Corral Cause for Exclusion from NHL • by George Bylich & Dunc Scott • The Calgary Herald • June 25, 1977 When the Stampede Corral opened its doors for business on Boxing Day, 1950, it was the finest hockey edifice west of Maple Leaf Gardens. For more than two decades the Corral was something Calgarians could be proud of. In its day it has housed some of the finest hockey of its time, being the site of countless Allan Cup, Memorial and Edinburgh Cup games. It, however, will never be the home of a National Hockey League team. And that, considering the direction in which major hockey is moving, indicates it has outlived its usefulness. The National League Friday finally got around to revealing it would accommodate "not less than six" World Hockey Association teams in an expansion program to take effect next season. While none of the new cities were named, it's expected Calgary will be kept waiting in the wings until such time as a major facility is available. Speculation was, however, that Calgary Cowboys owner Jim Pattison was not being completely left out of the expansion. Pattison has asked and presumably has received a leave of absence of two years in which time it's hoped Calgary will be able to provide a proper building. Nelson Skalbania, co-owner of the Edmonton Oilers and a member of the WHA's merger committee, said Friday afternoon that was the probable route for Calgary's entry into the NHL. "It's an NHL requirement that you must have a minimum of 12,500 seats," said Skalbania. "I doubt the NHL will waive that rule but I believe they (NHL) also have left the door open for Calgary when they meet the conditions. Otherwise, the price for getting into the NHL will be the same as it is for the other WHA teams right now. I'd venture to say Calgary will be out for a couple of years, by mutual agreement of both the Cowboys' owners and the National League." Cowboys president Billy Hay appeared quite pleased by the terms of the NHL's expansion announcement. "I've been in touch with our Vancouver people," sald Hay Friday afternoon, "and right now they're trying to confirm their position regarding the National League statement. On the basis of what we've heard to date, our position looks good if we can get a building." Hay confirmed that the Cowboys in all likelihood would be in a state of limbo for the next couple of years. "It's not feasible that we would be playing next year," added Hay. "For several reasons. The National League won't play in the Corral. Just think, if we made the playoffs next spring, we'd have to play our games in some other city." The announced expansion will take place in three phases. In the first year the WHA teams will play in one division under the NHL banner. They would play pre-season exhibitions against existing NHL teams but then have no contact with them until the playoffs at which point the top four WHA teams would advance into the Stanley Cup playdowns. There would be a partial interlocking schedule in the second season, moving to a fully integrated schedule in the third season of play. That would be the year the Cowboys would hope to make their return. There has been speculation that at that time there would be a realignment that would make them part of a Canadian Division. While the WHA teams will be submitting their applications on an individual basis, it's expected there will be seven in addition to Calgary that will be making bids. Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Cincinnati and New England are considered shoo-ins with Houston and Birmingham also expected to make a strong pitch. Though NHL president John Ziegler announced the cost to new franchise holders would be less than the rumored $3.3 million, Skalbania said the WHA teams would be losing some revenue on other fronts. There was an indication the WHA would have to forego the lucrative exhibition schedule they had planned against European opposition. If the Cowboys are faced with a two-year hiatus as it appears, one of Joe Crozier's immediate tasks will be the placement of some of his brighter, young talent on loan to other clubs. There have been hints in recent weeks that area has already been investigated. "Rest assured we'll be trying to hold all our good young kids," said Crozier. "We feel we've got a lot of good ones on our negotiation lists, too. I made up my mind some time ago the future of this hockey team lay with a solid youth program. That's the direction we've been headed in all along." The way things appear now, the Cowboys will have a lot of time to devote to thorough scouting. Providing, of course, there's a new building in the offing.

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