WHA Hockey.TV: A Tribute to the Legends of the World Hockey Association by Mark Willand

Jack Carlson -- Two Fights Vs. Peter Driscoll

From:  Living Light New Online:

He could have been in pictures - with Paul Newman no less. In 1976, professional hockey player Jack Carlson received a call from his older brother Jeff informing him that they, along with their younger brother Steve, had been offered a supporting role in Slap Shot, a hockey movie starring Paul Newman.   It wasn't that the brothers were particularly great hockey players or actors. They were unique, however. Besides the fact they played on the same line together and wore long hair and heavy-framed sports glasses - while playing - the brothers were known for scoring punches, not goals. Forget about not hitting a guy wearing glasses - these guys were tough.   "Jeff was the toughest,"

Jack modestly declares.   Seemingly too unique to be true, the Carlson brothers had Hollywood written all over them. But Jack, the most successful hockey player of the three, wanted to know the facts. Like how long would they be needed? How much would they be paid?   His brother Jeff would find out. In the meantime, while Jeff was checking things out, Jack got a call from the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Jack's team, the Minnesota Fighting Saints had suddenly folded late in the 1976-77 season. He was one of about a 10 players picked up by other teams in the league. Jack decided to join the Oilers and forego a shot in movies.   Dave Hanson replaced Jack and the trio were dubbed the Hanson brothers in the 1977 movie.

Saturday Night magazine described the three as "lovable goons."   Jack ended up finishing the season with the Oilers but was dealt to the New England Whalers during the off-season. There, he got a chance to play with Steve again, as well as with Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty.   During the 1978-79 season Jack moved to the NHL's Minnesota North Stars - a dream come true for the Minnesota native - and in 1980-81 got a chance to play against the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup final.   Standing 6'3" and weighing 215 lb., Jack was among the biggest and toughest players in the NHL at the time, fighting all the opposing heavyweights.  

"When the Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup in the mid '70s everyone was trying to pattern their team after them. You know, we'll win the Stanley Cup through intimidation."   "That's the era that I came in. For me it was survival of the fittest. Either you're gonna hit or be hit - and believe me I got hit a few times," says Jack.   In 1981, while playing for the St. Louis Blues against the Boston Bruins, Jack helped amass the most penalty minutes ever recorded in a game by two teams.   Though he says he "enjoyed" his tough-guy role, he adds, "Looking back it was a pretty lonely life. The score was 6 to 1, you're losing, and all of sudden the coach taps you on the back ...   "I wish I wasn't that type of a player. I had some talent. I had some skills. But I wasn't gonna be on a team scoring goals or setting up plays. I knew what my role was and so did everyone else," Jack explains.   "I kind of compared it to being the fastest gun in the west. All the young guys want to establish their reputations. You had to fight everybody. It's just a given."

Jack hung up the skates for good in 1987. However, he continued what he describes as his "destructive lifestyle" - drinking and womanizing. "It was a lifestyle that I was knee deep in," Jack admits.   In 1993 his wife told him she had had enough.   "We had a nine month old daughter and she said, 'Jack, you gotta go. We can't live this way.' I was 38 years old, had a good job and lots of friends, but I didn't know where to turn," recalls Jack.

He remembers the night that started him off in a new direction. "I was staying at a friend's place and looking for something to watch on TV and here I click on the Billy Graham Crusade." He spotted old friend and teammate Bill Butters speaking about how Christ had changed his life.   Butters, also from Minnesota, was Jack's roommate with the Fighting Saints and Whalers and played with him on the North Stars. The rugged defenceman was also one of Jack's drinking buddies. "We became best friends," says Jack.   Jack had already known of Butters' decision to accept Christ as his Saviour.   "Billy and I used to be inseparable. When he became a Christian I figured no more dirty jokes and drinking and things like that. I didn't even want to with be him.   "But, I tell you what, when I hit rock bottom he was the first guy that I called because I saw him on TV." Jack called the number at the bottom of the screen and talked to Butters the next day. "I said, 'Bill I need your help.' He said, 'Jack come in tomorrow.' "   Butters explained God's plan of forgiveness and salvation with him.   "Billy gives the example of a goaltender getting a penalty. Everybody that knows hockey knows that the goalie is not going to go to the penalty box. They've got to substitute another player for him. That's exactly what God has done for us. He sacrificed His Son for our sins and so whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.   "As we talked together he led me to entrust my life to Jesus Christ."   Though Jack says he no longer drinks, has "never been happier," and calls himself a "new creation in Christ," he still considers himself a work in progress.   "I still make mistakes and I fall down, but I don't stay down very long. I know now that God is with me. I know if I get down on my knees and ask for help He'll change me; He'll change my heart."   Jack meets regularly with Butters, former WHA coach Glen Sonmor, and former NHL goalie Rob Stauffer, among others, to study the Bible. He also helps Butters run hockey camps for Hockey Ministries International in Minneapolis.

"I see nine, 10, 11-year-old little boys carrying a Bible around and telling others what they're thankful for. It just brings tears to my eyes. I get sad because I wish I would have been brought up in that kind of environment."   Besides making numerous public appearances as the Hanson brothers, Jack's brothers also costarred in the sequel Slap Shot II, recently released on DVD.

Although Jack has missed out on a few healthy paycheques as a result of his decision 25 years ago, as a Christian, he's content.   "It's Jesus Christ, not money, houses or cars, that makes a person happy and pure. I'm just very fortunate."

Wayne Gretzky First Pro Goal with call from Mike Fornes

The video and audio of Gretzky's first goal have been widely circulated but not synched -- until now.

Bobby Hull Scraps with Reg Fleming

Blaine Stoughton: WHA Legends Series #2

As the video shows, Blaine Stoughton was an awesome offensive force in 1976-77 as the "Riverboat Gamblers" entertained WHA fans with their amazing offensive talent.  Although Stoughton was flanked by Rich Leduc and Rick Dudley on the famed "LSD" line for much of the season, he was paired with Greg Carroll and Peter Marsh in the post-season.

From 10-12 feet out, nobody -- in either league --  was more accurate. Stoughton's fortunes soured in 1977-78 under the defense-first philosophy of new coach Jacques Demers and he was dealt to Indianapolis at mid-season.  When the Racers folded in 1978, he signed with the New England Whalers, where he played on a third line with Mike Rogers.  The duo would go onto be one of the NHL's top 1-2 combos from 1979-1981.

Wayne Greztky - three 1978-79 Goals

From Oilers Heritage

Before NHL scouts could follow Wayne Gretzky’s second season of Ontario Junior hockey, Nelson Skalbania—the new owner of the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association—intervened. As a former partner in the Edmonton Oilers, Skalbania had made a name for himself as a wheeler and dealer in the sports world; a man who would trade sports teams as if they were stocks. In the Racers, Skalbania thought he had found a team that could quickly mushroom in value if it could employ a star. Skalbania signed Gretzky and a shockwave went through the world of pro hockey. NHL teams believed that Skalbania acted immorally by signing a 17-year-old, flying in the face of established rules. WHA supporters noted the league had already broken the NHL’s repressive reserve clause and upped wages for players. The signing of Gretzky would only serve to correct more of the NHL’s wrongs. Gretzky skated in just eight games for the Racers.

The people of Indianapolis did not take to the young star the way Skalbania had expected, and the team teetered on the brink of bankruptcy less than a month into the 1978-79 WHA season. Skalbania looked to his old partner, Peter Pocklington, to help him. The two agreed to a deal that would reshape Edmonton hockey forever. Pocklington paid the Racers $850,000, providing the cash-strapped Nelson Skalbania with the much-needed funds to keep his Racers alive. In return, Pocklington assumed Gretzky’s contract along with forward Peter Driscoll and goaltender Eddie Mio.

When Wayne Gretzky made his first appearance as an Edmonton Oiler on November 3, 1978, he wore sweater number 20. After acquiring the teenage sensation from the Racers, the Oilers’ outfitters did not have the time to prepare a jersey with the number 99 on the back. A namebar was applied to a #20 jersey that was in the equipment room, and the Oilers promised that a #99 sweater would be ready in time for Gretzky’s second game. Gretzky was not hampered by the number change, as he scored in a 4-3 Oilers win over the Winnipeg Jets. Gretzky would go on to have a sensational rookie season in the WHA. He played 72 games as an Oiler, scoring 43 times and adding 61 assists, and was the key reason the team finally made it to the Avco World Championship Trophy series that year. During that season, the city of Edmonton fell in love with the Great One, and Skalbania’s vision of a star player attracting crowds was realized in a different city with a different owner. Pocklington gave Gretzky a new $1-million per season 21-year contract on January 26, 1979, Gretzky’s 18th birthday, and the deal was signed at the centre ice of Northlands Coliseum. While Gretzky and the Oilers failed in their bid to win the last-ever Avco trophy before the World Hockey Association folded, the Oilers were prepared for their 1979 debut in the National Hockey League. Due to the millions spent on securing his rights, Gretzky’s nickname was "Brinks". Despite the moniker, Gretzky proved the investment was the right decision, as he led the league with 10 playoff goals that final season of the WHA

Ralph Backstrom -- Chicago Cougars Invents Rollerblades

Alton White: The WHA's only Black Player

Rare photo of Baltimore Blade Alton White, the WHA's only black player

Dave Keon New England Whalers

Keon's Leaf Homecoming still tastes bitter Fri, February 16, 2007 By STEVE SIMMONS, SUN MEDIA TORONTO -- While working on a book some 20 years ago, Lanny McDonald turned to me at his kitchen table and said: "Turn off the tape recorder." He was beginning to tell a Dave Keon story. Then he told another and another. None of them were nice. "I don't want this in the book," he said. "I don't think it serves anyone's purpose to be sh--ing on Dave Keon." Some eight years later, while writing his fine book called Captains, author and former Sun columnist Mike Ulmer questioned nice guy McDonald about Keon. "If you want anything on Dave Keon, you'll have to ask someone else," said McDonald, who was a Leaf kid when Keon was the surly captain. Tomorrow, after personal anger, bitterness against those who are dead and many who or no longer involved with the Leafs, and a built-in disrespect for the fans who adored him, Keon returns as a member of the 1967 Stanley Cup champion team. Maybe the greatest of all Maple Leafs, at least on the ice, is finally home. Full article

Steve Carlson and Jack Carlson - Whalers vs. Houston

Comment:  Due tho their "Hanson Brothers" persona, Jack and Steve Carlson are remembered as cartoonish goon characters.  By their Whalers days, however, they were actually decent players.  Jack was a ferocious forechecker and punishing hitter while Steve was a good set-up man.

Gerry Cheevers Cleveland Crusaders vs. Whalers 1972-73

Gerry Cheevers:  The WHA Years 1972-1975

Courtesy of Hockey Legends

The world of professional hockey changed in 1972 with the birth of the World Hockey Association. "The WHA came along and everything was helter skelter," Gerry remembers. Cheevers was selected by New England in the inaugural WHA draft, but was traded to the Cleveland Crusaders prior to the WHA's debut season. "I had wonderful days in Cleveland. I would never trade them in." It seemed rather peculiar that Gerry, just after having won a second Stanley Cup with a dominant Bruins line-up, would leave for other pastures. "I was struggling to make the money I thought I deserved with the Bruins," Cheevers explains. "They had a negotiator who was a pretty hardcore guy. He was a lawyer and didn't know much about hockey." During that heady 1971-72 season, Gerry Cheevers was only in goal for five Bruins' losses. "They offered me a very minimal raise. It sort of hit me. I called Tommy Johnson, who was our coach, and said, 'Tommy, I can't take this. I've got an offer that'll stagger you.' He said, 'Don't do anything. Come back in three or four days,' so I cam back in three or four days and Tommy said, 'I'm here to offer you whatever the other team offered you.' I told him what Cleveland offered and he said, 'Can't do it, Gerry. Do they need a coach?'"

Cheevers was in a dilemma. "I was negotiating with Nick Miletti in Cleveland — a great man — and the Bruins came up a little bit, but it wasn't even fifty percent of Cleveland's offer. I'm the type of guy who spends six or seven years in one place and then am ready to move on so I went to Cleveland and met a whole new group of guys." Gerry already knew a few of the Crusaders through his Boston Bruins affiliation — he had played with Bob Dillabough, Skip Krake and Ron Buchanan previously, but met a number of new teammates who became lifelong friends. "Paul Shmyr was there. Gerry Pinder. Great players plus a bunch of kids who would never have gotten a chance if not for the WHA. Bobby Whidden, the other goaltender, is a great friend of mine to this day," smiles Cheevers. "We competed hard and went to the semi-finals a couple of years."

But Cleveland wasn't the final stop for the all-star netminder. "There was a money crunch there and people don't act too rationally, regardless of whether you're the owner or a player. None of us acted too wisely. Boston (Bruins) was struggling in goal after four-and-a-half years. I met with them privately and they told me they would like to have me back. But those WHA days were great days. The bottom line of the WHA was 'Mission accomplished.' Four teams became NHL teams. It brought international players into the mix, salaries rose. It gave jobs to 150 or more players but it eventually brought an extra hundred players into the NHL," Cheevers states.