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Denver Spurs
The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72. After the WHL folded in 1974, the team transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season.
In June, 1974, Ivan Mullenix, owner of the CHL Spurs, was awarded a "conditional" NHL franchise for the 1976-77 season. With the McNichols Sports Arena already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement whereby Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals (then under league ownership) and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins would be sold to a Seattle group who also held a conditional franchise, which would have been named the Seattle Totems.
The proposed arrangement fell through, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix accepted an offer from the WHA to join that league for the 1975-76 season. The Spurs were the second WHL refugee to join the WHA, following the Phoenix Roadrunners.
The WHA Spurs claimed most of the players in a dispersal draft from the Chicago Cougars, who had folded in 1975, and some players from the CHL Spurs were also retained.
A Sports Illustrated preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe's 28th year in major league hockey, and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's."
The Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena. The most widely cited reason for the poor attendance was hard feelings over being spurned by the NHL. Denver-area fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising and did not consider the WHA to be a major league.
The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran Ralph Backstrom was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at 38 his career was in decline. Still, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals against average (GAA).
The Spurs played their first regular-season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers. Before only 5,000 fans, the Spurs scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado.
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Denver Spurs
The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72. After the WHL folded in 1974, the team transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season.
In June, 1974, Ivan Mullenix, owner of the CHL Spurs, was awarded a "conditional" NHL franchise for the 1976-77 season. With the McNichols Sports Arena already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement whereby Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals (then under league ownership) and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins would be sold to a Seattle group who also held a conditional franchise, which would have been named the Seattle Totems.
The proposed arrangement fell through, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix accepted an offer from the WHA to join that league for the 1975-76 season. The Spurs were the second WHL refugee to join the WHA, following the Phoenix Roadrunners.
The WHA Spurs claimed most of the players in a dispersal draft from the Chicago Cougars, who had folded in 1975, and some players from the CHL Spurs were also retained.
A Sports Illustrated preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe's 28th year in major league hockey, and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's."
The Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena. The most widely cited reason for the poor attendance was hard feelings over being spurned by the NHL. Denver-area fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising and did not consider the WHA to be a major league.
The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran Ralph Backstrom was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at 38 his career was in decline. Still, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals against average (GAA).
The Spurs played their first regular-season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers. Before only 5,000 fans, the Spurs scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado.