Miami Screaming Eagles 1971-72 (never played)
Philadelphia Blazers 1972-73
Vancouver Blazers 1973-74 to 1974-75
Calgary Cowboys 1975-76 to 1976-77

Owners

Bernard Brown

James Cooper

Jim Pattison

Bill Sleiman

Bill Hay

Rinks

Philadelphia Civic Center 1972 to 1973

Pacific Coliseum 1973 to 1975

Calgary Stampede Corral 1975 to 1977

Seasons & Leaders

1972-73 Philadelphia Record 38-40-0, 76 pts Coach Phil Watson John McKenzie Goals 61, Danny Lawson 50, Andre Lacroix Assists 74, Andre Lacroix 50, John McKenzie Points 124, Andre Lacroix 106, Danny Lawson Penalty Min. 185, Jim Cardiff 157, John McKenzie Wins 33, Bernie Parent Goals Against 3.61, Bernie Parent Shutouts 2, Bernie Parent

1973-74 Vancouver Record 27-50-1, 55 pts Coach Phil Watson John McKenzie Andy Bathgate Goals 50, Danny Lawson 38, Claude St. Sauveur Assists 62, Bryan Campbell 38, Danny Lawson 38, John McKenzie Points 89, Bryan Campbell 88, Danny Lawson Penalty Min. 191, Colin Campbell 188, Jim Cardiff Wins 22, Pete Donnelly Goals Against 3.80, Pete Donnelly Shutouts 3, Pete Donnelly

1974-75 Vancouver Record 37-39-2, 76 pts Coach Joe Crozier Goals 33, Danny Lawson 29, Bryan Campbell Assists 43, Danny Lawson 37, John McKenzie Points 76, Danny Lawson 63, Bryan Campbell Penalty Min. 159, Rick Jodzio 128, Butch Deadmarsh Wins 33, Don McLeod Goals Against 3.34, Don McLeod Shutouts 1, Don McLeod

1975-76 Calgary Record 41-35-4, 86 pts Coach Joe Crozier Harry Howell Goals 44, Danny Lawson 42, Ron Chipperfield Assists 52, Danny Lawson 41, Ron Chipperfield Points 96, Danny Lawson 83, Ron Chipperfield Penalty Min. 196, Butch Deadmarsh 137, Rick Jodzio Wins 30, Don McLeod Goals Against 3.07, Wayne Wood Shutouts 1, Don McLeod 1, Wayne Wood

1976-77 Calgary Record 31-43-7, 69 pts Coach Joe Crozier Goals 30, Lynn Powis 27, Ron Chipperfield Assists 32, Warren Miller 30, Lynn Powis Points 60, Lynn Powis 55, Warren Miller Penalty Min. 120, Peter Driscoll 61, Rick Jodzio Wins 25, Don McLeod Goals Against 3.40, Don McLeod Shutouts 3, Don McLeod

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Lawson, Danny	378	212	197	409	140
Campbell, Bryan	229	81	144	225	159
McKenzie, John	179	65	125	190	312
Chipperfield, Ron	234	88	88	176	94
Burgess, Don	214	61	76	137	42
Lacroix, Andre	78	50	74	124	83
St. Sauveur, Claude	165	63	56	119	89
Deadmarsh, Butch	155	46	53	99	401
Driscoll, Peter	172	42	49	91	287
Plumb, Ron	156	16	73	89	106
Morrison, George	142	36	51	87	23
Tannahill, Don	155	35	46	81	14
Walton, Rob	105	32	48	80	30
Powis, Lynn	84	34	40	74	48
Sentes, Dick	101	35	38	73	41
Herriman, Don	78	24	48	72	63
Harris, Hugh	88	28	43	71	38
Migneault, John	143	35	36	71	77
Evans, Chris	156	10	47	57	110
Terbenche, Paul	198	14	42	56	62
Miller, Warren	83	23	32	55	51
Israelson, Larry	105	22	31	53	36
O'Donoghue, Don	137	24	29	53	63
Miszuk, John	148	4	47	51	123
Cardiff, Jim	200	4	47	51	398
Rupp, Duane	114	3	42	45	78
Myers, Murray	93	23	21	44	32
Pelyk, Mike	75	14	26	40	121
Leiter, Bob	51	17	17	34	8
Price, Pat	68	5	29	34	15
Kryskow, Dave	45	16	17	33	47
Lacombe, Francois	71	3	28	31	62
Jodzio, Rick	137	15	16	31	357
Spencer, Irv	73	2	28	30	49
Plante, Michel	92	16	14	30	37
McLeod, Don (G)	202	0	30	30	20
Adair, Jim	70	12	17	29	10
Hull, Steve	60	11	17	28	6
Ford, Mike	54	5	20	25	14
Campbell, Colin	78	3	20	23	191
Jones, Jimmy	81	14	9	23	62
Chernoff, Mike	39	11	10	21	4
Meloche, Denis	45	7	14	21	18
Delorenzi, Ray	42	8	12	20	4
MacSweyn, Ralph	56	2	18	20	52
Campeau, Rychard	82	1	18	19	74
Caffery, Terry	21	5	13	18	4
Keogan, Murray	38	7	11	18	19
Lapierre, Camille	33	5	12	17	2
Lemieux, Richard	33	6	11	17	9
Arbour, John	37	1	15	16	38
Kirk, Gavin	15	7	8	15	14
Boudreau, Michel	36	8	7	15	4
Hatoum, Ed	37	3	12	15	8
Hutchison, Dave	97	0	15	15	185
Haas, Derek	30	5	9	14	6
Ward, Ron	16	5	7	12	2
Beaudoin, Serge	30	1	11	12	39
Connelly, Wayne	25	5	6	11	4
Gellard, Sam	28	7	4	11	15
Ketola, Veli-Pekka	17	4	6	10	2
Bennett, John	34	4	6	10	18
McCulloch, Don	51	1	9	10	42
Lukowich, Bernie	21	5	3	8	18
Bathgate, Andy	11	1	6	7	2
Locas, Jacques	22	3	4	7	2
Sanderson, Derek	8	3	3	6	69
Micheletti, Joe	14	3	3	6	10
Hurley, Paul	34	0	6	6	32
Shmyr, John	39	1	5	6	43
Henry, Pierre	19	2	3	5	13
Mayer, James	21	2	3	5	0
Harker, Derek	27	0	5	5	46
Olds, Wally	28	0	5	5	6
Reed, Bill	29	0	5	5	14
Gravel, John	8	1	3	4	0
Serviss, Tom	8	2	1	3	2
Deschamps, Andre	9	1	2	3	19
McNamee, Pete	14	2	1	3	15
Polano, Nick	17	0	3	3	24
Howell, Harry	31	0	3	3	6
Walsh, Brian	5	0	2	2	12
Tetreault, Jean	6	1	1	2	0
Greig, Bruce	7	1	1	2	10
Westrum, Pat	9	0	2	2	23
Boyd, Jim	13	0	2	2	6
Morin, Wayne	13	2	0	2	25
Pesut, George	17	2	0	2	2
Gruen, Danny	1	1	0	1	0
Gulka, Bud	5	1	0	1	10
Gratton, Bill	6	0	1	1	2
Rouleau, Michel	6	0	1	1	15
Paiement, Pierre	8	1	0	1	18
Mosdell, Wayne	9	0	1	1	12
Brown, Arnie	10	0	1	1	13
Archambault, Yves (G)	11	0	1	1	0
Donnelly, Pete (G)	49	0	1	1	9
Parent, Bernie (G)	63	0	1	1	36
Desjardine, Ken	1	0	0	0	0
Gilmour, Dave	1	0	0	0	0
Given, David	1	0	0	0	0
Mott, Darwin	1	0	0	0	0
Cottringer, Tom (G)	2	0	0	0	0
Lindskog, Doug	2	0	0	0	2
Sullivan, Danny (G)	2	0	0	0	0
Chipchase, Jack	3	0	0	0	2
Mercredi, Victor	3	0	0	0	29
Bilodeau, Yvon	4	0	0	0	2
Brown, Bob	4	0	0	0	2
Mavety, Larry	4	0	0	0	14
Jordan, Ric	5	0	0	0	4
McCrimmon, Jim	5	0	0	0	2
Baird, Ken	7	0	0	0	2
Golembrosky, Frank	8	0	0	0	0
Humphreys, Ed (G)	8	0	0	0	0
Paille, Marcel (G)	15	0	0	0	0
Bromley, Gary (G)	28	0	0	0	2
Gardner, George (G)	28	0	0	0	0
Wood, Wayne (G)	30	0	0	0	4

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Evans, Chris	10	5	5	10	4
Kirk, Gavin	10	4	6	10	19
Chipperfield, Ron	10	5	4	9	6
Powis, Lynn	10	5	4	9	12
Lawson, Danny	13	4	5	9	19
Driscoll, Peter	10	2	5	7	41
Tannahill, Don	10	2	5	7	8
Lukowich, Bernie	10	4	3	7	8
Terbenche, Paul	10	0	6	6	6
Morrison, George	10	3	2	5	0
McKenzie, John	4	3	1	4	8
Leiter, Bob	3	2	0	2	0
Lacroix, Andre	4	0	2	2	18
Plumb, Ron	4	0	2	2	13
Lapierre, Camille	4	0	2	2	0
Rupp, Duane	7	0	2	2	8
Olds, Wally	9	0	2	2	4
Campbell, Bryan	3	0	1	1	8
Burgess, Don	4	1	0	1	0
Herriman, Don	4	1	0	1	14
O'Donoghue, Don	4	0	1	1	0
Campeau, Rychard	4	1	0	1	17
Westrum, Pat	6	0	1	1	19
Deadmarsh, Butch	8	0	1	1	14
Sentes, Dick	8	0	1	1	8
Miller, Warren	10	1	0	1	28
Miszuk, John	10	0	1	1	10
McLeod, Don (G)	10	0	1	1	4
Haas, Derek	1	0	0	0	0
Parent, Bernie (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Humphreys, Ed (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Paille, Marcel (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Jodzio, Rick	2	0	0	0	14
Boudreau, Michel	2	0	0	0	0
Howell, Harry	2	0	0	0	2
Israelson, Larry	3	0	0	0	0
Hutchison, Dave	3	0	0	0	2
Archambault, Yves (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Migneault, John	4	0	0	0	0
Cardiff, Jim	4	0	0	0	11
Spencer, Irv	4	0	0	0	4
Plante, Michel	4	0	0	0	2
Lacombe, Francois	8	0	0	0	2

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
McLeod, Don	202	11419	649	5	88-96-10	3.41
Parent, Bernie	63	3653	220	2	33-28-0	3.61
Donnelly, Peter	49	2824	179	3	22-24-0	3.80
Wood, Wayne	30	1312	75	1	13-7-1	3.43
Bromley, Gary	28	1237	79	0	6-9-2	3.83
Gardner, George	28	1590	125	0	4-21-1	4.72
Archambault, Yves	11	523	44	0	2-7-0	5.05
Humphreys, Ed	8	441	27	0	2-5-0	3.67
Paille, Marcel	15	611	49	0	2-8-0	4.81
Cottringer, Tom	2	122	8	0	1-1-0	3.93
Sullivan, Danny	2	120	10	0	1-1-0	5.00

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
McLeod, Don	10	579	37	0	5-5	3.83
Archambault, Yves	3	153	11	0	0-2	4.31
Humphreys, Ed	1	20	0	0	0-0	0.00
Paille, Marcel	1	26	5	0	0-1	11.54
Parent, Bernie	1	70	3	0	0-1	2.57

History

Miami received a franchise in November 1971, part of an ambitious plan by the league to play its first game on national television from southern Florida. League co-founder Dennis Murphy had co-owned the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association in the early 1970s, and through his influence, made sure Miami received a team, the recipient being Herb Martin, a local businessman and builder who then sought to win public funds to build a new arena (to be called the Executive Square Garden) to house the new team. The Screaming Eagles moved fast, signing the first star-caliber player, Toronto goaltender Bernie Parent, as well as pursuing Boston Bruins' forward Derek Sanderson. These moves (and the flashy nickname) garnered the team and the league a little press during this time, but it soon became clear Martin could not pull off a new arena. The franchise quickly went moribund, losing its charter on April 28, 1972 after failing to post a required performance bond to the league. In June 1972, the Philadelphia Blazers were born when businessmen Bernard Brown and James Cooper were granted the rights to the former Miami team. The new owners assumed Parent's contract and continued the pursuit of Sanderson, signing him to a $2.65 million contract, the largest contract of its time. For good measure, the Blazers signed another Bruin, John McKenzie, as a player-coach. The team would play its home games at the Philadelphia Civic Center, and attempt to lure fans away from the Flyers. Despite the presence of Parent, Sanderson and McKenzie, the 1972-73 season started badly for Philadelphia. McKenzie injured himself in a pre-season game while Parent and Sanderson suffered injuries in the season's first three weeks. The first home game was cancelled when the ice-surfacer crashed through the ice. Derek Sanderson, already wondering what he had gotten himself into, announced the cancellation to the fans, and survived a barrage of commemorative orange pucks thrown his way. When the Blazers actually did play, they lost regularly, sporting a 4-16-0 record after six weeks. The situation in Philadelphia was dire. No one was coming to the games and the team was bleeding money. When Brown learned of just how his money was being spent, Cooper was eased aside from his role. While Parent and McKenzie would return and play well for the team, Sanderson was another matter. He had injured his back early in the season, and tried to come back too quickly, re-injuring it. His large contract and his naturally outgoing -- and sometimes confrontational -- personality made him an easy target of fans who accused him of not trying hard enough, to put it kindly. Sanderson was openly unhappy, and he and the team's owners worked out a deal to cut their losses, release him, allowing him to return to Boston by the end of the 1972-73 season. Remarkably, the Blazers began to win often. A healthy Bernie Parent played nearly every game in nets, McKenzie was solid as he had always been, but it was a surprising pair of forwards, Andre Lacroix and Danny Lawson, who carried the team. Lawson scored 61 goals to lead the league, turning many of Lacroix's passes into scores. Lacroix assisted on 74 goals and led the league with 124 points. The Blazers finished the season with a 34-24-0 run to make the playoffs. However, the magic ended fast when Parent walked out on the team after the first game of the playoffs, claiming the team had defaulted on his contract. The Blazers lost in the first round of the postseason, and abandoned Philadelphia immediately thereafter. In May 1973, Brown sold the team to Canadian industrialist Jim Pattison, who moved the team to Vancouver. The move into Canada cost the Blazers the services of Lacroix, whose contract did not bind him to play for a Canadian-based team. Lacroix left for New York, but Danny Lawson continued to develop into a legitimate scoring star, while forwards Claude St. Sauveur and Bryan Campbell also served as very capable help. Nevertheless, the Blazers missed the playoffs both years in Vancouver. The Blazers actually drew quite well at the Pacific Coliseum, but an improving Canucks team was slowly phasing the Blazers out of town. In May 1975, owner Pattison relocated his club to Calgary, renamed the Cowboys, playing at the famous, but tiny, Stampede Corral. The move seemed to do the trick for the new Cowboys, as they finished with their best record in four years of existence. Coached by Joe Crozier, and with ironman Don McLeod in the nets and 40-goal seasons from Lawson and Ron Chipperfield, the 1975-76 Cowboys finished 41-35-4, good for third place in the Canadian Division and a playoff spot. Calgary was able to defeat Quebec in the quarterfinals, but the Cowboys were themselves eliminated in the semifinals. The 1976-77 club finished a disappointing fifth place in the Western Division with a 31-43-7 record, including a miserable 5-31-5 road mark and a badly-timed ten-game losing streak in March that sunk any hopes of a playoff berth for 1977. The future of the Cowboys in Calgary grew increasingly dim as the 1976-77 season drew to its close. The Stampede Corral was too small to support a major-league hockey team, and plans to erect a modern arena kept being pushed back. Fan support was usually strong, but even with sell-out crowds every night (which did not always happen), the Cowboys would lose money playing at the Corral. The team was all-but-dead after the 1976-77 season closed, but did not formally close shop for a few more months. A self-imposed deadline to achieve a certain number of season ticket sales by May 31, 1977, came and went without meeting the goal. Next on the horizon was the possible merger of the two leagues. Calgary was interested, but the NHL was not, and although Calgary was usually not mentioned as one of the six teams to be considered for acceptance into the NHL, they stayed in business (in the barest sense) to see how the vote would go. The NHL's vote took place August 9, 1977, and was against merger. For all intents, The Cowboys folded as of that date. The modern Saddledome Arena would not be completed until the 1988 Olympics. In the meantime, the NHL moved the Atlanta Flames into the Stampede Corral beginning in 1980. By this time, the arena plans were certain, and the Flames could count on a modern arena in the future, something the Cowboys could not   At Best, Status Is Questionable • by George Bilych • Calgary Herald • August 12, 1977 The World Hockey Association, apparently, is still alive. Questionable, however, is the status of the Calgary Cowboys. A communique from the Cowboys Thursday revealed they plan to be represented at the WHA's annual meeting, set for Montreal next week. It's assumed their position will finally be clarified at that time. That the Cowboys are on their way out, however, appears to be a mere formality. All reports from other WHA centres since merger became nothing but a bad dream are unanimous in that none mention Calgary as a potential candidate for the 1977-78 season. And, there has been nothing viable forthcoming from the Cowboys' staff itself. President Billy Hay has been away from the city vacationing the past week. There's been no official reaction from the Neonex tandem of Jim Pattison and Bill Sleeman. Joe Crozier maintains he's completely in the dark and is asking the same basic questions as is every other fan in the city. But, the writing on the wall appears to be fairly legible. With the prospect of losing another million dollars should they operate and no apparent compensation in sight, they appear to be left with three options -- sell, fold or seek a leave of absence. A WHA offical admitted Thursday that, while eight or nine different schedules have already been drawn up for the forthcoming season, none of them include Calgary. To be considered, too, is the fact that the Cowboys don't have the pick of the dates at the Corral any more. Stampede general manager Bill Pratt admits most of the prize dates have been claimed by the junior Wranglers. "We have enough dates to accommodate them," admitted Pratt, "but, I wouldn't consider many of them ideal. I've been in contact with the Neonex people throughout the summer, and, when the junior situation came up, was advised by them that we should continue negotiations with the Wranglers. Mind you, at that time, they (Cowboys) appeared very confident that merger would be accomplished. I haven't had any contact with them since merger talks fell apart." Pratt indicated the Stampede Board was still anxiously awaiting the report from the Stanford research group regarding Corral expansion. That is due to arrive on his desk on October 1. We recognize that a prime tenant such as a pro hockey team becomes a requisite when considering expansion of such a facility," added Pratt. "It's the familiar chicken or the egg bit again." It will be interesting to see what route the WHA decides to steer when it meets next week. There have been suggestions that it forget completely about the NHL and try instead to attract the lucrative international market. A closer relationship with teams from Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland and the Soviet Union is one direction it'll be investigating. While Alan Eagleson says it can't happen, rumor has it that the WHA is close to tying up as many as 16 games against this competition next winter. Expected to be announced soon, too, is a tour of Japan involving the Winnipeg Jets and the Soviet National Team. While interesting times they may be, it's unlikely that Calgary will be a part of it.

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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

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