Cleveland Crusaders 1972-73 to 1975-76
Minnesota Fighting Saints II 1976-77 (partial)

Owners

Nick Mileti

Jay Moore

Bob Brown

Rinks

Cleveland Arena 1972 to 1974

The (Richfield) Coliseum 1974 to 1976

St. Paul Civic Center 1976-77

Seasons & Leaders

1972-73 Cleveland Record 43-32-3, 89 pts Coach Bill Needham Goals 40, Gary Jarrett 37, Ron Buchanan Assists 44, Ron Buchanan 43, Paul Shmyr 43, Jim Wiste Points 81, Ron Buchanan 78, Gary Jarrett Penalty Min. 169, Paul Shmyr 93, Ted Hodgson Wins 32, Gerry Cheevers Goals Against 3.26, Gerry Cheevers Shutouts 5, Gerry Cheevers

1973-74 Cleveland Record 37-32-9, 83 pts Coach Bill Needham Goals 31, Gary Jarrett 23, Grant Erickson 23, Gerry Pinder 23, Jim Wiste Assists 39, Gary Jarrett 36, Skip Krake Points 70, Gary Jarrett 58, Jim Wiste Penalty Min. 165, Paul Shmyr 117, Russ Walker Wins 30, Gerry Cheevers Goals Against 3.03, Gerry Cheevers Shutouts 4, Gerry Cheevers

1974-75 Cleveland Record 35-40-3, 73 pts Coach John Hanna Jack Vivian Goals 35, Richie Leduc 34, Al McDonough Assists 32, Ron Ward 31, Richie Leduc Points 66, Richie Leduc 64, Al McDonough Penalty Min. 127, Steve Cardwell 117, Richie Leduc Wins 26, Gerry Cheevers Goals Against 3.26, Gerry Cheevers Shutouts 4, Gerry Cheevers

1975-76 Cleveland Record 35-40-5, 75 pts Coach John Wilson Goals 36, Richie Leduc 34, Jim Harrison Assists 50, Ron Ward 44, Paul Shmyr Points 82, Ron Ward 72, Jim Harrison Penalty Min. 201, Paul Baxter 177, Bryan Maxwell Wins 11, Gerry Cheevers Goals Against 3.21, Cam Newton Shutouts 1, Gerry Cheevers 1, Bob Johnson 1, Bob Whidden

1976-77 Minnesota II Record 19-18-5, 43 pt Coach Glen Sonmor Goals 27, Mike Antonovich 17, John McKenzie Assists 38, Dave Keon 21, Mike Antonovich 21, Al McDonough 21, Ron Ward Points 51, Dave Keon 48, Mike Antonovich Penalty Min. 133, Bill Butters 64, Gord Gallant Wins 15, Louis Levasseur Goals Against 2.73, Louis Levasseur Shutouts 2, Louis Levasseur

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Jarrett, Gary	298	104	118	222	239
Pinder, Gerry	304	87	127	214	300
Ward, Ron	212	96	110	206	55
Shmyr, Paul	270	31	132	163	538
McDonough, Al	200	66	73	139	52
Wiste, Jim	146	51	78	129	50
Buchanan, Ron	128	57	71	128	24
Leduc, Richie	157	71	53	124	198
Erickson, Grant	233	50	71	121	73
Harrison, Jim	119	54	60	114	168
Krake, Skip	166	44	69	113	263
Clearwater, Ray	214	27	77	104	141
Edur, Tom	217	17	79	96	116
Walker, Russ	214	52	40	92	319
Andrea, Paul	135	36	48	84	26
Gruen, Danny	114	36	33	69	91
Keon, Dave	42	13	38	51	2
Muloin, Wayne	251	9	42	51	120
Hardy, Joe	72	17	33	50	80
Antonovich, Mike	42	27	21	48	28
Brindley, Doug	103	28	20	48	19
Pumple, Rich	95	23	22	45	61
Hillman, Larry	121	5	37	42	120
Hodgson, Ted	84	15	25	40	99
Stewart, John A.	94	15	24	39	44
McKenzie, John	40	17	13	30	52
Hanna, John	65	6	20	26	68
Holbrook, Terry	92	11	15	26	13
McKay, Ray	110	5	19	24	72
Adduono, Ray	42	4	19	23	17
Arbour, John	33	3	19	22	22
Cardwell, Steve	75	9	13	22	127
Stewart, John C.	101	6	16	22	23
Neale, Robbie	52	9	12	21	34
Tamminen, Juhani	65	7	14	21	12
Horton, Bill	73	2	17	19	55
Hillman, Wayne	126	3	16	19	88
Heindl, Bill	67	4	14	18	4
Ball, Terry	23	2	15	17	18
Patrick, Craig	30	6	11	17	6
Young, Bill	53	8	9	17	73
Maxwell, Bryan	73	3	14	17	177
Dillabough, Bob	72	8	8	16	8
Carlson, Steve	21	5	8	13	8
Deadmarsh, Butch	35	9	4	13	51
Zrymiak, Jerry	40	2	10	12	14
Moffat, Lyle	33	4	7	11	33
Hopiavuori, Ralph	44	4	7	11	50
Westrum, Pat	40	1	9	10	42
Baxter, Paul	72	3	7	10	238
Gallant, Gord	37	6	3	9	64
Anderson, Ron F.	39	0	9	9	10
Legge, Randy	44	1	8	9	28
Cournoyer, Norm	13	3	5	8	6
MacGregor, Gary	35	5	3	8	6
McMasters, Jim	85	1	7	8	41
Connelly, Wayne	12	5	2	7	4
Carlson, Jack	36	4	3	7	55
Legge, Barry	37	0	7	7	22
Butters, Bill	42	0	7	7	133
Evo, Bill	40	1	5	6	32
Rycroft, Al	7	0	2	2	0
Cheevers, Gerry (G)	191	0	2	2	134
Caron, Jacques (G)	2	0	1	1	0
Conroy, Mike	4	0	1	1	0
Morgan, Ron	4	0	1	1	7
Newton, Cam (G)	15	0	1	1	0
Levasseur, Louis (G)	30	0	1	1	4
Whidden, Bob (G)	98	0	1	1	11
Ball, Blake (Playoffs only)	0	0	0	0	0
Hanson, Dave	1	0	0	0	9
Milani, Tom	2	0	0	0	0
Bowles, Brian	3	0	0	0	0
Shirton, Glen	4	0	0	0	0
Curran, Mike (G)	16	0	0	0	6
Johnson, Bob (G)	18	0	0	0	0
Buetow, Brad	25	0	0	0	4

• A player named Jean Lapointe is mentioned as having served a penalty incurred by Gerry Cheevers, October 14, 1972.
(The Hockey News, October 27, 1972)

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Jarrett, Gary	22	9	8	17	34
Pinder, Gerry	18	5	10	15	40
Wiste, Jim	14	3	9	12	13
Andrea, Paul	14	3	8	11	2
Shmyr, Paul	18	3	8	11	65
Buchanan, Ron	14	7	3	10	2
Pumple, Rich	9	3	5	8	11
Ward, Ron	13	3	4	7	4
Edur, Tom	13	3	4	7	0
Krake, Skip	19	2	4	6	66
Muloin, Wayne	19	2	4	6	18
Leduc, Richie	8	2	3	5	4
Erickson, Grant	14	2	3	5	2
Clearwater, Ray	18	2	3	5	10
Hillman, Larry	5	1	3	4	8
McDonough, Al	8	3	1	4	4
Harrison, Jim	8	1	3	4	13
Hodgson, Ted	9	1	3	4	13
Gruen, Danny	3	2	0	2	0
Hardy, Joe	7	0	2	2	0
Hillman, Wayne	10	0	2	2	18
Hopiavuori, Ralph	12	0	2	2	6
Walker, Russ	13	2	0	2	46
Maxwell, Bryan	2	0	1	1	4
Morgan, Ron	2	1	0	1	0
Connelly, Wayne	3	1	0	1	2
Legge, Barry	3	0	1	1	12
Cardwell, Steve	5	0	1	1	14
Heindl, Bill	5	0	1	1	2
Holbrook, Terry	8	0	1	1	0
Horton, Bill	9	0	1	1	10
Dillabough, Bob	9	1	0	1	0
McMasters, Jim	9	0	1	1	6
Brindley, Doug	14	0	1	1	2
Stewart, John C.	1	0	0	0	0
Tamminen, Juhani	1	0	0	0	0
Newton, Cam (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Ball, Blake	2	0	0	0	2
Johnson, Bob (G)	2	0	0	0	0
Stewart, John A.	3	0	0	0	0
McKay, Ray	3	0	0	0	4
Baxter, Paul	3	0	0	0	10
Legge, Randy	3	0	0	0	0
MacGregor, Gary	3	0	0	0	4
Neale, Robbie	5	0	0	0	4
Cheevers, Gerry (G)	19	0	0	0	0

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Cheevers, Gerry	191	11352	591	14	99-78-11	3.12
Whidden, Bob	98	5725	327	2	34-51-9	3.43
Levasseur, Louis	30	1715	78	2	15-11-2	2.73
Johnson, Bob	18	1043	56	1	9-8-0	3.22
Newton, Cam	15	896	48	0	7-7-1	3.21
Curran, Mike	16	848	50	0	4-7-3	3.54
Caron, Jacques	2	130	8	0	1-0-1	3.69

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Cheevers, Gerry	19	1151	63	0	7-12	3.28
Johnson, Bob	2	120	8	0	0-2	4.00
Newton, Cam	1	60	6	0	0-1	6.00

History

Calgary was to be home to the Broncos, one of the twelve founding franchises of the World Hockey Association announced in late 1971. Owned by Bob Brownridge and managed by Scotty Munro, both with long careers in junior hockey, the Broncos would play at The Stampede Corral and serve as a natural rival to the Edmonton Oil Kings (later to be rebranded as the Alberta Oilers). However, Brownridge fell ill and passed away within weeks of the team's announcement. Although Calgary participated in the 1972 General Player Draft, the team did nothing to sign players and simply went moribund. Unable to post a required bond to the league in April 1972, the team's charter was subsequently revoked by the league. Nick Mileti, a Cleveland-based attorney who owned the Cleveland Arena, the National Basketball Association's Cavaliers, Major League Baseball's Indians and the American Hockey League's Barons, had applied for a franchise in the National Hockey League to be awarded in 1974. The NHL instead chose Washington and Kansas City, prompting Mileti to look to the World Hockey Association, who were clearly looking for someone (with money) to take over the Calgary team. The WHA awarded Mileti rights to the team, and any of its players chosen in the draft, on June 21, 1972. But no one had been signed. The team needed to be assembled completely anew. To that end, Mileti jumped in with both feet and went big. He made lucrative offers to the New York Rangers' star trio of Vic Hadfield, Rod Gilbert and Brad Park. Those offers were countered by the Rangers, but it was clear that Mileti was willing to shell out big money for the big names. He signed the Bruins' goaltender Gerry Cheevers, fresh off of two Stanley Cups. With Cheevers now in Cleveland, Mileti could boast having the best goaltender in the WHA, and few would argue. The new Crusaders were built from the goal outward, helped to no small extent by players from the California Golden Seals looking to escape the team. From the Seals, the Crusaders picked up Paul Shmyr and Wayne Muloin, two very capable defensemen. Up front, ex-Seals Gerry Pinder and Gary Jarrett would lead the offense. The team had no coach until days before training camp started. Bill Needham, who had played for the Barons for 15 years, signed on as coach. The Crusaders played at the downtown Cleveland Arena, an antiquated facility with limited seating, chain link protection around the boards, but an arena with history and character, and most importantly, actually in Cleveland. The 1972-73 team fared well. Not surprisngly, the defense was the best in the league, allowing just 239 goals against. Cheevers was the star, and led the league with 5 shutouts. The offense was a pleasant surprise, scoring 287 goals. Ron Buchanan, who had just 5 games of NHL experience, led the team with 81 points, scoring 37 goals. Gary Jarrett led in goals with 40, and Gerry Pinder came in with 30. In the playoffs, the Crusaders swept the Philadelphia Blazers in the quarterfinal round, but then lost to eventual champs New England in the semifinal round. The team was not as successful in 1973-74. Ron Buchanan missed nearly half the season and nearly was paralyzed sliding head-first into the boards in a January game (he fortunately regained his mobility). The offense scored fewer goals, with Gary Jarrett the only player to break the 30-goal mark. Meanwhile, the defense allowed more, and although Cheevers had 4 shutouts (co-leading the league), he had a 3.03 average, well above his norm. It was a fast exit in the playoffs, winning just one of five games in the quarterfinal round against Toronto. Needham's tenure as coach ended immediately thereafter. But hopes were still high entering the 1974-75 season. This was still a strong team, capable of winning the Avco Trophy. And the team would be moving into the brand-new, state-of-the-art Coliseum, standing grandly over the grassy hills and woodlands in Richfield Township, about twenty miles south of the city and about the same north of Akron. This was to be a showcase arena for the World Hockey Association. Hopes were high. However, early signs were not promising. The first two home games were postponed due to bad ice. But more importantly, the road network surrounding the Coliseum had not been expanded to handle the traffic. Cleveland fans simply were not willing to battle heavy traffic on rural two-lane roads to attend a game, and Akron patrons showed similar disinterest towards Cleveland's team. The 1974-75 team was now coached by newly-retired player John Hanna. The team's trend in allowing more goals but scoring fewer continued. The offense put in just 236 goals, led by Richie Leduc with 35, Al McDonough with 34, and Ron Ward at 30. Leduc's 66 points led the team. Cheevers once again had 4 shutouts but his goals-against average rose to 3.26; ironically, his backup, Bob Whidden, had a slightly-better 3.23 average. As a team, the Crusaders finished 35-40-3, but good enough for 2nd place in the Eastern Division. In the playoffs, they were quickly dismissed, a five-game loss to the Houston Aeros (one point of solace: their one win would be the only defeat of the Aeros as Houston won the Avco Trophy, winning 12 of 13 playoff matches). The Cleveland "situation" was now devolving. There was turmoil, as popular coach Hanna was fired from his post in mid-season, replaced by general manager Jack Vivian. Mileti was easing himself out from the team (he stayed on in a lesser role), with Jay Moore now the principal owner. No one was attending the games at the Coliseum, which, it should be noted, was a fine arena with few troubles after its initial clumsy start. There was still the belief that if the details could be figured out, major-league sports should thrive there (the Cavaliers also struggled with attendance at the Coliseum). The 1975-76 season was a very difficult one for the team, its management, its owner, and the players. Coached now by John Wilson, late of the Baltimore Blades disaster, the Crusaders finished with a nearly-identical record from the previous season, another 2nd-place finish, and another quick exit from the playoffs. Gerry Cheevers resolved his contract in January 1976 and left the team, returning to the Boston Bruins. General Manager Jack Vivian attemped to resign but was compelled to stay on through to season's end. Owner Jay Moore was shopping the team around to new buyers, presumably to relocate. In March, the players staged a protest, wearing black arm-bands during a game to express their dissatisfaction. To no one's surprise, the team was finished in Cleveland when the 1975-76 season closed. The Summer of 1976 was certainly an interesting one for the team, now homeless. For a few weeks, it appeared the team was heading to Hollywood, Florida, owned by Bill Putnam and to be housed at the Sportatorium. The Sportatorium was not built for hockey. It was a partially-open arena more suited for entertainment such as concerts, but most importantly, was also plagued by a weak road network no different than that surrounding the Coliseum in Richfield. The WHA wisely steered the team away from Florida, and that plan fell through. Later in the summer, the team was offered a chance to settle in St. Paul, as the new incarnation of the Minnesota Fighting Saints, which had folded in February. Mileti was back in control, and the team was now the "new" Fighting Saints. There was an attempt to maintain some continuity from the previous version of the Fighting Saints. Glen Sonmor was now the coach, and old Saints Mike Antonovich, the Carlson brothers, Dave Keon, Mike Curran, Gordie Gallant and John Arbour signed on, essentially melding the original Fighting Saints with some carry-overs from the Crusaders. But the new Fighting Saints could not last the season, and like the old Fighting Saints, folded in mid-season. There was no attempt to keep the team alive, as by now the WHA was no longer propping up its insolvent teams. This was the end of the Crusaders-Fighting Saints franchise. The ending was bittersweet for one particular player. Goaltender Louis Levasseur was having his best season to date, with a 15-11-2 record and a lovely 2.73 goals-against average. He was the team's representative to the 1977 All-Star game. While gone, the team folded. He left a Saint, and came home to a team no longer in business. Mike Antonovich was having his best season, too, scoring 27 goals; he would finish with 40, playing for Edmonton and New England after the Saints folded. The rest of the players were cast free, to make their own way to any team that would have them.

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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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