Changing the Game

by Stephen Laroche

  1974–75

  The WHA expands to 14 teams that are split into three divisions — Canadian, East and West. The two new expansion clubs are the Indianapolis Racers and the Phoenix Roadrunners.

  The Jersey Knights relocate before the season starts and are now known as the San Diego Mariners.

  After two seasons, the Los Angeles Sharks move to the Detroit area to play as the Michigan Stags. The team folds on January 18, 1975, and changes its home base to Baltimore. The Blades finish out the year and the franchise is terminated after a failure to move them to Seattle.

  1975–76

  Following two seasons in Vancouver, the Blazers are moved and become the Calgary Cowboys.

  After the Baltimore Blades fold, the WHA adds the Denver Spurs, but it proves a disastrous move, as they last only 34 games thanks to financial woes and low attendance. The players are told of the decision to rename them the Ottawa Civics before the January 2, 1976, game against Cincinnati. As the Civics, the club did not even have an official logo. Instead, they simply wore Spurs jerseys with the crests removed! They stick around for six more games and then shut down for good. Most of the players are dispersed by the league or declared free agents.

  The Spurs/Civics are not the only WHA team to shut down in 1975–76. The Minnesota Fighting Saints call it quits after 59 games. Despite a winning record, their box office struggles are too great and they officially cease operations on February 28, 1976.

  1976–77

  The WHA is now down to 12 teams, and they are split into East and West Divisions. After constant battles, the Toronto Toros are moved south and become the Birmingham Bulls. A new version of the Minnesota Fighting Saints is born when the Cleveland Crusaders are moved because of local competition from a new NHL club, the Barons. This time, the club lasts just 42 contests before going under.

  1977–78

  The loss of teams continues to be a problem when the San Diego Mariners, Calgary Cowboys and Phoenix Roadrunners do not return for another year. Now down to eight clubs in a single division, the WHA decides to count exhibition games against touring teams from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia in the standings.

  1978–79

  Now in their seventh season, the WHA is ready to merge with the NHL. Only four of the remaining seven teams make the cut. The Houston Aeros shuts their doors well before the season starts, and despite having a 17-year-old wonder named Wayne Gretzky in their line to start the year, the Indianapolis Racers fold after 25 outings.

  At the end of the year, only the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets are admitted into the NHL.

  EXPANSION YEAR RECORD: 25–38–15

  (65 points — seventh in West Division)

  COACH: Bernie Geoffrion

  GENERAL MANAGER: Cliff Fletcher

  FIRST GAME: October 7, 1972 —

  3–2 win vs. New York Islanders

  FIRST GOAL: October 7, 1972 by Morris Stefaniw

  ATLANTA

  FLAMES

  A little more than a century after General Sherman burned down the city of Atlanta, the city experienced an ice age in the form of its first NHL hockey team.

  The roots of the Atlanta club stemmed to 1968 when Tom Cousins purchased the NBA’s St. Louis Hawks and moved them to Georgia. In the team’s formative years, a new arena was built and the Omni Sports Group decided to approach the NHL to obtain an expansion franchise. The league granted them one on November 9, 1971, and they hired former Philadelphia Flyers executive Bill Putnam a few weeks later to serve as the team’s president.

  The nameless club went on a hiring blitz over the next few months as the arena was being built. They hired former St. Louis Blues assistant general manager Cliff Fletcher as the new GM, and Don Graham was brought in as their director of scouting. On the coaching side, Hall of Famer Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion was pegged as bench boss, since he had previous experience as coach of the AHL’s Quebec Aces.

  Just days before the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, it was announced that the club was going to be called the Flames, even though that name was only on 198 of the 10,000 ballots submitted as part of a contest. To break the tie to determine a winner, a rationale had to be given on each entry, and the prize went to a college student named Mickey Goodman.

  On draft day, the Flames took goaltenders Dan Bouchard and Phil Myre, along with a good mix of veterans and young players. In the amateur draft, they had the second selection overall and grabbed Jacques Richard from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Quebec Remparts. They also announced that the team’s official colours were going to be red, white and gold.

  One of the advantages the Flames had over their expansion cousins in New York is that they did not lose a lot of talent to the new World Hockey Association. Only Rod Zaine and Larry Hale did not end up in Atlanta and, since both were marginal NHL players, their presence was not necessarily missed. The club was looking strong on a defensive level, but according to the pundits they were missing some depth up front, and it did not help when Lucien Grenier broke his leg during an exhibition game.

  “We play New York three times during exhibition, then we open the season against them,” said Geoffrion at the time. “I want to beat them all three so that when we go into New York for the opener, my boys will have the confidence that they can walk all over that team. We’ll hit hard, too. I will tell my boys to go out and, ah, have a little fun with them, eh?”

  Since they went 2–0–1 against the Isles in training camp, they did not have much trouble securing a road victory in their NHL debut on October 7. Morris Stefaniw scored the first goal that night and Bob Leiter got the winner. Over the first half of the season, the team looked promising, earning a whopping 41 points over 39 outings — a total that surpassed what Philadelphia and Minnesota had done five years earlier. This record is impressive considering the Flames faced more Original Six teams than the other clubs did.

  Defenceman Randy Manery offered his thoughts at the time on what made the team run.

  “Pride,” he said. “Everybody in the whole league is waiting for us to fall. They’ve been calling us the worst of the expansion teams. So we’ve got a whole lot to prove. Something, somewhere, deep within us gets us back on the ice again. We do it individually. There’s no one big holler-guy, nobody who can pick us up by himself. We’ve got to do it on our own. Lemme tell you this, ain’t nobody on this team gonna take a fall. Tell the rest of the league that. We’ll be around.”

  Captain Keith McCreary also had positive things to say.

  “There is a great harmony on this club. We believe in ourselves, in each other, and in Bernie [Geoffrion]. We know we’re not the club that Montreal or Boston or New York Rangers are. But with a few breaks and some luck, we can beat anybody. We know that because we have already.”

  Some key pickups, like Curt Bennett and Leon Rochefort, helped that success, but a lot of it had to do with the coaching they received. Geoffrion rarely raised his voice in practice and he offered personal instruction whenever he noticed a mistake.

  Geoffrion once spoke with Vince Lombardi at a sports luncheon in New York and asked the legendary football coach for his secret in getting players to be mentally prepared for the game. Lombardi imparted seven words of wisdom, but Boomer would not reveal it to the press — only to his players — even if they didn’t realize it at the time.

  “Lombardi told me there were three secrets: discipline, respect, and, you’ll never know the third. That’s my secret and I guarantee you, I can use it to get my players higher than any other coach by a country mile… . I can use those seven words in many different combinations. Never the same. But the meaning is always the same and it works. Boy, does it work! I rarely use it before a game. Normally, I use it in my meeting with the players after their steak early in the afternoon. Though it is hardly ever the same, they get the message.”

  Where things started to fall apart for the Flames, however, was with the extended road trips, which began to
take a toll on the team. Despite their geographic location, they were placed in the West Division and played in enemy arenas over five straight games while the circus was in town from February 14 to 25, 1973, managing just three points. Their second half featured just 10 wins over 39 contests, and they were eliminated from playoff contention.

  The Flames made it to the postseason for the first time in 1973–74, but in the long run, they did not end up staying in Atlanta. A combination of rising operating costs and reduced ticket sales proved lethal, and they were sold to a group headed up by businessman Nelson Skalbania that moved them to Calgary after the 1979–80 campaign. In their new surroundings, the club finally won a playoff series in their first year there and eventually captured a Stanley Cup in 1988–89.

  Bob Leiter

  Leiter began his NHL career with the Boston Bruins in the early 1960s, but he was exiled to the minors for several seasons and battled some serious injuries before he was picked up by the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 1971–72 campaign. He played a full NHL season for the first time and managed a respectable 31 points. Taken late in the expansion draft, he seemed almost an afterthought for the Flames, but the result made them seem shrewd in retrospect.

  When Leiter showed up for training camp, he wore a toupée, but quickly abandoned it. He ended up using some hair tonic instead for a while, but by the end of the year, he had secured an endorsement deal for hairpieces even though he wore a helmet on the ice!

  On October 7, 1972, Leiter scored the first game-winning goal for the Flames in a clash with their expansion cousins, the New York Islanders. In November, he began to show fans in Atlanta what he was capable of when he had a two-goal night against Minnesota, another game-winner while playing the Philadelphia Flyers and earned three assists in a 6–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

  “Going into camp, I only hoped our team could be respectable. We’ve surprised ourselves,” he said. “I’m pleased at the season I’m having individually and at the season we’re having collectively. We’ve worked hard and played as a team, and I hope it keeps paying off.”

  Originally, the team wanted to play up his defensive strengths on a line with Lucien Grenier and Lew Morrison, but he blossomed offensively with the Flames.

  “I guess I’m more relaxed this season,” he said. “Last year with Pittsburgh, I got benched when I made a mistake. Red [Kelly] is like that. He often benched me when it was somebody else’s fault. So I played scared. This year, I know that I can make a mistake and still get back out there. I know Boomer’s gonna give me my chance. So as a consequence, I’m more relaxed, loose on the ice.

  “I try to stick around the goal and catch rebounds, maybe a tip shot or two. Heck, I’m too small to just lodge myself there in the slot and wing it like an Esposito. I get shoved out of the way if I try it. So I just rove, picking up the pieces.”

  Coach Bernie Geoffrion felt that playing to Leiter’s strengths was the key to his success.

  “Nobody ever worked with him. Nobody ever gave him the confidence to be a scorer. I knew he could be a scorer for me, though. I was sure of it. I’ve always liked Bobby Leiter. Everybody has tried to make him a defensive hockey player. He’s not. He’s a scorer and he’s got to get that confidence he needs to shoot the puck.”

  Larry Romanchych

  Drafted by Chicago in 1969, Romanchych (pronounced Ro-man-chuck) spent the bulk of three pro seasons in the CHL with the Dallas Black Hawks and was part of the team that won the Adams Cup in 1971–72. He was the 12th pick in the expansion draft. The Flames realized he was short on NHL experience but were willing to give him a shot at making the club.

  Although he was sidelined with a dislocated left kneecap early in the season, Romanchych came back quickly and earned his first point of the year when he assisted on a goal by Ernie Hicke against Pittsburgh on November 18, 1972. The next night, he scored twice in a battle with the Philadelphia Flyers and also added an assist in the 3–2 victory. He was on fire in mid-January, and The Hockey News named him the West Player of the Week after he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Toronto on January 12, 1973, and got two goals, including the winner, against the Los Angeles Kings two days later.

  At the end of the year, Romanchych placed sixth among rookie scorers. He went on to spend five seasons with the Flames.

  Keith McCreary

  Heading into their first season, the Flames knew they were going to need some veteran leadership and they found it in McCreary, whom they selected in the expansion draft. He had experience being part of a new club, as he was an original member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but his fifth season with that team was filled with injuries and he managed just eight points.

  His comeback year began when he was named Atlanta’s captain, and he responded with a goal and an assist in their second game on October 8, 1972, when they took on the Buffalo Sabres. Just 17 days later, he scored twice on the power play to ensure a victory over the California Golden Seals, his winner coming at the 9:00 mark of the third period.

  Perhaps McCreary’s best outing of the year saw him score a hat trick that included a winning goal while facing the Sabres again on January 28, 1973. On February 9, he reached a personal milestone by scoring the 100th goal of his career against Gary Smith of the Chicago Black Hawks.

  “He came to play every night,” recalled Randy Manery. “He didn’t have the greatest set of skills, but none of us did on that first-year team. He was a leader and a very important person for that team in those early years.”

  Ernie Hicke

  Hicke spent the first two seasons of his NHL career with the California Golden Seals. He scored 22 goals as a rookie in 1970–71, but his output dropped by half as a sophomore and he was made available in the expansion draft. His brother, Bill, had previously been through the experience of playing for a new team back in 1967–68 with the Oakland Seals.

  Hicke earned an assist during the season opener and followed it up with a goal against Buffalo a week later. Although he started slow, he began to heat up with a three-point night against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 20, 1972, and he was on fire in late January and early February as he scored a winning goal while facing the Minnesota North Stars and had a two-goal night when the Flames took on the Detroit Red Wings.

  Less than a week later, Hicke was traded to the New York Islanders for Arnie Brown. The deal came at a strange time considering that he was in the midst of a hot streak, and he was injured in his first game with them.

  Curt Bennett

  The son of a former NHL goaltender, Bennett was one of the growing number of American-born players who were making it to the highest level of pro hockey in the 1970s. After three seasons with Brown University, he turned pro in 1970–71 and saw some action with the St. Louis Blues before he joined the New York Rangers two years later.

  His start with the Broadway Blueshirts was slow, as he only recorded a single assist over 16 games before they traded him to the Flames to be reunited with former Blues executive Cliff Fletcher.

  “I had been traded to New York the summer of 1972 and spent three months with Emile Francis before he realized his mistake. He was playing me as a defenceman in New York. I played both forward and defence when I did play in New York. I was constantly changing my ankle guards while sitting on the bench. If I was to go out as a defenceman, I would keep the ankle guards on; if a forward, I would quickly take them off. I got traded to Atlanta after playing defence against Vancouver. We lost 3–2. Emile had the trainer call me off the bus and tell me I was going to Atlanta, where I would have a better opportunity to play. They got Ron Harris, a bona fide defenceman from Atlanta. I gave Glen Sather my chess set. I said, ‘Here Glen, take my chess set. Maybe you can practice enough to beat me in the future.’”

  Just two days after the deal went down, Bennett recorded a goal and an assist in a 5–5 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers on November 30, 1972. It was part of a hot start in Atlanta for him, and he scored both goals in a 2–0 shutout of Detroit on De
cember 13. While he had success on the ice, some of his teammates were a little wary of the college grad with a degree in Russian studies who carried a dictionary with him on road trips.

  “I don’t know if we knew what to make of him at the start,” said Lew Morrison. “He wasn’t the typical Canadian guy. He handled the puck well and was big and strong. He certainly helped us, and I enjoyed playing with him. He certainly worked his butt off.”

  Regardless of how he was perceived, he thoroughly enjoyed playing under Atlanta coach Bernie Geoffrion.

  “Boomer was like a father to me. I’d go see him when things were tough. He’d knock you down, then build you up. ‘I know you are a college kid like Red Berenson,’ he told me. ‘But I told Red, How much you gonna make if you start teaching college instead of working on your hockey?’ He wasn’t an x’s and o’s coach. His system was if you weren’t playing well, you needed to dig deeper, play from the heart and just do it. He motivated our team to play at a higher level than our ability, but he didn’t have a system to learn per se. If he were a military leader you’d want him to motivate troops to kick some butt, but you wouldn’t want him planning the strategy of the assault. He believed you won because you wanted to win, not because you had better tactics.”

  On a personal level, Bennett experienced a great tragedy during the 1972–73 season, when his younger brother, Peter, died after falling through some ice. Eventually, he pulled himself out of the doldrums in early March with a goal and a fight with Bob Stewart in a win over the California Golden Seals. He also potted a winner against Chicago on St. Patrick’s Day.

  Curt Bennett

  Randy Manery

  In the early 1970s, Manery was looked upon as a scrappy defender in the Detroit Red Wings farm system, but he was quickly developing into an offensive blueliner with a quick, low shot. He saw just three games with the parent club over two seasons and was looking forward to playing with the new Atlanta Flames after being selected in the expansion draft.