Northwest Division - Click Here For Brief History Of Teams

NHL Replay Community > Hockey Talk > Northwest Division - Click Here For Brief History Of Teams

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Calgary Flames

The Flames hockey team was actually born thousands of miles from Calgary. In 1972 a Georgia based group headed by Tom Cousins brought hockey to the South, with the Atlanta Flames. The team selected Bill Putnam as the president and hired Cliff Fletcher to run the hockey operations as general manager. The Flames began play in an NHL that was facing stiff competition from the World Hockey Association (WHA), which was making inroads within the United States. The Flames put forth competitive clubs, missing the playoffs only twice in their first eight NHL campaigns. In 1980 the team was sold for $16 million to Vancouver businessman Nelson Skalbania and his Calgary based partners. And so the Flames moved north to the oil patch, playing out of the Corral in Calgary.

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Colorado Avalanche

The story of the Colorado Avalanche begins far from Denver, Colorado; in la belle province of Quebec. Professional hockey came to Quebec City in 1972 when the San Francisco franchise of the World Hockey Association was moved over and the Nordiques were born. As the WHA folded at the end of the decade, the Nordiques joined the National Hockey League for the 1979-80 season. Like many of the ex-WHA entrants, the Nordiques were in for a big surprise in their first NHL season. Coached by Jacques Demers, they finished fifth in the Adams division and out of the playoffs. The team was slowly building an exciting team with the likes of Michael Goulet, Dale Hunter, Jacques Richard, Anton and Peter Stastny. With a young core, the Nordiques were viewed within Quebec as an emerging team while the Montreal Canadiens had the burden of living up to their dominating play in the late 1970s. A natural rivalry between the two Quebec based teams was formed and numerous "Battles of Quebec" would ensue.

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Last post by Mr. NHL
in Moore still not skating ...
on October 06, 2004, 08:00:13 AM

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers were formed in 1971 by Bill Hunter as the "Alberta Oilers", one of ten charter members of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Oilers began play in the Western division of the WHA under coach Ray Kinasewich. Bill Hunter took over the coaching reins half way through the season and the following year, the team changed its name to the Edmonton Oilers. Throughout the 1970s the Oilers would play a competitive brand of hockey, acquiring many former great players like Jacques Plante and Norm Ullman made their way through Edmonton. As the WHA struggled, six of the teams were offered entrance into the National Hockey League. With internal disagreements within the NHL, the WHA would continue to sputter along. In 1978 the Oilers dropped a bombshell on the hockey world by announcing a trade with the Indiannapolis Ice. With long time general manager and coach Glen Sather at the helm, they acquired the young star Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky signed an unheard of 21 year personal services contract with Peter Pocklington on his 18th birthday and began his career in Alberta. By 1979 the NHL allowed four WHA teams to enter the league, with Edmonton being one of them.

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Last post by ITS_ME
in Re: Home grown talent!
on September 26, 2005, 05:54:00 PM

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota has long been a hotbed of professional, amateur, collegiate and hockey. Professional hockey was a mainstay in Minneapolis beginning in 1967 when the expansion Minnesota North Stars were added to the NHL. The North Stars moved south to Dallas in 1993, leaving a large hockey void within the state. Four years later in 1997, the National Hockey League announced the return of hockey to the Minneapolis-St. Paul twin cities, along with three other expansion franchises. The team name "Wild" was announced in January 1998 following a local contest that ran for six months. Former Calgary Flame player and general manager Doug Risebrough was hired as GM of the Wild and former Montreal Canadiens great and New Jersey Devil coach Jacques Lemaire was handed the reins behind the bench.

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Last post by Marshy
in TheStateofHockey.net
on November 25, 2004, 10:46:03 PM

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks were founded in 1970 by Thomas Scallen, Lyman Walters and partners as an NHL expansion franchise. But hockey had been part of Vancouver far earlier, with the Vancouver Millionaries of the Pacific Coast Hockey League winning the Stanley Cup in 1915. The team's first general manager was Norman "Bud" Poile and he selected former NHL defenseman Hal Laycoe to be the Canucks first coach. The Vancouver Canucks played their first game in the fall of 1970, losing 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings. They would finish out of the playoffs in their inaugural season and struggled for the next couple of years. Their first taste of postseason play came in the 1975 playoffs when the Canucks took on the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens had owned the Canucks in the regular season and continued to roll through the playoffs, handing Vancouver a 4-1 defeat in the first round.

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Last post by amtrhkyrf
in Re: Anyone else here?
on October 09, 2004, 03:21:45 PM

NHL Replay Community > Hockey Talk > Northwest Division - Click Here For Brief History Of Teams

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