The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference

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Friday, November 19, 1976

Robson rankled with Hull quotes

EDMONTON (CP) — A spokesman for Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association objected strongly Thursday to Bobby Hull's statements this week that the WHA will fold if negotiations for a merger with the National Hockey League are not successful.

Gord Robson, assistant general manager of the Oilers, said the statement by the Winnipeg Jets winger, now out with a wrist injury, was irresponsible. "I hope he was misquoted," Robson said. "There are six teams in the National League that will lose as much as six teams in our league," he said. He refused to name the franchises but several teams — including Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Penguins — are averaging less for home games than some WHA teams.

Robson, in charge of financial operations of the Oilers for owners Nelson Skalbania and Peter Pocklington, said repeated criticisms of the WHA by Hull and others in the league are unfair. "I spend a lot of my time in Vancouver and I see the Canucks play and I see our team play and we play a lot better hockey and more entertaining hockey than the Canucks do."

Robson said it is a major problem for Canadian teams that rivals such as . Birmingham Bulls and Phoenix Roadrunners hold no attraction at the box office. "Certainly, I'd rather have Montreal Canadiens in here for a game than Birmingham or any of the southern American cities. And I know Winnipeg wants to be in the expanded NHL — as we do — but it's unrealistic to state that the league will fold if we don't get in."

Hull said this week he is disturbed that the league has not progressed as he expected when he accepted a contract announced at $1 million to move to Winnipeg from Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL. The Oilers owners have admitted they expect to lose money this season. Losses also were heavy last year but Bep Guidolin, in charge of performance and makeup of the team, has improved the team while reducing the payroll.

"I know several NHL clubs will lose more money than we will," said Robson. The Oilers, last in the Canadian Division, have suffered a rash of injuries. Veteran NHL forward Bob Nevin who suffered a broken coHarbone is due back about Christmas and centre Barry Merrell will have the cast removed this month from a knee that required surgery. Forward Peter Morris suffered a fractured skull several weeks ago and, no prediction has been made on the date of his return. .

Robson said he hoped AI Eagleson, president of the NHL Players' Association, was incorrect the other day when he said Hull had ambitions to return to the NHL. "If that's the case, Bobby should buy out his contract —I understand he has a lot of money — and he should go back to the NHL."

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Friday, November 19, 1976

Hull unsure city has ticket
By BEVN DAVIS

While his comments a day earlier were causing widespread reaction, Bobby Hull said Thursday be is skeptical about Winnipeg’s chances of being involved in any consolidation of the best.

"If they had an arena, maybe," he said. "But really, I'm from Missouri." Hull said earlier in the week the World Hockey Association will fold unless a merger with toe National Hockey League is soon effected.

"I don’t think he did us any kindness," said Jack McKeag, president of Winnipeg Jets. Ben Hatskin, chief executive officer of the WHA and the man who brought Hull to Winnipeg in 1972, refused to make any comment.

However, Bill DeWitt Jr., chairman of Cincinnati Stingers and a WHA driving force in informal talks with the NHL stoutly defended the league

“I think the WHA has become a very competitive and attractive league.” he said. “He (Hull) said a merger is the only way. I wouldn’t say that. There are other ways.”

Gord Robson, assistant general manager of the Edmonton Oilers called Hull’s remarks “irresponsible”.

Hull doesn't like having his word doubted. "If they are that narrowminded in Edmonton, then f i n e , " he said. "But why doesn't he realize people won't support bis garbage? And I bet he doesn't have a shilling of his own invested." Harvey Wineberg, a Chicago chartered accountant who represents Hull, said his client is troubled by the WHA's inability to improve itself ... as promised.

"Remember, back in 1972 WHA owners were saying they were going to save the $6 million it was going to cost to buy a NHL franchise, and instead spend, the money on players to build a league comparable to anyone's," said Weinberg. "But how many did that?"

Hull said the recent Canada Cup Series gave his linemates Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, a taste of whet they're missing if Winnipeg is unable to get into the NHL
"Barely beneath their skin I know they long to play against the teams in the East," said
Hull "I’ve been there. I went through it for 15 years. But they haven't been there yet. It would he a shame if they wait much longer before they did”

Contacted in Hartford, Cont,, where the Jets were arriving to play New England Whalers tonight, Nilsson and Hedberg were inclined to pragmatic. “The atmosphere in that tournament was different.” said Hedberg. “It wasn’t like your typical game in the NHL or WHA. The feeling was like the feelings we had in the p l a y o f f s with Houston last spring."

Hedberg said he believed there are as many hockey fans in Winnipeg as in many of the s o - c a l l e d established NHL cities. "The NHL is not the answer for everything," he said. "The other night I watched an NHL game between Vancouver and Toronto, and I don't think we've played a game so bad this season."

Nilsson said he longs to set the day when the Jets take their product to the "big markets of the east." "It would he nice to see our team playing in New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago and Montreal," he said- "But it's hard for the Jets to jump leagues. It wouldn't happen in one day "After all, we are one of the teams that keeps this league running.”

McKeag, the club president, feels a consolidation of the best franchises in both leagues is bound to occur . . . just as he is certain Winnipeg will one day have a major league arena

"That's why its so important; for us to remain strong until that day comes," said McKeag. "Bobby's getting anxious and I can't blame him. “But I believe it will happen be evolution rather than revolution.”

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Wednesday Morning, November 24,1976

Gordie Howe Says WHA Here To Stay

HOUSTON (UP1) - Former hockey superstar Gordie Howe said Bobby Hull's remarks signaling the dire situation of the World Hockey Association disappointed him and were simply not the case.

"The only difference I see between the NHL and our league is that they may be a little quicker at things because they've had 50- something more years of experience, like picking and signing players," Howe said before his Houston Aeros hosted Edmonton Tuesday night.

"This year the WHA's overall attendance is up and 1 think the league is here to stay." Both Howe, 48, and Hull, 36, starred in the older National Hockey League before jumping to the WHA several years ago. Hull, a Winnipeg Jets left winger, has been sidelined this season with a wrist injury. He strongly criticized the WHA recently.

"You can't expect to survive when you're only getting 6,000 fans," Hull said. "Almost every team that comes in here is getting worse. There just hasn't been the improvement we expected. We're not getting the top young kids. They don't want to play in a second-rate league."

Howe replied: "1 don't think it's right for Bobby to knock the WHA because the league's been good to him. 1 don't agree with some of the things he said, either." Howe did admit the WHA has fallen off in its recruitment of the good youngsters.

"When we came into the league, we signed 50 per cent (of the draft choices)," Howe said. "Now we've got cutbacks on the rosters, and some teams are locked into long-term contracts to get people in the league. I know now that some of the other clubs are saying it's time to really go after the young players." A merger is not the answer for WHA survival. Howe said.

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Wednesday Evening, December 1, 1976

WHA Considering Playing Exhibitions In Europe

HOUSTON (AP) — World Hockey Association officials have discussed the possibility of playing part of their exhibition schedule next season in Europe and Japan.

The possibility of schedule changes was discussed by representatives of the 12 league members during a two-day meeting that ended Tuesday. Other topics discussed included the frequently mentioned merger with the National Hockey League, increasing the roster limit and various financial matters. No action was taken on the items.

Harrison Vickers, executive vice president and general counsel of the Houston Aeros, said the proposed European series developed coincidental!)1 to the upcoming United States tour in December by national teams from Russia and Czechoslovakia.

"Four European national teams have been in touch with the league office' about setting up an annual schedule," Vickers said. "It's an idea we kind of like. Whether anything will materialize is another matter." Countries mentioned were Russia, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Finland. Should mo program be worked out, Vickers said Ihe initial schedule would probably call for an eight to 10 game schedule on a home and home basis. That would reduce the regular season schedule to 70-72 games.

"We're not really talking about shortening the schedule," Vickers said, "just playing some of our games in Europe and Japan. The general feeling seems to' be that the season is too long anyway." On merger talks. Vickers said it will probably be a major topic at every meeting. The league's owner-trustees plan to meet once a month. Their next gathering is scheduled for late December in Chicago. Vickers said he suspected the merger topic also will come up at the NHL ' meetings, too. "Both leagues have similar problems," he said. "A merger could help solve some in both leagues." Trustees reduced the roster to 18 before the season began but the Aeros officials are in favor of a 20-man limit

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Winnipeg FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, December 4, 1976

BENCH BITS — Harvey Wineberg, the Chicago chartered accountant who represents Bobby Hull and Joe Daley among others, says the WHA's chances of a merger with the NHL would be infinitely greater if the new league had eight solid franchises ... He doesn't expect to see the Minnesota franchise last beyond January first following Thursday's filling of a suit by the Saints against the St. Paul's Chamber of Commerce and the First National Bank of St. Paul over an alleged promise of 4,000 season tickets .

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SYRACUSE HERALD-JOURNAL. Dec. 9. 1976

Hockey skating on very thin ice

By GEORGE V Go Jets Go
Chicago Daily News

CHICAGO - The bell is tolling and Alan Eagleson's sharp ears are picking up the sound denoting the approaching demise of six to 10 teams in the World Hockey Assn. and the National Hockey League, "There are 12 to 15 teams of the 18 in the NHL and all 12 in the WHA that are experiencing serious financial problems," said Eagleson, executive director of the NHL Players Assn. "As many as four or five of the WHA teams may not finish the season.

"Several NHL teams are in just as much trouble. Cleveland is providing a 'dog' franchise and the problems in Atlanta are acute. The Atlanta president was quoted the other day as saying the club is $500,000 short and that he doesn't know if he can meet me payroll.

"Since Nov. 1 I've been meeting with the players on all of the (NHL) clubs to acquaint them with the major problems facing hockey, the sinking attendance, the financial troubles." In an informal discussion with the Chicago Black Hawks when they were in Toronto last Saturday, Eagleson suggested they skate harder if they want to hang on to their cushy jobs.

"I've been telling the other clubs the same thing," said Eagleson. "There are probably 200 players out of work now, most of them deservedly so,-tart there'll be more next year and there'll be 50 juniors coming up. So if these guys want to keep their jobs they'd better bust their backs."

Eagleson also has been meeting with WHA owners who are desperately seeking a merger with the NHL. Two major barriers stand in the wav: the NHL Plavers's Assn. Contract forbids a merger for four more years, and the NHL owners up to now have been adamantly opposed to a marriage with the WHA.

I told the WHA people that I’m not going to stand on principle and see my boat sunk/' said Eagleson. "We could work something out in the area of the player agreement. "I've also seen a softening in the NHL owners opposition to a merger. They're experiencing their own problems and appear more willing to listen for the general welfare of hockey/'

Despite the mounting crisis, Eagleson sees a more stable configuration emerging out of the trouble. "Of the 30 teams in the NHL and WHA f now some 20 to 24 may survive after a merger/' he said, "This means that 200 players will lose their jobs, but the alternative is even worse — it could be as many as 400 if the WHA folds entirely and two or more NHL teams go. "There's a downhill slide in so many cities that we can't ignore it. We have to face the unpleasant facts as unpalatable they may be and do something about them."

Such WHA franchises as New England, Indianapolis, Birmingham and Minnesota are staggering, and in the NHL in addition to Cleveland and Atlanta, severe losses are being experienced by Colorado, Detroit and St. Louis. Even the financially stable Hawks dropped $2 million last season.

"You can speculate in any direction you want because almost anything can happen," said Eagleson. "The whole situation is murky, the only thing being clear is that a lot of people are losing money heavily and that several clubs are going to collapse."

Eagleson is acquainting the members of the Player's Assn. with all this because he wants them to be aware of the danger to their livelihood and to prepare them for the acceptance of a merger. "It's clear that something has to be done to avert a disaster and the players should he aware of this," he said. "Whether it can be done by next season or not I don't know, but there's no question that the facts have to be faced."

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26,1976

Hockey's headache

NEW YORK (UPI) — Helter Skelter expansion, the dipsydoodle economy and a suicidal salary structure — the kind of madness that is affecting all sports — continue to be the cause of severe headaches and soul searching among hockey people.

It wasn't always thus, back in " the good old days" when the National Hockey League consisted of six solid teams. Now, in places such as Boston, New York and Chicago, where once it was almost impossible to but game tickets, there are seats available, and in other places, notably Atlanta, the game is an endangered species.

Earlier this year, the NHL Board of Governors swallowed a hunk of pride by allowing two franchise shifts — the California Seals to Cleveland and the Kansas City Scouts to Denver — and now the Atlanta Flames are in imminent danger of collapse. This despite the fact that Atlanta is a winning team. In mid- December, when it was learned the Flames wouldn't be able to meet their next payroll, Gov. George Busbee of Georgia and Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson devised a plan to enlist local businessmen to purchase $750,000 worth of advance tickets.

"We outlined a plan whereby 30 corporate commitments of $25,000 each for the rest of the season would guarantee the needed $750,000 and the team w i l l make i t t h r o u g h t h e season," Busbee said.

For the entire league, 11 of the 18 franchises have shown a decline in attendance during the opening months of the season.

The situation was even more glum in the World Hockey Association, where Bobby Hull of the Winnipeg Jets warned, "You can't expect to survive when you’re only getting 6,000 fans, almost every team that comes in here is getting worse. There just hasn't been the improvement we expected. We're not getting the top young kids. They don't want to play in a secondrate league."

Hull is one of the few big name stars left in the WHA, and the struggling league faces the loss of the Howe family at season's end. Patriach Gordie Howe already has given up his presidency of the Houston Aeros, and is expected to lead his sons, ark and Marty, into the NHL.

On the ice, at least, a sense of normalcy returned when the Montreal Canadiens virtually swept to the Stanley Cup last spring. In the finals, they won four straight from Philadelphia, preventing the Flyers from becoming the first U.S. based team ever to win the championship three years in a row.

So awesome were the Canadiens, losing only 11 of 80 regular season games and then winning 12 of 13 playoff outings, it was inevitable to compare them with some of the other storied Montreal clubs that won the Stanley Cup a record 18 times.

Jean Beliveau, who played on 10 championship teams at Montreal, called the current club "certainly one of the best teams the Canadiens ever had," and he said the defense was the best be ever had seen.

Guy Lafieur led the NHL in scoring with 125 points, and Montreal boasted five players with 30 or more goals — Lafieur 56, Steve Shutt 45, Pete Mahovlich 34, and Yvan Cournoyer and Yvon Lambert with 32 each. At the other end of the ice, goalteftder Ken Dryden won the Vettiia Trophy as Montreal bad ttife league's best defensive record.

If anything, even stronger' than in 1975-76, the Canadiens easily were the class of the league this season, losing pnly five of their first 33 games. As Dryden put it, "We have so much versatility on this team. We have such depth that we can play any type of game, offensive, defensive, wide open,, rough, any way we prefer."

Further adding to a banger year for the people of Canada", their country won the initial Canada Cup International Hockey Championship, beating out teams from the United States, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Finland. Earlier in the year, the Soviet Union won the Olympic crown, but the Czechs came back to win the Amateur World Championship.

There is a growing concert) among players and executives of the NHL and WHA about violence in the game. Not that it is any more so than when the NHL was a s h e l t e r e d s i x - t e am league, but the adverse publicity has taken its toll, not to mention the sudden vigilance of Canadian prosecutors in bringing criminal charges against some players.

Even Bobby Clarke, whose Flyer team cherished its role as brawlers in recent years, called for the action within the league to curb violence. "Hockey is good enough that it doesn't need fighting," said Clarke. "It's obvious that all the brawling hasn't been turned off by all the mayhem. They want. to bring their kids to a hockey game, but not if they think they're going to have them watch a lot of fighting.

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Saturday, JANUARY 1, 1977

Minnesota fighting Saints Payroll met, plan to stay in business

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Fighting Saints have met their payroll and the World Hockey Association club will continue to operate on a regular basis, President Bob Brown said Friday.

"We considered several options and the one that was most obvious was the one that was overlooked," Brown said. "That was simply to make the payroll ourselves, which we did." Brown said the Saints ' planned to continue meeting payrolls, but club owners were continuing their search for local investors.

Sources within the organization said the Saints payroll is somewhere between $108,000 and $123,000. A spokesman for the club said Saints' officials have said all along that they are not, and never have been, in financial trouble. "When the team moved from Cleveland to St. Paul last August, owner Nick Mileti made it clear that he had no interest in being an absentee owner," said Lee Meade, the club's director of marketing and public relations.

M i l e t i , who lives in Cleveland, believes a St. Paul hockey team should be owned by St. Paul people, and moved the team from Cleveland at the invitation of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce and business community with the idea that it would be sold to local people, Meade added. "There has never been any plan to fold the team," Meade said. "This would only happen as a last resort. We are current on our payroll and bills and haven't borrowed any money from local banks, so we don't have any indebtedness hanging over us."

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1977

INSIDE HOCKEY
By STAN FISCHLER

Several hockey experts believed that the ABA-NBA
basketball merger would set a similar merger In motion
for hockey. That is, the NHL would absorb Winnipeg,
Quebec and Edmonton with possibly two American
cities thrown in — Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Now, NHL hardliners tell me they want no part of any
WHA teams. Although at least three NHL teams are
hurting financially, the senior circuit appears willing
to sit around and hope for .the total collapse of the
WHA. "Then," says an NHL governor,, "we'd set up a
player pool of the WHA talent and distribute it around
our league. If any WHA teams want to get into the
NHL, they'd have to apply formally for the franchise
just as any other new city would have to do." So
much for peace on the major league hockey front.

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Saturday, January 08, 1977

No merger, Campbell says
MONTREAL (AP) — Clarence Campbell, president of the National
Hockey League, says the NHL's policy is against any type of merger with
the rival World Hockey Assn.
Campbell said Thursday that policy is supported by the NHL Players'
Assn.He said if the league engaged in merger talks, the league would forfeit
the players' association agreement to the reserve clause and equalization
agreement concerning the right of a team to be compensated if a player
is signed with another team.
"There is no possible way that is going to happen," Campbell said.
Another roadblock to merger with the WHA is United States anti-trust
legislation. To get around the anti-trust laws, the leagues would need an
act of Congress or a judicial ruling that the WHA was a failing business.

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Saturday, January 15, 1977

Eagleson believes NHL owners wrong

TORONTO (AP) – National Hockey League owners are wrong if they think a merger with the rival World Hockey Association represents a cure for their financial woes, Alan Eagleson, executive director of the NHL Players' Association, says.

"It's a solution (hat doesn't hold water," Eagleson said Friday. Eagleson said the economic problems arise from a lack of balance, ridiculous divisional structures and an inadequate schedule that fails to promote natural rivalries.

"What the owners think the problems are and what are actually the problems are two different things," he said, "The product being iced is lo blame for almost all the troubles. There are many contributing factors, but the significant ill Is the lack of balance within the league."

The league will meet next week in Vancouver with the players' association during the All-Star break and is expected to seek concessions from the players in key areas of the five-year bargaining agreement between the two parties.

"The first time the word merger is uttered in Vancouver, the meeting ends," Eagleson said. "The players are genuinely concerned about the problems, but the owners have been overlooking hockey's actual problems.

"The players have a five-year agreement with the owners and it doesn't expire until I960. It's rather doubtful whether we can allow concessions regarding nocut contracts. If they (owners) expect any immediate action from us, they are operating under a false assumption. We may be willing to review our stance in the summer."

Gordon Ritz, president of the Minnesota North Stars, said Friday in an interview that what the NHL will consider is "an expansion, rather than a merger. "We probably would follow the same route as the NBA (National Basketball Association). We've got a fact-finding committee looking into all of this."

The NBA absorbed four American Basketball Association franchises last year with the new clubs paying $3 million each to join. Sid Solomon III, president of the St. Louis Blues, said he has supported an arrangement with the WHA "for years."

"A few years ago I was classed as one of the young radicals for proposing discussions with the WHA. Now suddenly everything comes full circle." Solomon said. "These problems should have been dealt with three years ago."

Ritz said any WHA franchises the NHL might be interested in absorbing would be those with arenas seating at least 13,500, because "survival would be difficult if you had a building any smaller."

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Saturday, January 15, 1977

Fighting Saints hang up gloves

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)—Minnesota's professional hockey war may be over for good, following the suspension Friday night of the World Hockey Association's Fighting Saints and the sale of seven top players.

Saints' President Bob Brown said efforts to find new owners would continue, but that he was "not optimistic" that this could be done by next Thursday, the day before the suspension runs out and the Saints are scheduled to play at Houston.

"We have to be the first franchise that ever folded with money in the bank," Brown said after the Saints' 9-5 victory Friday over Indianapolis. "Who would want lo buy a team with seven players gone?" asked Saints' captain John Arbour. ."It's a joke if they expect us to continue."

The sale to Edmonton of the Saints' top-scoring line of Dave Keon, John McKenzie and Mike Antonovich; Louie Levasseur, the WHA's leading goalie; defenseman Bill Butters and brothers Jack and Steve Carlson leaves little strength behind. Five of the players said they won't report to Edmonton and the other two hadn't had a chance to figure things out.

"It happened so fast my head is swimming," said Levasseur. The sale, Brown said, has been approved by WHA president Bill McFarland, but also must be okayed by the league's trustees. There were indications today that some teams will fight the player sale. Brown announced no purchase price. But a source in Edmonton said Minnesota owner Nick Mileti would receive $125,000 in cash plus 20 per cent of Edmonton's playoff revenue should the Oilers make it to post-season play.

Mileti brought the franchise from Cleveland to St. Paul this season. The new Saints averaged about 7,200 fans a game, 500 below Mileti's break-even point. The old Saints folded Feb. 28, 1976 after two months of fighting off financial ruin

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Sunday, January 16. 1977

Fighting Saints Fold WHA to Discuss Woes

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The folding of the Minnesota Fighting Saints franchise and the dispersal of the team's players will be the top priority item before the World Hockey Assn.'s Board of Trustees here as it gathers for meetings Tuesday.

The Minnesota franchise, which was moved from Cleveland before the 1976-77 season began, has folded, according to New England Whalers Managing General Partner Howard Baldwin. "Oh yeah. They're through Baldwin said. But there remains a controversy over the future of the team's players and an uneasy situation regarding Tuesday's All-Star game.

Sold Seven Players

Before the Fighting Saints announced Friday night that they were suspending operation for two games, they revealed the sale of seven of their top players to the Edmonton Oilers. Among them were center Dave Keon and goalie Lou Levasseur, who had been named to the East Division all-stars.

Their sale to Edmonton would put them in the West Division, however, leaving East Division Coach Jacques Demers two players short for Tuesday night's All-Star game. Demers, who coaches the Indianapolis Racers said Saturday he might replace Levasseur with his own goalie, Michel Dion. That situation will be clarified Tuesday, however, when the Board of Trustees meets here to decide the legality of Minnesota's controversial sale of its seven players. The others sold were defenseman Bill Butters and forwards John McKenzie, Mike Antonovich, and Steve and Jack Carlson. But neither WHA Chief Executive Ben Hatskin nor league President Bill MacFarland has approved the deal:

Protest Sale

The Whalers have protested the sale, claiming that after Edmonton purchased the athletes, they had asked New England if it was interested in the Carlson brothers. Baldwin claims that after the Whalers agreed to deal for the Carlsons, the Oilers renegged on their part of the transaction.

Associated Press sources have said that Whalers forward George Lyle was one of the players headed for Edmonton in exchange for the Carlsons and Butters. There also have been reports that Keon and McKenzie are unwilling to report to Edmonton but are quite willing to join New England.

The situation will be discussed here Monday by the WHA's four-man Executive Committee, which includes Baldwin, Bill Sleeman of the Calgary Cowboys, John Bassett of the Birmingham Bulls and BUI DeWitt of the Cincinnati Stingers. They'll discuss the entire agenda for Tuesday's Trustees meeting and make recommendations as to how matters should be handled from there.

Other Matters

Other matters before the Trustees, according to a source, include the possibility of scheduling regular-season games against European teams next season with the results being counted in the WHA standings! There will also be a report regarding the "'franchises in Calgary and Phoenix, which may move elsewhere after the current season ends

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MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1977

Money Problems Face WHA

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The financial difficulties of the Indianapolis Racers and the bleak outlook for the Minnesota Fighting Saints were the leading problems confronting the World Hockey Assn.'s Board of Trustees, which is collecting here for meetings prior to Tuesday's All-Star game.

Indianapolis players were asked Saturday night to accept at least a delay in the delivery of their paychecks, which were to have been handed out Saturday. "As far as I'm concerned, it looks like we still have a hockey club," Racers Coach Jacques Demers said at a news conference in Indianapolis Saturday night. Team President Harold Ducote said that full salary payment would be forthcoming as soon as money is available. When that would be remained uncertain as the Racers faced their second financial problem of the 1976-77 season. Last October, stockholders ousted former principal stockholder Paul Deneau and former president James Browitt. At that time, Indianapolis was in danger of failing to meet financial commitments but was saved by infusion of new capital.

The Fighting Saints announced they were suspending their franchise Friday night, and cancelled games scheduled at Quebec on Saturday and here on Sunday. They sold seven top players to Edmonton in a last-ditch effort to lower their payroll and raise some working capilal. Two of the players involved were goalie Lou Levasseur and center Dave Keon.

Levasseur and Keon were to play for the East in Tuesday night's game, but the sale — if it is approved by WHA Chief Executive Ben Hatskin or President Bill MacFarland — would put the two players in the West Division. That would appear to leave the East team two players short, but East Coach Jacques Demers of the Indianapolis Racers decided Saturday to replace Keon with A] Karlander of his Racers. Levasseur, meanwhile, will play for the East because, according to a WHA spokesman, he earned All-Star honors while playing in the East Division. The remaining five players involved in Friday night's transaction were defenseman Bill Butters and forwards John McKenzie, Mike Antonovich, and the Carlson brothers Steve and Jack

Their status, as well as that of the remaining Sints players, is expected lo be decided by the end of Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting. The four-man WHA Executive Committee, which includes Howard Baldwin of the New England Whalers, Bill Sleeman of the Calgary Cowboys, Bill DeWitt of the Cincinnati Stingers and John Bassett of the Birmingham Bulls, will meet today to formulate recommendations on the entire agenda to the Trustees, who meet Tuesday. The Saints' situation is high on the priority list, but certain questions m u s t be answered f irs t. As of Saturday afternoon, there had been no cancellation of the Minnesota franchise by the Trustees, according to Ducote.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1977

Saints have no takers
ST. PAUL (UPI) – Minnesota Fighting Saints president Bob Brown says he can't even give away the team, which suspended operations Friday night because of financial problems.

Brown said Sunday he has been unable to find local owners for the World Hockey Assn. franchise, even though he has offered it at zero purchase price, "To be viable, thi* franchise needs local ownership," Brown said. "We offered a deal to the community at zero purchase price. We couldn't work anything out."

Anyone could have stepped in at Saints' owner Nick Mileti's guarantee that current debts would not exceed $100,000. The new owners also would be starting clean since there is still $110,000 in an escrow fund in a St. Paul bank.

The chances that the club would survive were dampened by the sale of its top seven players to the Edmonton Oilers, a sale made Friday with the permission of the WHA League office. The players who were sold were centers Dave Keon and Steve Carlson, forwards Mike Antonovich, Jack Carlson and John McKenzie, goaltender Lou Levassuer and defenseme/i Bill Butters.

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Tuesday, January 18, 1977

Eagleson wouldn't be benevolent towards WHA

HARTFORD. Conn. (CP) - Hockey needs a benevolent dictator to force a merger of the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association, says WHA president Bill MacFarland.

"I would be willing to concede to Clarence Campbell if I thought he could be benevolent towards the WHA." MacFarland said Monday in an interview during the WHA all-star break here.

He ruled out Alan Eagleson, executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association, as a possible candidate for the position. "Al has quite a few conflicts of interests and is not too benevolent toward the WHA if you analyze the situation," the president said. Both Campbell, president of the NHL. and Eagleson have said in recent statements that a merger is out of the question.

MacFarland agrees that the joining of the two leagues is not possible at this time, but he detects a softening of attitudes on the part of some NHL owners, and even Campbell himself. It would be the best thing for hockey, he said. "If someone could agree to a benevolent dictatorship in professional hockey, we could sit down and make it work.

We can't find anybody benevolent other than me, and they won't let me do it." Realistically, the WHA would welcome a merger because it's the quickest and fastest way to get the cost of operating the business down. The WHA has drastically cut its operating losses this season after losing millions of dollars in the first four years of operation.

"But we're not in a position to say, 'OK. we want a merger,' and get it," MacFarland said. "The NHL has all the leverage there... and I don't forsee that happening. I think there are about eight owners in the NHL who see that as the best way, but that's not enough." MacFarland said there are too many problems under the legal definition of merger, "compounded by the fact that we're dealing in two countries with two different governments and two sets of anti-trust laws." But there could be arrangements, he added.

"I have a position—a common draft, two separate leagues, inter-league trading and a playoff—that I feel is attainable a lot easier than a merger."

Meanwhile there was a wistful look on Jean-Louis Levasseur's face, although the all-star banquet had just ended and the wiry goaltender had been introduced as the starting netminder for the East Division in the World Hockey Association's annual contest. He didn't smile when he rose to the spotlight because more pressing things occupied his mind, specifically the bleak future of Minnesota Fighting Saints.

"I gotta find a job," he said, speaking with a thick French- Canadian accent. "I was there (in Minnesota) last year (when the team folded) and the same thing happened this year, rtight now I got no job, and neither do my teammates. Seventeen players now they got no jobs. "I just hope I go to a place to play where you don't have to worry about getting your pay cheque every two weeks."

The status of the team will have a bearing on the controversial sale of seven players, including Levasseur, by Minnesota to Edmonton Oilers. Defenceman Bill Butters, forwards Dave Keen, John McKenzie, Mike Antonovich and Jack and Steve Carlson were sent to Edmonton in an llth-hour deal to try to raise capital. But Keon and McKenzie have no-sale, no-trade contracts which may have been breached, apparently making them free agents

[JETStender]

Tuesday, January 18, 1977

WHA content its on own but would discuss merger

HARTFORD, Conn. (DPI) - The World Hockey Association is content to continue on its own, but would be more than happy to discuss a merger with the National Hockey Association, according to the president of the WHA.

Despite the collapse of one team and financial maneuverings to avoid a crisis for another, Bill MacFarland says the league is better off this year than last. MacFarland said Monday the WHA would discuss a merger if the NHL took the first step. "If the NHL takes it upon themselves to open discussions, we would be more than happy to continue them," he said. "But we're content to build the WHA as a separate entity. We're not in a position to force a merger.

"We've been rather quiet on the thing," MacFarland said, "but there have been rumors springing up that a merger is being talked about. We're not talking about it," he said. After a day of executive meetings in Hartford Monday following the collapse of the Minnesota Fighting Saints, MacFarland said, "Last year we had three teams collapse. This year one. We're a lot better off this year than last." "The status of the franchise in St. Paul is that it is suspended. The team's owner has asked for time to get support and resolve the difficulties there. It'll be up to the league trustees to decide whether to grant that time," MacFarland said. The trustees were to meet today to discuss the St. Paul franchise and other league issues.

The Indianapolis Racers last weekend got an agreement from theirplayers to accept a 15 percent deferment of salary payment until the end of the season. But MacFarland said the Racers are not in trouble. "There is no problem in Indianapolis. It's just unfortunate timing for us that Indy did this at the same time we had problems in Minnesota," he said.

The collapse of the Saints – the second team in two years to fall victim to financial difficulties in St. Paul, Minn. - brought on rescheduling and public relations headaches for the rest of the league, MacFarland said. "No matter how much this was expected, it causes a credibility problem," he said. "People questioned whether we would be successful going back to St. Paul," he said.

Seven Saints were sold Saturday to the Edmonton Oilers, but the New England Whalers claimed ownership of two players, Jack and Steve Carlson. MacFarland said, "The league position right now is not to disallow any sale of the Saints. Whether the Whalers get the Carlsons or not is up to the Oilers."

Several last-minute roster changes, including the loss of Houston's Mark Howe, were made as East and West squads prepared for tonight's World Hockey- Association All Star Game. Gordie Howe and Andre Lacroix are among the top players set to compete in the contest.

"As far as we know Gordie Howe will be playing although his son, Mark, won't," a New England Whalers spokesman said Monday. Howe has played in either National Hockey League or WHA All Star games in each of his last 17 seasons. Mark Howe, who plays right wing for the Aeros, will not play for the West Division because he is resting with an injured shoulder. Also out with a shoulder injury is Whaler Rick Ley, who will be replaced on the East roster by Thommy Abrahamsson, also a defenseman.

Whalers' center Mike Rogers was added to the East squad, replacing Dave Keon whose contract status has not been resolved, officials said. Even if Howe doesn't get out on the ice, West coach Bobby Kromm wants him around anyway. "I certainy hope Gordie will be able to play with us because he can help us for sure," Kromm said. "But if come Jan. 18, he feels he shouldn't play, we just want him there with us."

It will be the fourth consecutive midseason classic for San Diego center Andre Lacroix, who holds the WHA all star scoring record with three goals and four assists. The East's Bobby Hull, Danny Lawson and J.C. Tremblay have played in all five WHA All Star games. Two other Whalers will see action — rookie left wing George Lyle and second-year defenseman Gordie Roberts. East coach Jacques Demers of the Indianapolis Racers chose Lyle, who joined the Whalers this year after three seasons at Michigan Tech, and Roberts, at 19 the youngest player in the league, to round out his squad.

[JETStender]

Tuesday, January 18, 1977

Fighting Saints may not answer bell

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association have reached what may be the final crossroad of their troubled history.

WHA President Bill MacFarland said at a news conference Monday that the league's Board of Trustees will hear a presentation from Minnesota Trustee Nick Mileti at Tuesday's meeting. Then the Trustees will "determine what's best for the WHA and make a decision whether to further suspend the franchise, which could come back in our league or be voluntarily terminated." MacFarland said.

The Minnesota f r a n c h i s e was suspended for two games last Friday. moments before the announcement of the sale of seven of its players to the Edmonton Oilers. ' "We're concerned because Nick has been a member of the league since its inception and whatever we do, we want it to be for the benefit of all parties: the league, the players. Nick Mileti, and the city of St. Paul. Minn., which has seen us come and go a couple of times," MacFarland said.

The original Fighting Saints ceased operation last February. They were replaced before the 1976-77 season began by the team which currently is in limbo. "The Cleveland-based Mileti. Who owned one of the WHA's charter members, the Crusaders, told The Associated Press he still held hopes that the Saints could obtain local ownership in St. Paul.

The status of the team will affect the status of the controversial seven-player sale. MacFarland said, "and the status of the franchise won't be determined until tomorrow. The sale has been made and the league has taken the position that an operating franchise has the right to sell its players."

He added/however, that the sale has not been approved or disapproved. But there are conflicting claims regarding the seven: goalie Lou Levasseur, defenseman Bill Butters, and forwards Mike Antonovich, Steve and Jack Carlson. John McKenzie and Dave Keon.

The Birmingham Bulls claim that Levasseur is their property,and that he was loaned to Minnesota. MacFarland said "There was compensation due Birmingham for Levasseur from Minnesota, and that hasn't been paid yet." The WHA President said he would arbitrate the compensation. Two other players. Keon and McKenzie, had no-sale, no-trade contracts. Should their contracts have been breached, the two may become free agents.

Further, the New England Whalers claim the Carlson brothers as their property. "There's a problem between the buyer and the seller as to what was bought and what must be delivered," said MacFarland. "That is going to hinge on whether the (Minnesota) franchise, is active, suspended, or terminated."

The WHA's four-man Executive Committee met Monday regarding the matter and will present its recommendations to the Trustees when they meet Tuesday. Meanwhile, further competition against European teams also will be discussed, as will a possible shortening of the schedule and the relocation of the WHA's headquarters from Toronto to a city in which a league team operates.

[JETStender]

Wed., Jan. 19, 1977

WHA Needs the international market

HARTFORD, Conn. (CP) — The World Hockey Association is gearing up for international hockey on an expanded annual basis, but the fly in the ointment may be Alan Eagleson, says WHA president Bill MacFarland.

The recent eight-game series with the Soviet Union was "very profitable" — the Russians won it 6-2 — and "we have to look to ways of making money," MacFarland said in an interview. He is not worried about over-exposure in playing the Russians, Czechs and other top European teams on an annual basis.

''When you can have a team with the charisma the Russians have, we'd like to do it every year and we'd like to do it on an expanded basis," MacFarland said. Eagleson is getting into a position where he could preclude the Russians playing the WHA in Canada, since he has been given some authority by the Canadian government as chairman of the board in charge of international hockey for Hockey Canada.

"The only fly in the ointment — as I read it — is that Eagleson through his power in Hockey Canada could limit or eliminate the games in Canada next year," MacFarland said.
"We played six games in Canada this year against the Czechs and the Russians and we sold out in every game. Our people need the revenue." In a six-game series this winter against Czechoslovakia, WHA teams won four games and lost two.

The WHA's plans for next year include sending the playoff champions, bolstered by six players from their division, to play the European champions in a series on their home ice. European teams also would play other WHA clubs during a break in the schedule.

[JETStender]

Wednesday. Jan. 19.1977

Saints' Franchise Near End

HARTFORD. Conn. <AP» - The Minnesota Fighting Saints have tost their punch, along with most of the players on their hockey team, and are only hours away from losing their franchise".

While the World Hockey Assn."s Board of Trustees gave its approval Tuesday to Minnesota's controversial sale of seven players to the Edmonton Oilers, it also issued an ultimatum: if the Saints haven't been sold by 10 p.m.. CST. Thursday, the franchise will be folded

All is in readiness: the deathwatch continues. WHA Board Chairman Ben Hatskin said in a prepared statement that a revised schedule has been drafted and that all the remaining Minnesota players will become free agents when and if the club goes under.

How many players that involves is open to discussion, however. Early Wednesday came a report from Minnesota-that the Saints had sold forwards Jack Carlson and Gord Gallant and defenseman Pat Westrum to Birmingham

* * *
-As we go along, it becomes more and more apparent that we will not continue." Saints general manager Glen Sonmor was quoted as saying in an interview with a Minnesota paper. "There just isn't any interest in keeping it alive

However. Saints owner Nick Mileti told The Associated Press early Wednesday he had not made such a sale. Meanwhile Tuesday night. Edmonton sold to the New England Whalers the negotiation rights to four of the seven players it purchased Friday from Minnesota The players are center Dave Keon. right wing John McKenzie. And forwards Steve and Jack Carlson. Though only the negotiation rights were sold. Whalers coach Harry Neale said the four players would participate in Wednesday's practice. New England is suffering through a seven-game losing streak.

"I am confident they will be in our line-up Thursday night against Quebec." said Whalers general manager Ron Ryan, who added there would be another trade involving New England some time today.

The Trustees also announced Tuesday wider WHA participation in international hockey games. Each WHA club will play host to teams from Russia. Czechoslovakia. Sweden and Finland, Hatskin said. He added, however, that the Swedes and Finns had not yet guaranteed their appearance.

The international play will trim four road games for each team. Hatskin announced, with each club playing 40 games at home and 36 on the road. Further, the Board of Trustees agreed to sweeping changes in the player-management collective bargaining agreement Along with increases in pension and insurance, all players will become free agents on Aug. 15 of their contracts" final year