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WHA Playoff MVP
The Playoff MVP award for the World Hockey Association was handed out annually from 1975 to 1979 to the most valuable player of the playoffs. Winners *1975 – Ron Grahame, Houston Aeros *1976 – Ulf Nilsson, Winnipeg Jets *1977 – Serge Bernier, Quebec Nordiques * 1978 – Robert Guindon, Winnipeg Jets *1979 – Rich Preston, Winnipeg Jets See also *Conn Smythe Trophy The Conn Smythe Trophy (french: Trophée Conn Smythe) is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP) of his team during the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs. It is named after Conn Smythe, the longtime owner, general ma ... References {{DEFAULTSORT:Wha Playoff Mvp World Hockey Association trophies and awards ... [...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] |
1974–75 WHA Season
The 1974–75 WHA season was the third season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. Regular season The WHA expanded by adding the Indianapolis Racers and Phoenix Roadrunners, and splitting into 3 divisions (Western, Eastern, and Canadian). The top two teams in each division qualified for the playoffs along with the two next best teams overall. Prior to the season, Southern California welcomed the Jersey Knights, who moved to San Diego and became the Mariners, and said goodbye to the Los Angeles Sharks, who moved to Detroit and became the Michigan Stags. Midway through the season, the Stags moved to Baltimore and became the Blades; they folded for good after the season. Chicago also folded at season's end. Also, the New England Whalers left Boston for Hartford, but played the first half of the season in Springfield, Massachusetts until construction on the Hartford Civic Center was finished. The NHL also expanded this season, to 18 teams, making a to ... [...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] |
Ron Grahame
Ronald Ian Grahame (born June 7, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played four seasons in the National Hockey League and four in World Hockey Association between 1973 and 1981. Playing career After a collegiate career with the University of Denver during which he was named a First Team All-American, Grahame was signed by the Houston Aeros of the WHA. He played a season for the minor league Macon Whoopees in 1973 before coming up to the Aeros at the end of the season. In the 1974–75 season he made the Aeros for good, leading the WHA in wins, shutouts and goals against average and backstopping the club to the AVCO World Trophy, winning both the Ben Hatskin Trophy for best goaltender, First Team All-Star accolades and the WHA Playoff MVP. His following two seasons saw an equal degree of success, including a Second Team All-Star berth in 1976 and a second Hatskin award in 1977. He became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with the NHL's ... [...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] |
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] |
Ulf Nilsson (ice Hockey)
Ulf Gösta Nilsson (born 11 May 1950) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers. Career in North America Part of the first major wave of Europeans to star in North American hockey, he was a major star in the World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1978. He scored at least 114 points in each of his four seasons in the upstart league, finishing third or fourth among overall scorers every time. He led the WHA with 85 assists in 1976–77, and tied Marc Tardif for the lead the next season with 89. Along with countryman Anders Hedberg and established superstar Bobby Hull, he played a starring role as the Jets won Avco Cup titles in 1976 and 1978. In the 1976 playoffs, he scored 26 points in just 13 games and was named WHA Playoff MVP. In the summer of 1978, Nilsson and Hedberg signed with the National Hockey League's New York Rangers for $ ... [...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] |
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] |
Serge Bernier
Serge Joseph Bernier (born April 29, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger who played seven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Quebec Nordiques and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for Quebec, where he scored a majority of his 308 combined goals (NHL and WHA), between 1968 and 1981. His 230 goals in the WHA were third-most for the Nordiques during their time in the league behind Real Cloutier and Marc Tardif. He was the first draft pick in Philadelphia Flyers history. He was traded along with Bill Lesuk and Jim Johnson (ice hockey, born 1942), Jim Johnson from the 1971–72 Philadelphia Flyers season, Flyers to the 1971–72 Los Angeles Kings season, Kings for Ross Lonsberry, Bill Flett, Jean Potvin and Eddie Joyal on January 28, 1972. In 2010, Bernier was part of the initial group of players elected to the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame. Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) and the National Hockey League (1979–1995). The franchise was relocated to Denver, Colorado in May 1995 and renamed the Colorado Avalanche. They played their home games at the Colisée de Québec from 1972 to 1995. The Nordiques were the only major professional sports team based in Quebec City in the modern era, and one of two ever; the other, the Quebec Bulldogs, played one season in the NHL in 1919–20. History Beginnings in the WHA The Quebec Nordiques formed as one of the original World Hockey Association teams in 1972. The franchise was originally awarded to a group in San Francisco and named the San Francisco Sharks. However, the San Francisco group's funding collapsed prior to the start ... [...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] |
