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Stingers Win Debut as RICHFIELD: The Cincinnati Stingers made their debut with a 1-0 victory over the host Cleveland Crusaders. Claude Larose scored the game's only goal midway through the second period as Serge Aubry stopped all 38 Cleveland shots, including 24 in the first period alone.
1st period: No scoring.
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Derek Haas Scores Twice to CALGARY: The new Cowboys won their first game behind two goals by rookie Derek Haas, who scored in both the first and last minutes of the game. George Morrison, Danny Lawson and Larry Israelson had two points apiece to help lead the attack. Bob Fitchner and Bob Whitlock had two points each for Indianapolis.
1st period: 1. Cgy: Haas 1 (Lawson, Israelson) 0:42; 2. Cgy: Chipperfield 1 (Morrison, Sentes) 15:07
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Don Borgeson's Hat Trick PHOENIX: Don Borgeson scored a hat trick against his old teammates as the Denver Spurs won their first game, defeating the Roadrunners in Phoenix. Ralph Backstrom assisted on all three of Borgeson's goals, while goaltender Bob Johnson stopped 25 shots and also fought Roadrunners' Cam Connor toward the end of the third period.
1st period: 1. Phx: Hall 3 (Huston, Rau-takallio) 7:25; 2. Den: Borgeson 1 (Backstrom) 13:49
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Big Ned Scores Five; Toros and DENVER: Vaclav Nedomansky became the fourth player in league history to score five goals in one game as he led the Toros to an 11-8 verdict over Denver. The 19 goals set a league mark for most total goals in one game by two teams. The Spurs also set a league record for most homes games without a win from inception, extending the streak to eight games.
1st period: 1. Den: Arbour 1 (Lomenda, Liddington) 7:08. 2. Tor: Kirk 7 (Mahovlich, Cunningham) 7:53. 3. Tor: Nedomansky 11 (Farda, Turkiewicz) 9:44. 4. Tor: Nedomansky 12 (Jacques, Farda) 13:20. 5. Den: MacGregor 6 (Backstrom, Maggs) 19:48.
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Wayne Connelly Scores ST. PAUL: Wayne Connelly single-handedly defeated the Cincinnati Stingers, accounting for all five of the Saints' goals during the contest. Fran Huck assisted on four of the goals. It was the fifth time in WHA history that a player scored 5 goals in a game, and came two weeks after the feat had previously been achieved. It would be the only game in WHA history where the player's five goals accounted for all of his team's scoring.
1st period: 1. Min: Connelly 7 (Huck, Boucha) 6:27. 2. Cin: G. Sobchuk 9 (Dudley, Donnelly) 11:50. 3. Min: Connelly 8 (Huck, Smith) 13:59.
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Ward Nets Five, Crusaders RICHFIELD: The Toronto Toros had built an 8-2 lead with just over a period to play when the Crusaders scored seven consecutive goals to take a 9-8 lead. After tying the game 9-9, Cleveland's John A. Stewart scored with 12 seconds remaining to secure the 10-9 win. Ron Ward scored five goals for the second time in his WHA career and had two assists. Jim Harrison has six assists as Cleveland sent 63 shots on the Toronto goaltenders. Toros coach Bobby Baun was so disgusted he fined his players $500 each.
1st period: 1. Tor: Featherstone 3 (Ned-omansky, Turkiewicz) 1:55. 2. Tor: Marrin 8 (Henderson, Simpson) 11:27. 3. Cle: Ward 5 (Pinder, Muloin) 12:17. 4. Tor: Cunningham 2 (Mahovlich, Kirk) 15:01. 5. Cle: Ward 6 (Pinder, Harrison) 15:37. 6. Tor: Simpson 4 (Heaver) 16:25.
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Aeros Score Three Goals in HOUSTON: Gordie Howe scored a second-period goal and later bumped referee Ron Asselstine protesting a penalty call. The contact resulted in Howe earning the first suspension (two games) of his 28-year career. Earlier in the game, goaltender Ron Grahame had to be restrained from Asselstine protesting a goal, earning him a game misconduct. After Howe's contact, Asselstine skated off the ice and "quit", only to return 15 minutes later after pleas from both teams' coaches. Down two goals with less than 90 seconds in the contest, the Aeros blitzed Jet netminder Curt Larsson for three goals, including the game winner by Larry Hale with two seconds remaining.
1st period: 1. Wpg: Hull 16 (Hedberg) 0:59; 2. Hou: P. Popiel 4 (Hall, Taylor) 6:41; 3. Wpg: Sjoberg 1 (Miller) 9:56; 4. Wpg: Nilsson (Ford) 12:09
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Ullman Scores 500th Career Goal, EDMONTON: Tim Sheehy scored twice in the first and second periods, and Norm Ullman scored twice in the third period, his second goal the 500th of his long career, as the Oilers upended the Nordiques. Al Hamilton had 4 assists for the Oilers, while Marc Tardif had a goal and two assists for the Nordiques.
1st period: 1. Edm: Sheehy 12 (Patenaude, Long) 2:32; 2. Edm: Sheehy 13 (Laing) 9:28
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A Hat Trick of Hat Tricks: QUEBEC: Real Cloutier and Rejean Houle each scored three goals to pace Quebec's win over visiting Toronto. Not to be outdone, Frank Mahovlich scored three times for the Toros. Each of the players scored one goal in each period. Serge Bernier had five assists, while Rejean Houle added two assists for a five-point night. Tough guy Steve Sutherland had three points on a goal and two assists.
1st period: 1. Que: Houle 27 (S. Bernier, Sutherland) 0:53; 2. Tor: Mahovlich 23 (Napier, Syvret) 1:50; 3. Que: Sutherland 16 (S. Bernier, Houle) 9:53; 4. Que: Cloutier 37 (Tardif) 17:45;
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Three More Hat Tricks: Houle, WINNIPEG: Six weeks after scoring hat tricks in the same game, Rejean Houle and Real Cloutier did it again, leading Quebec to a 10-8 verdict over Winnipeg. The Jets, down 7-1 early in the second period, roared back with five goals and nearly stealing a victory. Willy Lindstrom scored three goals in the Jets' effort.
1st period: 1. Que: Cloutier 50 (Tardif) 1:05; 2. Que: Constantin 3 (Serviss, Gallant) 3:14; 3. Wpg: Lindstrom 18 (Ketola) 3:44; 4. Que: Houle 35 (S. Bernier) 6:06; 5. Que: Cloutier 51 (Tremblay, S. Bernier) 12:43; 6. Que: Sutherland 19 (Brackenbury, Serviss) 12:59; 7. Que: Tremblay 9 (Cloutier, Bordeleau) 15:21.
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Exciting 1976 Eastern Division Race The 1975-76 Eastern Division Race was not decided until the final night of the season when a Cleveland loss guaranteed the two-year old Racers the division championship. The four teams—Indianapolis, New England, Cleveland and Cincinnati—were separated by just 5 points at the close of the season. On March 25, the Whalers, Crusaders and Stingers were tied for the lead with 69 points, with the Racers a point back with 68. Cincinnati faded from the race, leaving the other three teams to fight it out for the top spot. On April 3, New England beat Indianapolis to give the Whalers 73 points, with the Racers holding at 74 points. That same night, Cleveland beat San Diego to match New England with 73 points. The next night, Indianapolis beat New England to eliminate the Whalers from first-place contention. Cleveland remained in the running with a win over Cincinnati. The Racers and Whalers had no games remaining, while Cleveland had one game to go. A win would vault the Crusaders over the Racers and give Cleveland the divisional flag. In an emotion-filled game, the last regular season game for Cleveland as a franchise, the Crusaders lost 3-2 to San Diego, despite outshooting the Mariners 59-21 for the game, and 20-1 in the third period.
1st period: 1. Ind: MacDonald 26 (Baltimore) 14:27. 2. Ind: Maggs 9 (McDonald) 16:43.
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1st period: 1. Cle: Harrison 34 (McKey, R. Legge) 5:44.
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Marc Tardif Felled, Cowboys and QUEBEC: The Calgary Cowboys scored six third-period goals to defeat a furious and disheartened Quebec Nordiques squad in the second game of the 1976 quarter-finals. Nordiques' star Marc Tardif was checked high by Calgary's Rick Jodzio at 6:16 of the first period, setting off a thirty-minute brawl that resulted in eleven players ejected. Calgary lost Jodzio (match penalty), Peter Driscoll, Pat Westrum, Warren Miller, and Danny Lawson (all game misconducts). Quebec lost Gord Gallant (match penalty), Bill Prentice, Pierre Roy, Curt Brackenbury, Steve Sutherland and Gary Gresdal (all game misconducts). Tardif was hospitalized with skull fractures and it was feared he would never play again. Quebec was down to three defensemen and could not keep up with the Calgary attack later in the game. Ron Chipperfield had a goal and four assists for the Cowboys.
1st period: 1. Que: Tardif (Tremblay, Bernier) 3:43; 2. Cgy: Morrison (Chipperfield) 12:12; 3. Que: Bernier 15:10; 4. Cgy: Tannahill (Evans, Chipperfield) 17:51
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Home • 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 |
 Complete WHA, 11th ed |
(c) Scott Surgent