Changing the Game

by Stephen Laroche

  CHANGING THE GAME

  A History of NHL Expansion

  STEPHEN LAROCHE

  FOREWORD BY JOHN GARRETT

  ECW PRESS

  To my wife, Michelle, and my stepdaughter, Guenevere. This book has long been a dream of mine and I wholeheartedly thank you both for your support.

  This book is also dedicated to all the players, coaches and management staff who were ever involved with an NHL expansion team. Hockey fans will forever remember your amazing experiences and all that you contributed to making the sport the greatest one in the world.

  FOREWORD

  by JOHN GARRETT

  I was playing midget hockey in 1965 when the National Hockey League announced that they were going expand by adding six teams to form another division that would begin play in the 1967–68 season. The NHL had applications from 14 cities that wanted to get into the league. That meant there would be more opportunities for me, but being a professional hockey player was not at the top of my wish list until I started playing junior hockey in Peterborough. Then in my first year in junior I won a Memorial Cup and made the All-Star Team.

  I was drafted by the St. Louis Blues a year before the World Hockey Association (WHA) started up and was soon traded from the Blues to Chicago as a future consideration to complete an earlier deal for Danny O’Shea. The WHA comes into the picture a bit here, because J.P. Bordeleau originally went from St. Louis to Chicago, but he then jumped to play with the Quebec Nordiques. Chicago wanted to cover their bases and needed a player to be named later if that happened — and that player was yours truly.

  The WHA began play in 1972–73 as an alternative to the NHL. Players who were previously obligated to play for the NHL team that drafted them or had traded for them now had an option. To make the paying public believe that they were truly big league, the WHA had to lure some name players. Ben Hatskin and the Winnipeg Jets went after Bobby Hull and were able to entice him to leave Chicago and head for the Manitoba capital. Hull was the centrepiece; he was the key that made other players believe this brand-new league could compete and would survive. The NHL establishment had its doubts and did not try to match the WHA money that was being offered to such great players as J.C. Tremblay, Frank Mahovlich, Paul Henderson, Gerry Cheevers and Derek Sanderson. Yet even Gordie Howe came out of retirement — and was rejuvenated — in 1973–74 when he was given the opportunity to play alongside his sons, Mark and Marty.

  The WHA was the new league and could afford to try to be different. The blue puck they used rarely stayed circular after a few shots and never caught on. I have one in my basement. The clear glass boards of the St. Paul Civic Center, home to the Minnesota Fighting Saints, was a good idea for the fans but a nightmare for the goaltenders. In 1969–70, the NHL put in a rule limiting the curve in sticks to one inch, but the WHA had unlimited curvature. No wonder I let in all those long shots! The NHL limited their draft to 20-year-olds and up, but the WHA let players sign on as soon as they felt they were ready. The list of Hall of Famers and future stars who cut their teeth in the WHA is impressive. We had Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Ken Linseman, Rod Langway, Michel Goulet, Rick Vaive, Mike Gartner, Craig Hartsburg, Rob Ramage, Mike Rogers, Real Cloutier and many more.

  Personally, I had the good fortune to play with some of the all-time greats. I signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints in the WHA to get a chance to play with and learn my position from one of the best goaltenders in Olympic history, and one of the best people I have ever met, Jack McCartan. If I had stayed in the NHL, I would have been stuck in the Chicago organization behind Tony Esposito and Gary Smith. The kicker was that the Hawks, even if I made the big club, were offering less than half the money!

  The WHA had its growing pains, some lasting longer than others. How many of today’s fans remember the Michigan Stags, the Jersey Knights, the New York City Golden Blades or the Philadelphia Blazers? They were just a few of a long list of teams who fell by the wayside.

  In the last year of the WHA, it became apparent that the league and the NHL would be better served if there was a merger. Or, as the NHL preferred to see it, an expansion to include the four strongest cities and four strongest teams in the WHA. I was playing in Hartford with the Whalers and we were excited about the possibility of playing in what every Canadian kid thought of as the best league in the world.

  It didn’t take long for people to realize that those four teams from the WHA were as good as or better than most in the NHL. Nobody thought our Whaler team, depleted by one-sided expansion rules, could ever make the playoffs. Yet led by a determined Dave Keon, we did. And once in the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers won five Stanley Cups in their first 10 years, the Quebec Nordiques became champions as the Colorado Avalanche and the Whalers won a Cup of their own as the Carolina Hurricanes. Not bad for expansion teams!

  INTRODUCTION

  To this day, I can vividly recall my beginnings as a hockey fan. It is a period I look back on fondly. My introduction to the world’s fastest sport came to me through books, television and, of course, hockey cards.

  I was five years old during the 1981–82 season. There were 21 teams and the men who played for them were larger-than-life heroes. Although I had an appreciation for players from my hometown of Trenton, Ontario, like John Garrett of the Hartford Whalers and George Ferguson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, none of them were as big as Wayne Gretzky and his teammates on the Edmonton Oilers.

  I wasn’t just interested in what was going on the ice at the time. I was hooked on the history of the game. I had been taught about the Original Six era and knew which teams were around during those halcyon days. I was even more fascinated by the other teams that came after them. Once I saw a picture of a player from the California Golden Seals. Who were the Golden Seals? Why aren’t they in my hockey sticker album? Why don’t I have any cards of them?

  Soon enough I began to find out more about the game’s vast history and learned that occasionally teams had to relocate. That concept was introduced to me when the Colorado Rockies left the NHL and moved to New Jersey to become the Devils. I was also learning about the WHA and its crazy history and knew that the Oilers, along with the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets, had been a part of it. Even though I was quickly discovering that a career as a hockey player was not for me, that didn’t keep me from enjoying many other aspects of the game.

  As I grew older, I learned more about the origins of every NHL team. I developed a keen interest in the concept of expansion in my teen years, when the league was growing by leaps and bounds. The game was heading into the Sunbelt and new teams were appearing at a rapid pace, either through expansion or relocation. The new teams all seemed to struggle out of the gate, but I knew that that was no more than could be expected from them in their first season.

  As an adult, I came to truly appreciate the human side of playing for an expansion team through my interactions with retired players in my job with In The Game, a trading card manufacturer. When I called certain players to see if they were willing to sign on for our projects, the conversation occasionally turned to their experiences playing for expansion teams. Their stories of those days were often entertaining, at times shocking, and gave me a genuine appreciation for what they went through.

  This book is my tribute to all the players who ever played for a first-year team. Each of the men covered here is a part of the history of the game. Even if some of them have been forgotten, their contributions are by no means insignificant. Their presence was essential to the formation of the vast majority of the NHL’s clubs. Their stories can educate and entertain and may even help us, as fans, find a little sympathy for those players who had to face greater-than-usual odds against victory every time they laced up their skates.r />
  THE ORIGINAL EXPANSION ERA

  Many fans know that the National Hockey League began play in the 1917–18 season, but few realize that the league was created as a way for a group of previously established National Hockey Association teams to cleanly break away from Eddie Livingstone, the troublemaking owner of the Toronto Blueshirts. Because the other clubs could not, according to the National Hockey Association’s constitution, vote him out, they did the next best thing.

  The Ottawa Senators, Quebec Athletics (otherwise known as the Bulldogs) and two teams from Montreal — the Canadiens and the Wanderers — got together to form their own loop, effectively leaving Livingstone in a league by himself and causing years of headaches for both sides. The Bulldogs were unable to drum up enough capital for the first season and their players were loaned to the other clubs. However, the NHL also decided to sell a temporary franchise to the Toronto Arena Company, enticing many Blueshirts players to jump ship. Unofficially called the Arenas, the team went on to capture the Stanley Cup in its first season and became a permanent fixture after the 1918–19 campaign before eventually changing its name to the St. Patricks.

  The NHL’s inaugural season also saw its first franchise fold after the Montreal Arena burned down on January 2, 1918. Before and after the fire, the Wanderers asked for reinforcements from the other teams, yet none were sent their way. The team lasted just four games before the blaze. Their next two contests were forfeited and the roster players were cut loose to other clubs.

  After some delay, Quebec finally came into the league in 1919–20. They were an absolute disaster despite the presence of prolific scoring legend Joe Malone, who won a scoring championship. With a 4–20 record, they were at the bottom of the standings. The league showed some pity for them and took the franchise back. It was a smart move, as the team became the Hamilton Tigers and prevented Livingstone’s rumoured new league from putting down roots in the Steel City. The Tigers were not exactly competitive for most of their existence, but there was certainly community support for them.

  In the early 1920s, the NHL was still stuck in eastern Canada, but an enterprising promoter named Thomas Duggan helped change the league’s fortunes by purchasing options for future franchises based in the United States. He had a hand in building the Mount Royal Arena, where the Canadiens played for a brief period and eventually sold the franchises to Charles Adams of Boston and Bill Dwyer of New York. The Boston sale was fraught with controversy, and in subsequent years long lawsuits followed. Although attentive hockey historians are aware of his contributions to the game, he never received recognition from the Hockey Hall of Fame. He died in 1930 and is almost forgotten today.

  Sensing an opportunity for growth, the NHL chose to add two clubs for the 1924–25 season, and with one of them finally entered the American market. The Boston Bruins had a harsh first season, but proved a hit with local crowds and within five years saw great success. The other new club was a second team in Montreal. They tried to get the rights to revive the nickname “Wanderers” but were turned down and began play without a name. When the press and fans started calling them the Maroons, inspired by the colour of their sweaters, the name stuck. By their second season, they were Stanley Cup champions and many of the game’s greatest players wore their uniform.

  A labour disruption marred the end of that season, however, when players for the surprising first-place Hamilton Tigers decided to hold out for more money due to the longer schedule. As a result, the league decided to suspend them and they did not compete in the playoffs. Since the New York Americans were entering the NHL the following year, a deal was struck to send the rights of Tigers players to the new club and the Tigers were folded soon after. The Amerks played out of Madison Square Garden and were the toast of Broadway — at least for the 1925–26 season. That same year also saw the arrival of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were built out of the ashes out of the amateur Yellowjackets club.

  The death of the western pro leagues was what most furthered the NHL’s original expansion. Although the sport had thrived in the west a decade earlier, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) eventually merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL, later WHL). The WHL had some teams in major centres, but they were all losing money, and the dream of brothers Frank and Lester Patrick, founders of the PCHA, had become a nightmare. After the 1925–26 season, talent was sold off to NHL interests looking for fresh blood, and a remarkable era of hockey history came to a close.

  Many members of the Victoria Cougars ended up with the new Detroit Cougars team, and the stars of the Portland Rosebuds headed to the Chicago Black Hawks. Other NHL teams were fortified with WHL talent and the Patricks made quite a bit of money in the process — even though they did not have the right to sell some of the players. By the time Lester Patrick went to New York as coach and general manager of the Rangers, the league had 10 member clubs. Within their first decade of operation, the Cougars, Black Hawks and Rangers had each won at least one Stanley Cup and survived through to the Original Six era.

  The Great Depression took its toll on many aspects of sports culture, but the NHL was hit especially hard and the league saw several franchises move or shut down. The first shift took place before the 1930–31 season, after the Pittsburgh Pirates moved across the state of Pennsylvania to become the Philadelphia Quakers. That woeful club lasted just one season, winning only four games and earning a dubious spot in hockey history.

  It might be assumed that pro teams should not have too many problems up north, but the Ottawa Senators simply could not draw large enough crowds to keep their doors open. They suspended operations for the 1931–32 season and came back for two more years before they shut down for good. The franchise was moved to St. Louis to become the Eagles, but lasted only on the 1934–35 season before folding. The Montreal Maroons could not compete alongside the Canadiens for the hearts of the city’s hockey fans and bid the league farewell after the 1937–38 campaign. The franchise remained active for a few years afterward, but efforts to move them to Philadelphia proved fruitless.

  The New York Americans attempted to hold on valiantly for several seasons in the shadow of the Rangers. Forced to sell off top talent to stay afloat, they were mired at the bottom of the standings. Team management made an attempt to attract a different crowd by changing their name to the Brooklyn Americans, but they lasted only one final season in 1941–42. Red Dutton tried to keep hope alive that a suitable location could be found for his franchise and even served as the league’s president before being shuffled out for Clarence Campbell. The team was officially folded soon after.

  Even though the NHL iced just six teams for the 1942–43 season, the Americans and Maroons franchises remained active on paper for the next few years. Not long after World War II, both of them were folded and the Original Six era was officially underway.

  EXPANSION YEAR RECORD: 6–24–0

  (12 points — sixth in NHL)

  COACH: Art Ross

  FIRST GAME: December 1, 1924 —

  2–1 win vs. Montreal Maroons

  FIRST GOAL: December 1, 1924 by Smokey Harris

  BOSTON

  BRUINS

  In its formative years, the NHL was based in eastern Canada and its clubs came from the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. But as professional sports grew by leaps and bounds in the early 1920s and amateur hockey in America came to life, it was only a matter of time before the league chose to expand into the United States.

  Boston-based businessman Charles Adams, who often travelled to Montreal to catch games, was a fan of the sport and he approached the NHL intending to bring the league south of the Canadian border before purchasing one of the franchises held by Tom Duggan. When he was officially granted a franchise on November 1, 1924, he already had some players under contract, but he immediately started to acquire free agents and talent from financially troubled western pro clubs.

  Adams also hired Art Ross, one of the game’s true greats, to run the team, and Ross went on
to spend 30 years with the organization. When he asked Ross to come up with a nickname for the club, Ross chose “Bruins,” a term often used for brown bears (although there is evidence that Adams’s secretary came up with the name). Funnily enough, the name worked with the brown and yellow uniforms worn in Adams’s First National Stores grocery chain.

  The Bruins opened their first season at the Boston Arena on December 1. Their first opponents were the Montreal Professional Hockey Club, who were also making their NHL debut. The Bruins gave up an early 1–0 lead to the Maroons, but they bounced back in the second period with goals by Smokey Harris and Carson Cooper that were enough to secure a victory. That temporary high did not last long, though, as they lost their next 11 contests and had just two wins in their first 20 outings.

  Over the rest of the schedule, they managed four wins over 10 games, two of them shutouts, one against the Maroons and the other, Hamilton. The second blanking was particularly notable because the Tigers were the regular-season champions that year — and that game also gave the Bruins their first back-to-back triumphs in franchise history. Chalking up a 6–24–0 record in their first year, Boston did not have much success on the ice, but the team was a hit with local fans.

  It did not take long for the Bruins to become one of the NHL’s marquee clubs. During the early years, Ross brought in some prime talent that included Hall of Famers Eddie Shore, Tiny Thompson and Dit Clapper. They won their first regular-season title in 1927–28 and captured the Stanley Cup the following year. A decade later, they did it once more with such stars as American rookie goalie Frank Brimsek and the legendary Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart, and yet again in 1940–41 with most of the same cast.

  Jimmy Herberts

  A free agent signed by the Bruins on November 2, 1924, Herberts played for the Eveleth Rangers of the USAHA in 1923–24 and scored only three goals in 19 games. He seemingly came out of nowhere during the club’s expansion year and was the undisputed leader of Boston’s anemic offence.