New England Whalers 1972-73 to 1978-79

Owners

Robert Schmertz

Howard Baldwin

Rinks

Boston Garden 1972-73

Hartford Civic Center 1974 to 1978

• Also played games at the Springfield (MA) Coliseum (1974) and at the Eastern States Coliseum (1978-79) after the collapse of the Hartford Civic Center in January 1978.

Seasons & Leaders

1972-73 Record 46-30-2, 94 pts League Champions Coach Jack Kelley Goals 53, Tom Webster 39, Terry Caffery 39, Larry Pleau Assists 61, Terry Caffery 56, Jim Dorey Points 103, Tom Webster 100, Terry Caffery Penalty Min. 114, Brad Selwood 108, Larry Pleau Wins 31, Al Smith Goals Against 3.18, Al Smith Shutouts 3, Al Smith

1973-74 Record 43-31-4, 90 pts Coach Ron Ryan Goals 43, Tom Webster 29, Mike Byers 29, Tim Sheehy Assists 48, John French 43, Larry Pleau Points 72, John French 70, Tom Webster Penalty Min. 148, Rick Ley 134, Jim Dorey Wins 30, Al Smith Goals Against 3.08, Al Smith Shutouts 2, Al Smith

1974-75 Record 43-30-5, 91 pts Coach Ron Ryan Jack Kelley Goals 40, Tom Webster 35, Wayne Carleton Assists 41, John French 39, Wayne Carleton Points 74, Wayne Carleton 64, Larry Pleau 64, Tom Webster Penalty Min. 144, Nick Fotiu 117, Brad Selwood Wins 33, Al Smith Goals Against 3.24, Christer Abrahamsson Shutouts 2, Al Smith

1975-76 Record 33-40-7, 73 pts Coach Jack Kelley Don Blackburn Harry Neale Goals 33, Tom Webster 29, Larry Pleau Assists 50, Tom Webster 45, Larry Pleau Points 83, Tom Webster 74, Larry Pleau Penalty Min. 102, Gordie Roberts 94, Nick Fotiu Wins 18, Christer Abrahamsson Goals Against 3.42, Christer Abrahamsson Shutouts 2, Christer Abrahamsson

1976-77 Record 35-40-6, 76 pts Coach Harry Neale Goals 39, George Lyle 36, Tom Webster Assists 57, Mike Rogers 49, Tom Webster Points 85, Tom Webster 82, Mike Rogers Penalty Min. 141, Ron Busniuk 102, Rick Ley Wins 15, Christer Abrahamsson Goals Against 3.12, Cap Raeder Shutouts 2, Cap Raeder

1977-78 Record 44-31-5, 93 pts Coach Harry Neale Goals 34, Gordie Howe 32, Mike Antonovich Assists 62, Gordie Howe 61, Mark Howe Points 96, Gordie Howe 91, Mark Howe Penalty Min. 192, Jack Carlson 140, Alan Hangsleben Wins 30, Al Smith Goals Against 3.22, Al Smith Shutouts 3, Louis Levasseur

1978-79 Record 37-34-9, 83 pts Coach Bill Dineen Don Blackburn Goals 42, Mark Howe 32, Andre Lacroix Assists 65, Mark Howe 56, Andre Lacroix Points 107, Mark Howe 88, Andre Lacroix Penalty Min. 148, Alan Hangsleben 135, Rick Ley Wins 20, John Garrett Goals Against 3.31, Al Smith Shutouts 2, John Garrett

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Webster, Tom	352	220	205	425	241
Pleau, Larry	468	157	215	372	180
Rogers, Mike	274	98	159	257	97
Ley, Rick	479	35	210	245	716
Howe, Mark	147	72	126	198	64
Roberts, Gordie	311	42	144	186	502
Selwood, Brad	431	42	143	185	556
French, John	226	60	124	184	102
Sheehy, Tim	232	91	91	182	82
Keon, Dave	190	60	106	166	12
Lyle, George	202	86	75	161	190
Caffery, Terry	143	54	98	152	26
Howe, Gordie	134	53	86	139	136
Antonovich, Mike	170	64	71	135	77
McKenzie, John	189	57	76	133	201
Dorey, Jim	183	18	113	131	272
Byers, Mike	190	61	54	115	20
Blackburn, Don	146	40	74	114	40
Hangsleben, Alan	344	36	73	109	437
Carleton, Wayne	108	47	60	107	56
Green, Ted	210	29	70	99	118
Earl, Tom	346	40	56	96	116
Abrahamsson, Thommie	203	28	67	95	126
Williams, Tom	139	31	58	89	20
Lacroix, Andre	78	32	56	88	34
Karlander, Al	125	27	55	82	48
Backstrom, Ralph	115	31	50	81	36
Paiement, Rosaire	93	33	45	78	101
Hurley, Paul	251	9	66	75	135
O'Donnell, Fred	155	32	27	59	165
Climie, Ron	93	33	24	57	29
Swain, Garry	171	22	33	55	70
Harris, Hugh	75	24	28	52	78
Carlson, Jack	136	18	32	50	334
Miller, Warren	77	26	23	49	44
Howe, Marty	141	19	25	44	97
Selby, Brit	65	13	29	42	48
Ahearn, Kevin	78	20	22	42	18
Danby, John	150	16	25	41	16
Arndt, Danny	115	16	22	38	21
Roberts, Doug	140	7	31	38	84
Plumb, Ron	105	5	25	30	51
Bolduc, Dan	88	15	13	28	51
Carlson, Steve	69	10	16	26	51
Carroll, Greg	48	9	14	23	27
Butters, Bill	71	2	21	23	134
Mayer, Jim	51	11	9	20	21
Cunniff, John	62	10	10	20	30
Hyndman, Mike	59	4	14	18	21
Charlebois, Bob	110	8	10	18	6
Borgeson, Don	31	9	8	17	4
MacGregor, Gary	30	8	8	16	4
Callighen, Brett	33	6	10	16	41
Douglas, Jordy	51	6	10	16	15
Warner, Jim	41	6	9	15	20
McManama, Rob	37	3	10	13	28
Busniuk, Ron	70	1	12	13	196
Stoughton, Blaine	36	9	3	12	2
Smith, Guy	38	4	8	12	31
Smith, Al (G)	260	0	12	12	129
Sarrazin, Dick	35	4	7	11	0
Hynes, Dave	22	5	4	9	4
Jordan, Ric	68	1	8	9	26
Fotiu, Nick	110	5	4	9	238
Inkpen, Dave	41	0	7	7	15
Maxwell, Bryan	17	2	1	3	11
Hanson, Dave	7	0	2	2	35
Peloffy, Andre	10	2	0	2	2
Smedsmo, Dale	15	2	0	2	54
Landon, Bruce (G)	122	0	2	2	38
Hoganson, Paul (G)	4	0	1	1	0
Methe, Gerry	5	0	1	1	4
Gateman, Marty	12	0	1	1	6
Abrahamsson, Christer (G)	101	0	1	1	6
Cooley, Gaye (G)	0	0	0	0	0
Keeler, Mike	1	0	0	0	0
Ouimet, Ted (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Roy, Pierre	1	0	0	0	2
Berglund, Bill (G)	5	0	0	0	0
Richardson, Steve	6	0	0	0	0
Brubaker, Jeff	12	0	0	0	19
Troy, Jim	22	0	0	0	50
Levasseur, Louis (G)	27	0	0	0	2
Raeder, Cap (G)	29	0	0	0	2
Garrett, John (G)	41	0	0	0	6

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Webster, Tom	43	28	26	54	19
Pleau, Larry	66	29	22	51	37
Ley, Rick	73	7	33	40	142
Rogers, Mike	46	13	21	34	14
Sheehy, Tim	35	14	19	33	26
Keon, Dave	29	11	21	32	6
Antonovich, Mike	29	17	12	29	22
Dorey, Jim	21	3	22	25	67
McKenzie, John	29	11	14	25	24
Roberts, Gordie	46	4	20	24	81
French, John	26	8	15	23	4
Howe, Mark	20	12	9	21	24
Byers, Mike	25	10	11	21	20
Williams, Tom	19	6	14	20	12
Selwood, Brad	63	6	12	18	81
Hangsleben, Alan	47	4	12	16	97
Paiement, Rosaire	17	4	11	15	41
Howe, Gordie	24	8	6	14	19
Earl, Tom	46	3	11	14	28
Bolduc, Dan	30	3	10	13	8
Lyle, George	26	6	6	12	42
Caffery, Terry	8	3	7	10	0
Green, Ted	19	1	9	10	32
Plumb, Ron	23	2	8	10	16
Blackburn, Don	12	3	6	9	6
Carlson, Steve	18	2	7	9	11
Backstrom, Ralph	20	5	4	9	8
Abrahamsson, Thommie	22	2	7	9	15
Lacroix, Andre	10	4	4	8	0
Miller, Warren	10	0	8	8	28
Hurley, Paul	21	0	8	8	18
Swain, Garry	25	3	5	8	56
Carleton, Wayne	6	2	5	7	14
Stoughton, Blaine	7	4	3	7	4
Karlander, Al	12	1	6	7	2
McManama, Rob	12	4	3	7	4
Selby, Brit	13	3	4	7	13
O'Donnell, Fred	17	2	5	7	20
Fotiu, Nick	20	5	2	7	84
Douglas, Jordy	10	4	0	4	23
Carlson, Jack	14	2	2	4	23
Cunniff, John	18	2	2	4	8
Butters, Bill	5	0	3	3	15
Climie, Ron	6	3	0	3	2
Ahearn, Kevin	14	1	2	3	9
Howe, Marty	23	1	2	3	21
Borgeson, Don	3	1	1	2	0
Smith, Guy	11	2	0	2	4
Busniuk, Ron	17	0	2	2	14
Danby, John	19	1	1	2	0
Roberts, Doug	19	1	1	2	8
Inkpen, Dave	5	0	1	1	4
Charlebois, Bob	11	1	0	1	4
Levasseur, Louis (G)	12	0	1	1	2
Smith, Al (G)	35	0	1	1	12
Warner, Jim	1	0	0	0	0
Hanson, Dave	1	0	0	0	0
Keeler, Mike	1	0	0	0	0
Cooley, Gaye (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Peloffy, Andre	2	0	0	0	0
Troy, Jim	2	0	0	0	29
Harris, Hugh	3	0	0	0	0
Abrahamsson, Christer (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Brubaker, Jeff	3	0	0	0	12
Jordan, Ric	7	0	0	0	6
Arndt, Danny	8	0	0	0	0
Landon, Bruce (G)	8	0	0	0	0
Garrett, John (G)	8	0	0	0	0
Raeder, Cap (G)	15	0	0	0	0

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Smith, Al	260	15389	834	10	141-98-15	3.25
Landon, Bruce	122	6695	386	2	50-50-9	3.46
Abrahamsson, Christer	101	5739	342	3	41-46-7	3.58
Garrett, John	41	2496	149	2	20-17-4	3.58
Levasseur, Louis	27	1655	91	3	14-11-2	3.30
Raeder, Cap	29	1428	77	2	12-11-1	3.24
Berglund, Bill	5	216	13	0	2-1-0	3.61
Hoganson, Paul	4	224	16	0	1-2-0	4.29
Ouimet, Ted	1	20	3	0	0-0-0	9.00
Cooley, Gaye (Playoffs only)	-	-	-	-	-	-

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Smith, Al	35	1947	124	1	18-15	3.82
Levasseur, Louis	12	719	31	0	8-4	2.59
Raeder, Cap	15	879	38	2	7-8	2.59
Garrett, John	8	447	32	0	4-3	4.30
Landon, Bruce	8	389	21	0	4-2	3.24
Abrahamsson, Christer	3	91	5	0	0-1	3.30
Cooley, Gaye	1	1	0	0	0-0	0.00

History

After the World Hockey Association had announced its first ten teams in early November 1971, two subsequent "regional" franchises were granted on November 21, 1971, to Ontario Province and to New England. The New England team came under the control of Howard Baldwin and John Coburn, both young and savvy but not of great wealth. To bankroll the team, Robert Schmertz (later to own the NBA's Boston Celtics) came on as the principal investor. Baldwin was in his twenties but already had a hockey pedigree working with the Philadelphia Flyers since that team's inception in 1967. The new team landed in Boston almost immediately. The Bruins were an NHL powerhouse in the early 1970s (winners of the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972), but the greater Boston area was large enough, with an extremely robust amateur and collegiate hockey scene, such that placing a second team could possibly work. The new team was dubbed the New England Whalers, the name chosen partly for the first three letters being "WHA". Jack Kelley was hired as coach. The former long-time coach at Boston University was a respected hockey man who knew the hockey scene well in and around Boston. The Whalers would not go for the one big star, but instead build a team with an eye toward depth, drawing on the many players available in the Boston area familair to Kelley. In doing so, the Whalers featured a sizable number of American-born players, a notable fact for hockey in 1972. Some notable NHL veterans also joined the new Whalers. Ted Green, a long-time Boston Bruin and member of the recent Stanley Cup teams, signed on as a defenseman. Tom Webster bailed from the floundering California Seals to join New England, and goaltender Al Smith came over after three seasons stopping pucks for Pittsburgh. The Whalers were able to secure dates at the Boston Garden, but these were not the ideal dates, often in the middle of the week or matinees on the weekend. All other home games were played at the antiquated Boston Arena, which was barely adequate for major-league hockey. Fans in Boston seemed to support the Whalers, partly out of curiosity and also for a chance to actually see a game, whereas Bruins games were almost always sold out. The first-year Whalers were the class of the WHA, finishing with the league's best record at 46-30-2, and an eventual win of the league's first championship trophy, known then as the World Trophy but would quickly be known as the Avco Cup. Webster was the team's star with 53 goals and 103 points, and rookie-of-the-year Terry Caffery scored 39 goals and 100 points. Former Canadien Larry Pleau chipped in 39 goals and Tim Sheehy had 33. Ted Green, Jim Dorey, Brad Selwood and Rick Ley formed the core of a very solid defense that changed very little over the first few years of the team. The 1973-74 team also finished in first place, led by Tom Webster's 43 goals. But the Whalers could not defend the Cup, being eliminated by the surging Chicago Cougars in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But more importantly for the team, it was becoming plainly clear that Boston would not be the team's home in the long term. Attendance had fallen drastically, and the Whalers were saddled with the least-preferable playing dates at the Garden or the Arena. But Baldwin and Schmertz were already looking for a new home. In 1974, the Whalers made plans to vacate Boston and settle in Hartford, Connecticut, at a brand-new arena that, for the moment, was without a prime tenant. The move was beneficial for everyone: the Whalers had Hartford to itself, and the city's many insurance corporations banded together to buy into the team, ensuring a strong financial foundation for years to come (Robert Schmertz unfortunately had fallen ill in the meantime and passed away in 1975). The arena would not be ready until January 1975. Until then, the Whalers played at the Eastern States Coliseum in nearby Springfield. The 1974-75 team played well, won first place in their division, but like the year before, could not get past the first round of the playoffs. In his first season as a Whaler, Wayne Carleton scored 35 goals and a team-best 74 points. The Whalers would experience their worst WHA season in 1975-76, with just 73 points and a third-place finish. Tom Webster continued to play well, aided by Mike Rogers, obtained in a trade with Edmonton, and Ralph Backstrom, a refugee from the failed Denver-Ottawa franchise. The Whalers would enjoy an unlikely run through the 1976 playoffs, lasting two rounds, almost single-handedly the result of strong goaltending from a minor-league call-up named Cap Raeder. Although he would never reach such heights again as a player, Raeder became a local legend for his three weeks of hard work in the spring of 1976. The 1976-77 club finished fourth in the six-team Eastern Division and were bumped one round into the playoffs. Tom Webster's 36 goals and 85 points paced the club, while Mike Rogers was not far behind with 82 points on a team leading 57 assists. The principal midseason arrival was veteran Dave Keon, who was now playing for his fourth team in two years of WHA participation. Keon arrived as a result of the second passing of the Minnesota Fighting Saints in January 1977, and he responded with 39 points in 34 games as a Whaler. Fortunately for the center, New England would be his team for the remainder of his career, which would extend through 1982. By 1977, Howard Baldwin had rose to the role of President of the WHA, and he was a principal figure in the merger negotiations between the WHA and the NHL. The Whalers were well supported in Hartford as well as being healthy financially and consistently one of the league's most stable franchises. There was no doubt that should the two leagues merge, the Whalers would be included in an expanded NHL. That summer, the Whalers signed the Howes — Gordie, Mark and Marty — from the Houston Aeros. The Howes signed with New England specifically because of its stability and its healthy chances for admission into the NHL in the event of a merger. However, the 1977 merger vote failed. The Whalers, now with the Howes, geared up for another season as members of the WHA. The 1977-78 Whalers started the year on a tear, winning fifteen of their first seventeen games, including thirteen in a row. Tom Webster, their most consistent scorer since 1972 and who had 15 goals during the initial month, was lost for the season with a recurring back injury in November. From that point on, the Whalers played average hockey, winning and losing equally often. The season took a bizarre and potentially tragic turn when the roof of the Hartford Civic Center collapsed in January 1978, under the weight of heavy snow. This forced the team to relocate to Springfield for the remainder of the season (and through January 1980). The collapse happened in the middle of the night and fortunately no one was injured or killed. On the ice, the Whalers cooled and finished second in the league behind Winnipeg, and the two teams met in the final round for the Avco Cup, in which the Jets prevailed. Gordie and Mark Howe lead the team in scoring, finishing first and second respectively. Merger negotiations took place again in 1978, but failed. Once again, the Whalers convened to play another season in the WHA, which by now was reduced to seven teams, and would lose another one in a matter of months. The 1978-79 club finished fourth in the reduced six-team league. Mark Howe had a breakthrough season, setting club records with 65 assists and 107 points. Andre Lacroix arrived from Houston and chipped in 88 points, while former Birmingham Bull John Garrett shared net duties with Al Smith. The Whalers defeated Cincinnati in the playoffs before being eliminated in the semifinal round by Wayne Gretzky and the surging Edmonton Oilers. New England became one of four WHA teams to be admitted to the NHL in 1979. Gordie Howe, who would turn 52 in February 1980, returned to the NHL after a nine-year absence. He played in all 80 games, scored 15 goals to advance his all-time goal-scoring record to 801, and even briefly played on the same line with Bobby Hull, who had come out of retirement after the merger then was traded to Hartford. Centering them was a 39-year old kid, Dave Keon. The NHL Whalers were ably represented by players who had played in the WHA, with Mike Rogers leading the team in scoring, Blaine Stoughton leading in goals, and Mark Howe third in points with 80. Known as the Hartford Whalers, they played at the enlarged Hartford Civic Center II arena before moving south to Raleigh, North Carolina, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. In 2006, the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, joining Quebec/Colorado as the only teams to win championships in the WHA and the NHL.

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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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