Phoenix Roadrunners 1974-75 to 1976-77

Owners

William McFarland

Karl Eller

Brian O'Neill

Rinks

Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Seasons & Leaders

1974-75 Record 39-31-8, 86 pts Coach Sandy Hucul Goals 36, Michel Cormier 35, John Gray 35, Murray Keogan Assists 45, Dennis Sobchuk 44, Jim Boyd Points 77, Dennis Sobchuk 70, Jim Boyd Penalty Min. 201, John Hughes 168, Cam Connor Wins 25, Gary Kurt Goals Against 3.27, Jack Norris Shutouts 2, Gary Kurt

1975-76 Record 39-35-6, 84 pts Coach Sandy Hucul Goals 47, Del Hall 41, Robbie Ftorek Assists 72, Robbie Ftorek 45, John Gray Points 113, Robbie Ftorek 91, Del Hall Penalty Min. 295, Cam Connor 136, John Gray Wins 21, Jack Norris Goals Against 3.18, Jack Norris Shutouts 1, Gary Kurt 1, Jack Norris

1976-77 Record 28-48-4, 60 pts Coach Al Rollins Goals 46, Robbie Ftorek 38, Del Hall Assists 71, Robbie Ftorek 41, Del Hall Points 117, Robbie Ftorek 79, Del Hall Penalty Min. 169, Jerry Rollins 136, Serge Beaudoin Wins 17, Clay Hebenton Goals Against 4.22, Clay Hebenton Shutouts none

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Ftorek, Robbie	213	118	180	298	224
Hall, Del	160	85	85	170	40
Gray, John	182	80	90	170	302
Cormier, Michel	182	70	69	139	52
Boyd, Jim	156	49	78	127	62
Huston, Ron	159	42	83	125	14
Mononen, Lauri	144	36	50	86	29
Rautakallio, Pekka	151	15	70	85	16
Sobchuk, Dennis	78	32	45	77	36
Connor, Cam	130	27	40	67	463
Keogan, Murray	86	35	31	66	72
Niekamp, Jim	229	7	55	62	234
Repo, Seppo	80	29	31	60	10
Borgeson, Don	74	29	28	57	38
Lariviere, Garry	134	14	41	55	176
Hughes, Frank	48	24	29	53	20
Beaudoin, Serge	153	6	45	51	238
Liddington, Bob	80	20	24	44	28
McLeod, Al	186	6	38	44	215
Veneruzzo, Gary	61	19	24	43	27
Odrowski, Gerry	77	5	38	43	77
Tamminen, Juhani	65	10	29	39	72
Gorman, Dave	85	14	25	39	38
Migneault, John	115	14	25	39	30
Hobin, Mike	77	18	19	37	16
Dean, Barry	71	9	25	34	110
McNamee, Pete	69	10	21	31	109
Hughes, John	72	4	25	29	201
Barlow, Bob	51	6	20	26	8
Harris, Hugh	22	10	10	20	15
Mowat, Bob	53	9	10	19	34
Young, Howie	56	4	15	19	67
Bennett, Wendell	67	4	15	19	92
Stevens, Mike	70	2	16	18	69
Rollins, Jerry	63	4	10	14	169
Clarke, Jim	59	1	9	10	57
Hinse, Andre	16	2	7	9	14
Kurt, Gary (G)	130	0	9	9	14
Erickson, Grant	33	4	4	8	6
Bray, Duane	46	2	6	8	62
Sleep, Mike	22	4	2	6	6
Popiel, Jan	28	3	2	5	8
Newell, Rick	25	0	4	4	39
Norris, Jack (G)	74	0	3	3	8
Sobchuk, Gene	3	1	0	1	0
Davidson, Blair	2	0	0	0	2
Hebenton, Clay (G)	58	0	0	0	2

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Kurt, Gary	120	6962	465	3	54-55-7	4.01
Norris, Jack	74	4374	235	2	35-29-8	3.22
Hebenton, Clay	58	3209	229	0	17-30-3	4.28

History

Phoenix had developed a solid reputation for supporting hockey after the Roadrunners arrived in 1967, relocating from Victoria, British Columbia, members of the Western Hockey League. With its large winter-time population of "snowbirds" who migrate to Arizona from the colder climes, there was no shortage of hockey fans to adopt the 'runners as their team. The Roadrunners played seven seasons in the Western Hockey League, and won the 1972-73 and 1973-74 Patrick Cup as league champions. In September 1973, the WHA awarded one of its two expansion franchises to Phoenix, a group headed by William MacFarland and Karl Eller. The new WHA Roadrunners would begin play in 1974-75. There was a lot of continuity between the 1973-74 Western League club and the 1974-75 WHA edition. Sandy Hucul, who coached the Western League team, remained as coach, while nearly a dozen players on the 1974-75 club had played for Phoenix the previous season. This gave the expansion team a headstart, which would benefit the team immediately. The Roadrunners featured strong players at every position: Gary Kurt (from New Jersey) and Jack Norris (from Edmonton via Indianapolis) in goal, Bob Barlow (WHL Roadrunners) and all-star Gerry Odrowski (from Los Angeles) on defense, and forwards Michel Cormier, Murray Keogan (both of the WHL Roadrunners), Jim Boyd, John Gray (both of the CHL Oklahoma City Blazers), Dennis Sobchuk (on loan for the year from the Cincinnati Stingers) and Robbie Ftorek (late of NHL Detroit). Coach Hucul demanded his teams play a tight-checking game but also gave his scorers room to create plays. As a result, the Roadrunners were an expansion team in name only, finishing with 39 wins, 300 goals scored, and a trip to the 1975 playoffs. Five players scored at least 30 goals, while Boyd and Don Borgeson contributed 26 and 29 goals. Fourteen rookies played at least 50 games, the defense was third stingiest in the league with 265 goals against, and Hucul was named Coach of the Year by the league. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners lasted just a single round in the playoffs, bowing to Quebec in five games. The next season was a near-repeat of the first season: the Roadrunners won 39 games again and another trip to the playoffs. Robbie Ftorek became one of the league's elite players, scoring 41 goals, assisting on 72 for a total of 113 points. There was turnover as Gerry Odrowski moved on to Minnesota, Dennis Sobchuk went back to the Stingers, and Don Borgeson signed with Denver. In their places were Del Hall, Ron Huston and Gary Veneruzzo. Hall led the team with 47 goals, while the defense now included Pekka Rautakallio, Serge Beaudoin and Garry Lariviere, joining Jim Niekamp as the main returnee from the 1974-75 team. As in the previous year, the Roadrunners could not advance in the playoffs, losing to San Diego in the first round. Despite two 39-win seasons, the Roadrunners were struggling financially, attendance at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum not enough to support the team. When the 1976-77 season started, a new principal owner, Brian O'Neill, was in place, Sandy Hucul had stepped down, replaced as coach by General manager Al Rollins, and a sense that this could be a long season if the finances didn't improve quickly. At first, the Roadrunners played well, sporting a 12-9-2 record into late November. The financial strain forced the team to unload players for cash, and the team began to lose regularly. On the ice, the Roadrunners were led by Robbie Ftorek and Del Hall, plus an all-Finn line of Juhani Tamminen, Seppo Repo and Lauri Mononen. Goaltender Jack Norris was gone, the goaltending now up to Gary Kurt and rookie Clay Hebenton. The defense did not hold up, the opposition scoring 383 goals, and the Roadrunners finished 28-48-4. The sell-off of players could not keep the team solvent. Even Ftorek, who would win the league's Most Valuable Player award, was not safe: he had been sold to Cincinnati late in the season, under the agreement that he finish the year with Phoenix. In March, the owners announced that the team would fold. Immediately after its last game, April 6, 1977, the Roadrunners shut down operations. Despite the end of its tenure in the WHA, hockey in Phoenix persisted off and on for many years. In October 1977, the Roadrunners joined the Central League, but folded 27 games into the 1977-78 season, intending now to join the low-rent Pacific League, which would start play on Christmas Day, 1977. The Roadrunners played both seasons that the PHL existed, even being named the 1979 league champions by virtue of having the league's best record. Many players on those 1977-1979 teams were former WHA players, including some who had played for the Roadrunners in the WHA. There was no professional hockey in Phoenix until 1987, when the International League placed a team there, reusing the Roadrunners nickname. This team was the top minor-league affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings for many years. Wayne Gretzky, by now a King, played a pre-season exhibition game as a member of the Roadrunners on one occasion. Major league hockey returned to Phoenix in 1996, when the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Arizona. For one season, the new Coyotes of the NHL and the Roadrunners of the IHL called Phoenix home. However, the IHL squad ceased operations in 1997.

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