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What happened to the World Hockey Association?

First taking to the ice in 1972–73 as a rival to the National Hockey League, the World Hockey Association had a rollicking roller coaster of a ride through professional hockey until it finally went off the rails at the conclusion of the 1978–79 season. While it existed, the WHA harried the staid NHL and forced that venerable league to boost players’ salaries, consider European and U.S. talent more seriously, and generally run a better ship. Before the WHA was finished it had had 32 different franchises at one or another time in 24 cities, most of which bit the dust ignominiously. The WHA’s founders were two enterprising Californians named Gary Davidson and Dennis Murphy, but if it hadn’t been for the involvement of two of hockey’s greatest superstars — Bobby Hull with the Winnipeg Jets and Gordie Howe with the Houston Aeros, then the New England Whalers — the rogue league would have gone belly up a lot sooner. Enticed by lavish salaries, other major NHLers, including Gerry Cheevers, Frank Mahovlich, J.C. Tremblay, and Dave Keon, jumped to the WHA. In the league’s inaugural season it actually got teams onto the ice in Cleveland; Philadelphia; Ottawa; Quebec City; New York; Winnipeg; Houston; Los Angeles; Edmonton; Chicago; St. Paul, Minnesota, and Hartford, Connecticut. When the adventure was over, the WHA had just six clubs: the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers, Cincinnati Stingers, and Birmingham Bulls. The first four teams made the transition from the WHA into the NHL. Ironically, two of those clubs, the Whalers and the Jets, have since relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina (Hurricanes), and Phoenix, Arizona (Coyotes), respectively. The WHA’s championship award was the Avco Cup or World Trophy, named after a finance company. That’s also something of an irony, since the league was seriously underfinanced and fiscally mismanaged throughout its entire life. What was the upstart league’s legacy? Without doubt it forced the NHL to become a more globally minded sporting endeavour, propelled it into a much greater presence in the United States, and for better or worse kickstarted it into the realm of big business. Was the WHA a pale, inferior stepchild of the NHL, as many critics would have it? Let’s not forget that the careers of future stars Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Rick Vaive, Michel Goulet, Rod Langway, and many others began in the WHA. And let’s not forget, too, that in the 67 exhibition games played between the two leagues the WHA won 33, lost 27, and tied seven.