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Dkitson16 10-22-2019 07:21 PM

Rise of the WHL
 
In this alternate universe I speculate as to what would have happened if the old WHL (not the current junior league) had turned pro.

As many people know, two of the reasons the NHL expanded in 67 were to get television revenue and the threat of the WHL turning pro (possibly with some AHL teams) and "stealing" the LA and SF markets.

Without the influence of a new wave of NHL owners, presidents and governors the 67 NHL expansion may not have happened.

In the early 60's William Jennings became President of Madison Square Gardens, the Knicks and the Rangers. He was a driving force in expanding, expanding big and to the west. The Molson family (Montreal) were also big on expanding quick. Boston and Detroit also favoured a big expansion.

Stafford Smythe (Toronto) and Jim Norris (Chicago) wanted slow expansion and in the east first. Smythe was not impressed after a tour of WHL cities and was probably annoyed that Vancouver rejected his "offer" to build an arena there.

In this alternate world Jennings and the Molson family do not become involved in their respective teams until the late 60's so when the NHL announces it's expansion plans in March of 1965, it announces it will expand by TWO teams in 1967 and they will be based in the east.

The Western Hockey League, disappointed after years of backroom negotiating, declares itself professional for the 1966-67 season.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and the new expansion team in San Diego will turn fully pro. Victoria will stay minor-pro.

How will the NHL respond? How will the two leagues grow?

Needless to say that with the WHL there will be no WHA. What will that mean to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec and Hartford?

In the real history the WHL had a "white paper" agreement with the NHL to include further WHL cities in expansion (after LA and SF were admitted) and this is why none of their cities joined the WHA early on. It was signed in 72 right after Washington and KC were confirmed for the 74 expansion. This was why Seattle and Denver were granted NHL teams for 76 and why San Diego was virtually guaranteed to follow in 78.

For ease of administration I will have the WHL as a separate conference in the NHL. This means they will draft and trade with the NHL and compete for the Cup. But it will ease the administrative burden of merging the leagues at a future date.

Dkitson16 10-23-2019 11:33 PM

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Introducing the 6 teams of the Western Hockey League:

Los Angeles Blades

San Francisco Seals

San Diego Gulls

Dkitson16 10-23-2019 11:35 PM

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And:

Seattle Totems

Portland Buckaroos

Vancouver Canucks

Dkitson16 10-23-2019 11:47 PM

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The 1966 season begins with the two leagues operating separately.

The NHL has succesfully prevented the AHL from joining the WHL in an independent league by promising the top 4 cities: Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Baltimore NHL expansion franchises. Those 4 cities could have brought the WHL a national tv contract in the US.

On the other hand the NHL doesn't have LA or San Francisco - two cities the NHL needs for a tv contract.

To get some exposure on tv the two leagues agree that their champions will play for the Stanley Cup on tv. No one doubts the NHL currently has the better players, but how long will this last?

Chicago leads the NHL standings and the LA Blades decimate the WHL in the regular season.

Chicago's Hull and Mikita lead the leagues in scoring with LA's Gene Ubriaco coming in 3rd.

Dkitson16 10-23-2019 11:52 PM

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In the playoffs Portland upsets LA and then San Francisco to get to the Cup.

Detroit upsets Chicago and then beats Montreal to reach there.

Detroit easily corrals the Buckaroos.

The networks dream of LA or San Fran facing Chicago or New York ends.

Dkitson16 10-23-2019 11:55 PM

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As the 1967 season begins the two leagues are in discussion about playing an interlocking schedule for the TV networks. They can only agree to continue playing for the Stanley Cup and to hold an interlocking draft - the top 10 picks are listed below.

The NHL keeping to its agreement with the AHL admits Pittsburgh and the Baltimore Clippers to the senior league.

Dkitson16 10-24-2019 12:08 AM

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At the end of the 1967-68 season Montreal and San Diego top the two leagues and expansion Baltimore makes the playoffs.

Hull (Chicago) and Richard (Montreal) top the scoring. Los ANgeles BLade defenceman Larrant Svedberg ties Esposito and Mikita for 4th in scoring, while rookie defenceman Bobby Orr finishes 7th.

Svedberg wins the Norris and Orr wins the Calder. Hull wins MVP.

I'll be honest I adjusted Orr's injury frequency and longevity, just because who wouldn't want to see him play longer?

In the playoffs Baltimore makes it to the 2nd round but Detroit faces LA in the final giving the networks much better ratings than Portland did.

Detroit cuts through the Blades of LA and takes the cup in five.

Dkitson16 10-24-2019 12:14 AM

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As the 1968-69 season begins the two leagues are still discussing a working agreement.

To match the senior circuit the WHL adds teams in Phoenix and Denver.

Both leagues are still avoiding the center of the continent. The NHL has committed to Buffalo and Cleveland in the next expansion due to the prior agreement with the AHL.

The unified draft continues and Phoenix picks first drafting Bobby Clarke and the WHL has its first bona fide star.

Dkitson16 10-24-2019 01:16 AM

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At the end of the 68-69 season Detroit and San Diego top their respective leagues.

Chicago's Hull and Portland's Andre Lacroix top the leagues in scoring. Rookie Bobby Clarke finishes 5th and wins the Calder.

Bobby Hull now has 506 goals and 1021 points ranking 3rd all time in each category.

Detroit and San Diego meet in the Cup with Wings clipping the Gull's...wings for their 3rd straight cup

Dkitson16 10-24-2019 01:22 AM

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The 1969-70 season opens with the NHL adding Buffalo and Cleveland fulfilling their agreement with the AHL.

The 1969 draft sees Cleveland go before Buffalo and the Barons draft Gilbert Perrault. Buffalo adds highly rated goalie Dan Bouchard while Phoenix in 4th adds Darryl Sittler to pair with Bobby Clarke. GOalie Billy Smith goes to Seattle, while Borje Salming will pair with Bobby Orr in Boston.

Dkitson16 10-24-2019 01:35 AM

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The 1969-70 season ends with Detroit and Portland topping the standings.

Detroit faces San Diego in the final for the 2nd straight year and the Red Wings win their 4th straight Cup! The Gulls do win 2 games however.

In a blockbuster trade Chicago sent Phil Esposito to Montreal in exchange for Serge Savard.

Hull (112), Rod Gilbert of the Rangers (105) and Mikita (102) become the first 3 players to top 100 points.

Buffalo finishes with 4 wins, no ties and 8 points. They only scored 84 goals and gave up 463 for a negative 379 goal total.

Buffalo rookie goalie Dan Bouchard has 0 wins and 27 losses with a 7.19 GAA in 48 games. In 65 games Jim McLeod has 4 wins and 40 losses and a 6.02 GAA.

As a result the NHL seriously considers putting a hold on further expansion. The WHL makes no comment.

Nickphillies 10-27-2019 08:32 PM

Detroit is destroying the league, holy moley. Salming-Orr is gonna be something to watch for in the next few years

Dkitson16 10-28-2019 11:08 PM

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The 1970-71 season open with the WHL expanding to Minnesota and St.Louis. There's rumours they want to place a second team in Chicago next.

The NHL is livid believing the territory of the Central League should be theirs. Lawsuits ensue. The networks still force them to play a Stanley Cup against each other due to the financial success of it.

There are rumours the founders of the ABA are looking at cities to create an other competing league. They see many ripe Canadian markets, some southern and central cities and a few cities that could handle a second team.

In the 1970 draft Guy LaFleur goes to Minnesota and Marcel Dionne to St. Louis. Larry Robinson goes to Cleveland where he'll team up with Gilbert Perreault.

Dkitson16 10-28-2019 11:19 PM

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The 1970-71 season concludes with the New York Rangers breaking the Red Wings hold on the cup and ending their quest for 5 straight.

New York defeats St. Louis in four. St. Louis (without LaFleur who hasn't yet made the senior squad) made it to the Cup in their first year.

New York and Detroit had won the divisions in the regular season and expansion cousins St. Louis and Minnesota won the WHL divisions.

Hull and Mikita of Chicago dominated the scoring with Orr, Esposito (of Montreal) and Ullman all cracking 100 points.

Hull moves into 2nd all time in points and goals and sets new records for goals (70) and points (142). Orr sets a new assist record with 89.

On a side note Dan Bouchard of Buffalo goes 1 - 42 - 1 with a 5.03 GPA. His career stats are now 1 win, 69 losses and 1 tie for a GPA of 5.80.

Dkitson16 10-29-2019 12:32 AM

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In the 1971 draft Buffalo picks first overall and takes Jim Schoenfeld.

Lanny McDonald goes 2nd overall to Phoenix to help Bobby CLarke out.

The 1971-72 Regular Season concluded with Boston, Toronto, Minnesota and St. Louis leading their divisions.

Buffalo finished 3-65-8. Dan Bouchard "improved" to 2-24-1 with a 4.33 GPA with the addition of Jim Schoenfeld to defence.

Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and rookie Marcel Dionne of St. Louis led the league in scoring. Rookie Guy LaFleur of Minnesota finished 10th.

GOrdie Howe now 43 topped 50 goals and 100 points for the 2nd straight year.

Minnesota was led by Goal-tending tandem Ken and Dave Dryden.

Dkitson16 10-29-2019 12:37 AM

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In the 1972 playoffs, and in their second year of existence the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup becoming the first WHL team to do so.

Dkitson16 11-02-2019 01:55 PM

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The 1972-73 season starts with many moves in the off season.

A new League the WHA attempted to start. The NHL and WHL weak from infighting "kiss and make up" and fully integrate the two leagues under one banner. They will begin to play an integrated schedule allowing teams like NY and LA to face each other, leading to a better TV contract.

Then taking the threat of the WHA seriously, they approach many of the prospective owners and offer them teams.

Winnipeg, Quebec, Houston and Atlanta* are all immediately stolen from the WHA.

Edmonton, Calgary, New England and Miami are promised teams if the can build suitable arenas in 2 to 4 years. The New England team must be atleast 50 miles from Boston or New York to satisfy territorial rights.

Undercut the WHA never actually forms.

*The WHA seriously pursued the owners of the Atlanta franchise for inclusion in the WHA.

Dkitson16 11-02-2019 02:36 PM

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In the 1972 Draft

Rick Middleton goes to Houston

Dennis Potvin goes to Quebec

Atlanta picks Jean Lemieux? and

Winnipeg picks Bob Lorimer?

Some "no-name" named Bob Gainey goes to Buffalo in the 5th slot.

I think a couple teams need to improve their scouting including my hometown Jets.

Dkitson16 11-09-2019 04:44 PM

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1972-1973 Regular Season

New York, Chicago, Phoenix and Portland top their divisions.

Expansion Quebec finishes 4th in their division with 89 points and expansion Houston finishes 2nd in a weaker division with 76 points.

Buffalo finishes last overall with 42 points.

In the Dan Bouchard watch, the Sabres goalie goes 11-41-7 with a 4.17 GPA to vastly improve his career totals to 14-134-11 with a 4.91 GPA.

Hull ties his own goal record getting 70. Hull and Mikita led all point scorers with the ageless Howe coming in 4th. Overall 15 players topped 100 points.

Dkitson16 11-09-2019 04:49 PM

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Rangers win! Rangers win! defeating Phoenix for the cup!

Alessandro 11-10-2019 05:43 PM

A very interesting concept. It will be fun to see how it will be in the more modern years.

Dkitson16 11-11-2019 08:03 PM

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1973-1974 Preseason

Buffalo despite needing defensive help pass over Mark Howe and take Mike Rogers a center at #1.

The Rangers, who look to repeat and Boston and Toronto are favourites to win the cup.

Dkitson16 11-11-2019 08:09 PM

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1973-74 Regular Season Review

Rangers, Chicago, Phoenix and Vancouver won their divisions.

2 year Houston did tie Phoenix for points but lost the tie breaker.

Bobby Hull led the league in scoring and set a new record for goals in a season at 72.

Gilbert Perreault of Cleveland and RObbie Ftorek of Seattle rounded out the top 3. In Phoenix, Darryl Sittler, Rick Kehoe and Bobby CLarke all topped 100 points.

Dkitson16 11-11-2019 08:12 PM

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1973 1974 Dan Bouchard Watch

Dan Bouchard improved his GAA but his wins dropped below 10 again.

Buffalo's record is equally sad and attendance is disastrous.

Dkitson16 11-11-2019 08:15 PM

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1973 1974 Post Season

THe second year Houston Aeros win the CUP repeating the trick the Blues did a few years earlier!

Dkitson16 11-15-2019 01:25 AM

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1974-1975 Preseason

The NHL expands by 4 teams again in part to complete its commitment to potential WHA owners.

Edmonton and Hartford complete arenas and join the league.

Kansas City and Cincinnati join as well. Washington had applied but Baltimore vetoed as they are within their territorial rights.

Other cities begin to look at the failing Buffalo franchise to purchase and move.

In the amateur draft KC couldn't get a decent scouting network up and draft Mike O'Connell (?) first overall. Bernie Federko goes to Edmonton in 2nd.

Buffalo fearing for Dan Bouchard's mental health take Mike Liut at 5th overall.

The pundits look to New York, Boston and Montreal to battle for the cup.

Dkitson16 11-15-2019 01:42 AM

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1974-1975 Regular Season

New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Portland win their divisions.

Serbian born Ivan Boldirev of Denver leads the league in scoring with Mikita and Hull of Chicago and the BLues' Marcel Dionne trailing.

Mikita sets a new assist record with 99 (there's something about that number) and Hull scores 70 or more goals for the 4th time.

Ranger goalie Ed Giacomin sets a record with 44 wins and has a 1.90 GAA.

Buffalo's Dan Bouchard (screen capture at the bottom) has a career year more than doubling his career win total and posting a 2.87 GAA. Buffalo fans are not convinced and still stay away in droves. Ownership has offers to move but vow to hold out one more year to see if attendance improves.

Dkitson16 11-15-2019 01:48 AM

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1974-1975 Post Season

Rangers win their 3rd cup in 5 years outlasting Denver!

Dkitson16 11-16-2019 11:07 AM

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1975 1976 Preseason

Trottier is drafted by Edmonton giving them a solid one 2 punch at center with last years number 1 Federko.

Winnipeg goes for Langway, Atlanta for Bossy and Vancouver for Kent Nillson.

Boston, Montreal and the Rangers looking for their 4th cup in 6 years look to be strong cup contenders.

Dkitson16 11-16-2019 11:20 AM

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1975 1976 Season

Rangers and Buffalo top their division in the East.

Vancouver and Denver top their divisions in the West. But San Diego finished second to Denver with the 2nd highest point total.

Ivan Boldirev of Denver once again leads the NHL in scoring with a record 160 points, beating Hull's old record of 142. Teammate and d-man Ron Greschner finishes 5th overall.

Marcel Dionne and Rick Kehoe finish 2 and 3.

Rookie Kent Nillson passed over by cities like Winnipeg and Atlanta in the draft, scores 108 points. He falls 1 point shy of Dionne's record 109.

In the crease Denver's Brodeur finishes with a GAA of 1.81 and Sv% of .930.

Dkitson16 11-16-2019 11:26 AM

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1975 1976 Post Season

Rangers once again beat Denver in 7 and take their 4th cup in 6 years!

Dan Bouchard watch is over as he posted career numbers in almost every category.

Buffalo watch continues. They won their division but only drew 8,851 a game.

Dkitson16 11-19-2019 12:22 AM

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1976 1977 Preseason

After fulfilling their promises to several potential WHA owners by granting them NHL teams the League decides to take a break from expansion.

Atlanta draft goalie Pete Peeters 1st overall, while Winnipeg goes for D-man Doug Wilson at #2.

New York, Denver and Boston appear to be Stanley Cup favourites.

Can Denver finally break through and get a cup after 2 straight 7 game defeats to New York?

Dkitson16 11-19-2019 12:28 AM

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1976 1977 Regular Season

New York and Quebec top the eastern divisions, while San Diego and San Francisco top the Western divisions. Denver and Montreal also top 100 points.

Cleveland's Gilbert Perreault leads the league in scoring with teammate Steve Shutt finishing 3rd. Ivan Boldirev reigning scoring champ drops to 2nd.

The ageless Hull and Mikita both top 100 points.

Dkitson16 11-19-2019 12:30 AM

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1976 1977 Post Season

The Rangers are knocked out in the 2nd round.

Quebec wins the battle of Quebec to reach the final

But Denver finally gets its cup in a sweep of the Nordiques!

enf91 12-31-2019 05:27 PM

Poor Buffalo. They finally top the division... then promptly fall to last place the next year.

No Philadelphia team?

RMc 01-15-2020 09:42 AM

Well, maybe the Sabres will move to Philly!

Hockey in Philadelphia has an interesting history. The old Montreal Maroons, dormant since 1938, attempted to move to Philly after WW2; per wiki:

Quote:

At the 1945 annual league meeting, held on September 7, it was noted that the backers of the Maroons franchise were in discussion to sell to a group from Philadelphia fronted by Canadiens board member Len Peto. The league governors were prepared to approve the transfer, provided the Philadelphia group could prove they had the necessary funds for a hockey team.

Peto was able to get the necessary funding, and persuaded the league to transfer the Maroons to Philadelphia. However, despite being larger than all but two NHL cities, Philadelphia did not have an arena that could accommodate an NHL team. The city's largest arena, the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania, did not have an ice plant, and both Penn and Madison Square Garden (which managed the Palestra) balked at the expense of installing one. The only arena in the city with an ice plant, Philadelphia Arena, was ruled out because its sight lines and capacity (5,500) were deemed inadequate even for temporary use. The league gave Peto until the end of the 1946–47 season to find a suitable arena. In February, 1946 Peto announced plans to build a 20,000-seat arena on the site of the old Baker Bowl at a cost of $2.5 million. However, when his group was unable to get funding for the project by the league-imposed deadline, the NHL cancelled the Maroons franchise.
The Flyers, of course, came to town in 1967, so the Spectrum was built for them. But no Flyers, no Spectrum? Well, the 76ers had been in town since 1963 and playing at Convention Hall (built 1931, capacity 9,690) and would've probably wanted a new arena before long. And hockey wasn't an impossibility at the Convo: the WHA Blazers played there in 1972-73!

Then again, Philadelphia is a city famous for corruption and infighting, so it's quite possible that Philly's warring political factions would've kept a new arena from being built well into the 1970s. Ya never know!

Dkitson16 01-15-2020 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMc (Post 4577524)
Well, maybe the Sabres will move to Philly!

Hockey in Philadelphia has an interesting history. The old Montreal Maroons, dormant since 1938, attempted to move to Philly after WW2; per wiki:



The Flyers, of course, came to town in 1967, so the Spectrum was built for them. But no Flyers, no Spectrum? Well, the 76ers had been in town since 1963 and playing at Convention Hall (built 1931, capacity 9,690) and would've probably wanted a new arena before long. And hockey wasn't an impossibility at the Convo: the WHA Blazers played there in 1972-73!

Then again, Philadelphia is a city famous for corruption and infighting, so it's quite possible that Philly's warring political factions would've kept a new arena from being built well into the 1970s. Ya never know!

Not sure how I missed adding Philly. I haven't touched this in awhile and may have deleted the save.

Wiki actually has some errors based on some otherwise good books.

The NHL gave Peto until 1948 (they extended it in 47 for another year) to get his arena and revive the Maroons franchise. When that failed they advised him he would have to apply as an expansion franchise and returned the Maroons to the previous owners and it was then cancelled.

Peto kept trying into the 50's and then sued the NHL alleging a conspiracy to keep him out of the NHL. There is some evidence MSG / NYR did do that (to try and control the large arena business on the east coast) but Peto's lawsuits failed.

I can dig up the reference for the above later but don't have access to the books now.

Hockey Capital: Commerce, Capital and the National Hockey League 1917-1967 - James Andrew Ross its a PDF available on line - most of it up to 1945 was turned into a book Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. However since the Peto story is after 1945 it won't be in the book, just the PDF.


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