Denver Spurs
Encyclopedia
The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey
team based out of Denver, Colorado
. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League
in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum
. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72. After the WHL folded in 1974, the team transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season.
already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement by which Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals
(then under league ownership) and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins
would be sold to a Seattle group who held the other conditional franchise that had been awarded.
The proposed arrangement fell through, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix then opted to move the Spurs to the WHA for the 1975-76 season.
The WHA Spurs are sometimes considered as a continuation of the Chicago Cougars
, who had folded following the 1974-75 season, as most of the team's players were claimed from the Cougars in a dispersal draft, combined with some players from the CHL Spurs.
A Sports Illustrated
preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe
's 28th year in major league hockey, and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's."
Fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising, and did not consider the WHA to be a major league. As a result, fans stayed away in droves. The Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros
, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena.
The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran Ralph Backstrom
was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at 38 his career was in decline. Still, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals-against average.
The Spurs played their first regular season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers
. Before only 5,000 fans, the Spurs scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado.
Rumors had abounded even before the Spurs got on the ice that the NHL was planning to move either the Seals or the Kansas City Scouts
to Denver. Knowing he couldn't hope to compete with an NHL team, Mullenix began the process of selling the team to a group of Canadian
businessmen on New Year's Eve. Without any announcement, the team was quietly moved to Ottawa
on January 2, 1976, where it was renamed the Ottawa Civics
. The players, who were on the road reportedly only learned of the move to Ottawa when they stood on the ice for their next road game (in their Denver colors) and suddenly heard O Canada
being played. Negotiations for the sale were called off on January 15, and the team folded for good two days later.
Ultimately, NHL hockey did come to Denver the following season with the relocation of the Kansas City Scouts as the Colorado Rockies
.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team based out of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League
Western Hockey League (minor pro)
The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum
Denver Coliseum
Denver Coliseum is an indoor arena, owned by the City and County of Denver, operated by its Theatres and Arenas division and is located in Denver, Colorado...
. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a championship in 1971–72. After the WHL folded in 1974, the team transferred to the Central Hockey League for the 1974–75 season.
Spurs in the WHA
In June, 1974, Ivan Mullenix, owner of the CHL Spurs, was awarded a "conditional" Denver NHL franchise for the 1976-77 season. With the McNichols Sports ArenaMcNichols Sports Arena
McNichols Sports Arena was an indoor arena, in Denver, Colorado, USA, adjacent to Mile High Stadium. Completed in 1975, at a cost of $10 million, it seated 16,061, for hockey games, 17,171, for basketball games and contained 27 luxury suites, which were installed as part of the 1986 renovation. It...
already complete by 1975, he looked to enter the NHL a year early, and the league attempted to broker an arrangement by which Mullenix would acquire the California Golden Seals
California Golden Seals
The California Golden Seals were a team in the National Hockey League from 1967–76. Initially named California Seals, the team was renamed Oakland Seals part-way through the 1967–68 season, and then to California Golden Seals in 1970. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of...
(then under league ownership) and move them to Denver in lieu of an expansion team. At the same time, the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
would be sold to a Seattle group who held the other conditional franchise that had been awarded.
The proposed arrangement fell through, and with the continuing franchise difficulties, the NHL called off the 1976-77 expansion. Mullenix then opted to move the Spurs to the WHA for the 1975-76 season.
The WHA Spurs are sometimes considered as a continuation of the Chicago Cougars
Chicago Cougars
The Chicago Cougars were an original franchise in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the dilapidated International Amphitheatre. During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros, the team's two home games were played at...
, who had folded following the 1974-75 season, as most of the team's players were claimed from the Cougars in a dispersal draft, combined with some players from the CHL Spurs.
A Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
preview on the upcoming WHA season noted that it was stalwart Gordie Howe
Gordie Howe
Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League , and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association . Howe is often referred to as Mr...
's 28th year in major league hockey, and the Spurs' first. The magazine picked the expansion team to finish last in the WHA's Western Division. It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, "Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's."
Fans had been banking on an NHL team after three years of advertising, and did not consider the WHA to be a major league. As a result, fans stayed away in droves. The Spurs' first exhibition game, against Howe's Houston Aeros
Houston Aeros (WHA)
The Houston Aeros were a professional ice hockey team in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1978.-Franchise history:The Aeros became one of the original franchises in the World Hockey Association when the Dayton Arrows franchise was moved to Houston in 1972...
, proved to be a microcosm of their brief stay in the WHA. No beer was available because Mullenix was unable to get a liquor license, there was no flag to face during the national anthem, and the scoreboards didn't work. Only 5,000 fans showed up. The situation didn't get much better during the regular season; they only averaged 3,000 fans in a 16,800-seat arena.
The situation wasn't much better on the ice either. Veteran Ralph Backstrom
Ralph Backstrom
Ralph Gerald Backstrom is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre.-Playing career:Backstrom played junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens from 1954 to 1956, and the Ottawa Junior Canadiens from 1956 to 1958...
was one of the Spurs' few experienced players, but at 38 his career was in decline. Still, he wound up leading the team with 50 points in 41 games. The rest of the roster was filled with cast-offs and career minor-leaguers, such as Don Borgeson, who had played for the WHL Spurs from 1971–73; he finished second to Backstrom in points scored with 41. They could never find an answer in goal; one of their goalies ran up a staggering 15.00 goals-against average.
The Spurs played their first regular season game at home against the Indianapolis Racers
Indianapolis Racers
The Indianapolis Racers were a franchise in the former World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1978. They competed in five seasons, folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square Arena...
. Before only 5,000 fans, the Spurs scored the first goal, only to give up seven unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 loss. By December 30, they were in the Western Division cellar with a 13–20–1 mark, despite an overtime win over the Racers that night in Denver. It would turn out to be the last game the Spurs would play in Colorado.
Rumors had abounded even before the Spurs got on the ice that the NHL was planning to move either the Seals or the Kansas City Scouts
Kansas City Scouts
The Kansas City Scouts was a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League from 1974–76. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, Colorado and became the Colorado Rockies...
to Denver. Knowing he couldn't hope to compete with an NHL team, Mullenix began the process of selling the team to a group of Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
businessmen on New Year's Eve. Without any announcement, the team was quietly moved to Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
on January 2, 1976, where it was renamed the Ottawa Civics
Ottawa Civics
The Ottawa Civics was a professional ice hockey team based out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that played a portion of one season in the World Hockey Association in a mid-season relocation of the Denver Spurs.-Move to Ottawa:...
. The players, who were on the road reportedly only learned of the move to Ottawa when they stood on the ice for their next road game (in their Denver colors) and suddenly heard O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
being played. Negotiations for the sale were called off on January 15, and the team folded for good two days later.
Ultimately, NHL hockey did come to Denver the following season with the relocation of the Kansas City Scouts as the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies (NHL)
The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League that played in Denver, Colorado, from 1976 to 1982. They were a relocation of the Kansas City Scouts, a 1974 expansion team. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and was...
.
Season-by-season record
- 1968–74 – Western Hockey LeagueWestern Hockey League (minor pro)The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
- 1974–75 – Central Hockey League
- 1975–76 – World Hockey AssociationWorld Hockey AssociationThe World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Standing |
| 1968–69 | 74 | 23 | 44 | 7 | 53 | 254 | 308 | 683 | 6th, WHL |
| 1969–70 | 72 | 24 | 37 | 11 | 59 | 250 | 316 | 736 | 6th, WHL |
| 1970–71 | 72 | 25 | 31 | 16 | 66 | 242 | 253 | 804 | 4th, WHL |
| 1971–72 | 72 | 44 | 20 | 8 | 96 | 293 | 209 | 993 | 1st, WHL |
| 1972–73 | 72 | 27 | 32 | 13 | 67 | 264 | 275 | 1022 | 4th, WHL |
| 1973–74 | 78 | 28 | 50 | 0 | 56 | 249 | 335 | ? | 6th, WHL |
| 1974–75 | 78 | 36 | 29 | 13 | 85 | 285 | 263 | 1406 | 2nd, Northern |
| 1975–76 | 41 | 14 | 26 | 1 | 29 | 134 | 172 | 536 | 6th, Canadian |
External links
- Denver Spurs at WHAhockey.com
- Site about the Spurs
- Kirshenbaum, Jerry. WHA season preview. Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, 1975-10-20.