the Baltimore Blades were born and then folded during the seven years of league play.
The Ottawa Civics had an existence of 15 days and 6 games before packing it in.
The first incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints went so far as to have Plexiglas boards that gave fans a thrilling view of the action.
Toronto had the Toros for three years beginning in 1973 and while Ballard's Leafs floundered, the Toros soon became the darlings of hockey in Toronto.
Frank Mahovlich and 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson gave Toronto hockey fans something to cheer about in their Toro uniforms.
Overall, though, they couldn't compete with the Leafs at the box office and the Toros became the Birmingham Bulls for the 1976-77 season.
Many European players got their start in the WHA and they brought the freewheeling, open ice style to North American rinks.
Players such as Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson were recruited away from home for big money and their style of play influenced the NHL to draft more Europeans.
Marc Tardif, Andre Lacroix, and Tom Webster revitalized and extended their careers with their jump to the rival league.
Let's not forget that Wayne Gretzky got his start as a 17 year old with the Indianapolis Racers.
Some critics thought Gretzky would fold like a cheap suit when the WHA merged with the NHL, but he merely rewrote the NHL record book.
Despite the rocky financial state of most teams, the quality of play was very high and the WHA owned the better record in exhibition games between the rival leagues.
Strangely, the Montreal Canadiens never played against a WHA team, no doubt worried that a loss would hurt their mystique.
They laughed at the new league when they placed teams all over the North American map, especially in places like Phoenix, Miami, and Birmingham.
"Hockey doesn't belong in the sunbelt, we'd never do something like that," said the pro-NHL pundits.
Wanna bet?
The NHL has acquired a case of amnesia. In the past decade the league has expanded to the warm weather places of Anaheim, Miami, Tampa, Nashville, Atlanta, and San Jose.
Let's not forget the Quebec Nordiques move to Phoenix and Hartford's move to North Carolina.
Now, instead of two leagues, one with 17 teams and one with 12, we have one bloated league of 30 teams. Even for the serious hockey fan it is getting difficult to keep track of who is where.
Hockey already failed once in Atlanta with the Flames, so what makes the NHL think it will fly this time?
What will happen to the fan base if the Thrashers have several losing seasons in a row?
How many people in Florida really care about the Lightning-Panthers rivalry?
There is no rivalry between the Los Angeles Kings and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The NHL is at a crossroads. With a lockout probable in 2004, the league is heading down the path the WHA walked and that baseball continues to walk.
The fans pay for the multi-million dollar contracts in the way of increased ticket prices and seat licensing.
Wow! Fans have the privilege of paying for the privilege of buying tickets.
Many real sports fans can't afford to take their family to a hockey game without taking out a second mortgage, nor can they relate to a player earning millions and demanding more.
Taxpayers are often asked to bail out owners who claim poverty while forking out $40 million contracts. If a team dies through financial mismanagement, let it die -- it's called fiscal responsibility and accountability.
As the cynic said in the movie "Airplane," "They knew the risks, I say let them crash".
A bloated league makes for mediocrity anyway.
While it is difficult for Canadians to admit, hockey is simply not very important in most of America, it is way down the list in terms of popularity.
Having lived in America for a few years, this writer came to fully realize this when the NHL stories were buried deep in the sports pages.
Just as the California Golden Seals merged into the Minnesota North Stars, the league should merge a few clubs and have those players enter a draft pool.
The eight teams mentioned above (including Phoenix and Carolina) should merge into four, with teams staying in San Jose and Los Angeles.
What about Anaheim's run to the final this season?
What about it? Disney has been trying to unload the team for quite a while and getting to the final in 1996 hasn't helped Florida at the gate.
When Anaheim returns to mediocrity, the fans will leave. One team in Southern California is enough.
Los Angeles and San Jose have large population bases and while hockey will never be the equal of football, baseball, or basketball, both cities have supported hockey reasonably well.
The other two franchises would be awarded to Winnipeg and Quebec City.
Atlanta and Minnesota got a second chance, why shouldn't Winnipeg and Quebec?
The Habs-Nordiques rivalry would be renewed and both clubs would have that much more incentive to improve.
Expansion clubs in Minnesota and Columbus will do well since both states have a long tradition of outstanding college hockey teams and hockey is huge in both states.
The NHL has chosen to ignore the mistakes of the WHA and is now paying the price.
The gravy train for the players is running dry and the league has only itself to blame.
By John Berkovich
Published: 7/10/2003
