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Howard Baldwin Trophy
The Howard Baldwin Trophy was presented annually to the World Hockey Association's coach of the year. It was named in honour of New England Whalers co-founder Howard Baldwin. The trophy was renamed Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy in 1974 in honour of Schmertz, an executive with the Whalers who died that year. Winners *1973 – Jack Kelley, New England Whalers * 1974 – Billy Harris, Toronto Toros *1975 – Sandy Hucul, Phoenix Roadrunners *1976 – Bobby Kromm, Winnipeg Jets *1977 – Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros * 1978 – Bill Dineen, Houston Aeros *1979 – John Brophy, Birmingham Bulls References Bibliography * * See also *World Hockey Association 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) ... * List of WHA seasons {{WHA World Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Hockey Association
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 contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1975–76 WHA Season
The 1975–76 WHA season was the fourth season of the World Hockey Association. After the Baltimore Blades and Chicago Cougars folded, the league stayed at 14 teams by adding the Cincinnati Stingers and Denver Spurs. In addition, the Vancouver Blazers franchise moved to Calgary and became the Cowboys. Midway through the season, the Spurs moved to Ottawa and became the Civics, though the team folded shortly thereafter when the sale of the franchise fell through. The Minnesota Fighting Saints became the second team to fold mid-season when the franchise was not financially successful, despite having a winning record at the time. Theoretically, fourteen teams would play 80 games each, but only twelve teams finished the season, with cancelled games involving the Civics or Saints being rescheduled on the fly, and four of five Canadian Division teams played 81 games, as a result. Regular season Final standings +team started season in Western Division when playing in Denver; transferre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
The Birmingham Bulls were a professional ice hockey team based in Birmingham, Alabama. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and the Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center. Prior to being in Birmingham, the team was known as the Ottawa Nationals and the Toronto Toros. The Birmingham Bulls' name has been used for other hockey teams such as the Birmingham Bulls of the East Coast Hockey League and the Birmingham Bulls of the Southern Professional Hockey League. History The Toros had been modestly successful on the ice since moving to Toronto before the start of the 1973–74 season and had drawn fairly well by WHA standards. However, onerous lease terms at Maple Leaf Gardens led owner John Bassett to move to Birmingham. After the move to Birmingham, general manager, Gilles Leger coached the team for a few games until Pat Kelly was brought in to coach the bulk of that first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Brophy (ice Hockey)
John Duncan Brophy (January 20, 1933 – May 23, 2016) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and hockey player who spent most of his career in minor professional leagues, including 18 years as a player in the Eastern Hockey League and 13 seasons as a coach in the East Coast Hockey League. From 1986 to 1988 the native of Antigonish was head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. Playing career Brophy was a tough defenceman who played 18 seasons in the Eastern Hockey League, racking up nearly 4,000 career penalty minutes between 1955 and 1973—the most in EHL history playing parts of nine seasons with the Long Island Ducks and retiring at the age of 40. On August 5, 1967, Brophy was involved in a car crash. He survived but his passenger, Dorothea Schiavone, was killed. He had a part as a referee in a Schaefer Beer commercial which aired for about five years on various New York television stations. Early coaching career Brophy had briefly been player-coac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978–79 WHA Season
The 1978–79 WHA season was the seventh and final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the start of the season, the Houston Aeros folded leaving seven teams to start the season. Only six would finish however, as the Indianapolis Racers folded after 25 games on December 15, 1978. The remaining six teams each played 80 games, including one game each per team against a Soviet All-Star squad and the Czechoslovak National Team, the second consecutive year for this arrangement. The Soviet team won four of their six games and tied another; the Czechoslovak team only won once and tied once against four losses. In addition, because the Racers had folded after playing an odd number of games, the Edmonton Oilers played the Finnish National Team (with future Oiler Jari Kurri) once at home so as to allow each of the six surviving WHA teams to play 80 regular season games. The Oilers won by a score of 8–4, a result which in itself made no difference by the end of the reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1977–78 WHA Season
The 1977–78 WHA season was the sixth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Eight teams played 80 games each. The Avco World Trophy winner was the Winnipeg Jets. League business With a reduction of three teams from the end of the previous season (the San Diego Mariners, Phoenix Roadrunners, and Calgary Cowboys folded), the WHA abandoned its divisional format and grouped the remaining eight teams together. There had been a tentative merger agreement that would have had Cincinnati, Houston, New England, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Edmonton join the NHL but it could not be finalized. In a unique move, two international All-Star teams, the Soviet All-Stars and Czechoslovakia All-Stars, played games that counted in the regular season standings. They played each WHA team once, on the WHA team's home ice. The Soviet team acquitted themselves well, winning three plus two additional games against WHA teams outside the regular standings, tying one and losing the other four; while the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston Aeros (WHA)
The Houston Aeros were a professional ice hockey team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1978. Franchise history The Aeros were originally slated to play in Dayton, Ohio, as a charter member of the WHA. However, Dayton residents were indifferent at best to a WHA team, and while there were questions regarding whether a U.S. market with less than a million people and a stagnating economy would support a major league hockey franchise in the long term, the more critical short-term problem was that Dayton did not have a suitable arena. The largest arena in the city, the University of Dayton Arena, did not have an ice plant and the university balked at the cost of installing one. The largest hockey venue, Hara Arena, seated only 5,000 people—not enough even for temporary use. Due to these problems, owner Paul Deneau moved the team to Houston, Texas. Although the Aeros name had originally been chosen in honor of the Wright brothers, it was deemed appropriate for Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Dineen (ice Hockey)
William Patrick "Foxy" Dineen (September 18, 1932 – December 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and head coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks between 1953 and 1958. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1953 to 1971, was spent in the minor leagues. After his playing career Dineen became a coach and worked in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1979. He was the head coach for the Houston Aeros (WHA), Houston Aeros for all six seasons before coaching the New England Whalers, Hartford Whalers for the 1978-79 season. The architect of a team in roster construction, Dineen's Aeros reached the playoffs in every season of their history and won the Avco World Trophy twice. He coached in the American Hockey League in the 1980s, where he won two Calder Cups with the Adirondack Red Wings. He was hired to coach the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL from 1991 to 1993. Throughout his career, Dineen w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976–77 WHA Season
The 1976–77 WHA season was the fifth season of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Prior to the season, the Toronto Toros moved to Birmingham, Alabama and became the Birmingham Bulls. The Cleveland Crusaders attempted to move to South Florida, but instead became the short-lived second incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints and folded after playing 42 games. With the death of the Saints, the WHA left the last market it had been sharing with the NHL. The remaining 11 teams finished the season, playing 80 or 81 games. With the reduction of teams before the start of the season, the league returned to a two-division setup, eliminating the Canadian Division. The Avco World Trophy winners were the Quebec Nordiques, defeating the Winnipeg Jets four games to three; it was the only WHA final series that went the full seven games. Regular season standings Player stats Scoring leaders Bolded numbers indicate season leaders ''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ... team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, playing its home games at Canada Life Centre. The Jets were established as the Atlanta Thrashers on June 25, 1997, and began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season. True North Sports & Entertainment then bought the team in May 2011, and List of defunct and relocated National Hockey League teams, relocated the franchise to Winnipeg prior to the 2011–12 NHL season, 2011–12 season, making them the first NHL franchise to relocate since the Hartford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Kromm
Robert Kromm (June 8, 1928 – June 9, 2010) was a National Hockey League (NHL) head coach who in 1978 became the first coach of the Detroit Red Wings to win the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year. He led the 1977–78 NHL season, 1977–78 Red Wings to a 37-point improvement on their 16 win season the year previous, and a second-place finish in the Norris Division. The Red Wings made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Prior to coaching the Wings, Kromm had been a successful coach in the World Hockey Association, where he had guided the high-flying Winnipeg Jets (1972–96), Winnipeg Jets to the 1976 Avco Cup championship. That fall, he was as an assistant coach for Canada men's national ice hockey team, Canada at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup, Canada Cup. In 1961, Kromm took an underdog team from Trail, British Columbia to an Ice Hockey World Championships win over the Russians. The Trail Smoke Eaters (senior), Trail Smoke Eaters represented Canada that y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)
The Phoenix Roadrunners were a professional ice hockey team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974–75 WHA season, 1974 to 1976–77 WHA season, 1977. They played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona. The organization folded for financial reasons before the remaining teams in the WHA NHL–WHA merger, merged with the NHL in 1979. The colors of the team were blue and gold. In 1996 the Winnipeg Jets, a former WHA franchise, moved to Phoenix and became the Phoenix Coyotes (now the Arizona Coyotes). In 2016, the Coyotes purchased their AHL affiliate (the Springfield Falcons), and moved them to Tucson. The Tucson Roadrunners use a logo very similar to the WHA Roadrunners. History The franchise originally competed in the Western Hockey League (minor pro), Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1967 to 1974 after being moved from Victoria, British Columbia, where they had played for the three previous seasons as the Victoria Maple Leafs, Maple Leafs. In 197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
