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

Gordie Howe Turns 82 Today

Whaler Nation Birthdays, March 31: Gordie Howe (82) and the late Ric Jordan

Photo of the Day: Whalers Ron Climie vs. Houston's Gordie Howe 1976

L-r: Ron Grahame, Gord Howe, Ron Climie, Poul Popiel.  Whalers vs. Houston 1976.

Video: Houston Aeros vs. Winnipeg Jets, Jan. 26,1978

The Aeros top the Jets in overtime.

Video: 1976 Houston Aeros "Dynamics" (10 minutes)

WHA Video: Houston Aeros Rout Edmonton Oilers, January 1978

Houston 5, Edmonton 1

Ron "Tex" Hansis scores two goals and John Gray, Morris lukowich and Scott Campbell add single tallies for the Houston Aeros.  Cal Sandbeck's first pro goal accounts for the Oilers scoring.

John "Tonto" Tonelli -- Houston Aeros WHA Legend

New Video: 1973-74 Houston Aeros Part 1

1976: Jets top Houston 9-1 to Win First Avco Crown

The Jets came flying out of the gate in 1975 as Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson all topped the 100-point mark on on the way to capturing the Canadian Division with a solid record of 52-27-2.  After a first round bye the Jets would dominate the Edmonton Oilers sweeping them in 4 straight to reach the semifinals, where they would lasso the Calgary Cowboys in 5 games. In the AVCO Cup Finals the Jets would again dominate sweeping the 20tim defending Champion Houston Aeros led by Gordie Howe in 4 straight to claim their first ever WHA Championship, closing the series out with a dominating 9-1 win on May 27th.

WHa Houston Aeros 4-1 win vs. Edmonton Oilers

MyHockeyTV.com

Gordie Howe "Hat trick" and "Nostrilgate"

A variation of the Gordie Howe "Hat Trick"  -- a goal, high stick and ejection as The WHA Aeros battle the Winnipeg Jets in 1975.

From Evan Weiner of NHL.com

Gordie also helped Marty one night with a stunt that came straight out of a Three Stooges comedy skit that left Dineen, and virtually everyone on ice, laughing except for the victim, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Roger Cote.

"They (Mark and Marty) remember it more than I do, but one time Marty was on the ground and he was holding around somebody's arms and the guy (Cote) said; 'You can let me go.' Marty said; 'Yeah, I was born yesterday,'" Gordie recalled. "There was a fight and in those days of the WHA everybody showed up. I looked around and Marty was on his back on the ice and (Aeros captain and left wing) Teddy Taylor went over and tapped the guy and said; 'It's all over.' What he said, I couldn't repeat it. It is a little bilingual -- English and profanity -- so when that happened, it started up all over again. I made it a point to go over there and I said; 'It's all over.' And he said something about old, something, something, so, I don't know why I did it, but these two big fingers went into his nasal cavity and gave it a yank and he came up pretty fast. It was quite embarrassing. I just lifted him up and Marty said; 'Boy, the greatest thing was you should have seen the look on the guy's face.' It worked good.

"You do things out there and you don't know why. It was the one thing I thought of, where would I get the best respect? It was up the nostrils.

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