Minnesota Fighting Saints I 1972-73 to 1975-76 (partial)

Owners

Fred Grothe

Lou Kaplan

Frank Marzitelli

Wayne Belisle

Rinks

St. Paul Civic Center 1973 to 1976

Seasons & Leaders

1972-73 Record 38-37-3, 79 pts Coach Glen Sonmor Harry Neale Goals 40, Wayne Connelly 36, Bill Klatt Assists 45, Ted Hampson 39, Mike McMahon Points 70, Wayne Connelly 62, Ted Hampson Penalty Min. 189, Dick Paradise 188, John Arbour Wins 23, Mike Curran Goals Against 3.09, Mike Curran Shutouts 4, Mike Curran

1973-74 Record 44-32-2, 90 pts Coach Harry Neale Goals 57, Mike Walton 42, Wayne Connelly Assists 60, Mike Walton 53, Wayne Connelly Points 117, Mike Walton 95, Wayne Connelly Penalty Min. 223, Gord Gallant 192, John Arbour Wins 23, Mike Curran Goals Against 3.27, Mike Curran Shutouts 2, Mike Curran

1974-75 Record 42-33-3, 87 pts Coach Harry Neale Goals 48, Mike Walton 38, Wayne Connelly Assists 45, Mike Walton 45, Fran Huck Points 93, Mike Walton 71, Wayne Connelly Penalty Min. 203, Gord Gallant 176, Ron Busniuk Wins 30, John Garrett Goals Against 3.28, John Garrett Shutouts 2, John Garrett

1975-76 Record 30-25-4, 64 pts Coach Harry Neale Goals 31, Mike Walton 26, Dave Keon Assists 40, Mike Walton 38, Dave Keon Points 71, Mike Walton 64, Dave Keon Penalty Min. 254, Curt Brackenbury 189, Jack Carlson Wins 26, John Garrett Goals Against 3.34, John Garrett Shutouts 2, John Garrett

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Connelly, Wayne	291	144	139	283	67
Walton, Mike	211	136	145	281	148
Hampson, Ted	291	56	134	190	49
Antonovich, Mike	267	90	95	185	86
Morrison, George	219	87	91	178	87
Arbour, John	230	24	117	141	461
Ball, Terry	223	22	99	121	136
Huck, Fran	137	39	77	116	53
McMahon, Mike	200	27	89	116	211
Smith, Rick	200	20	89	109	260
MacMillan, Bob	153	27	61	88	129
Johnson, Jim	115	25	56	81	42
Christiansen, Keith	138	23	55	78	60
Klatt, Bill	143	50	28	78	34
Heatley, Murray	93	31	41	72	54
Keon, Dave	57	26	38	64	4
Tannahill, Don	72	23	30	53	20
Gambucci, Gary	112	29	24	53	33
McKenzie, John	57	21	26	47	48
Cardwell, Steve	77	23	23	46	100
Gallant, Gord	138	17	28	45	426
O'Shea, Danny	76	16	25	41	47
Busniuk, Ron	132	4	32	36	326
Boucha, Henry	36	15	20	35	47
Walton, Rob	45	8	23	31	24
Holmgren, Paul	51	14	16	30	121
Speck, Fred	47	13	16	29	52
Carlson, Jack	90	13	15	28	274
Paradise, Dick	144	5	22	27	260
Lilyholm, Len	77	8	13	21	37
O'Shea, Kevin	68	10	10	20	42
Pearson, Mel	70	8	12	20	12
Ryan, Terry	76	13	6	19	13
Butters, Bill	83	2	17	19	178
Konik, George	54	4	12	16	34
Westrum, Pat	77	3	13	16	146
Sanders, Frank	78	8	8	16	94
Boyd, Bob	54	1	14	15	35
Odrowski, Gerry	37	1	12	13	10
Brackenbury, Curt	66	4	9	13	276
Young, Bill	23	5	6	11	20
Boudreau, Bruce	30	3	6	9	4
Zrymiak, Jerry	22	0	8	8	16
Falkman, Craig	44	1	5	6	12
Robertson, Joe	11	1	4	5	4
Miller, Perry	13	1	4	5	11
Ouimet, Francois	9	0	2	2	2
Carlson, Jeff	7	0	1	1	14
Carlson, Steve	10	0	1	1	23
Rydman, Blaine	37	0	1	1	86
Curran, Mike (G)	114	0	1	1	52
Goldthorpe, Bill (Playoffs only)	0	0	0	0	0
Sarner, Craig	1	0	0	0	0
Wetzel, Carl (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Tetreault, Jean	3	0	0	0	0
Levasseur, Louis (G)	4	0	0	0	0
McCartan, Jack (G)	42	0	0	0	19
Garrett, John (G)	150	0	0	0	22

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Walton, Mike	23	20	15	35	26
Connelly, Wayne	28	15	14	29	14
Morrison, George	28	11	15	26	14
Hampson, Ted	28	8	12	20	8
Huck, Fran	12	3	13	16	6
Arbour, John	28	3	13	16	62
McMahon, Mike	23	1	13	14	11
Ball, Terry	28	5	8	13	14
Antonovich, Mike	28	4	8	12	6
Smith, Rick	23	2	8	10	28
Klatt, Bill	16	4	5	9	23
MacMillan, Bob	16	2	6	8	4
Johnson, Jim	16	3	5	8	6
Tannahill, Don	10	2	4	6	0
Gambucci, Gary	12	4	0	4	6
Gallant, Gord	12	2	2	4	67
Carlson, Jack	10	1	2	3	41
Busniuk, Ron	12	2	1	3	63
Pearson, Mel	5	2	0	2	0
Ryan, Terry	5	0	2	2	0
Young, Bill	5	1	1	2	4
Brackenbury, Curt	12	0	2	2	59
Christiansen, Keith	15	1	1	2	2
Sanders, Frank	4	0	1	1	0
McCartan, Jack (G)	4	0	1	1	0
Lilyholm, Len	5	1	0	1	0
Heatley, Murray	10	1	0	1	2
Paradise, Dick	12	0	1	1	8
Butters, Bill	12	1	0	1	21
Rydman, Blaine	1	0	0	0	0
Goldthorpe, Bill	3	0	0	0	25
Boyd, Bob	7	0	0	0	4
Curran, Mike (G)	7	0	0	0	0
Cardwell, Steve	10	0	0	0	20
Garrett, John (G)	19	0	0	0	0

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Garrett, John	150	8763	494	5	77-63-6	3.38
Curran, Mike	114	6529	373	7	59-43-5	3.43
McCartan, Jack	42	2263	139	1	16-19-1	3.69
Levasseur, Louis	4	193	10	0	2-1-0	3.11
Wetzel, Carl	1	60	3	0	0-1-0	3.00

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Garrett, John	19	1098	66	1	10-8	3.61
Curran, Mike	7	379	23	0	2-5	3.64
McCartan, Jack	4	213	14	0	1-2	3.94

History

Placing a team in the Twin Cities meant going up against the established NHL, although in this case, the North Stars had only been "established" since 1967, with little success since their inception. A group of nine Twin Cities businessmen led by Lou Kaplan, Fred Grothe and Frank Marzitelli received a franchise in November 1971. In view of Minnesota's reputation for supporting hockey at all levels, placing a second major-league team in the Twin Cities seemed to be a reasonably safe bet. The Fighting Saints would play in St. Paul, to take advantage its natural rivalry with Minneapolis. A new arena was being built in St. Paul, which the Fighting Saints would inhabit starting in January 1973. In the meantime, they played at the St. Paul Auditorium. Glen Sonmor, the long-time coach of the University of Minnesota hockey team, was hired to be the general manager and coach. Realizing that there would be fourteen new teams starting play in the fall of 1972 (twelve in the WHA and two expansion teams in the NHL), Sonmor recognized that he would need to be clever in scouting players for the Fighting Saints. He knew the program well in Minnesota, and set about tracking down as many Minnesota-born players as possible. In an era when just a handful of major-league hockey players were born in the United States, the first-year Fighting Saints featured nearly half a roster of American-born or trained players. Among them were Mike Antonovich, a quick center who had become a legend at the secondary and collegiate levels in Minnesota, Mike Curran, goaltender for the 1972 Men's Olympic Silver-medal hockey team, and Jack McCartan, who was the goalie for the 1960 Men's Olympic Gold hockey champs. The 1972-73 Fighting Saints finished 38-37-3, in a fourth-place tie with Alberta, forcing a one-game playoff to decide the last playoff berth. Minnesota won, but lost in five games against Winnipeg in the ensuing round. Center Mike Antonovich and winger Bill Klatt turned in good seasons, with Klatt's 36 goals second on the team behind Wayne Connelly's 40. Connelly's 70 points paced the club, followed by fellow NHL expatriate Ted Hampson's 62. Mike Curran's four shutouts were good enough for a second-place tie among league goalies. John Arbour and Dick Paradise kept opponents honest, collecting 188 and 189 penalty minutes, respectively. Glen Sonmor handed over the coaching reins to Harry Neale for the last quarter of the season. Sonmor assumed the general manager's role full time, while Neale would be the team's coach through their end, four years later. Under Neale as full-time coach (and Sonmor as general manager), the 1973-74 Saints matured into a high-powered scoring threat. Wayne Connelly scored 42 goals while second-year man George Morrison scored 40, but the real star of 1973-74 was Mike Walton, previously of Toronto and Boston in the NHL. Taking advantage of the WHA's two-line pass rule to promote breakaways, Walton scored 57 goals and 117 points to lead the league. With newcomer John Garrett in the nets to complement Curran, the Saints raced to a 44-32-2 finish, good enough for second place behind the Houston Aeros. Unfortunately, the Saints were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by eventual champion Houston. In the boardroom, Wayne Belisle, a lawyer based in the twin cities, assumed ownership of the team in late 1974. The 1974-75 club finished 44-33-3, a third place finish in the competitive Western Division. The team was once again paced by Mike Walton (48 goals, 93 points), Wayne Connelly (38 goals) and George Morrison (31 goals). Mike Antonovich, Fran Huck and Don Tannahill all exceeded the 20-goal mark. The 1975 playoffs got off to a bizarre start as strongman Gord Gallant leveled coach Neale with a punch to the eye after the first game. The fan favorite and the WHA's leading penalty minute getter for the past two seasons was immediately suspended by the team. The Fighting Saints once again could go no further than the second round before elimination. The 1975-76 Saints welcomed long-time Maple Leaf Dave Keon and ex-Blazer John McKenzie, adding to an already potent lineup. Five Saints were already past the 20-goal mark just 59 games into the season, and the team was coasting along at a comfortable 30-25-4 clip. Fan support was solid but not enough to cover the costs. The Saints were in a desperate financial situation, as some investors had pulled out of the team before the start of the season. Missed paychecks were common, and on February 27, 1976, the Fighting Saints conceded defeat and folded. The team simply could not meet its financial demands, and the loss proved to be a crushing blow to the WHA, which was still recovering from the loss of the Denver Spurs-Ottawa Civics franchise six weeks earlier. Many of the 1975-76 squad found work elsewhere. Mike Antonovich, who was enjoying his best season to date before the collapse, signed with the North Stars but could only collect two assists in 12 games of NHL action. Dave Keon went to Indianapolis and helped the Racers to a surprising first place finish and a brief run through the playoffs. Coach Harry Neale moved on to New England. In 1976, the Crusaders moved into the vacant St. Paul Civic Center after abandoning Cleveland. The second incarnation of the Fighting Saints were coached by Glen Sonmor and featured original Saints favorites Antonovich and Keon, but that team could barely last half the season before folding in mid-January, 1977.

_______________________________________

Home • Book • Credits & Legal Stuff

Reviews, Podcasts and Media

• 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

WHA Fact Book, 2nd ed Book Details

Complete WHA, 11th ed Book Details

(c) Scott Surgent