Cincinnati Stingers 1975-76 to 1978-79

Owners

Bill DeWitt

Brian Heekin

Rinks

Riverfront Coliseum

Seasons & Leaders

1975-76 Record 35-44-1, 71 pts Coach Terry Slater Goals 43, Rick Dudley 32, Dennis Sobchuk Assists 50, Bryan Campbell 46, Jacques Locas Points 81, Rick Dudley 73, Jacques Locas Penalty Min. 204, John Hughes 187, Dale Smedsmo Wins 19, Paul Hoganson Goals Against 3.64, Paul Hoganson Shutouts 2, Paul Hoganson

1976-77 Record 39-37-5, 83 pts Coach Terry Slater Goals 52, Richie Leduc 52, Blaine Stoughton Assists 58, Ron Plumb 55, Richie Leduc Points 107, Richie Leduc 104, Blaine Stoughton Penalty Min. 126, Pierre Roy 113, John Hughes Wins 21, Norm Lapointe Goals Against 2.83, Jacques Caron Shutouts 3, Jacques Caron

1977-78 Record 35-42-3, 73 pts Coach Jacques Demers Jerry Rafter (interim) Goals 59, Robbie Ftorek 30, Rick Dudley Assists 50, Robbie Ftorek 45, Pat Stapleton Points 109, Robbie Ftorek 71, Rick Dudley Penalty Min. 241, Paul Stewart 156, Rick Dudley Wins 21, Michel Dion Goals Against 3.57, Michel Dion Shutouts 4, Michel Dion

1978-79 Record 33-41-6, 72 pts Coach Floyd Smith Goals 43, Peter Marsh 39, Robbie Ftorek Assists 77, Robbie Ftorek 51, Craig Norwich Points 116, Robbie Ftorek 71, Reg Thomas Penalty Min. 222, Barry Melrose 131, Barry Legge Wins 23, Mike Liut Goals Against 3.32, Michel Dion Shutouts 3, Mike Liut

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Dudley, Rick	270	131	146	277	516
Ftorek, Robbie	160	98	127	225	141
Sobchuk, Dennis	183	81	101	182	134
Marsh, Peter	230	91	76	167	270
Leduc, Richie	135	79	86	165	119
Hislop, Jamie	206	61	102	163	68
Plumb, Ron	213	34	128	162	128
Larose, Claude	211	69	90	159	33
Stoughton, Blaine	111	58	65	123	75
Locas, Jacques	142	45	61	106	103
Norwich, Craig	145	13	74	87	121
Abgrall, Dennis	135	36	50	86	35
Thomas, Reg	98	36	41	77	58
Carroll, Greg	103	21	52	73	89
Campbell, Bryan	77	22	50	72	24
Gilligan, Bill	128	27	40	67	113
Hughes, John	158	6	61	67	317
Legge, Barry	232	17	47	64	284
Guite, Pierre	79	30	32	62	112
Gartner, Mike	78	27	25	52	123
Stapleton, Pat	65	4	45	49	28
Inkpen, Dave	128	7	38	45	156
Debol, Dave	68	13	29	42	11
Sobchuk, Gene	78	23	19	42	37
Harris, Hugh	45	11	23	34	30
Pelyk, Mike	75	10	23	33	117
Steele, Billy	84	11	22	33	21
Melrose, Barry	178	5	27	32	343
Myers, Murray	56	14	15	29	12
MacNeil, Bernie	77	15	12	27	83
Smedsmo, Dale	89	8	19	27	230
Maggs, Darryl	38	6	19	25	29
Baltimore, Bryon	97	6	19	25	106
Luksa, Chuck	78	8	12	20	116
Coates, Brian	42	8	10	18	18
Ball, Terry	36	3	14	17	12
Shutt, Byron	65	10	7	17	115
Roy, Pierre	39	3	12	15	126
McKenzie, John	12	3	10	13	6
Deadmarsh, Butch	45	7	6	13	86
Donnelly, Pat	23	5	7	12	4
Parizeau, Michel	30	3	9	12	28
Messier, Mark	47	1	10	11	58
Forbes, Dave	73	6	5	11	83
Ouimet, Francois	16	1	8	9	10
St. Sauveur, Claude	16	4	5	9	4
O'Donoghue, Don	20	1	8	9	0
Maxwell, Bryan	34	1	8	9	29
Stewart, Paul	63	3	6	9	286
Marotte, Gilles	29	1	7	8	58
Hall, Del	25	4	3	7	4
Byers, Mike	20	3	3	6	0
Clark, Gordie	21	3	3	6	2
Gilbert, Ed	29	3	3	6	40
Veneruzzo, Gary	14	3	2	5	8
Andrascik, Steve	20	3	2	5	21
Beaton, Frank	29	2	3	5	61
Handrahan, Alf	14	1	3	4	42
Greig, Bruce	32	3	1	4	57
Lahache, Floyd	11	0	3	3	13
Trognitz, Willie	29	2	1	3	94
Liut, Mike (G)	81	0	3	3	9
Serafini, Ron	16	0	2	2	15
Watson, Bryan	21	0	2	2	56
Justin, Dan	23	0	2	2	6
Aubry, Serge (G)	12	0	1	1	4
Beaudoin, Serge	13	0	1	1	10
Abbey, Bruce	17	1	0	1	12
Davis, Kelly	18	0	1	1	20
Kiely, John (G)	22	0	1	1	6
Caron, Jacques (G)	24	0	1	1	0
Hoganson, Paul (G)	69	0	1	1	6
Lapointe, Norm (G)	77	0	1	1	6
Dornseif, Dave	1	0	0	0	0
Long, Ted	1	0	0	0	0
Allen, Jeff	2	0	0	0	0
Meehan, Gerry	2	0	0	0	0
Coutu, Rich (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Shanahan, Sean	4	0	0	0	7
Wakely, Ernie (G)	6	0	0	0	0
Dion, Michel (G)	75	0	0	0	28

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Hislop, Jamie	7	2	5	7	5
Ftorek, Robbie	3	3	2	5	6
Leduc, Richie	4	1	3	4	16
Legge, Barry	7	0	4	4	0
Plumb, Ron	4	1	2	3	0
Larose, Claude	4	2	1	3	0
Stoughton, Blaine	4	0	3	3	2
Carroll, Greg	4	1	2	3	0
Marsh, Peter	7	3	0	3	0
Thomas, Reg	3	1	1	2	0
Shutt, Byron	3	1	1	2	14
Abgrall, Dennis	4	2	0	2	5
Smedsmo, Dale	2	0	1	1	0
Sobchuk, Dennis	3	0	1	1	2
Norwich, Craig	3	0	1	1	4
Gilligan, Bill	3	1	0	1	0
Melrose, Barry	3	0	1	1	8
Roy, Pierre	3	0	1	1	7
Parizeau, Michel	3	1	0	1	0
Forbes, Dave	3	0	1	1	7
Watson, Bryan	3	0	1	1	2
Dudley, Rick	4	0	1	1	7
Caron, Jacques (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Steele, Billy	2	0	0	0	0
Gartner, Mike	3	0	0	0	2
Baltimore, Bryon	3	0	0	0	0
Luksa, Chuck	3	0	0	0	7
Stewart, Paul	3	0	0	0	0
Liut, Mike (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Hughes, John	4	0	0	0	8
Maxwell, Bryan	4	0	0	0	29
Lapointe, Norm (G)	4	0	0	0	0

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Dion, Michel	75	4037	233	4	31-31-3	3.46
Liut, Mike	81	4396	270	3	31-39-4	3.69
Lapointe, Norm	77	4105	280	2	30-37-3	4.09
Hoganson, Paul	69	3541	233	3	25-32-2	3.95
Caron, Jacques	24	1292	61	3	13-6-2	2.83
Aubry, Serge	12	549	38	1	6-4-0	4.15
Kiely, John	22	1087	78	0	6-8-1	4.31
Coutu, Rich	3	149	17	0	0-2-0	6.85
Wakely, Ernie	6	311	26	0	0-5-0	5.02

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Liut, Mike	3	179	10	0	1-2	3.35
Caron, Jacques	1	14	2	0	0-1	8.57
Lapointe, Norm	4	273	16	0	0-3	3.52

History

Cincinnati was the WHA's first expansion team, granted to a group led by Bill DeWitt Jr and Brian Heekin, on May 6, 1973. It was to be one of three teams to enter the league in 1974-75. The team's nickname, the Stingers, was selected not long after the team was founded. Prospects looked good for the Cincinnati operation. The owners had money and came from families with a history of sports-franchise ownership. Bill DeWitt Sr had owned the St. Louis Browns on Major League Baseball, and DeWitt Jr would later, in 1995, assume ownership of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team would play in the Riverfront Coliseum, still under construction when the team was announced. Delays would force the Cincinnati skaters to wait until 1975 to take to the ice. In the meantime, Cincinnati participated in the 1973 and 1974 Amateur Drafts and signed other unattached players. The biggest prize was Dennis Sobchuk, a potential superstar, signed in 1974 and loaned to Phoenix for the 1974-75 season. Rugged defenseman John Hughes was signed and also loaned to Phoenix. An old fan favorite, Rick Dudley, returned to Cincinnati after two seasons playing for Buffalo in the NHL. Terry Slater, old bench boss for the Los Angeles Sharks, assumed the coaching role for the Stingers. Finally, over two years since its founding, the Cincinnati Stingers took to the ice, and played surprisingly well, sporting a 9-4-0 record after a month behind a strong offense led by Sobchuk and Dudley. An eight-game losing streak brought the team back to reality, but the Stingers were in the hunt for a playoff berth well into March before fading in the season's final weeks. The first-year Stingers finished with a 35-44-1 record, last in the four-team Eastern Division, but with the same number of wins as division leader Indianapolis, just 5 points behind in overall points. Rick Dudley led with 43 goals, Dennis Sobchuk had 32, and two more rookies, Claude Larose and Jacques Locas, added 28 and 27 goals, respectively. A porous defense — 340 goals against — was the team's weakest point. In their second season, the Stingers picked up Richie Leduc from Cleveland and Blaine Stoughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Each scored 52 goals, Sobhcuk scored 44 and Dudley 41, as the Stingers scored an impressive 354 goals for, the fifth-highest total by any team in WHA history. The defense improved, insofar as it collectively gave up 37 fewer goals than the year before, but it was still a porous defense that still allowed over 300 goals against. Overall, the Stingers finished 39-37-5 and in second-place in the Eastern Division. In just two short seasons, the Stingers had developed a strong rivalry with the Indianapolis Racers. They met in the Quarterfinal round of the 1976 playoffs, with the first game going into three overtimes before the Racers won it. It was a crushing loss for Cincinnati. They had one-goal leads in each period, only to allow a game-tying goal late in each period to allow the Racers to stay close and pull out the win. The Stingers would not win a game in the series, a bitter finish to what had been a strong season for the two-year old club. Then the merger discussions took center stage for most of the first half of 1977. The plan was for the NHL to admit six of the WHA teams, among them Cincinnati. The vote on August 9th, 1977, was close but not sufficient. The Stingers had stocked up on former Racers players (and a new coach, Jacques Demers, also late of Indianapolis) as part of their bid to look more attractive to the NHL. There was no merger, and the WHA was going to go forth with its sixth season. The failed merger, coupled with the Stingers' disappointing loss in the 1977 playoffs, and the usual loss of being an expansion-team novelty, seemed to turn off the fans from the team. Attendance was never robust, but there was a following, unfortunately not enough to keep the team in healthy financial shape. While the ownership had the means to weather a few lean years as is common to any new team, the urgency was compounded by the WHA's all-or-nothing plan to merge or be absorbed into the NHL. Suddenly, Cincinnati was on the outside looking in. It should be mentioned that there was turmoil in both leagues at this time, particularly in and around Ohio. The Cleveland Crusaders, one of the WHA's strongest teams early on, and a natural rival for the Stingers, had become insolvent playing at the luxurious and remote Richfield Coliseum. They had vacated Cleveland in 1976, then the NHL moved the old California Golden Seals to the Richfield Coliseum as the new Cleveland Barons, who did not fare well at all, nearly folding during the 1976-77 season. Thus, despite a solid ownership and management, a city with a strong sporting history and a new modern arena, the Cincinnati Stingers were in a bind: if the leagues merge, the Stingers won't be admitted and will fold, or if the leagues do not merge, the Stingers might not survive much longer anyway and fold out of insolvency. There was hope that the 1977-78 team could rebound. The young Demers was already developing a reputation as a keen coach, leading the Racers to a brief run of glory of their own between 1975-77. Key players came over from Indianapolis, most notably, defenseman Pat Stapleton (who had to be talked out of retirement to do so). In goal was a big rookie, Mike Liut, and backing him was Michel Dion, who had starred for Indianapolis the past two seasons. The biggest catch, though, was Robbie Ftorek, the wizard of Phoenix who had just won the league's Most Valuable Player award and had come off of two 100-point seasons. There was every reason to believe the Stingers had a strong team and could match well with the league's very best. But, nothing worked. Ftorek scored 109 points, and Liut showed he was potentially a top-line goaltender, but there was tremendous turn-over as previous year's stars Richie Leduc, Dennis Sobchuk, Blaine Stoughton, defenseman Ron Plumb and forward Claude Larose all left the team in midseason trades. The team was not drawing well and was losing money, and with the WHA throwing all its resources toward a merger, it was evident Cincinnati's only viable path was to stay alive long enough to be bought out to fold when a merger was agreed upon. The team finished 7th out of 8 teams in 1977-78, out of a playoff spot. Merger discussions went nowhere in 1978. The Houston Aeros tried to gain admittance into the NHL on its own, failed, and was disbanded in July 1978. The NHL had given up on its Cleveland Barons and merged that team with the Minnesota North Stars. There was hope that merger would happen in 1979, but as of Summer 1978, it was still not a foregone conclusion. The Stingers convened for the 1978-79 season, now coached by Floyd Smith, with Demers having accepted the coaching position in Quebec. Robbie Ftorek was untouchable, scoring 116 points. Up-and-coming forwards Jamie Hislop and Peter Marsh scored 30 and 43 goals, respectively. Mike Liut and Michel Dion formed an effective one-two tandem in goal. A rookie, Mike Gartner, scored 27. He would play in the NHL through 1999 and score over 700 goals and earn a spot in the Hall of Fame. Another rookie, Mark Messier, age 17 when he joined the team in early December, scored just a single goal — on a mid-ice dump-in that found the back of the net. He would play through 2004, win six Stanley Cups and establish himself as one of the sport's greatest players and also earn a spot in the Hall of Fame. Despite losing a point from last year's record, the Stingers made the playoffs. They were beaten in three games by the Whalers. But by this time, the Stingers knew their fate. In March 1979, the NHL finally relented and agreed to absorb four WHA teams, Cincinnati not among them, to no one's surprise. They would fold at the close of the season. Their players would be released and be (hopefully) picked up by another team. The owners would recoup their costs by the buy-out. On April 24, 1979, the Stingers were defeated by New England. Jamie Hislop scored the team's last goal ever, and at the final horn, the Stingers ceased to be, the end of a four-year run in the WHA.

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• Article: Color of Hockey: Alton White (The Hockey News), by William Douglas — March 8, 2020
• Review: US Sports History, by Rick Macales — Feb 6, 2021
• Podcast: Good Seats Still Available, by Tim Hanlon — Feb 28, 2021
• Podcast: Digital to Dice (Youtube), by Dave Gardner — July 3, 2022

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