The Complete World Hockey Association
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1975-76 • Franchise

1975-76 Calgary Cowboys


Calgary Cowboys, 1975-76

Record: 41-35-4, 86 pts
Finish: 3rd, Canadian
Playoffs: Lost in second round to Winnipeg
Coach: Joe Crozier

 

Preview, 1975-76 • Pro Hockey 1975-76 WHA • by Dan Proudfoot

Joe Crozier is a thoughtful coach. He's not suggesting that his team's move, from being the Vancouver Blazers to being the proud, new Calgary Cowboys, is going to bring any miracles.

Certainly, he says, being the prime attraction in the Stampede Corral arena will be better than being No. 2, behind the NHL Vancouver Canucks, in the Coliseum. Superior playing dates will mean. less fatigue for his players.

Bust mostly 1975-76 will mean progress as scheduled, with Crozier continuing to emphasize youth as he did in his rookie WHA year with the Blazers. Owner Jim Pattison's decision to move to Calgary won't have any effect on Crozier's long-term development plans.

"I came in blind last year," admits Crozier, "after leaving the Buffalo Sabres I turned to the Blazers thinking I could win with a bunch of kids. I learned differently. It wasn't as I thought in this league.

"So under the circumstances I was happy with 76 points. We missed the playoffs, but in a different division 76 points would have been enough. And we did it with our kids. I continued playing them, even after we won only eight of our first 10 home games, and that should pay off this year.

"All our kids have a certain amount of experience now. I'm certainly going to stick with them. You see a lot of teams improving by adding experienced players but we're committed to the idea that you only build with the younger players."

There were positive developments in the WHA team's final year at Vancouver. For instance, the Blazers made a vast improvement in their defensive record, allowing 270 goals against compared to the outrageous total of 345 in 1973-74. Bobby Hull scored only two goals against the Blazers, meaning the Vancouver defenders must have been doing something properly. No other WHA team held the Golden Jet to so few goals.

"The thing is," Crozier argues, "we weren't really emphasizing defense. We played to score goals. Yet we didn't score all that many goals anyhow. I have found the situation to be much different in the WHA than it was in Buffalo with the NHL. In Buffalo we had a lot of kids coming up through one farm team, the Sabres' farm team, and they all had been taught to play the same system. Here, the kids come from all over the place. And none of them seemed to want to worry about defensive play, last year at least. But now they have a year under their belts and they know what I want. It should be much easier."

Crozier, as Cowboy manager as well as coach, continues bringing in new talent. Bill Reed, for instance, is only in his second year as a pro after being signed by the now-defunct Michigan Stags. Cowboys got him in a special league draft that was held because the WHA was desperate to rid itself of big-money contracts left over by franchises that had gone bankrupt. Cowboys will have to pay Reed, a huge defenseman, only half of what his contract calls for, with the league picking up the rest.

Assorted juniors and college players, like Russ Anderson of the University of Minnesota and Denis McLean of the Calgary juniors, were invited to training camp. So was Steve Hull, a cousin of Bobby Hull's, who led the Southern league in scoring in 1974-75.

"We'll sign anyone who can help us," said Al Millar, the Cowboys' chief scout, "and we offer an interesting situation for any youngster who doesn't make it this fall but wants to sit around. The Western junior league allows four or five 21-year-old players on each team, so we can arrange for some youngsters to play for our junior team, with the idea of developing to turn pro with us."

Crozier is perhaps the ideal man to have at the top of a development program. When he talks about making the playoffs, however, he can only be hoping to reach them on the basis of total points for reaching the bottom of the tough, Canadian division will be a far more likely possibility than reaching the top at this stage of the team's development.

 

Game Log ... (@ away game, * overtime)

no. Date Opponent Score w-l-t pts gf-ga no. Date Opponent Score w-l-t pts gf-ga
1.Oct 12Minnesota0-2L0-1-000-241.Jan 15@ Quebec3-5L23-16-248165-134
2.Oct 14Indianapolis5-3W1-1-025-542.Jan 17Houston4-2W24-16-250169-136
3.Oct 17Cincinnati2-6L1-2-027-1143.Jan 20@ Edmonton10-3W25-16-252179-139
4.Oct 22Denver1-2L1-3-028-1344.Jan 21@ Winnipeg1-4L25-17-252180-143
5.Oct 24Phoenix3-4L1-4-0211-1745.Jan 23@ Houston0-2L25-18-252180-145
6.Oct 26@ New England1-3L1-5-0212-2046.Jan 25@ Houston3-5L25-19-252183-150
7.Oct 29@ Cleveland3-1W2-5-0415-2147.Jan 28@ Phoenix0-5L25-20-252183-155
8.Oct 30@ Indianapolis7-5W3-5-0622-2648.Jan 29@ San Diego0-1L25-21-252183-156
9.Nov 1@ Cincinnati2-3L3-6-0624-2949.Feb 3Cincinnati3-2W26-21-254186-158
10.Nov 2New England*4-3W4-6-0828-3250.Feb 5New England4-6L26-22-254190-164
11.Nov 4San Diego4-4T4-6-1932-3651.Feb 7Quebec4-4T26-22-355194-168
12.Nov 5Quebec4-2W5-6-11136-3852.Feb 8@ Winnipeg4-8L26-23-355198-176
13.Nov 7Cleveland5-2W6-6-11341-4053.Feb 10Toronto4-3W27-23-357202-179
14.Nov 11Edmonton6-3W7-6-11547-4354.Feb 13@ Indianapolis*4-3W28-23-359206-182
15.Nov 13Winnipeg2-4L7-7-11549-4755.Feb 15@ Cincinnati*4-5L28-24-359210-187
16.Nov 16Houston5-3W8-7-11754-5056.Feb 18@ Cleveland0-4L28-25-359210-191
17.Nov 18San Diego2-6L8-8-11756-5657.Feb 20Minnesota3-6L28-26-359213-197
18.Nov 21@ Denver6-2W9-8-11962-5858.Feb 22Toronto4-2W29-26-361217-199
19.Nov 22@ Minnesota6-4W10-8-12168-6259.Feb 24@ Edmonton3-3T29-26-462220-202
20.Nov 27@ Phoenix5-1W11-8-12373-6360.Feb 25Edmonton5-2W30-26-464225-204
21.Nov 29@ San Diego5-4W12-8-12578-6761.Feb 27Cleveland5-4W31-26-466230-208
22.Nov 30@ Edmonton2-4L12-9-12580-7162.Feb 29Phoenix2-5L31-27-466232-213
23.Dec 3Toronto3-4L12-10-12583-7563.Mar 2Edmonton6-3W32-27-468238-216
24.Dec 5Edmonton8-3W13-10-12791-7864.Mar 3@ Edmonton4-6L32-28-468242-222
25.Dec 7@ Edmonton5-4W14-10-12996-8265.Mar 4Quebec4-1W33-28-470246-223
26.Dec 9Quebec4-1W15-10-131100-8366.Mar 6@ Toronto2-5L33-29-470248-228
27.Dec 11Edmonton2-3L15-11-131102-8667.Mar 7@ Winnipeg1-3L33-30-470249-231
28.Dec 12@ Winnipeg2-4L15-12-131104-9068.Mar 9Quebec7-4W34-30-472256-235
29.Dec 14@ Toronto3-3T15-12-232107-9369.Mar 11Edmonton2-0W35-30-474258-235
30.Dec 16@ Quebec3-7L15-13-232110-10070.Mar 16@ Edmonton*4-3W36-30-476262-238
31.Dec 19@ Toronto5-3W16-13-234115-10371.Mar 17@ Winnipeg2-3L36-31-476264-241
32.Dec 20@ Quebec7-8L16-14-234122-11172.Mar 20@ Quebec8-7W37-31-478272-248
33.Dec 23Toronto10-1W17-14-236132-11273.Mar 23@ Toronto5-6L37-32-478277-254
34.Dec 26@ Winnipeg5-4W18-14-238137-11674.Mar 24@ New England7-6W38-32-480284-260
35.Dec 28Winnipeg6-4W19-14-240143-12075.Mar 26@ New England1-4L38-33-480285-264
36.Jan 1Edmonton5-1W20-14-242148-12176.Mar 27@ Quebec4-6L38-34-480289-270
37.Jan 2@ Edmonton3-1W21-14-244151-12277.Mar 28@ Toronto5-4W39-34-482294-274
38.Jan 3Winnipeg3-6L21-15-244154-12878.Mar 30Toronto6-2W40-34-484300-276
39.Jan 6Winnipeg5-0W22-15-246159-12879.Apr 2Winnipeg4-1W41-34-486304-277
40.Jan 7Indianapolis3-1W23-15-248162-12980.Apr 6Winnipeg3-5L41-35-486307-282

Player Scoring

pos.
#
Player
gp
g
a
pts
pim
+/-
ppg
shg
sog
sc%
gp
g
a
pts
pim
D
-
Bilodeau, Yvon
4
0
0
0
2
-4
0
0
2
0.000
-
-
-
-
-
C
10
Caffery, Terry
21
5
13
18
4
+3
1
0
38
0.132
-
-
-
-
-
C
7
Chipperfield, Ron
75
42
41
83
32
+13
19
0
228
0.184
10
5
4
9
6
LW
15
Deadmarsh, Butch
79
26
28
54
196
+5
5
2
215
0.122
8
0
1
1
14
RW
19
Delorenzi, Ray
39
8
12
20
4
+7
0
1
56
0.143
-
-
-
-
-
D
-
Desjardine, Ken
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-
-
-
-
-
LW
24
Driscoll, Peter
75
16
18
34
127
+12
2
0
118
0.136
10
2
5
7
41
D
4
Evans, Chris
75
3
20
23
50
+12
1
0
146
0.021
10
5
5
10
4
LW
-
Gilmour, Dave
1
0
0
0
0
-2
0
0
0
-
-
-
-
-
LW
17
Gratton, Bill
6
0
1
1
2
-2
0
0
4
0.000
-
-
-
-
-
LW
14/25
Haas, Derek
30
5
9
14
6
+5
0
0
34
0.147
1
0
0
0
0
C
18
Harris, Hugh
30
5
9
14
19
-7
0
0
66
0.076
-
-
-
-
-
D
3
Howell, Harry
31
0
3
3
6
+4
0
0
26
0.000
2
0
0
0
2
LW
17
Hull, Steve
58
11
15
26
6
-2
0
0
81
0.136
-
-
-
-
-
G
0
Humphreys, Ed
8
0
0
0
0
-
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
LW
12
Israelson, Larry
57
10
22
32
26
+10
1
0
69
0.145
3
0
0
0
0
LW
16/18
Jodzio, Rick
47
10
7
17
137
+5
0
0
44
0.227
2
0
0
0
14
C
20
Keogan, Murray
38
7
11
18
19
-
0
0
61
0.115
-
-
-
-
-
C
20
Kirk, Gavin
15
7
8
15
14
+8
1
0
37
0.189
10
4
6
10
19
D
6
Lacombe, Francois
71
3
28
31
62
+11
1
0
100
0.030
8
0
0
0
2
RW
11
Lawson, Danny
80
44
52
96
46
+13
7
4
381
0.115
9
4
4
8
19
C
16
Leiter, Bob
51
17
17
34
8
+6
6
0
94
0.181
3
2
0
2
0
RW
22
Lukowich, Bernie
15
5
2
7
18
-5
0
0
24
0.208
10
4
3
7
8
D
-
McCrimmon, Jim
5
0
0
0
2
+1
0
0
0
-
-
-
-
-
G
1
McLeod, Don
63
0
13
13
4
-
0
0
6
0.000
10
0
1
1
4
C
10
Mercredi, Victor
3
0
0
0
29
0
0
0
1
0.000
-
-
-
-
-
RW
17
Miller, Warren
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0.000
10
1
0
1
28
D
23
Miszuk, John
69
2
21
23
66
+31
0
0
77
0.026
10
0
1
1
10
LW
9
Morrison, George
79
25
32
57
13
+5
7
1
145
0.172
10
3
2
5
0
D
22
Olds, Wally
28
0
5
5
6
+4
0
0
17
0.000
9
0
2
2
4
C
10
Powis, Lynn
21
4
10
14
2
+2
0
1
63
0.063
10
5
4
9
12
D
3
Reed, Bill
29
0
5
5
14
+3
0
0
29
0.000
-
-
-
-
-
D
2
Rupp, Duane
42
0
16
16
33
-6
0
0
61
0.000
7
0
2
2
8
RW
8
Sentes, Dick
72
25
24
49
33
+9
7
0
139
0.180
8
0
1
1
8
LW
5
Tannahill, Don
78
25
24
49
10
+6
1
5
174
0.144
10
2
5
7
8
D
21
Terbenche, Paul
58
2
4
6
22
-3
0
1
58
0.034
10
0
6
6
6
C
10
Walton, Rob
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0.000
-
-
-
-
-
D
19
Westrum, Pat
9
0
2
2
23
+2
0
0
8
0.000
6
0
1
1
19
G
30
Wood, Wayne
19
0
0
0
4
-
0
0
0
-
-
-
-
-
-

Goaltending

Goaltender
gp
min
ga
en
so
w-l-t
gaa
sog
sv%
gp
min
ga
w-l
gaa
Humphreys, Ed
8
441
27
2
0
2-5-0
3.67
255
0.894
1
20
0
0-0
0.00
McLeod, Don
63
3534
206
2
1
30-27-3
3.50
1600
0.871
10
579
37
5-5
3.83
Wood, Wayne
19
880
45
0
1
9-3-1
3.07
415
0.892
-
-
-
-
-

Transactions

• Dick Sentes acquired from San Diego for rights to Joe Noris, Aug 1975
• Rights to Chris Evans purchased from New England, Aug 1975
• George Morrison, Don Tannahill, Joe Micheletti and Wally Olds acquired from Minnesota for John McKenzie and cash, Sep 1975
• Terry Caffery acquired from New England for future considerations, Oct 1975
• Keith McCreary and Vic Mercredi acquired from Atlanta (NHL) for Claude St. Sauveur, Oct 1975. McCreary announced retirement immediately, Mercredi left team after third game and was subsequently released
• Murray Keogan purchased from Phoenix, Oct 1975
• Hugh Harris traded to Indianapolis for future considerations, Jan 1976
• Harry Howell signed to contract, Jan 1976
• Wayne Wood traded to Toronto for Gavin Kirk, Mar 1976
• Pat Westrum signed as free agent from defunct Minnesota, Mar 1976

Splits versus opposing teams, home and away, and by month

opponent overall gf-ga home gf-ga away gf-ga
Cincinnati1-3-011-161-1-05-80-2-06-8
Cleveland3-1-013-112-0-010-61-1-03-5
Denver-Ottawa1-1-07-40-1-01-21-0-06-2
Edmonton10-3-165-396-1-034-154-2-131-24
Houston2-2-012-122-0-09-50-2-03-7
Indianapolis4-0-019-122-0-08-42-0-011-8
Minnesota1-2-09-120-2-03-81-0-06-4
New England2-3-017-221-1-08-91-2-09-13
Phoenix1-3-010-150-2-05-91-1-05-6
Quebec5-4-148-454-0-123-121-4-025-33
San Diego1-2-111-150-1-16-101-1-05-5
Toronto6-3-147-334-1-027-122-2-120-21
Winnipeg4-8-038-463-3-023-201-5-015-26
 
October3-5-022-261-4-011-172-1-011-9
November9-4-158-455-2-132-274-2-026-18
December7-5-163-494-2-033-163-3-130-33
January6-7-040-364-1-020-102-6-020-26
February6-6-249-575-3-134-341-3-115-23
March9-7-068-635-0-025-104-7-043-53
April1-1-07-61-1-07-60-0-00-0

 

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