The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1977

Report on merger upcoming

QUEBEC (CP) — John Dacres, president of Quebec Nordiques, says that if there is a merger between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association, the arrangements should be made within two or three weeks.

We have to know by the spring exactly what we will be doing for next season," the WHA team president said Monday night. NHL president Clarence Campbell said in New York Monday night that a fact-finding committee is expected to have a report within a few weeks on the validity of any accommodation between t h e NHL and WHA.

However the fact-finders appointed by the NHL governors are not empowered to merger in their contacts with the WHA, Campbell added.

Two WHA club presidents— Bill DeWitt of Cincinnati Stingers and Harold Baldwin met with NHL people Monday in New York and Dacres said the two men had been designated as official spokesmen for the other owners. Dacres said he had heard that it will cost $2 million for each WHA club and there would also have to be some indemnification paid.

"It would be a lot of money and a decision would have to be made as to whether it would be better to use t he money to consolidate the franchises in the WHA. We would have to know what the NHL would give us for our $2 million."

Dacres feels the WHA could still go on without a merger. He indicated that it was unlikely San Diego Mariners, Calgary Cowboys and Phoenix Roadrunners would be able to continue playing next season.

He added that the disappearance of these three clubs would enable the WHA to consolidate and present a competitive league. Quebec Coliseum, the home of the Nordiques, seats 10,004 which many feel would be too small for the NHL. But there has been talk of expanding the building since O'Keefe Breweries took over the club last year.

Meanwhile Alan Eagleson, president of the NHL Players' Association, said Monday night that if there was a merger between the two league, he felt Quebec should be a part of it.

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THE BRANDON SUN, Tuesday, March 15,1977

More on the merger

NEW YORK (AP) —
Alan Eagleson, executive director 'of the National Hockey League Players' Association, was made an ex-officio member Monday of the league's fact-finding committee on merger.

Eagleson's appointment was completed at a meeting of the executive council of the association and the NHL management counsel. Items on the agenda included housekeeping' matters involving Cleveland Barons and the overage amateur draft, and touched upon possible agreement between the NHL" and its rival, the World Hockey Association.

"I do not expect a merger to take place before next season," said Eagleson. "Eventually something has to happen, but who is to determine which NHL teams should drop out, and which are the right WHA teams to take into the NHL?

"The executive council of the players is empowered to make decisions right here, but the owners' group cannot do that and are only empowered to report back to the board of governors. "At any time that a merger takes place, the contract between the players' association and the league is automatically null and void."

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1977

Financial woes no laughing matter
Heard the latest pro hockey in trouble joke?

By BARRY LORGE
(C) 1977; The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The newest brand of humor in sports is the. "pro hockey in trouble" joke.

For example: Do you know the Cleveland Barons are going to bounce back in the National Hockey League? Owner Mel Swig is planning to tie each of his players to his cheque.

Did you hear that the World Hockey Association is requiring that all its teams make their road trips on "red-eye" flights? They've signed an exclusive endorsement contract with a charter airline called "Fly by Night."

After years of assuming that full arenas, a steady supply of t a l e n t at bargain-basement prices and prosperity were guaranteed, the lords of pro h o c k e y bumbled and spent their way into a financial crisis that is no laughing matter. The industry has been paying for indiscriminate expansion and bidding for players between the two rival leagues. The NHL has come to regret its longtime haughty disdain for the paying customer and neglect of the fundamentals of public relations, promotion and marketing.

Attendance in many NHL cities is down alarmingly this season. The reasons: competitive imbalance between established and expansion teams, lack of television coverage, high ticket prices and perhaps an overemphasis on winning by intimidation rather than by the precision skating and passing that, at their best, make the sport such a glittering spectacle.

The stubborn refusal by some NHL hard-liners to even c o n s i d e r merger with the WHA; reckless escalation of salaries; sometimes inept management; steady increases in the fixed costs of operation, and the absence of substantial TV revenue to compensate for dwindled ticket sales have led to manifestations of economic panic.

The books of most teams are splattered with ink the color of blood. League officials confirm that at least seven of the WHA's 11 teams and as many as 11 of the NHL's 18 clubs are currently operating at a loss. Insiders guess that in the NHL, only the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres are making money. In the WHA. presumably only the Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers and Indianapolis Racers have a chance to finish the year in the b l a c k , contingent on playoff revenue.

Several influential NHL executives insist the league's crisis has bottomed out. They claim the danger signals were recognized months ago, corrective steps were taken, and the league is now well on the road to fiscal i-ecovery. "The wherewithal to handle our financial problems exists within the individual ownerships." said John Ziegler, NHL chairman of the board, who admits that his own club, the Detroit Red Wings, is still suffering because of poor performance on the ice and at the gate.

The case that awakened the man in the street was the opera of the Cleveland Barons, who tottered perilously close to extinction for two weeks before finally killing Snidely Whiplash's power play.

The Barons became a cause celebre before being bailed out Feb. 23, 58 minutes into the 11th hour, by an infusion of $1.3 million, including an extraordinary $600,000 loan from the NHL Players Association.

Such travails were expected in the WHA, the Johnny-come-lately league that has astounded doomsayers by lasting five years. It has been a madcap exercise in deficit spending, franchise shifts and ownership changes euphemistically called- financial restructuring as stable as the ball at the end of a seal's nose. Therefore it wasn't surprising that:

—T h e Minnesota Fighting Saints collapsed two months ago, in midseason. (These were the latterday Fighting Saints, moved to Minnesota this season from Cleveland, where they were the Crusaders. The original Fighting Saints collapsed in midseason in February 1976.)

—The Houston Aeros nearly had a mutiny when it was revealed that only the Howe family (father Gordie, sons Mark and Marty) received checks when the team missed its Feb. 15 payroll.

—Several teams, including Indianapolis, whose games are well attended, had to ask their players to defer salary payments.

The plight of the 59-year-old NHL, Ion? considered the most stable of pro leagues, was a rude awakening. It had not had a franchise failure since the Brooklyn Americans disbanded after the 1942 season, or a midseason dropout since its maiden season, when the Montreal Wanderers withdrew after six ga m e s because their rink burned to the ground on Jan. 2, 1918.

In an age when pro sports franchises have become movable feasts and famines, the NHL did not have a single shift from the time the Americans expired until.this season, when the Kansas City Scouts became the Colorado Rockies a n d the California Golden S e a l s became the ill-fated Barons of Cleveland.

Indeed, the NHL enjoyed nearly 100 per cent capacity attendance during the postwar years when it had only six t e a m s : Boston, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit and Chicago.

Then came expansion. The Flyers, Minnesota North Stars, S t. Louis Blues, California Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings paid $2 million apiece to join the league as it doubled in size in 1967. The price of admission spiraled to $6 million for Vancouver and Buffalo in 1970 the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders in 1972 and the Washington Capitals and Kansas City in 1974.

Plans for expansion to 20 teams with the addition of Denver and Seattle in 1976 were abandoned because of problems with existing teams. Kansas City nearly folded last year and was not quick to find a Rocky Mountain High in its new home, though the situation there has improved dramatically.

The Oakland-based Golden Seals, having lost $11 million in a decade that included 1 1/2 years of emergency operation by the league, were supposed to find good times as the Barons under Swig's ownership on the shores of Lake Erie. Instead, they nearly re-enacted the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Barons were the most visible example of a financial plague, but other evidence is abundant:

—Minor league hockey is dying in the manner of minor league baseball. Few teams are renewing minor leaguers’ contracts and Pittsburgh, to highlight the extreme case, presently has a four-man farm system: two skaters at Hershey. Pa., and two goaltenders in the International League. Future plans for the minors seem geared strictly to developing promising youngsters.

—Boston, which had 117 consecutive sellouts a few years ago, has had only two in 31 home dates this year, a striking example of what has happened to NHL attendances. "No-shows" have also multiplied. Detroit, for instance, regularly announces paid tickets that are close to double turnstile counts.

—Atlanta couldn't have made its Dec. 15 payroll without Christmas gifts in the form Of $25.000 blocks of tickets purchased by companies strong-armed by G e o r g i a Gov. George Bushee and Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, who p l e a d e d the city's major league image would suffer if the Flames were forced to burn elsewhere

Busbee's plan to sell 40 blocks in this manner might have bogged down if the Flames players, hadn't chipped in 1 1/2 per cent of their salaries and bought $25.000 worth of tickets that they donated to the state for employee giveaways — a splendidly conceived and tax deductible public relations gesture that helped stimulate $650,000 in sales that kept the franchise solvent.

— St. Louis, squeezed by an unfavorable rent and tax structure in The Arena and a sharp drop in attendance, spread the Blues by dismissing a senior vice president, publicity director, assistant arena manager, director of ticket sales, plus several other sales and secretarial personnel on Feb. 1. These are random examples. Other franchises have similar difficulties and have been looking over their shoulders to see if the wolf has yet arrived on the doorstep.

Owners, too, will have to be more realistic.' Many lost sight of the bottom line and now, to avert disaster, they must operate their teams with the same business acumen most of them displayed in getting rich enough to be able to buy a roster of sharp blades as a hobby. Some of the areas they will have to examine carefully:

PLAYER SALARIES. Hockey players once constituted the breadline of pro sports, but no longer. The average salary of hired hands is ?86,000 in the NHL, §55,000 in the WHA. Salaries represent about half of most team budgets. Most owners agree with NHL president Clarence Campbell's estimate that for a profitable operation, they should represent 31 or 32 per cent of budget.

TELEVISION. Neither league has a network TV contract in the U.S. and many teams are without even a local TV outlet. NHL Services, the league properties division, has arranged an independent network and is producing a Monday night "Game of the Week." Owners also must confront the question of altering the game to "suit a TV format "'Hockey is designed to be viewed live." said Washington Capitals president Peter O'Malley. "Because the action is continuous, with line changes made on the fly and no times-out, it is not well-suited to inserting TV commercials. The fact that we have two 15- minute intermissions doesn't help. But we have to decide how important television is to us and how it can best be accommodated."

DULL GAMES. Probably the primary reason for shrinking attendance is the proliferation of uninspiring games. Expansion diluted the talent enormously, and short-sighted stocking of expansion teams led to a woeful competitive imbalance. New teams were drafted from the bottom of existing team rosters and have played like it.

The established powers are now saying for their selfishness. When expansion teams visit Montreal's Forum, for example, they are greeted by something not seen there for years: empty seats. Another factor is that the style of play has changed. The Philadelphia Flyers made violence and bullying more valued than intricate teamwork. Weak teams realized that their only hope of winning lay not in setting up plays, but in getting the puck out of their zone as fast as possible and shooting as often as possible. The upshot' has been games filled with icing and offsides infractions, endless faceoffs and tedium. Rag-tag teams have introduced the yawn to what should be a fast and absorbing game.

SCHEDULING-REAUGNMENT. One way to stimulate interest would be to shift from the present balanced schedule, in which each team plays every other an approximately equal number of times, to a schedule that would emphasize intradivision play and rivalries. Washington is in the Norris Division with Montreal, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Detroit. O'Malley would like to see a more regional grouping with Boston, the two New York teams and Philadelphia. "Those teams draw very well here," he says, "and we're comfortable with the fact that Philadelphia fans come down here with their team. That indicates the basis exists for rivalry."

TICKET PRICES. They are high all over. "Ticket prices in entertainment are a problem, whether it's the Ford Theater, Kennedy Center or Capital Centre," said O'Malley. "When you have excessive talent costs, whether the talent is Rex Harrison or the Beach Boys or Gerry Meehan, ticket prices are going to reflect it."

MERGER. One potential remedy to common problems would be an amalgamation of the NHL and WHA that would eliminate the shakiest franchises, put well-financed teams in the best markets, de-escalate the bidding war for talent and provide a point of departure for realignment.

There are a number of formidable stumbling blocks to merger, which would be complex because the laws and courts of two countries are involved. Campbell, the strong-willed, 68-year-old NHL president, has_ vowed, "We will never do that (merge), never." Other old-line NHL executives seem similarly adamant

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1977

INDECISION HURTS ,SAYS BOBBY HULL

Six World Hockey Association clubs arc apparently being considered in a merger with the National Hockey League, and Winnipeg is contending with Houston and Indianapolis for one of the last two spots.

Bobby Hull, who spent Monday in Chicago, said the WHA's indecision in determining which teams it wants to recommend to the NHL is hurting matters. "Right now Winnipeg's slight edge is the fact it was one of the original WHA franchises," said Hull. "But the NHL would have to be assured we were building a new arena, and that there would be private ownership."

Hull said there are four WHA automatics — Edmonton, Quebec, New England and Cincinnati. All four have sound ownerships and fair to good buildings. "You can forget Calgary, San Diego and Phoenix," said Hull. He didn't mention Birmingham.

Houston and Indianapolis have new facilities but their present local ownerships are considered weak. Jets' president Jack McKeag said initial contacts have been made among potential investors who could provide the team with substantial capital (say, $2 million) should the need suddenly arise. "At present a brewery and a financial institution have expressed interest," said McKeag.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1977

Merger talk denied

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Bill MacFarland, president of the World Hockey Association, has denied a claim that four WHA teams are preparing for merger with the National Hockey League and that two more will be picked.

Bobby Hull, a left winger with Winnipeg Jets, said last week that he is confident the WHA will merge with the NHL by June 27 of this year. M a.c F a r 1 a n d said at a league meeting Monday that he knows of no such situation, and said the WHA will exist as a separate league next year with at least nine franchises and possibly 11.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1977

By REYN DAVIS

BENCH BITS: A misconception circulated by at least one Winnipeg sportscaster, is that Bobby Hull was giving his impressions of how a merger should happen last week in a Free Press story .. . Hull was merely passing along the information he knew from his own sources, which are many and true ... It was grossly unfair of Birmingham fans to launch a bitter campaign to denounce Hull on the weekend... What's ironic is that Birmingham, a city Hull had never visited and a town in which hockey was a sport as foreign as bandi until six, month ago, would have so many opinions of him

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1977

Jacques Demers, coach of the World Hockey Association's Indianapolis Racers, is not one of those who see an imminent merger between his league and the National Hockey League ... "I think the merger may come some day, but it's, a long way off. It's just too soon to talk about it," Demers said Saturday. "The NHL has its problems to solve first. And the WHA has its problems to solve first. Just joining the NHL isn't our answer."

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1977

Is this the end of road, 'Runners ?

CALGARY (CP) — The Herald says Phoenix Roadrunners of the World Hockey Association's Western Division, will fold when the current season ends in early April

The afternoon paper said club owners have sold a number of players to other teams throughout the year, adding t h a t three players would join C i n c i n n a t I Stingers of the WHA's Eastern Division next year.

The paper said Robbie Ftorek, Del Hall and goaltcnder Clay Hebenton wpuld join the Stingers. Three other Roadrunners, defencemen J e r r y Rollins, Serge Boudoin and Duane Bray, were thought to be sold to Edmonton Oilers, but the Oilers have not completed the deal.

Earlier this year. Phoenix sold Barry Dean to Coloradp Rockies of the National Hockey League, Cam Connor to WHA's Houston Aeros, and Gary Lariviere was sold to Q u e b e c Nordiques of the WHA.

"It's been quite a season," the paper quoted general manager-coach Al Rollins Tuesday. 'I can't say it's been fun. It's been disillusioning to say the very least" Rollins is quoted as saying that when the Roadrunners returned from training camp in Finland, he thought the club would finish in second place in the WHA's Western Division.

Then the sale of the hockey players began. "With all this stuff going on around us, I suppose it's amazing we've done as well as we have," Rollins said. "Despite all the uncertainty of what's In store, the team, has performed very well u n d e r the circumstances.

"When It became obvious we were going down it was as if the boys decided among themselves the one thing they wanted to do was make the playoffs."

The Roadrunners are mired in last place in the Western Division, behind Edmonton and Calgary Cowboys, who are fighting for the fourth and final playoff berth.

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Tuesday April 5 1977

By Stan Fishler

World Hockey Association executives in Toronto ire anxiously awaiting definitive results of NHL-WHA merger talk. If the two-leagues consolidation takes place, the WHA will abandon its Canadian offices. But if no merger develops and the league remains intact, the WHA will switch its headquarters to Harford, Conn. WHA people have long touted Cincinnati as a key entry in any NHL-WHA consolidation. But Boston Bruins' sources (The Jacobs Family with interests in Cincinnati) are skeptical about Cincy as capable of sustaining an NHL team. . .

NHL types glowingly extol the drawing potential of Edmonton, Indianapolis and Quebec City as future franchises. . .

Once on the threshold of folding, the Atlanta Flames financial structure has been strengthened within by the sale of the city's basketball team to non-hockey interests . ..

Although he still fronts for the NHL bosses at post-governors' press conferences, aging Clarence Campbell no longer is regarded as a power factor within the league hierarchy, despite his title as president

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April 12 1977

Wild one: There are rumors, and there are rumors Most rumors about hockey these days concern a possible merger between the NHL and the WHA. A recent story out of Edmonton, by Journal columnist Terry Jones, is the ultimate. It says that Calgary Cowboys' owner Jim Pattison will buy the Atlanta Flames and move them to Calgary But there's a catch. Tom Lysiak, star centre of the Flames' would go to Toronto Maple Leafs. In return, Harold Ballard of the Leafs would help bankroll a new arena for Calgary. Sure, and Clarence Campbell will sign a players' contract with the Soviet Red Army team.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1977
CALGARY ( C P ) — A merger between the World Hockey Association and National
Hockey League is going to happen but not because of a total WHA collapse, says Bill MacFarland, WHA president.

He said in an interview committees from both leagues were meeting to discuss a possible merger but that he was not involved in the discussions.

MacFarland said he could not predict when the merger would occur but it would not be this season.

Among the major blocks to any merger would be the attitude of the players associations in the respective leagues and if the majority of the teams were operating successfully, he said.

"I would say that there would be no merger in hockey if 90 per cent of the teams were operating successfully. But that is not the case now." MacFarland said players in both leagues are realizing that many of the teams can't survive much longer on the low profit margin owners must face.

"They, together with their agents, are aware that some balance must be reached between player rights and profit."

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SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1977

Hal
Sigurdson
SPORTS EDITOR
The new front-runner to succeed Clarence Campbell as president of the National Hockey League is John A. Ziegler, a 43-year-old Detroit lawyer who runs the corporate affairs of the Red Wings and acts as chairman of the NHL board of governors.

According to league insiders, Campbell's job is his for the asking. If he decides to ask, it should be good news for the rival World Hockey Association. In the destructive war between the leagues, Ziegler is viewed as a moderate. As NHL president he would be inclined to seek peace with honor, rather than the unconditional surrender demanded by some of his board room compatriots.

Most people in both the NHL and WHA have reached the conclusion they must achieve some sort of accommodation. But there is a sharp difference of opinion within (he NHL on how this best can be accomplished. One group simply wants to !iang tough, convinced the WHA will eventually self-destruct. It would then move in to pick up any desirable pieces left in the financial rubble. The other is prepared to negotiate now, pry some money out of any solvent WHA owners and work out an amalgamation of the two leagues. Ziegler, who has watched the Red Wings pile up yearly deficits of alarming size, belongs to the second group. If there's any lolly left in the WHA, he'd like some for the Wings.

Of the people who wield significant power within major professional hockey. Ziegler is perhaps the le,ast known. He is a partner in the law firm which manages the affairs of Bruce Norris' multi-million dollar empire. He convinced a majority of his fellow governors of his negotiating skills with his patient, diplomatic handling of the messy Cleveland Barons situation. If he decides to accept Campbell's job, he would become the NHL's first American-born president.

How this would affect Canadian WHA cities like Winnipeg, Quebec City, Edmonton and Calgary in merger discussions, is anybody's guess. Probably, though, they wouldn't fare any worse than with the Canadian-born Campbell. They might do better.

It was Montreal and Toronto, not the American franchises, who delayed Vancouver's entry into the NHL by three years. The Leafs and Canadiens were not anxious to share the then lucrative Canadian television market with a third partner. Would Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver today be any more anxious to divvy up a much shakier TV market with three and possibly four new partners? Not ruddy likely. In the NHL as well as in most other Canadian enterprises, the old profit motive is running well ahead of nationalism.

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Wednesday, May 4, 1977

Crazier optimistic Cowboys will play hockey next season

CALGARY (CP) - Optimistic because season-ticket sales have reached more than 25 per cent of the 4,400 needed to ensure that Calgary Cowboys of the World Hockey Association will continue to operate here next season, general-manager Joe Crozier says he's "looking forward to merger."

Suggestions that some WHA teams will become part of the National Hockey League before next season have surfaced again. Crozier said in an interview he is not involved in such discussions but "I'm proceeding as if merger is inevitable." He said the Cowboys, who missed the WHA western division playoffs by three points, will have several changes next year because "only five or six" of the members of this season's team could play in the expanded NHL.

"I'm not mentioning any names," Crozier said. "The players I had know how well they played." Crozier reached the western division finals two seasons ago despite budgetary restrictions caused by the fact Calgary's 6,600-seat Stampede Corral is the smallest building in professional hockey. The budget was reduced even' further last year, contributing to the Cowboy difficulties. "There were lots of things I could do, but I didn't have any money to play with at the end," he said. "But I've got lots of money coming up next season, because a lot of minor-league players who can't help me up here are coming off contract.

The future of the Cowboys will be decided in about a month, when a campaign to sell 4,400 season tickets is completed. A Calgary group headed by former National' Hockey League star Bill Hay, now a prominent businessman, is heading the drive. "I'm optimistic," said Crozier. "We're so much closer to a new building than we were a year ago that it's silly to talk about it.

"We know we need a building and more and more Calgary fans and citizens know we need it too. "If we sell enough season tickets to justify our staying here with the franchise', we'll get a new building." Crozier, who celebrated his wedding anniversary Saturday, has made a series of public appearances in an attempt to sustain interest in the ticket drive. "Tonight, I'm going to a mall in northwest Calgary. I'll talk to people and sign a few autographs — I can't imagine how anybody could want my autograph. "The public appearances show me there is much interest in keeping the team here."

The Cowboys are owned by the Neonex Corporation controlled by Jim Pattison of Vancouver. Spokesmen for both the NHL and the WHA have said Calgary almost certainly will be part of hockey's pending realignment if a new building were provided but the city could not expect pro hockey to wait for a building to be constructed before arrangements are made.

Season-ticket sales moved past 1,100 during the weekend but Crozier said even that total is misleading. "It's encouraging because most of the purchases are by new people. Season ticket holders from last year and the year before are buying extra tickets when they renew. "We'll know shortly what we're going to be doing. I think we'll be staying here and I'm sure we'll have a team that will please Calgary fans.

"For one thing, we had less penalties than anybody else in the league. We were pushed around by a lot of teams, probably because we were affected by the court case in Quebec involving Rick Jodzio. "But that will all be changed by the start of training camp in the fall."

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1977 WFP

Bright lights don't interest Swedes
By REYN DAVIS
HOUSTON — Leave Winnipeg and the Jets with Ulf, his buddy, for the bright lights of Toronto and the Maple Leafs next season?

"It's all bull,"snorts Anders Hedberg, speaking for himself and Ulf Nilsson, the Swedish two-thirds of hockey's Hot Line.

Bobby Hull, the other third, has quashed rumors he is leaving the Jets for Chicago Black Hawks. But he isn't making any plans about playing next year either. The story saying Nilsson and Hedberg were headed for Toronto "next season emanated out of Vienna, site of the world hockey championships.

Hedberg and Nilsson signed identical five-year contracts last season." At the end of the third year if we are forced to leave the Jets, we can." said Hedberg. "But when I sign a contract, the club signs a contract too, and I intend to live up to mine and my end and I expect them to live up to theirs," he said. Hedberg's National Hockey League rights are owned by Toronto Maple Leafs. Nilsson's are owned by Buffalo Sabres.

A rumor circulating suggested the story is being spread in Vienna by their Swedish lawyer. "That's impossible," said Hedberg. "Our lawyer, as you know, is Don Baizley and he lives in Winnipeg." The notion that nobody could be content playing in Winnipeg for the Jets in the World Hockey Association is the popular belief in major media centres in North America, and Sweden too, said Hedberg. "They seem to think a guy has to be wishing to leave Winnipeg and the WHA for the NHL, but I can say that's not true," said Hedberg. Eventually, he hopes a merger of hockey's two warring major leagues happens. "I want to see all of the best players in one league," he said. "Naturally, I want to play against the best But if they think all of the best are in the NHL they're wrong

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THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1977

Hal
Sigurdson
SPORTS EDITOR
Last week the World Hockey Association postponed the first round of its annual amateur draft for a most peculiar reason. The reason was a request from the National Hockey League.

For five tumultuous years if the NHL asked the WHA to do something the invariable reply was "go suck wind" or words to that affect. Mostly that's because what the NHL was most frequently asking its rival to do was drop dead. The two leagues have battled one another in court, bid the price of hockey players out of sight and brought the game to a financial state where all the owners are being bled white. Three NHL franchises are on the brink of collapse. Two others are on slippery ground. The situation in the WHA is at least as bad, perhaps worse.

Now, suddenly, the NHL says, "Hey, fellas, do us a favor and hold off on your draft for a while" and the WHA responds with, "Sure old buddy, anything you say." It doesn't require a Rhodes Scholar to deduce something out of the ordinary is going on.

What is happening, obviously, is that merger talks between the warring leagues are heating up. One hears Al Eagleson, executive director of the NHL Players' Association, left Vienna and the World Hockey Championships to take part in an important meeting with the merger committees of the two leagues. The Eagle, as everyone in the WHA knows, is an accommodating fellow, but would he fly from Europe to North America and back for less than a vital mission? Hardly!

Common draft possible

Both leagues admit the reason the WHA draft was postponed is because of the possibility of a merger. If it takes place, there would be a common division of the amateur spoils. The NHL draft is scheduled May 31, its annual meetings June 6. If merger or an accommodation of some sort is to be reached in time to go into affect this season, it will have to be done before then.

It seems unlikely all the problems the two have created for themselves can be resolved that quickly. There would' have to be a lot of forgiving and forgetting done in a hurry. Rudy Pilous, general manager of the Jets, says the NHL's request for a delay was granted as a demonstration of good faith. "Certainly we want a merger," he says. "If it doesn't happen, it's going to cost both leagues millions of dollars. But we're not really giving anything away. Any player with real talent is going to wait until he gets offers from both leagues before signing anyway, so delaying our draft doesn't really change anything."

Nevertheless, there seems to be some hope cooler heads will eventually prevail. If they do, professional hockey and its fans figure to be the winners.

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1977

With Saperstein at helm
Mariners chart new course

By REYN DAVIS
Jerry Saperstein, son of the late Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, says he wakes up in the middle of the night "with NHL on my lips."

For a 35-year-old, self-described "business of sports operator" Saperstein's dreams of the National Hockey League are preceded by the realities of trying to buy a World Hockey Association franchise.

Subject to approval of WHA trustees, Saperstein's Florida-based group has bought San Diego Mariners from hamburger emperor Ray Kroc. "In professional sport I've never heard of a franchise sale as clean as this one," said Saperstein. "Mr. Kroc agreed to turn it over free of all indebtedness or subsequent claims."

In a copyrighted story the San Diego Union broke the news of the conditional sale, surprising even the Mariners' general manager Ballard Smith, who had planned to break the news to the players and office staff at a house party a day later.

Coach Ron Ingram was camping with his family 100 miles west of San Diego and did not know of the sale until the following morning when a friend told him.

"I had a notion something was happening," said Ingram. "After we were knocked out of the playoffs I began to sense it."

Approval of the sale is not expected until mid-May when WHA trustees hold their next meeting.

Soliciting their support, Saperstein said he and the members of his group, the community and facility, are the subjects of probing questions. But the trustees are not completely naive about the area, the building or. for that matter, Saperstein or his general manager, Les Patrick.

Several WHA teams have been rumored to be headed for the 15,078-seat facility that sits surrounded by three million people living in 35 cities and towns in the counties of Dade and Broward.

Among them are an estimated 500,000 Canadians who, in winter, can be expected to show some interest in hockey.

Saperstein's conviction that hockey will be warmly received in the area is premised somewhat on the success of John Bassett's Bulls in Birmingham, Ala.

"People are really supporting that club," said Saperstein. "I think it's obvious that area was ready for hockey. I think this area is ready, too." The year-old building is less than pretty, even in Saperstein's eyes. "It's not all glass and chrome like some," he said. "But while it's not a beautiful building it is surely practical, especially for hockey. The sight lines for hockey are much better than for basketball."

In San Diego, disappointed players contemplated yet another move. For Norm Ferguson and Wayne Rivers, the only two players who have followed the franchise since its beginning, Saperstein's group becomes their sixth set of owners and Miami becomes their fourth city. So far they have been the New York Raiders, New York Golden Blades, New Jersey Knights and San Diego Mariners.

San Diego was special, though. The Mariners arrived under conditions of near hate in the city. Turfing out the city's beloved Gulls of the Western Hockey League caused thousands of hockey fans to boycott the Sports Arena.

But in three years the situation improved. New fans were won, and some of the expatriated Gull fans were coming back.

Now San Diego is being fitted with a Central Hockey League franchise. And it's back to square one in the beautiful California city.

[JETStender]

MAY 11, l977

NHL head denial

Clarence Campbell, NHL president since 1946, said Wednesday that reports of an NHL committee selecting his successor are a "latrine rumor," entirely false and unfounded.

"The committee will meet before the annual June meeting. No formal action will be taken before then," Campbell said following an NHL board of governors meeting. Campbell has been unable to retire the past two years because the league has been unable to find someone to replace him.


Campbell also said Sanford Greenberg, a member of the board of the NHL's Washington Capitals, made a presentation to the NHL's finance committee to buy the Cleveland Barons from Mel Swig, who moved the financially troubled team from Oakland before the start of the 1976-77 season. Campbell said he expected Greenberg to request formal acceptance at Thursday's meeting.

"There has been a complication since March when Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Swig first discussed the purchase," the NHL president said. "Recently, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee amended the tax reform bill of 1976 which further restricts certain tax writeoffs that Greenberg had anticipated profiting by. However, at the present moment it is still full speed ahead.

"It is in the NHL's best interest to accept Mr. Greenberg because if we do not accept him the league will have to assume some of the obligations left over from the Swig ownership. A June 1 deadline has been set but it would be greatly to Mr. Greenberg's benefit to know where he stands now so he can plan accordingly."

Campbell, speaking following an NHL Board of Directors meeting, also said there is no present plan for merger with the World Hockey Association and that no franchise applications from present WHA members have been received by the NHL

[JETStender]

Wed., May 18, 1977

No Comment on Merger
Of Hockey Leagues

EDMONTON (AP) - Nobody was saying much after Tuesday's merger meeting in New York between National Hockey League representatives and a World Hockey Association group.

"We had the meeting today," Bill DeWitt Jr., executive vice-president of the WHA Cincinnati Stingers said in a telephone interview with The Journal. "I don't think It would be appropriate to make any statements or to comment on It in any way at this time. "When we met the first time, we agreed it would not be beneficial to talk about what happened at the meeting. We agreed to leave everything unsaid."

Ben Hatskin, WHA chairman of the board from Winnipeg, said merger discussions were not a major topic at a separate WHA governors meeting which followed the meeting of the two leagues. Hatskin said the WHA governors discussed a transfer application by the San Diego Mariners to move to Hollywood, Fla.

Nelson Skalbania, an Edmonton Oilers part-owner, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, had said Monday that if the merger meetings failed, the WHA probably would hold its annual draft later in the week. DeWitt said Tuesday after the meeting that he knew of no plan to hold a WHA draft during the week.

Skalbania and DeWitt. along with Howard Baldwin of the New England Whalers, reportedly were the WHA representatives in the talks with the NHL

[JETStender]

Friday, May 20,1977

NHL Considering
Merger With WHA

MONTREAL (.UPI) — A National Hockey League committee is studying possible links with the World Hockey Association, but the NHL denied reports Thursday the WHA has made a formal proposal on merger of the two rival leagues.

John A. Zicgler Jr., chairman of the NHL Board of Governors, said in a formal release that on Tuesday "the NHL factfinding committee met with several representatives of the WHA to explore these possibilities. "The NHL committee is charged. with the responsibility of making a report to the NHL Board of Governors as to the advantages and-or disadvantages of any kind of relationship with the WHA. .

"The NHL committee is continuing its inquiries in order to be able to make its report to the Board of Governors ' at its annual meeting June 6-8 in Montreal." An NHL spokesman denied published reports the WHA had made a formal proposal on merger of the two leagues at the meeting and the NHL was now actively exploring this possibility

[JETStender]

Friday, May 20,1977

The case of pro hockey's secret series

By FRED KOTHENBERG (AP)

Call out the Royal Canadian Mounties. Bring in the CIA and the FBI. They're sure to smoke out whatever's going on in Quebec and Winnipeg.

Although unconfirmed, sources revealed to The Associated Press that the activity in Canada involves ice and some quality hockey players who are competing for the World Hockey Association championship — whatever that is, Gary Clark, public relations director for this so-called WHA, maintains that the Quebec Nordiques are playing the Winnipeg Jets in the bestof-seven final playoff series, He says Winnipeg leads 2-1 going into tonight's fourth game. You could have fooled us.

In virtual secrecy, the WHA is finishing its fifth season. To most people, the WHA is that other league, the one that isn't the National Hockey League. The most publicity the WHA seems to get involves stories of its ultimate demise. "We'll either merge or continue independently," said Clark of the WHA's plans for next season. "But some sort of consolidation makes better sense. Both leagues are being conducted on an unprofitable basis. No more than six teams made money in the NHL this year. None made money in the WHA.

"We've been saddled with other people's ABA (American Basketball Association) mentality. We realize we've had problems similar to the ABA and that the ABA eventually folded. But we have stronger ownership and better attendance. It's an entirely different situation."

While merger meetings with the NHL are ongoing, they are not expected to produce one major North American league. In that case, Clark says the WHA will compete next season with from 8-10 teams, down from the 12 which began this season and the 14 that started last season. The variables are San Diego, which might be sold to a group headed by Jerry Saperstein and then moved to Florida, and Calgary, which is having building problems. Clark says if the sale is not made the San Diego franchise will disappear. Although not mentioned by Clark, the Houston franchise is not particularly solid, according to sources.

The WHA, hurt by the lack of a New York franchise, is moving its headquarters to Hartford, Conn., next year with the hopes of reaching New York's media centers. The league presently has four Canadian teams and six American teams, but gets little attention in the U.S. outside the league cities.

"Our image is not built quite as well in the states as it is in Canada," said Clark. So it seems to be a blessing that the WHA's finalists are Quebec and Winnipeg, the defending league champion. The match-up is a competitive one. Both teams play wide-open, fast hockey. Every game has been a sellout.

The Nordiques have Real Cloutier, who led the league in scoring with 66 goals and 141 points. The Jets boast one of the best lines in all hockey — Anders Hedberg, a 70-goal scorer, fellow Swede UH Nilsson and Hobby Hull, the "Golden Jet" who single-handedly gave the WHA credibility five years ago when he jumped the NHL's Chicago Black Hawks. The inducement was a 10- year, $2.7-million contract.

There has been some talk that Hull wants out of his contract, which, Clark says, doesn't diminish what he's done for the WHA. "Without Bobby Hull there wouldn't be a WHA," Clark said. "He's worked harder than anybody."

But Hull has been unhappy toiling in obscurity. For example, the playoffs thus far have not been on television, although Clark says negotiations lire underway to broadcast the remainder of the series.

Some of Hull's Swedish teammates — there are eight of them on the Jets — foci a bit frustrated by playing in the WHA. "They have a feeling of playing on a B team," said Rolf Svensson, U.S. correspondent for the Swedish paper,